Page 66 of Bar Down

Marcus wiped a hand down his face. He wasn’t used to being the center of the room unless he was diagramming passing lanes.

He kept his voice low. “The plan worked. Stephanie got the laptop. Chenny planted the tracker and deleted the blackmail files. The backups too. They’re gone.”

For a beat, no one said anything.

Then Jax let out a low whistle. “Holy shit.”

“No kidding,” Liam muttered from across the room. “You’re saying it’s over?”

Marcus nodded. “Reed can’t leak anything. Not without exposing that he had the files in the first place.”

There was a moment—brief, but real—where the energy in the room actually shifted. Shoulders dropped. Kane exhaled, loud and dramatic.

“About damn time something went right,” Kane said, standing up and clapping Marcus on the shoulder.

“You need celebration,” Dmitri declared, already pulling a Chill hoodie over his head. “We go bar. First round on me. Maybe second round too.”

Matteo stood and pulled out his phone. “I’m texting Chenny. If we’re celebrating, he’s not sitting this one out.”

“He’s suspended,” Liam said, arching a brow.

“Exactly why he needs a drink,” Matteo replied, thumbs flying.

“Three drinks,” Dmitri corrected.

“Don’t get him arrested before he gets back on the ice,” Jax muttered.

As the team filtered out, laughter and banter replacing the earlier tension, Marcus let himself believe—for just a moment—that maybe they had won something tonight after all.

Even if the war wasn’t over, the locker room had found its heartbeat again.

And that was something.

Chapter Seventeen

Marcus

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