"Y-yes. I understand. I'll tell him.""Good."Then Jake turned. Pivoted on his heel. And threw the SUV.It sailed through the air like a toy. Twenty feet. Thirty. Forty. Crashed into a stack of shipping containers with a sound like the end of the world.Metal screaming. Glass exploding. The containers crumpling like aluminum cans. The SUV's frame twisted into something that didn't even look like a car anymore. More like abstract art. Violent art.Alarms started blaring. Loud. Echoing across the pier.Jake turned back to the leader. "Go. Now. Before I change my mind about letting you live."The man didn't need to be told twice. He ran. Stumbled over his own feet. Fell. Got back up. Kept running. Disappeared into the darkness.Jake went back to Tommy. "Come on. Let's get you checked out."They walked toward Jake's car. Tommy kept looking back at the destroyed SUV. At the wreckage. At the eleven men still groaning on the warehouse floor."Dude." Tommy grabbed Jake's arm. "DUDE. You just

"Not long. Few weeks maybe.""And the superhuman strength thing? The throwing cars? When did that happen?""Even more recent than that.""Man." Tommy leaned back. "I feel like I missed like three seasons of your life. Last time we talked you were washing dishes. Now you're a superhuman bodyguard intern with a scary CEO boss who can apparently fight better than you.""She can't fight better than me," Jake said. Then paused. "Actually. I don't know. Maybe she can. I've never fought her.""Please never fight her. I feel like that would destroy the city."Jake almost smiled. "Probably."They reached the hospital. Jake took Tommy inside. Got him checked out. Bruises. Minor cuts. Nothing broken. The doctors wanted to keep him overnight for observation."I'll be fine," Tommy said from his hospital bed. "You should go. Get some rest like your terrifying boss ordered.""You sure?""Yeah. Besides, I need time to process everything. My brain feels like scrambled eggs right now." Tommy grinned. "

Jake dragged himself through the revolving doors of Titan Enterprises at exactly seven fifty-five in the morning. His eyes felt like someone had poured sand in them. Every muscle ached from last night's warehouse fight. Tommy was safe now, recovering at his apartment with strict instructions to lie low. That was something, at least.But now Jake had a different battle to survive.A board meeting. Where he had to sit quietly and take notes like the nobody intern everyone thought he was.The elevator ride up felt too short. His reflection in the polished metal doors showed dark circles under his eyes. Great. He looked as exhausted as he felt. Jake straightened his cheap tie and tried to look alert instead of like someone who'd thrown a two-ton SUV at armed thugs a few hours ago.The boardroom was already half full when he slipped inside. Twelve leather chairs around a table so polished he could see the ceiling lights reflected in it. The kind of room that screamed money and power and de

Three days earlier, the setup had been perfect.Victor's office occupied the top floor of a building downtown. Floor to ceiling windows. View of the whole city. Everything dark wood and leather and the kind of furniture that cost more than most people's cars.Elena Volkov stood in front of his massive desk. Hands clasped behind her back. Posture perfect. Face neutral.She looked different than she would at Titan. Hair down instead of up. No makeup. Dressed in all black like she was going to a funeral or a heist."You understand the mission?" Victor asked. He sat behind his desk, fingers steepled under his chin."Perfectly." Elena's Russian accent was thicker here. More natural. "Infiltrate Titan Enterprises under the Elena Volkov identity. Get close to Jake Morrison. Create problems between him and Sora Chen. Gather intelligence on their operations and the artifacts they're protecting.""Morrison is Chen's kept man," Victor said. He pulled up photos on his tablet. Surveillance shots o

Jake couldn't figure out what the hell was going on with Sora.For the past week, she'd been acting weird. Not normal weird. Ice-cold-don't-talk-to-me weird.They had a chairman meeting that morning. Just the two of them and Harrison in the secure conference room where they could actually talk freely. Jake had questions about a potential acquisition. Needed Sora's input on the financial side."So about the Meridian Tech acquisition," Jake started. "I was thinking we could—""Focus on your duties, Mr. Vale." Sora didn't even look up from her tablet. "We have a company to run."Mr. Vale. She called him Mr. Vale. In private. When it was just them and Harrison.Jake blinked. "Uh, okay. But did you get a chance to review the—""I'm busy. Excuse me."She stood up. Walked out. Heels clicking on the marble floor like little angry hammers.The door closed behind her with a solid thunk.Jake sat there. Stared at the empty chair she'd just vacated."Did I do something?" he asked Harrison.The ma