Snow

the floor-to-ceiling windows,

e from the wine, but my mind was c

tal years in Boston, where every hour outside of work was spent taking online business classes and per

ddess of vengeance. You spent six years living like a corporate

coffee. "I need a computer. A high-performance one. I

e marble island. "All yours. What's the

d, opening a terminal window and

ading text. "Wait, I thou

minoring in CS," I mutt

iSecure, the smart security system prote

I picked up my phone, smoothly unbloc

rd ring, background no

re were you

. "I was baking some little cookies and testing recipes f

the kitchen and don't worry about team business. Just show up on time for the ga

I said gently, ending the call befor

uinely believed I was sa

the status bar flashed

crypted landline recordings, clicking on a late-nig

name is a bankrupt shell, but having her as a docile ornament keeps our business alliances tidy. Play wi

tely obedient and boring as hell. I'm not interested in her skinny frame an

olently slammed her mug down, leaped up, and

er! Give me an address, Kiera, I am

gly calm as I saved the audio file. "A bat only lea

e script to sniff packets acr

es, a direct VoIP s

as C

enabled real-t

oice purred throu

't find out anything,

ing she's baking little cookies for me like a dutiful pu

my eyes grow

od

timated me, the har

" Cindy asked. "The Peninsula Hot

with suggestion. "Of course.

all e

a smile of pure, calculated

insula

-floor

rything I

r expression shifting f

ng to do? Bust in

d the laptop. "That's too easy. I'm going