Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
My fingers still move across the keys out of habit, typing lines, feeding more dummy data, making it look like I’m deep in the guts of Maddox Security. Every keystroke feels heavier than the last. This is the moment we have been waiting for. The moment everything could go right or horribly wrong.
Orchid watches me from the doorway for a long time, silent. Then she comes over and stands behind my chair, her hands resting on my shoulders. Her fingers start kneading the rock-hard muscles there, and I can’t stop the low groan that escapes me. It feels so good. So right. Her touch grounds me when the fear tries to take over.
“You don’t have to actually work on it,” she says quietly.
“I know.” I lean back into her hands, eyes closing for a second. “But it helps sell the lie if anyone is watching. Plus it keeps my mind busy while we wait. If I stop moving I’ll start thinking too much about what could go wrong.”
She leans down and presses a soft kiss to the top of my head. Her hair falls around me like a curtain. “You okay?”
“I’m better with you here.” I reach up and squeeze one of her hands, threading our fingers together. “Last night… everything I said. The bathtub. Telling you I love you. That wasn’t heat-of-the-moment shit. I meant every single word, Orchid. I love you. I’m in love with you. And no matter what happens today, that doesn’t change.”
Her breath catches. She squeezes my hand back, hard. “I know. I meant it too. I love you, Poe. More than I thought I could love anyone. You make me feel… safe. Even when the whole world is burning down around us. I don’t know what I would do without you anymore.”
We stay like that for a long time. Her hands on my shoulders. My fingers occasionally typing nonsense lines of code. The tension in the house builds slowly, thick and electric, like a storm gathering right over our heads. Every minute that passes feels heavier. Closer. I keep checking the clock. Serafina’ll be here soon. Maddox and the team are out there somewhere, ready. But until they move, it’s just us. Waiting. Hoping. Loving each other in the eye of the coming hurricane.
Eventually Orchid pulls away. Her hands are shaking slightly as she picks up her encrypted phone. “It’s time.”
She dials Serafina and puts it on speaker so I can hear every word. My stomach knots so tight I feel sick. The woman answers on the second ring, voice smooth and cold.
“Report.”
Orchid’s voice is cool and professional again, the enforcer mask sliding perfectly back into place. Only I can see the way her free hand trembles at her side. “The hack is done. The systems are ours.”
Serafina lets out a low, satisfied laugh that sends ice sliding down my spine. “Excellent work, Orchid. I knew you could handle him. I’m coming to collect Poe personally. He’s proven very useful. I have big plans for him.”
Orchid’s fingers tighten around the phone until her knuckles turn white. “What plans?”
Serafina laughs again, colder this time, sharper. “You’ll see soon enough. I’ll be there within the hour. Keep him compliant. And Orchid… do not disappoint me now. Not when we are so close to everything I have worked for.”
The line goes dead.
Orchid sets the phone down slowly, like it might bite her. Her hands shake harder now. I stand up immediately and pull her into my arms, crushing her against my chest. She buries her face in my shirt and holds on like I’m the only thing keeping her upright.
“She’s coming,” she whispers, voice muffled. “And she sounded… happy. That’s never a good sign with her. She gets happy right before she destroys people.”
“We knew this was the plan,” I remind her, stroking her back in long, soothing strokes. My own heart races, but I keep my voice steady for her. “Maddox is ready. The second she shows her face, BRAVO moves in. We just have to hold on a little longer. We can do this. Together.”
She nods against me, but I can feel the fear rolling off her in waves. I tilt her chin up and kiss her, slow and deep, trying to pour every ounce of love and confidence and promise into it. When I pull back I rest my forehead against hers.
“I’ve got you,” I say against her lips. “No matter what happens today, I’ve got you. I love you. We’re getting through this.”
The next fifty minutes are pure, agonizing tension. We try to move around the house like it’s any other morning. Orchid makes coffee with hands that only shake a little. She pretends to read a book on the couch, but her eyes never leave the window. Every creak of the house settling, every distant bird call, every gust of wind makes us both freeze and reach for each other. My skin feels too tight. My pulse is a constant drum in my ears. I keep looking at Orchid, memorizing her face, the way she moves, the determined set of her jaw. If today goes wrong I want to remember every second of her.