as th

one else could find. She moved through the world quietly, a ghost who saw everything. Her mind was a steel trap, sharp and precis

had been in love w

coffee at dawn. She saw past his charming, public-facing smile to the man underneath, or at least, the man she wanted to

own, to bridge the gap between boss and em

d placating. "You have your whole life ahead of you. D

a Sunday because he couldn't find a crucial file she had organized for him. He took her loyalty, her skill, and her lo

gainst a rival tech conglomerate. It went bad, fast. Marcus, lea

ition. The rival CEO, a man named Victor Thorne, contacted Ava

old and amused. "I have your boss, Ms.

an cold. "What

ur one and only. The personal one. The vulnerability I know you discovered in my company's infr

s company. She had found it by accident, a ghost in his machine, and had kept it

n' t he

," sh

ed. Ava didn't wait for his thanks. The cost of his freedom had been

She was heading to her desk when she heard Marcus's voice coming from his office. The door was sli

t through Ava' s exhaustion like a physical blow. "Always tryin

ful," Celeste purred, her voi

e wasn't so good at digging up dirt, I would have fir

fice, every late night, every moment she had spent caring for his son, every ounce of love she had

n the cold draft from his office door. The five years she had dedicated to him,

ghost she was trained to be. No one saw her

ts she'd only read about in books. When she started working for Marcus, she thought she' d found it. He gave her a purpose, a plac

nd through messy legal battles. She had potty-trained his son, read him bedtime stories, and cooked him countless m

smiled at Celeste, a genuine, warm smile Ava had only ever dreamed of receiving. They looked at each other, a silent understanding passing between them,

prickle of wrongness on her skin. Before she could react, gunfire erupted. Chaos. She moved on instinct, covering her team, pushing them towards safety. A b

her was Marcus's voice, not the calm, composed lea

God, please, bring

cho in the fading light of her co