This wasn’t a case ofwhat ifDominion was unleashed. It already had been. The codes had been combined. The theory proven. The virus existed. It was learning, evolving, actively searching for a way out of the stand-alone servers it had been tested on.
Because that’s what it had been designed to do.
Forget advanced cybersecurity. Forget keeping software up to date. Forget trying to patch vulnerabilities. Once Dominion found its way out of one of its cages, there’d be no stopping it.
Not without the lock.
And there’d be no controlling it.
Not without the key.
His heart squeezed tight, and a sharp pain ricocheted around his chest as the image on his screen dissipated, and the characters morphed back into regular text. Becca once again slipping from his grasp; a fear unlike any he’d ever known gripped him.
He hadn’t realized it then, but he’d put the woman he loved in the worst kind of danger. If anyone discovered her involvement, she’d be the number one target of multiple governments, and her name added to the top of Imperium’s most wanted list, right along with his.
Shit.
She’d almost lost her life once because of him.
He couldn’t let it happen again.
* * *
More settledthan he’d felt in days, Jamie escorted Summer into the great room. His hand pressed to the small of her back, touching her grounded him, kept his head in the here and now. His purpose clear, doubt had fled. He belonged here. With his girls. With the JTT. They were a family—his family—and they were everything he needed to survive the challenges ahead.
“Finally!” Gray rushed forward, enveloping Summer and Halia in a gentle hug. “Did Jamie tell you about Dominion? Are you okay?”
“He did,” Summer said, nodding as Gray released her. “We decided to stay with the JTT.”
Gray snorted. “As if I would let you go.” She hitched her thumb at the assembled group. “If the world goes to shit, there’s no better place to be than with this band of buttfucks.”
“I think what my sister is trying to say,” Adam clarified as he approached with Eve. “Is that we’re glad you decided to stay.”
“You’re saying the same thing in different ways, honey.” Eve reached to take Halia from Summer’s arms. “Why don’t we go have a seat by the fire. I’d like to start making a list of things I think we should stock up on…just in case.”
“We need formula!” Eyes wide, Summer turned her panicked gaze to Jamie. “And baby food, and immunizations, and children’s medicine, and—”
“Easy.” He cupped the back of her neck and pulled her against his chest. “We’ll get everything we need.” He held her until her trembling subsided. “Work with Eve to make a list, and Z will put the orders in. Okay?”
Her arms wrapped around his waist she squeezed him tighter. “But what if I forget something important?”
“That’s why we work together.” He caressed his hand down her back. “Don’t worry, we’ll have more than enough of what we need, and contingencies in place for everything else. This is what we do, and we’re good at it.”
“The best,” Eve said before planting a kiss on Halia’s head.
Reassured, Summer filled her lungs with a steadying breath, and when she stepped back, her cheeks were pink. “None of that, buttercup.” He reached up and brushed a wayward curl from her face. “Everyone’s entitled to their own feelings. Fear of the unknown can bring on anxiety—it’s normal—but anytime you feel the least bit scared or overwhelmed, you come find me, got it?”
“Got it. We’re a team, and we stick together.”
Her grin eased his own worries, and the tightening in his chest brought on by her sudden panic lessened. She’d said a team. Not a couple. Didn’t matter. He’d take what he could get and be grateful she wanted any part of him at all.
His eyes tracked her progress to the couch, and he watched her settle into the cushions before he turned his attention to Adam who hitched his head, indicating he should follow.
Together they made their way to a quiet corner where he leaned against the wall to take the weight off his knee. Arms and ankles crossed, he waited for the question he knew was coming.
“So you and Summer?”
He shrugged a shoulder, a failed attempt at nonchalance. Whether she chose to have a sexual relationship or not, she belonged to him. And he refused to allow anybody—not even the leader of the JTT—to come between them.
