"This is gonna be tough," he said. "One mistake, one slip-up, and Alexander could start piecing things together."

"Then we won’t mess it up," Leo said confidently.

"That’s easier said than done," Reyes grumbled. "We’re trying to hide something from a pro who’s spent years undercover."

"We’ve been through worse stuff," Zayden chimed in, though his tone wasn’t very convincing.

Aylin turned away from her screen. "I’ve kicked off the process. It’ll take a few hours to clean everything up and create the new identity."

"How long before Alexander starts poking around?" Leo asked.

"He probably already has," Zayden said. "That’s why Kade is keeping tabs on him."

Right then, Zayden’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Kade, ’Target just went online. Running multiple searches.’

Zayden shared the message with everyone.

"He’s starting," Aylin said softly.

"Then we’d better hurry," Zayden replied.

*****

Two hours later, Aylin leaned back from her computer, rubbing her tired eyes.

"All set?" Zayden asked from behind her.

"Almost. I’ve wiped out ninety percent of her actual records. I’m just putting together the cover identity now." She opened a file. "Meet Ayla Winters: twenty-three, grad student, from a rich family on the East Coast. Her parents are ’international business consultants,’ which is why they’re hardly ever around and why Ayla has a trust fund."

"What about her sister?" Leo asked.

"She’s totally anonymous. The sister’s real, but there are no records of her. No name, no pictures, nothing at all. If Alexander looks into it, he’ll realize Ayla has a sister, but he won’t find any info about her."

"That might look shady," Reyes pointed out.

"Or it could suggest that someone powerful is guarding their privacy," Aylin shot back. "We’re betting on Alexander thinking the sister has the connections, not Ayla."

"It could work," Zayden said slowly. "As long as he never sees you."

"He won’t," Aylin promised. "I’ll make sure of that."

Zayden’s phone buzzed again with another text from Kade, ’The target had searched seven times: student directory, university records, social media. None of them listed "Ayla Alston." Now he is looking up "Ayla" + "university" and getting a bunch of results. He was going through them.’

"Good," Zayden texted back. "Keep him occupied."

"One thing is clear now: he knows Ayla; he didn’t forget her. He remembers—and that means he may remember Aylin too.. So, we are doing the right thing by making her change her last name," Reyes said.

"How long before he throws in the towel?" Leo asked.

"He won’t," Aylin said. "Not totally. But if we make it tough enough, he might think it’s not worth digging deeper, especially if he believes she’s connected to someone important."

"Or he might think she’s too much of a risk to keep alive," Reyes added grimly.

The room went quiet.

"That’s why we have security on her," Zayden finally said. "24/7. No exceptions."

Aylin saved her work and shut her laptop. "I’m done for now. The cover story is solid. If Alexander finds anything, it’ll be what we want him to see."

"Awesome." Zayden checked the time. "It’s getting late. Leo, Reyes, you two head home and get some sleep. We’ll meet up again in the morning."

"What about you?" Leo asked.

"I’ll stick around a bit longer to make sure everything’s secured."

Leo and Reyes exchanged glances, but they didn’t argue. They knew better.

Once they were gone, Zayden turned to Aylin.

"You should relax too," he said gently.

"I know. I just..." She looked at the monitors, at all the data they’d just changed. "I hate that we have to do this. Keep Ayla’s real identity hidden. Keep mine hidden too."

"It’s to keep you both safe," Zayden said, wrapping her in his arms.

"I get that." She leaned her head against his chest. "I just want this to be over."

"It will be," he assured her. "Soon."

But even as he said it, he realized it was a lie.

This was far from over.

******

Zayden’s room was dimly lit by the soft glow of Aylin’s laptop screen. She was sitting cross-legged on his huge bed, wearing one of his t-shirts that hung off one shoulder, her golden-brown hair tumbling in waves around her face as she typed away.

"You really should get some sleep," Zayden said from the doorway, watching her.

"I need to finish setting up Ayla’s new identity," Aylin replied without looking away from the screen. "There are still some holes in the university system that—"

She didn’t finish because Zayden was suddenly right behind her, his big hands sliding up her bare thighs under the t-shirt.

"Zayden," she said, trying to sound serious, but it didn’t really work as his fingers traced little patterns on her skin. "I’m working."

"I can tell," he murmured, kissing her neck. "And I’m working too."

"On what?" she asked.

"On getting you to relax."

His hands moved up higher, and Aylin bit her lip, trying to focus on the code in front of her. "I really need to—"

"You really need a break," Zayden interrupted, his fingers finding the edge of her panties. "You’ve been staring at that screen for three hours."

"That’s because—oh," Aylin’s breath hitched as his fingers slipped under the fabric. "Zayden, I can’t—"

"Can’t what?" He nipped at her earlobe, his voice dropping to that low, commanding tone that always made her melt. "Can’t work while I touch you? I think you can give it a shot."

"That’s not fair," Aylin protested weakly, even as her legs parted a bit.

"Life isn’t fair, hacker girl." He took his hand away, and she almost whimpered at the loss before he moved around to face her. "Take off your panties."

"What?"

"You heard me." His steel-blue eyes were filled with desire. "Take them off and come over here."

"Zayden, I really should—"

"Now, Aylin."

There was something in his voice that made her obey right away. She carefully set the laptop aside, then slid her panties down and tossed them somewhere on the floor.

"Good girl," Zayden said, already lying back on the bed. "Now bring that pretty pussy up here."

Aylin felt her face turn red. "Up where?"

He smirked. "My face. I’m hungry."

"Zayddd!"