Back at Creed Tower, I walked into my office with a sharp edge in my chest I couldn't shake. The air smelled like paper, printer ink, and the smell of jasmine from my air freshener. I dropped my keys on the desk and called Jason in.
He stepped in like he always does, sharp in a tailored suit, holding a tablet in one hand. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yeah," I said, tossing him the burner phone we'd confiscated off the MI6 agent. "Find out what's on it. Cross-reference everything, calls, texts, even background code. I want to know who's been contacting him and from where."
Jason caught it, frowned. "On it. Anything else?"
I hesitated. Then said it. "The other person tracking Priority Alpha it's Firefox."
Jason blinked. "Wait... you mean the Firefox? Silent contracts, always anonymous? That Firefox?"
I nodded.
He squinted at me. "And who exactly is she?"
I leaned back in my chair. "Naomi."
Jason swore under his breath. "Jesus Christ. You're telling me your Naomi is Firefox?"
"Yeah."
Jason looked shaken for once. "She's been whispered about on the dark web. No face, no origin. She's like a ghost with a kill switch. How long have you known?"
"Few weeks back, I started to suspect. Confirmed it at the warehouse."
Jason dragged a hand down his face. "Alright. I'll get everything I can off that phone. And you want me to run background checks on all MI6 employees, right?"
"Yes. I think there's a mole. Someone warned Daniel Joe. We were minutes too late."
Jason nodded and left.
I stood there for a moment. Then made my way upstairs to my penthouse. I needed to clear my head.
---
The hot water hit my skin, but it didn't do a damn thing to douse the fire coursing through my veins. My mind wasn't here. It was back in the SUV, back in that goddamn warehouse, back in the split second our lips met.
Naomi.
The way her curves pressed into me. The way her lips felt like sin and salvation all at once. I groaned, my cock already hard as stone.
I wrapped my fist around it, the image of her eyes burning into mine replaying in my head. I imagined her dropping to her knees in front of me, imagined her full lips wrapping around my cock, taking me to the edge.
Her name tore from my throat as I came, painting the wall of my shower. Chest heaving, I leaned into the tile, one hand braced for support.
What the fuck are you doing to me, Naomi?
---
Cleaned up and in joggers and a tee, I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat on the leather sofa, burner phone in hand. The city lights outside pulsed like a living heartbeat. I dialed Director Langley.
He picked up after two rings. "Creed."
"We missed him. Daniel Joe wasn't at the South Pier location."
Langley cursed. "That confirms it then. Someone warned him."
"There's a leak in your agency," I said.
"I've started internal sweeps."
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. "You want to tell me why I was kept in the dark about Naomi being alive?"
Langley paused. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah," I replied in a tight tone.
"She's not your average person, Creed. Carlos, the former Director ordered a full blackout on her two years ago, when we found out she was alive. Said it was safer if everyone believed she was dead."
"For who?" I asked. "Her or the agency?"
Langley exhaled. "Both. Naomi's life was in danger. The people after her don't just disappear. Carlos thought removing her from the grid would keep her alive."
"Who was after her?"
"We never got names. But we knew she'd stepped on the wrong toes. Dirty ones."
"And now?" I asked.
"She's freelancing. Doesn't belong to one agency anymore. But Carlos' private sector pulls her in for priority missions, that's why she's on Priority Alpha."
My fingers twitched against my coffee mug. "She doesn't trust me."
"Would you, in her shoes?"
Silence.
Langley continued, "Keep working with her, Creed. You two together… might just get us what we need."
We hung up. But I couldn't sit still. Not now.
I stood at the window, staring out at the skyline, twirling the ring on my pinky.
Naomi was alive. She was back. But she was different now harder, colder, still just as damn magnetic.
And I needed answers.
But first, I needed to keep her alive, and gain her trust.
Whatever it took.