Page 78 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“Not your problem.”

“It is literally my job.”

“Your job is not to disappear because you got excited.”

His insults were cutting deeper and deeper each time.

I kept walking.

The cabana path dropped slightly below the pool terrace, music fading behind us as the hedge rose along one side. Hawk’s angle disappeared first and I knew exactly when it happened because Raven told me.

“Lost visual from north. I still have slight visual and audio.”

I looked toward the open side of the cabana. “I’m right below the terrace.”

Wolf answered. “That’s far enough.”

Luca turned and walked back. “Coming?”

I smiled. “You keep promising interesting people. I’m starting to think this is a scam.”

“You wound me.”

“Apparently that’s our thing. And you never actually formally introduced him.”

Luca glanced after Kade and smiled. “That’s because he doesn’t ‘actually formally’ do names.”

He let his hand find my lower back again. Wolf inhaled over comms without saying a word, but the small sound was enough to tell me he had noticed, and the realization sent a pulse of panic through me right before we caught up to Kade.

The two men waiting by the second cabana looked different from the rest of the party. One wore linen and a watch that probably required a safe. The other wore civilian clothes but stood with his weight distributed too evenly, checking the path behind us often enough that I filed him immediately as security.

The conversation returned to Italian. A driver had been removed, Morgenstern would replace him, there was a property near Ulm where staffing had become a problem and a vehicle would move Thursday instead of Friday.

Raven’s voice crackled slightly. “Repeat Ulm if you can.”

I found an opening. “You mean the Ulm property? I thought Morgenstern handled Austria.”

Luca looked at me. “You know them?”

“Only by reputation.”

“Then you know enough.”

Kade said something to the security man, too low for the microphone. I moved closer under the excuse of letting Sofia pass behind me.

Wolf’s voice came in hard. “Back up.”

I ignored him.

“Mercer, move.”

Kade spoke again, still in a tone that I couldn’t catch. Luca asked a question that disappeared under a sudden rise in music from the terrace.

Raven cursed softly. “Didn’t get it.”

I took another step.

The security man looked directly at me.