She sat carefully on the edge.
He brought her water himself.
That surprised her.
Powerful men usually sent other people to do small kindnesses.
“Tell me again,” he said. “Slowly. In Arabic first, then Portuguese.”
So she did.
She repeated every word she remembered. The phrase about hiding him. The tunnel. The timing. The driver. The tall man in the suit. She described their gestures, their positions near the limousine, the way the driver did not look nervous but prepared.
Marco listened without interrupting.
When she finished, his office phone rang.
He answered, listened, and went still.
“Under the rear seat?” he asked.
A pause.
“And the driver?”
Another pause.
“Bring Victor to me. Not Aaron. Victor.”
He hung up and looked at Kiara.
“They found something hidden under the seat. A kit containing substances that could render a person unconscious. Enough to remove me quietly before anyone understood what happened.”
Kiara’s mouth went dry.
“So I wasn’t wrong.”
“No,” Marco said quietly. “You were not wrong.”
For the first time that morning, Kiara felt fear fully catch her.
It was one thing to suspect danger.
It was another to know she had stepped directly into it.
A secretary brought sandwiches, fruit, and juice. Kiara hesitated. Helena always said gifts from strangers could become invisible chains. But hunger was louder than caution, and Marco did not pressure her. He simply set the tray nearby and continued making calls.
She ate quickly, then felt embarrassed by how quickly.
Marco pretended not to notice.
The door opened, and Victor entered with a woman carrying a laptop. She had brown hair tied in a severe bun and a gaze so sharp Kiara immediately stopped chewing.
“Mr. Alliance,” Victor said, “this is Olivia from digital security. She found something.”
Olivia placed the laptop on the table.
“Someone began attempting to access our main servers at the exact time you were supposed to leave the building,” she said. “The limousine operation may have been a physical diversion for a digital intrusion.”
Marco’s face darkened.
“Internal or external?”
“Both. The requests are coming from outside channels, but they’re using valid credentials from inside our system.”
“Meaning?”
“Someone inside the company is helping them.”
Kiara looked between the adults.
“What are they trying to steal?”
Marco glanced at Olivia, then back at Kiara.
For a moment, he looked like a man deciding whether a child deserved the truth.
Then he said, “Project Aurora.”
“What is that?”
“A system that can detect patterns before humans see them. Economic shifts. Market crises. Infrastructure risks. If used properly, it could help governments, businesses, and communities make better decisions before disaster hits.”
“And if used badly?”
Marco’s mouth tightened.
“It could help someone manipulate markets, create panic, crash companies, and profit from chaos before anyone knew they were being played.”
Kiara understood immediately.
“It’s like having answers to a test before everyone else.”
Marco looked at her with new respect.
“Yes. Exactly.”
Kiara suddenly stood.
“I should go home. My grandmother will be worried.”
Marco nodded.