Seth's POV
I shoved him back, firm but not rough. "Calm down, bro. Your wound's fresh-stitched."
"Wolf!" he rasped, thrashing. "Boss... She's got wolf claws!"
I pinned him with a look, my gut twisting. "Bro, that Cheetah really scared you, didn't it? Boss is a woman - how's she a wolf?"
"Surveillance!" he barked. "Check it! You'll see!"
I yanked my laptop from the table, pulling up the feed. The screen flickered, and there they were - Liam riding Leah, tangled in a mess of lust. I grinned, slapping his shoulder. "You dog. Didn't know you look good on camera."
His face burned red, but he ignored me, stabbing the fast-forward key. Then it hit - a massive Cheetah exploded onto the screen, slamming Liam down, claws sinking into his chest. He crumpled, out cold. Leah pounced, seizing the beast and hurling it out the door before stalking after it.
I slammed the laptop shut. "See? Cheetah got you, not Boss."
Liam stared, dazed, rubbing his head. "But I swear… I saw her with claws."
"Fear fucks with your brain," I said, clapping his shoulder harder than I meant to. "Plays tricks. It's a hallucination."
He nodded, slow, like he didn't trust his own mind. I turned for the door, but his voice stopped me. "Seth, don't tell Talia… about, you know."
I tilted my head, grinning wide. "You and Boss? Nah. One thing I learned in NSA is that everyone's got secrets. As long as we keep our mouths shut, secrets stay buried."
I walked out, the air heavy with lies I'd carry to the grave.
Boss was waiting outside.
The laptop in my grip glowed like a cursed artifact, its screen bleeding with the image of a Cheetah.
Boss stood there, waiting, her shadow slicing through the dusk like a blade. Her eyes hit me first - sharp, unyielding, peeling back my skin before I could even open my mouth. "Did Liam buy it?" she snapped, her voice a lash that stung the air.
I smirked, couldn't help it, pride swelling up like blood in a fresh wound. "Of course. You don't really need to ask. You can rest assured I'll handle things." I tapped the laptop, freezing the Cheetah mid-prowl, its digital snarl locked in place. "The video I forged before? Nearly toppled the Philippines' president. Experts crawled out of every hole to dissect it, but not one could call it fake. I'm that good, boss."
Leah's gaze flicked to the screen, her brow creasing, confusion rippling through her like a storm across still water. "Why is there a Cheetah on the screen?"
The question sank into me, bitter and barbed. A Cheetah? She wanted to know about my Cheetah? I could've laughed, could've spat it back at her - Why do you have wolf claws, boss? Why do you roll in bed with your lover boy while your old flame's chained in your basement, howling mad? A woman like you, tangling with men until they broke, it was no wonder they turned into rabid dogs. But I swallowed it down, let the venom fester behind my teeth. "Made it randomly with V-Can," I said instead, voice flat as dead earth. "You know, algorithm logic - randomness is the core of it."
She stared at me, her eyes drilling holes, and I felt sweat bead on my scarred neck, a prickling itch I couldn't scratch. "Because I ate Cheetos," I tacked on, forcing the lie through a grin.
Leah's eyebrow arched, a silent challenge. "Can you make any videos with this V-Can?"
"Of course." The words slipped out eager, hungry. "What do you want me to generate? This is my program -my blood, my bones. No limits. It'll carve out your wildest fantasies, boss." I leaned in, voice dropping low, daring her to bite.
Her glare was a slap, cold and cutting, and she turned, boots grinding the dirt as she aimed for the house. "I'm going to talk to Liam first."
"Wait." I lunged, blocking her path, my pulse hammering like a war drum. "Boss, I've got intel."
She stopped, impatience coiling in her stance, but I had her. "Johnny signed 14-B. Cosa Family's bankrupt - gutted. Pier 16, all their properties, future plans, they're ours now, under Quick Silver. Johnny's singing to the cops, so the FBI's clawing back into the Cosa mess. Al Cosa and his captains? They're on a boat to Cuba. Should I intercept?"
Leah frowned, her voice tight. "What do you mean by intercept?"
I shrugged, a grin twisting my lips. "Haven't fleshed it out, but I'm thinking a missile - NATO's base in an oversea country. Bambard those bastards to ash."
Her eyes widened, just a flicker. "You cracked their launch codes?"
"Not that simple," I said, relishing the weight of it. "Need the middle fingers of three generals to flip the switch. But for someone like you? That's not even a problem."
She studied me, disbelief warring with something darker. "It's ridiculous you haven't sparked World War III."
I chuckled, the sound scraping my throat. "Wanna take a shot?"
"Don't care who you follow later," she said, sharp as a blade's edge, "but never say that to anyone again."
I stepped closer, heat rising in my chest. "I'm not following anyone. Just you, boss." My voice cracked, needy, and I hated it.
Her hand found my hair, fingers threading through it, and for a heartbeat, I was a pup again, desperate for her nod. "Guide their GPS to uncharted seas," she murmured. "Cuba's coast guard'll finish it. And the Carlo Pintard case - ship all the evidence to Justice Duhamel by tomorrow tonight."
"No problem," I said, straightening, eager to please. "Consider it done, boss."
She moved for the house again but paused, her voice softer now, slicing deeper. "What're your plans for the future?"
I blinked, caught raw. "Plan? What plan?"
"The blonde girl at the dry cleaner. You still talk?"
My heart lurched, a wounded thing. "Boss, why're you asking?"
"She's good," Leah said, simple, final. "Invite her to dinner sometime."
I felt it then - the dread, the unraveling. My face crumpled, pitiful, pleading. "Boss, are you leaving me?"
She didn't answer, her silence a noose tightening around my neck.
"Please," I choked out, voice splintering. "Don't go. Stay here with your kid. I'll take care of both of you. I can grow up - be a man. Suit and tie, California, algorithm engineer, overtime every night. I can do that shit."
Leah's eyes held mine, unreadable, stripping me to the bone. "Tell that girl what you just told me. Live that life. I know it's unfair - you're too strange for normal. But I don't want you get hurt again, Seth. I don't belong here. I'll go back to my world and there's no room for you in my world. You just don't fit there."
She turned, walked into the house, and the door slammed shut - a gunshot in the quiet. I stood there, tablet heavy in my hands, the Cheetah's eyes mocking me. The moon leered overhead, its light cold and cruel, spilling over me like a sentence. She was right - I didn't belong in her world, all claws and blood and shadows. But where did I fit? A normal life - a girl, a job - glimmered like a taunt, sharp with promise and terror.
The night pressed in, and I was alone, trembling under its weight, a complete idiot with nowhere to run.