Page 93 of Viper’s Reign

“And she believed it?”

I clap Noah lightly on the shoulder. “Women will believe anything if you’re charming enough.” And Vanya can be a charming bastard when he wants to be.

We return to the castle and head toward the back, down the stairs that lead to the basement. As soon as we reach the bottom, I quicken my pace, eager to get the answers I need out of Levi—even if it means ripping the bastard’s arm out of its socket.

But when we round the corner to his cell, the sight waiting for us stops all three of us cold.

Romanov sucks in a sharp breath.

Noah curses under his breath.

My hands clench into fists as I stare at the body hanging from the ceiling.

The coward stripped off his clothes, knotted them into a makeshift rope, and hanged himself from the metal hook where a ceiling fan used to be. The motherfucker.

My blood roars in my ears as I watch my best chance at catching Daniel Salvi sway gently from side to side, lifeless. “Bastard,” I growl, resisting the urge to storm into the cell and pummel the hell out of his corpse.

Instead, I grit my teeth and drive my fist into the wall. The impact judders up my arm, dulling the worst of the fury raging through my veins. I need to think calmly—letting my emotions take over won’t get me anywhere.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I yank it out, ready to tear into whichever unlucky bastard decided to call me at this moment. My anger eases when I see the caller ID. “Tell me you have Ghostbridge.”

“I have it! I fucking got it!” The triumph in Kyle’s voice is infectious, and the rest of my anger drains away.

“Good.” Turning my back on Levi’s body, I head for the stairs, Romanov and Noah trailing behind me.

Finally—a break.

“I’m sending you a copy of the software right now. When’s my balance hitting?”

“Once I confirm it’s actually Ghostbridge and not some knockoff.” I end the call.

I text Aleksei and Vanya on the drive home, updating them about Levi’s death and how I might have acquired something that will grant me access to Daniel’s house—and, hopefully, the answers we’ve been chasing.

Ghostbridge isn’t compatible with mobile devices, so testing it will have to wait until I’m back at my desk. The waiting has me wound tight, and my tension spreads to Noah, who is just as tense as he weaves through the downtown traffic.

The second he pulls into the driveway, I’m out of the car, even before it fully stops, taking the stairs to my study two at a time.

When I reach my desk, I power up my laptop, find Kyle’s message in my inbox with the software attached, and enable every security protocol I have—just in case—before installing.

It only takes a couple of minutes. Long, agonizing minutes spent drumming my fingers on my desk.

As soon as it finishes, I run the software, and when it comes up on screen, my lips curl into a grin. Yeah—this is the real deal. I feed in everything I’ve gathered on Daniel’s security system, and Ghostbridge begins probing for vulnerabilities, searching for the weakest point to exploit.

While it works, I wire Kyle the rest of his payment.

I’m setting my phone back on the desk when Noah walks in. He quietly sinks into the seat across from me, eyes rapt. I barely spare him a glance as I move my focus back to the software, which has pinged with a notification. We have a weakness.

My heart soars with excitement. I click the attack prompt, and the software begins its countdown in percentages.

I hold my breath as it goes from one percent to two, three, five, ten, twenty. The progress bar seems to crawl until it hits ninety percent, then ninety-five, ninety-nine…

At a hundred, a small green light appears at the bottom of the screen, followed by a low beep, and then I’m in. I’m inside Daniel’s security system. Inside his house.

I now have access to all the cameras, audio recordings, as well as electronics—phones, computers, TVs, AI-powered software—everything.

I chuckle darkly.

“You’re in?” Noah asks.