Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“It was Satya,” she says, talking very softly.
I let that sink in. “She was the third person.”
Allie doesn’t seem to know what I mean. “She helped arrange everything. When I decided not to go with them, she chased me and tried to kill me.”
A flash of anger. “I trusted her.”
“I know. That’s what I said. Mass—”
I can’t take this any longer. I grab her and pull her into me roughly, not caring if we wake Rosie, not caring about anything. “I almost lost you,” I snarl and slam my lips into hers, kissing her fiercely and possessively.
She whimpers in surprise. For a brief second, I think she might resist.
Instead, she returns the kiss with passion.
I hold her and kiss her. Eagerness burns in me. Hate flares too. All of my enemies will burn for this. They’ll suffer for what they’ve done to my family.
We break the kiss off slowly. Her taste, lilacs and honey, lingers on my lips.
“I’m still angry with you,” she whispers.
“Good. I’m angry with you, too.”
“Fine.” She gets on her toes and kisses me softly. “I think we need to start over.”
“How’s that work?”
“Honesty. Everything. All the ugly stuff too. I want it all, and I’ll tell you everything.”
I hesitate. So much of my life is built on secrets. But I nod slowly. “I can do that.”
She lets out a relieved breath. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Good. Okay.” She pulls away. I wish she wouldn’t, but she sits down at the edge of the bed and gestures for me to join her. I sit as she twists slightly so she can look at me and watch Rosie at the same time. “Remember that young man you found killed on the beach? He gave me a cell phone. I’ve kept it hidden in the couch.”
A tension unclenches from around my heart. “That makes sense.”
“It does?”
“We could tell he’d been sending unauthorized messages. Now we know how. What did you do with the phone?”
“It’s in our apartment hidden in the couch. I’m sorry, Mass. I should have told you right away, but I was afraid.”
“You should have, but there are bigger problems. Tell me about what happened.”
She seems to deflate as she tells me the full story. The meeting in the solarium. The texts, the calls, all leading up to Gabe and that boat. “It was Satya who gave it away. When I asked who sent them, she wouldn’t say.”
“Medved.” Molten iron fills me and glows in my core.
“That’s why I ran. I didn’t really want to go to begin with, but Gabe was there. I had to talk to him.”
“Satya’s working for my enemy.” I look at my hands. “Everything I’ve built feels like a lie.”
“I’m sorry, Mass. I really am.” She touches my knee. “What can I do?”
“I paid for her husband’s cancer treatments. That’s how we met each other. He lived for a few more years but died in the end. After he passed, I brought her here, gave her work, took her in. I treated her like family, and now this.” My hands curl into fists. “Medved’s a virus making everyone around me sick.”
“I’m not sure how much Gabe understood about what was happening. He saved my life after Satya started shooting. Please, if you catch him, don’t kill him.”
I stare at her grimly. “No promises.”
“For me, Mass. Keep him alive, at least until I can talk to him.”
“If it’s possible, I will. But Lucy’s in charge of that operation, and she really loves drone missiles.”
Allie’s face pales, but she seems to accept that. “What are we going to do now?”
I lean in and kiss her lightly. Then I stand and pace. Rosie’s sleeping fitfully. “You two will return to our apartment. Put our daughter in her crib. It’s been a long night already.”
“Then what?”
“Give me the phone. I need to find out how deep this plot with Medved goes. I need to smoke him out.”
“How will you do that?”
“I’ll make a few calls.”
ALLIE
Car horns blare nearby and an ambulance wails in the distance. Voices echo between buildings as I drag my coat tighter around myself. The Fortress feels tropical and warm all the time, but New York City is freezing in the winter. I almost forgot how cold it could feel with the breeze whipping around the skyscrapers.
I walk slower than I need to. It’s nice being back here. A part of me thought I’d never get to see the city again. The Fortress felt like a prison I’d never escape from, right up until it started to feel like a home I never wanted to leave.
The city might be my first love, but I think my heart’s got room for more than I realized.
I keep my head down and my hands shoved inside my pockets. I miss Rosie like crazy and wish she were here, but that was never realistic. There’s no way I could pull off this mission with a toddler in tow, and I’d never put her in this kind of danger, even though I don’t really think anything bad is going to happen.