Page 87 of Shadow Of Sin

“You literally just fought about the cereal.”

“I expressed concern about the cereal. There’s a difference.”

She’s been here for four days. Four days of Eva Moreno in the Molloy estate, and the entire house has shifted around her like she’s got serious gravitational pull. Gavin brings her sandwiches without being asked because he noticed she likes them. Tony has started making her a separate breakfast plate because he noticed she doesn’t eat enough. Ronan still calls her “the source,” which pisses me off, but he’s started directing questions to her before he directs them to me. That means he trusts her analysis. Not her, but the way her mind works. Lochlan and Adriana pull her into security meetings. Cillian texts me every night asking how she’s doing, which is his way of asking how I’m doing without actually asking. Sneaky little fucker. Like I can’t see right through him.

And I’m standing in a kitchen at seven in the morning watching her drink coffee in my shirt while my heart expands in a way that rattles my brain.

This is the part I wasn’t prepared for. Not the operation, not the danger, not even the sex. The domesticity. Seeing her first thing in the morning, completely unguarded and finding her place. Watching her leave her coffee cup on the right side of the sink because she’s right-handed. Listening to her hum some song I don’t recognize while she works. Feeling her even breaths against my skin when she falls asleep against me.

My brain absorbs all of it. Every habit, every quirk, every tiny detail of what it looks like when Eva Moreno exists in your space. And the space she takes up in my head is getting bigger every day, pushing out other things. Important things. Things like Dmitri Kozlov.

Which brings me to the actual problem.

“That son of a bitch made his move,” Ronan says later on that day.

We all gather in the office. Ronan sits behind the desk, Lochlan stands by the window, Gavin sprawls on the couch scrolling through his phone screens, Cillian in position by the door. Eva drops into the chair next to mine, our knees almost touching. I’m aware of the space between us. I always am.

“The Markham deal,” Ronan says, his voice tight. “A forty-two-million-dollar property acquisition in the Financial District. Adriana’s been leading it for eight months. It was supposed to close next Thursday.”

“Was supposed to close,” Lochlan repeats, his jaw tensing.

“The buyers pulled out this morning. They received an anonymous package containing internal communications, financial projections, and security assessments from inside the DiMicheli organization. Data that should never have left Adriana’s office.” Ronan looks around the table. “They’re not questioning the properties. They’re questioning whether the DiMichelis can protect confidential information. And if that sticks, every deal Adriana is running on behalf of her company and her family’s organization will have that same toxic cloud hanging over it.”

“Shit,” Cillian mutters.

“The warehouse data,” Eva says, pressing a hand to her forehead.

Ronan nods. “Dmitri sent it to the buyers to spook them. It worked. They walked away from the deal.”

“Forty-two fucking million,” Gavin says. “That’s a lot of money to lose because of a flash drive.”

“It’s not about the money,” Eva says. Every head in the room turns toward her. “It’s about proving he can do it. He just showed both families that he can torpedo a major deal with a single envelope. That’s a demonstration. Not an attack.”

“A demonstration of what?” Cillian asks.

“Of what happens if you don’t let him in.” She sits up straighter in the chair. “He’s basically saying that you need to give him a voice, or he’ll burn every deal you try to make. He doesn’t need to steal from you. He just needs to make sure nobody else wants to do business with you. That’s even more damaging.”

Ronan’s jaw tics. He looks at Lochlan.

“She’s right,” Lochlan says. “This is leverage, not theft. He’s positioning for a negotiation.”

“I don’t negotiate with someone who breaks into buildings and puts people in hospitals,” Ronan snaps.

“Then we need to take away his leverage before he uses it again,” Eva says. “He has data on three properties. We need to figure out which deals are vulnerable and secure them before he can send out another envelope.”

“We also need to figure out how he’s delivering the intel,” I say. “The envelope to the buyers didn’t come through the mail. Someone hand-delivered it. Which means he has people in the Financial District who can walk into an office building and drop a package on a desk without being noticed.”

“The Albanians,” Eva says, her eyebrows flying up. “Hoxha’s construction and cleaning companies. They have crews that go in and out of commercial buildings every day. Nobody looks twice at a cleaning crew, right?”

Ronan points to Lochlan. “I need you to get me a list of every building in that portfolio and which cleaning and maintenance crews service them. We need to cross-reference the list with Hoxha’s companies.” He looks at Eva. “You. Figure out which of our remaining deals Dmitri can hit next using the same playbook. I want to know where he’s going before he gets there.”

“Done,” Eva says, shooting up from the chair. She hurries toward the door.

I watch her go, the air around her charged with the next challenge she needs to crack open.

Gavin catches my eye from the couch. He doesn’t say anything. He just raises his eyebrows and gives me a look that says, “bro, you’re staring.”

I am staring.