Page 12 of Scaled Daddy's Secret Heir
“Everything is.”
He’s good. I hate how good.
There’s no bravado in his tone. No push. He’s not trying to intimidate me. He’s trying to let me pick the threat out of the lineup all by myself.
Which makes it worse.
Because he doesn’tneedto threaten me. That’s how you know someone’s capable. They give you the out. Let you write your own ultimatum.
And you still walk the path they already laid.
“You’ve been watching me?” I ask.
“For a few days.”
My throat tightens. Not from fear—yet. From exposure. The realization that all my carefully balanced blind spots have been lit up like a holiday parade.
“What gave me away?”
“You didn’t get greedy.”
That throws me.
“What?”
“You’re not bleeding the system. You’re shifting risk. Protecting your corner, not expanding it.”
I frown. “Is that... supposed to be praise?”
“It’s an observation. I make a lot of those.”
His eyes lock with mine.
“Alliance wants this leak shut down. Quietly or permanently. I can make sure it’s the first one.”
“Or you could’ve just reported me and saved yourself the chat.”
“I don’t like wasting assets.”
I bark out a laugh. “Wow. I feel so valued.”
He cracks a faint smile. The first real one. It’s unnerving. Not because it’s fake—but because it isn’t.
“I can get you clear of the League,” he says. “And the vultures sniffing around your enclave. You’ve got three contractor teams cross-referencing your manifests. One of them already tried bribing your night shift lead. He turned it down. He’ll be dead by next cycle.”
My skin goes ice cold.
He doesn’t blink.
“Why help me?” I ask, quieter now. “What’s the catch?”
“You help me trace deeper leaks. I help you keep breathing.”
“Simple as that?”
“Yes.”
I sit back. Fold my arms.
