Page 148 of Shadowed Hearts: Frost
A cold smile touches Tatiana's lips. "Markus was... useful in many capacities."
Rage burns through my veins. I want to pound on the glass, to scream that Jenny was a person, not a problem to be "handled." My free hand starts shaking against the tablet.
"You think I'm the monster?" Tatiana leans forward slightly. "I give these girls what the world promised them—a chance to be seen. The real monsters are the ones who pretend the system isn't built on using people."
Nausea churns in my stomach.
How can she justify trafficking women as some twisted form of opportunity?
"You sold women like commodities." Damian growls.
"I elevated them from obscurity to purpose." Tatiana counters. "Their families received more money than they would ever see otherwise. Everyone profits."
My whole body trembles now. Jenny died trying to expose this woman's twisted logic.
The moment she breaks, I see it in the pixels shifting across my tablet screen as much as the crack in her voice. Her cultured Russian accent thickens with rage.
"You think you've won? The Velocity Charity Race." She laughs bitterly.
Not cooperation—revenge. She's burning it all down because they left her to burn first.
Jax suddenly leans forward, his casual posture vanishing. Recognition flashes across his features before he masks it.
"What race?"
"High-end vehicles, wealthy donors." Tatiana waves dismissively. "Perfect cover for our final transfers before we relocate operations. You'll never reach them in time."
The temperature in the room seems to drop. Kade and Jax exchange a meaningful look—a new lead, but something more passes between them. Something that makes Jax's jaw clench tight.
But all I can think about is the woman who ordered Jenny's death sitting there, speaking about human lives like they're assets on a spreadsheet.
We move to view Slate's interrogation through another glass panel. He sits hunched over a laptop, his fingers shaking on the keyboard. The empty look under his eyes catches my attention—like he hasn't slept in days.
My stomach twists into knots. This man helped me build my career. Taught me encryption techniques I still use. And now he's here, surrounded by printed evidence of his code in Tatiana's operation.
"Tell us again how you got involved." Cole prompts, setting up another recording device.
Slate's eyes flick up to mine through the glass, then away. Shame radiates from every line of his body.
"I met her at a cybersecurity conference three years ago." His voice cracks like old code. "She approached me—said she admired my work." He laughs bitterly. "No one had ever looked at me the way she did."
I cross my arms over my chest, trying to hold myself together. The pain of betrayal, his and mine, pulses between my temples. But watching him crumble, seeing genuine remorse in every tremor of his hands, something shifts inside me.
He was used too. Manipulated. Maybe not so different from how I feel right now.
"You gave her your proprietary security protocols."
He nods miserably. "I thought... I thought she loved me. We were building something together." His fingers fidget with his watch band. "She'd ask technical questions when we were in bed together. God, I was so stupid."
Jax leans against the wall. "Love makes people stupid."
The words hit like a physical blow. I don't dare look at Asher, don't want to see if that statement registers on his face.
"I can give you access to the shadow servers," Slate offers desperately. "Complete backdoor entry. I built in safeguards she doesn't know about."
Cole slides a keyboard toward him through the security slot. "Show us."
Through the glass, we watch Slate's hands dance across the keyboard. I pull up my own tablet, tracking his movements, copying his login credentials. The familiar rhythm of collaborative coding feels like the only solid ground beneath me.
