The Glass Legacy

The Shadow Protocol

Silas Sterling’s jaw actually tightened, a brief flash of pure, unfiltered venom breaking through his smug facade. He clearly wasn’t used to women who fought back, let alone ones who insulted his company's architecture to his face.

He recovered quickly, offering a tight, forced smile. "Enjoy the champagne, Leo. The night is young. We will see who is embarrassed when the market opens on Monday."

Silas turned on his heel and disappeared back into the sea of tailored suits and silk gowns.

The moment he was out of earshot, Leo let out a low, dark sound of absolute approval. He stepped completely flush against Aria, his large hand sliding from her waist to rest flat against the bare skin of her back. The physical contact sent a jolt of pure electricity straight down her spine.

"You," Leo murmured, leaning down until his lips brushed her ear, "are a magnificent menace."

Aria looked up at him, her emerald eyes sparking with adrenaline and defiance. "I told you I didn't need you to protect me from tech bros. His firewalls are garbage, and his ego is worse."

Leo’s eyes darkened with that familiar, consuming hunger, but before he could respond, Aria’s gaze suddenly snapped over his broad shoulder.

Her hacker instincts, honed from years of surviving in the shadows, flared to life.

Across the ballroom, near the heavy velvet curtains that masked the service exits, a man was moving too fast. It wasn't Silas. It was an older, silver-haired man in a sharply tailored tuxedo. Aria recognized him instantly from the dossiers she had memorized while planning her initial breach.

"Leo," Aria whispered, her hand gripping the lapel of his jacket. "Richard Hayes. Executive Vice President of Server Architecture for Thorne Tech."

Leo’s demeanor shifted in a fraction of a second. The possessive lover vanished, and the apex predator returned. "What about him?"

"He just checked a burner phone, looked directly at Silas across the room, and slipped through the kitchen service doors," Aria said rapidly.

"Hayes has the security clearance to access the localized network from the hotel," Leo’s voice dropped to a lethal, icy whisper. "He’s the mole. He's going to trigger the secondary payload while I'm distracted in the ballroom."

Leo didn't hesitate. He grabbed Aria’s hand, his long fingers interlacing tightly with hers, and pulled her smoothly through the crowd. They didn't run—that would cause a scene—but Leo moved with a terrifying, purposeful speed, entirely shielding her from the press as they slipped behind the heavy velvet curtains.

The roar of the gala was instantly muffled as the heavy service doors swung shut behind them.

They were in a dimly lit, narrow corridor lined with steel catering carts. Leo pressed Aria back against the cool wall, his towering frame perfectly caging hers in the shadows to keep them out of sight.

"Stay behind me," Leo commanded, his hand reaching inside his tuxedo jacket to disengage the safety on a compact, matte-black sidearm she hadn't realized he was carrying.

Aria’s breath hitched. "You brought a gun to a corporate gala?"

"I bring a gun everywhere," Leo replied flatly, his ice-blue eyes scanning the empty corridor. "Especially when I'm carrying the most valuable asset I own."

He didn't give her time to process the weight of that statement. Leo moved silently down the hall, pulling Aria close behind him. They reached a heavy oak door marked Private Conference Room.

A faint strip of light bled from underneath the door. Inside, Hayes’s panicked voice echoed clearly.

"I don't care what you promised Silas!" Hayes was hissing into his phone. "The Ice Prince brought a girl. He isn't supposed to be distracted, he's supposed to be alone! If he checks the mainframe right now, he'll see the latency spike. I am uploading the execution file and getting out of here."

Aria locked eyes with Leo in the dim light. Hayes was about to pull the trigger on the virus.

Leo didn't wait for backup. He didn't call Marcus. The CEO of Thorne Tech holstered his weapon, took one step back, and drove his heavy, bespoke leather shoe directly into the center of the oak door, shattering the lock and kicking it entirely off its hinges.