Page 37 of The Omega Accountant

"Ready?"Silviaasked, her voice pitched low despite the empty corridor.

"No,"Ianswered honestly. "Butnecessary doesn't require readiness."

Her expression softened with momentary sympathy before efficiency reasserted itself. "Marco'screated the security loop.Wehave approximately three minutes before live feed resumes."

The elevator doors opened silently, beckoning with promise of escape from dangersI'donly partially comprehended beforeSilvia'sunexpected arrival.AsIstepped inside, the mating mark pulsed with renewed intensity—biological protest against separation that made scientific sense yet felt like something beyond mere chemistry.Likeloss.Likefracturing of something essential.

"It's the right choice,"Silviareassured as the doors closed, sealing us in temporary sanctuary. "Forboth of you."

I nodded without speaking, unwilling to voice the doubt that had begun forming beneath rational acceptance of our escape plan.Somethingabout this felt wrong beyond the obvious pain of separation—some detail overlooked, some assumption unexamined.

The elevator descended with unsettling smoothness, numbers counting down toward ground level whereMarcowaited with promised transportation.Eachfloor represented distance from the territoryMatteohad established around us, from the protection he had sacrificed birthright to maintain.

At the twentieth floor, the elevator jerked to an unexpected halt, lights flickering momentarily before stabilizing at reduced intensity.Silvia'sexpression shifted from surprise to something closer to fear.

"This isn'tMarco," she whispered, reaching for her phone only to find no signal in the suspended elevator car. "Something'swrong."

BeforeIcould respond, the ceiling panel crashed inward, revealing a figure in tactical gear who dropped into the elevator with practiced precision.Thescent hit me immediately—pine and bergamot, the signature pheromone profileMatteohad identified as belonging toSouzaenforcers.

Not rescue.Capture.

My stomach dropped as realization hit—Marco'ssecurity loop had been detected—or perhaps he'd never had the chance to implement it at all.TheSouzainfiltration ran deeper than any of us had suspected, their surveillance likely monitoring the very systemsMarcowas trying to manipulate.Whetherhe'd been captured or worse, theSouzateam had clearly neutralized our only external support and turned our escape plan into the perfect trap.

Silvia moved instinctively between me and the intruder, beta protectiveness trumping practical assessment of our disadvantage. "Getaway from him," she growled, voice dropping to a registerI'drarely heard from my diplomatic sister.

The masked figure said nothing, simply extracted what looked like a medical injector from a tactical vest pocket.Silviacharged forward—brave, foolish, protective—only to be incapacitated with brutal efficiency, her body crumpling to the elevator floor with terrible stillness.Notdead—the attacker had calibrated force precisely—but unconscious and no longer capable of intervention.

I backed against the elevator wall, mind racing through limited options that all ended in the same inevitable conclusion.Oneomega against a trainedSouzaenforcer in confined space.Thestatistical probability of successful resistance approached zero.

"Don't fight," a voice emerged from behind the tactical mask, toneless and mechanical. "Theinjection contains a mild sedative.Compliancemakes this easier for everyone."

"Compliance always does,"Ireplied, surprising myself with calm that belied the terror coursing through my system. "Buteasier doesn't mean right."

The needle pierced my neck beforeIcould attempt evasion, the injection site burning briefly before spreading numbing warmth through my veins.Asconsciousness began fading, the claiming mark at my neck pulsed once with almost painful intensity—Matteo'sclaim, his scent permanently integrated with mine, sending one final alert before chemical suppression silenced even that bond-driven warning.

My last coherent thought before darkness claimed me wasn't of fear or pain or even anger at the trap we'd walked into so willingly.Itwas simpler, more profound—an apology and a plea wrapped in the name that had come to mean safety despite the danger surrounding us both:

Matteo...I'msorry.

12

MATTEO

Blood blossomed across my knuckles asIslammed my fist into the wall, concrete cracking beneath the impact yet offering no relief from the rage consuming me.Thesecurity monitors displayed the empty elevator whereLucahad disappeared, the footage looping in mechanical indifference to the void expanding in my chest.Threehours sinceI'dreturned to find his scent lingering in empty rooms, his workstation abandoned, a message blinking on the monitor that said both everything and nothing:

Thank you.Don'tlose everything for me.I'llcontact you when safe.

He hadn't run.He'dbeen taken.

The knowledge hummed in my blood with terrible certainty, a truth that transcended evidence or logic.Theclaiming bond between us—still new, still forming—pulsed with hollow emptiness where his presence should have resonated.Notthe silence of willing departure but the vacuum of severed connection.

"Sir,"Carlo'svoice penetrated the fog of rage clouding my thoughts. "Thesurveillance footage shows him entering the service elevator voluntarily.Witha woman.Hissister, according to building records."

I turned slowly, the movement requiring conscious control over muscles that wanted nothing more than violence, immediate and devastating.Myconsigliere stood in the doorway, his beta status offering immunity from the aggressive pheromones now saturating the office, but not from the danger radiating from every line of my body.

"Voluntarily,"Irepeated, the word emerging with deceptive calm. "Likehis heat was voluntary when someone sabotaged his suppressants."

Something flickered acrossCarlo'sfeatures—so brief, so controlled that anyone else might have missed it.ButIhad been trained since childhood to recognize the microscopic tells that preceded betrayal.Theslight dilation of pupils.Themomentary tension at the corner of the mouth.Thealmost imperceptible shift in scent.

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