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I explain what I discovered while Kain was recovering, starting with the black-market dealings he uncovered before the attack and everything I found after I took over his work.

“After Kain reported the security issue, someone set fire to the servers and attacked him.” A shiver goes through me, and I edge closer to Kain, who wraps an arm around my waist. “While he was recovering, I kept submitting his work so he wouldn’t get flagged as behind schedule. That’s when I found connections to jobs our group has run. Even whoever stole your family’s data,” I tell Lev.

And then they came here.

I glance down at my Alpha. “They must have realized you made a backup because of me. I’m sorry. I was just trying to help.”

He hugs me closer. “You did nothing wrong. This wasn’t your fault.”

The guilt doesn’t ease, though. If I hadn’t encouraged him to take the job at Lantern Key, none of this would have happened.

He takes the gun from my hand and sets it on the dining table before drawing me down to his lap. “Look at me.”

I shake my head.

“None of this was your fault.” He grips my chin. “Tell me you understand.”

I seal my lips.

“Reef.” The warning is unmistakable.

“I understand,” I mumble.

“Good.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “You handled things well today.”

“Even if I didn’t listen?”

He lets out a low growl. “We’ll talk about that later.”

“So,” Rowan says, disrupting the moment. “You think this is related to whoever has been messing with our crew?”

“I think they’re linked. Someone using those forums had access to the Vartanian data, and whoever sent these guys knew we had the archive,” Kain says after a moment. “But there’s no way they could have known the data would fall into our hands.”

“No?” When everyone turns to me, I shrug. “It’s a really big coincidence. And I don’t believe in those.”

“Either way, they know you have the data, so they’ll try again,” Lev points out.

“Then let everyone have it,” I say. “Put the forum online. All of it. Unredacted. Every transaction, every coded post, every username linked to a real-world event. We release it tonight.”

Rowan’s rolls his hand. “Explain.”

“If the data is already out, targeting us again accomplishes nothing.” I take Kain’s hand. “Right now, we’re a liability because we have the information and they don’t control it. The moment it stops being a secret, they lose their reason to silence us.”

Kain squeezes my fingers.

“It’s scorched earth,” Orien says. “Once it’s public, we can’t control what happens with it.”

“Not our problem.” I lean into Kain’s shoulder. “They shouldn’t have attacked our home.”

“I’ll be fired,” Kain points out.

I turn toward him. Blood has dried along his jaw, and his lower lip is swollen. Every part of me wants to take care of him. Wipe him clean. Put ice on his ribs. Send everyone away so I can nurse him back to health.

After his X-ray.

“And Julian won’t like it,” Kain adds.

“Fuck Julian,” I say, remembering the stupid flowers the older Omega sent to my mate. “This is about keeping you alive.”