Page 444 of Lodestar

“Of course, theyknowwho you are. They just don’t bring it up,” I retorted. “Don’t be a fool. A different haircut doesn’t change your identity.”

“We don’t speak of it here,” Luciu confirmed. “She was the DA but only to further our gains?—”

“I grow tired of this multilingual meeting,” Zhao snapped. “It’srudeto speak in other languages, even if it is an attempt at a power play from you, Ms. Sullivan.” His eyes narrowed. “I assume you’re the reason we found my son? Lodestar’s skills are infamous.”

“They probably are but I don’t refer to myself in the third person yet.” I hitched a shoulder, though I noticed the Valentini siblings peer among each other in surprise—they hadn’t realized the Dragon Head knew I’d worked for them. “The Valentinisasked me to look into a laptop and I happened to find him. I don’t deserve?—”

“You do.” He rapped his fingers against the table. “You speak of this software as if you know it well.”

“I made it,” was Conor’s answer. “That means I know what it could have picked up.”

“It would be inadmissible in court,” Aurora pointed out.

“It would, but that doesn’t mean it can’t lead to other investigations,” Finn answered. “That’s all it needs, isn’t it?

“With as much as we stonewall them, something like this gives them an avenue to wander down that was closed to them before.”

“And therein lies the danger,” I agreed.

“How did they gain access to this software?”

Conor cast Custanzu a glance. “They had it in their hands for a very short while. I locked them out the moment I knew they were using it.”

“That’s a relief,” Aurora mocked.

Conor’s brothers suddenly appeared grouchy. Ah, so he’d told them. He cleared his throat. “I had an arrangement with the NSA.”

As outrage moved around the factions like a tidal wave, I called out, “It wasn’t by choice, and it was from when he wasn’t as experienced.”

“Meaning?” Custanzu demanded.

“I’d lessen the sass, Custanzu, considering your actions when you were a teenager.”

His cheeks blanched. “I beg your pardon?”

“I think we both know what happened?—”

“Enough,” Luciu barked, studying his brother concernedly. “We are friends, Star. Do not let us part from this meeting as enemies.”

I pursed my lips as Conor placed a calming hand on my shoulder. “I was caught hacking into a government database when I was a kid. They knew I’d serve them better out in the open rather than in a jail cell.”

Luciu frowned but, to Aurora, asked, “Does the NSA frequently make deals like this?”

“You’d be surprised how prisoners can be mobilized,” I muttered, “for their government’s gain.”

“If anyone would know,” Aurora said simply, “it would be you, Sullivan.”

We shared a look and nodded at one another.

“As I’ve grown older, I’ve become better?—”

“One of the best hackers in the world,” I interrupted, elbowing him in the side. “This isn’t the time for being humble, Conor.”

“If you’d stop interrupting him, Star,” Brennan snapped, “maybe we could get this part of the meeting over with.”

I scowled at him but zipped up.

Conor admitted, “Star is one of the best too. For her to compliment me tells you everything. As Iimproved, my worth to them did as well. It meant I had as much bartering power with them as they did with me.”

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