ZANE.
I shifted gears, the engine roaring as I pulled out of the lounge garage. My mind churned, replaying every moment with her. The way she had melted under my touch, her body arching against mine like she was mine to claim. But she had bolted out of the lounge like I was the enemy. If she loved me, why run? Why hide? I had seen the hurt in her eyes when I laughed, but what did she expect? Trust? After everything.
My phone buzzed in the center console, and Liam's name flashed on the screen. I hit the speaker button, "What?"
"Zane, get to the east branch. Now." Liam's tone was urgent, "There's been an explosion."
"What the hell do you mean, explosion?" I swerved into the next lane, ignoring the blare of a horn behind me.
"A bomb. Part of the building's gone. We've got injured workers and the emergency crews are on site. It's a mess. You need to be here."
The line went dead just as my SOS alerts started pinging from my tablet synced to Atlas's security grid. I slammed my foot on the gas, the car lurching forward as I wove through traffic. An explosion at the east branch? Atlas was a fortress, the kind that didn't just get hit by accidents. My gut twisted. This wasn't random. It couldn't be.
By the time I reached the east branch, the scene was chaos, ambulances and fire trucks clogging the street. The air reeked of smoke and melted metal, a jagged scar ripped across the building's facade.
Shattered glass crunched under my boots as I stepped out, my eyes scanning the wreckage. Half the second floor was gone. Paramedics darted through the crowd, stretchers carrying bloodied workers. My jaw clenched, a surge of rage burning through me. The perpetrator was going to pay.
Reporters swarmed the place, their cameras and microphones thrusting in my direction the second they discovered my arrival.
"Mr. Calloway! What can you tell us about the explosion?" A woman in a black blazer shoved her recorder in my face, her eyes hungry for a soundbite.
I pushed past her, "No comment until we have more information. Let the first crew do their job." My PR training kicked in, but inside, I was seething. I needed answers, not headlines.
Liam met me at the cordoned-off entrance. "What's the damage report?" I asked, joining him.
"Six injured, two critical," he said, falling into step beside me. "A bomb was planted near the server room. It contained enough not to take the whole building, but it did enough damage."
"Cartel?" I asked, my voice barely audible over the sirens.
His eyes met mine, hard and knowing. "Who else?"
We pushed through to the makeshift command center, a tent set up for emergency coordination. Inside, I faced a dozen board members. They had been pulled from their normal lives, and now they wanted assurances I wasn't sure I could give. I stood at the head of the folding table, my hands braced against the edge, as their stares pressed into me.
"This was an isolated incident," I said. "A gas leak or faulty wiring. Whatever the investigators pin it on, we will handle it. We've already allocated an emergency fund for victim treatment and rebuilding. The branch will close temporarily while we assess the damage."
"An accident?" Madison leaned forward, her glasses glinting under the fluorescents. "Zane, this doesn't feel like a coincidence. Atlas has enemies. This is the second attack this quarter."
I met her gaze, my expression unyielding. "We don't jump to conclusions without evidence. Let the authorities do their work. Our priority is our people and making sure they're taken care of."
The lie tasted too easy but I couldn't afford to let the board spiral. If they suspected the cartel, they would pull funding, lock down projects, and that would stall our operations. I needed time to handle this my way.
The meeting dragged on with more questions from the board, I answered with practiced calm, promising transparency while giving nothing away. By the time we adjourned, my shirt clung to my back with the acrid smell of smoke.
I stepped out of the tent, hoping to catch some fresh air, but the tension didn't ease. Liam and Damian were waiting.
"Walk with me," Damian said, his eyes scanning the crowd like he expected an ambush. We moved away from the tent, toward the edge of the perimeter, where the press couldn't hear and the wreckage loomed like a warning.
Damian pulled something from his jacket. It was a scorched piece of metal, no bigger than a credit card, etched with a single line.
"Give us the girl or we burn it all down."
I read out the words as I took it, my fingers brushing the rough edges. This was about Sienna. They wanted Sienna.
"This was meters from the blast site," Liam said. They're not fucking around, Zane."
I closed my fist around the metal, the sharp edge biting into my palm. "They think they can hit us and walk away?" My voice barely contained the rage clawing at me. "They want a war, they will get one."
Damian crossed his arms,. "This isn't just a hit, Zane. It's a message. They know about Sienna. They know she's a leverage point. Question is, how much is she worth? I don't think she's worth this bomb and the lives of our labor force." he snorted
I stepped toward him, my fists clenched. "Watch your mouth, Damian. You don't know what you're talking about."
"Enough," Liam cut in, "We don't have time for this. Noah's still in the hospital, recovering from their last 'message.' Now they've hit the east branch. They're coming for Atlas, Zane, and they're not stopping until they get what they want. So what's the play? You gonna hand over Sienna, or are we fighting a war we might not win?"
I stared at him, my pulse hammering in my ears. Hand over Sienna? The thought made my stomach churn, but so did the image of Atlas burning. Now the cartel was tearing at its foundations, and Sienna was the fault line. I wanted to trust her, to believe her confession was real, but the doubts gnawed at me. What did she know? What was on that flash drive she'd hidden in her necklace?
"We don't negotiate with terrorists," I said finally. "They want Sienna, they will have to go through me. We lock down Atlas, double security, pull our key projects off-site, and get our best people on this. I want every lead on the cartel followed. Names, locations, anything."
Damian shook his head, "You're gambling with our lives, Zane. Hers too. If she's the key, maybe we cut our losses."
I grabbed his collar, yanking him close, "Say that again, and you're out. Atlas is mine, and so is she. You don't get to decide who's expendable."
Liam stepped between us, his hand on my chest, pushing me back. "Cool it, both of you. Damian's got a point, Zane. We need to know what Sienna's hiding."
I released Damian, stepping back, my chest heaving. "Get to work," I said, turning away, my boots crunching on the debris. "I will handle Sienna."
As I walked back to my car, the city's pulse thrummed around me, but all I could hear was the cartel's threat.
Give us the girl or we burn it all down.
