R I L E Y

When I heard footsteps approaching, I didn't bother looking up from my book. With Kane watching silently, Arlo and I had been bickering all afternoon, our words had gotten significantly more vulgar as time went on. Finn eventually had enough and practically dragged Arlo away so he wouldn't have to hear another word of it. I took it as a personal victory.

"What do you want, Damari?" I asked.

"I'm insulted you think I'm Arlo."

Then my gaze did snap up. Jake stood before me, glaring downward. "I have another job for you, Traversa."

I gave a loud sigh and threw my book onto the arm of the chair. "Do you remember what happened last time you asked me to do something for you?"

"It worked perfectly and you got the paperwork I needed from Hundsen."

"You left out the part where Kane and I almost got shot by one of his men."

He waved a hand. "Minor details. The point is, you were able to do it. I need you to do it again. And this time, I think you'll be motivated to do it without me bribing you with Shires' company."

I didn't look at Kane, though I knew he was focused on his computer and trying very politely to look like he wasn't eavesdropping. "What is it?"

"I need you to poke around the ONNT building and find out what they're hiding. Krasowski won't disclose what was on the microchip I stole from Imperium. They're hiding something."

I blinked. "Are you insane? The ONNT building? I can't break in there, their security is higher than ever after what happened with Benny and Gigi."

"Don't be stupid, you wouldn't break in." I scowled, but let him keep talking. "You go in with an excuse to see Krasowski. Once you're done with her, you give her the slip and double back to those conference rooms on the second floor. There are always meetings in there; people were going in and out earlier. Do whatever you have to do to stay hidden. Once you find adequate information, slip back out and find the soldiers. After you give them an excuse, they'll bring you back here."

A moment went by. "You are insane."

"I'm a visionary." His face didn't change. "Don't you want to take something from Krasowski? Don't you want her to suffer?"

I scoffed. "Yeah, more than anything else at the moment."

"Then do it. She won't suspect a thing if you're as good a liar as you've proven to be in the past." That was a jab at my dealings with Benny.

Two could play at this game. "You're not a bad liar yourself, as we've seen with the secrets you kept about Benny's power," I returned. "Why don't you go?"

"Must I explain myself to everyone?" He sighed and began to speak to me as if I was a petulant child. "She's already suspicious of me. If I went there again, she'd call her men on me in seconds. It has to be you."

I let his statement hang in the air for a moment. Then a slow smile grew on my face. "Alright." I got to my feet. "Alright, I'll do it."

With that, I left—after notifying her office to send transport—and went up to my room and opened a cabinet. Inside I had poisons and mixtures of every type and color. It had become both a hobby of mine and a backup plan after the attack on the compound.

I ran my finger over the various bottles until I found the one I needed. As I pulled it from the shelf, I smiled down at it. This would come in very handy.

As I walked back down the stairs, Kane caught a glimpse of the vial in my clenched fist. "What the hell is that?"

"Oh, nothing." I feigned innocence. "Just a mixture I whipped up for Krasowski."

He wasn't fooled. "What does it do?" From his tone, I knew he was afraid I might try to kill her.

"Let's just say that as soon as she drinks it, she'll be rushing for the bathroom."

"How are you going to get her to drink that so openly?"

I shrugged. "I'm good at sleight-of-hand."

"If she catches you slipping that to her, you'll never get the information you want."

"Then I won't get caught." He said nothing, just kept quietly watching me in a way that made me feel like the silence should be filled. "Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?"

"I wouldn't be here if there wasn't a reason."

Rolling my eyes, I went to walk past him back into the living room, but he stopped me with a gentle hand on my wrist. I turned to look up at him, heart pounding.

He let my hand drop. "I just wanted to say...I'm sorry."

"For what?" I knew what he was sorry for. Still, I looked up at him through lowered lashes, wanting to hear him say it.

"For this," he said, gesturing between us. "You were right. Things have been strained with us. Whether that's because of my brother, or our last discussion, I'm sorry I let that happen."

I cocked my head to the side. "What your brother did...he didn't just make me lie to our team, he made me lie to you." I pushed my hair behind my ear. "It wasn't easy. When I was talking to you that day, trying to get information from you, I was so close to breaking down. I almost told you."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't sure what he'd do if I did. Benny made so many threats... I was terrified of him hurting you. He knew that would kill me."

His face was dark in the shadowed hallway. I couldn't read his expression; he kept his face emotionless. But his eyes...

"It's done. We're still alive," he said. I wasn't sure if there was any hidden meaning behind his words.

"I know. It's finished and I still feel...I still feel what I felt then."

"What do you feel?"

I didn't even hesitate. "Guilty. Isolated. So devastatingly alone."

There was quiet after that and I wished I could take the words back. As vulnerable as I'd gotten him to be before, I'd never revealed anything quite so raw to him. Or to anyone, for that matter.

"Just because you were alone your whole childhood doesn't mean you always have to be." Kane's tone was low and dark. "You'll have me for as long as I will live. And perhaps even after."

My heart skipped a beat, as it often did when he said things like that. I was speechless; I didn't think I could get any words out, even if I did know what to say. I'd never had anyone there for me before. It was strange to know that someone would look out for me, watch my back, that someone cared enough to.

As usual, he towered over me. My small frame felt even smaller next to his towering height and muscular figure. He had to look down at me now that we stood on the same level, dark hair hanging into his eyes.

Oh God, his eyes. In the shadows, they were a deep brown. So brown my chest felt tight.

He'd always been good-looking and I'd always been very aware of it, but now it almost hurt as I looked at him. I could barely form a coherent thought. And after what he'd just told me...

The memory of his lips on mine was very fresh in my mind now. Slow. Soft. He always came across as so rough and powerful that it surprised me when I realized he was more gentle than any other boy I'd been with.

Neither of us said anything. But I wasn't in the mood for talking anyway. I wanted him to feel what I felt. I wanted...

"Traversa, stop whatever you're doing out there get your ass in here. Your ride just arrived." I nearly snarled at Jake's frigid voice. It made me wish I could bring Delphinium back, if only to make him slightly less unpleasant to deal with.

Kane gave me a nod, as if to press me forward. A corner of my mouth pulled up. "I'll be back, Shires. Don't miss me too much."

With that, I stepped around him and into the entryway. Exchanging a flat look with Jake, I went out the front doors and into the ONNT's waiting arms.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

I could read the suspicion on Marcella Krasowski's face as soon as I entered her office. She stood behind her desk, hands folded. Every inch of her seemed to be flawlessly put-together; there wasn't a single aspect of her that was out of place. But that made me wonder about her. What was she using this perfect facade to cover up?

"Traversa," she said, looking less than excited to be meeting with me. "What was so important you needed to meet with me privately?"

I pur myself into the body and mind of a worried, shy girl. "I'm sorry for the way I was acting the first two times we met. My team is...well, I have to act a certain way to keep a certain position. I'm sure you understand that."

Krasowski raised an eyebrow but said nothing. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Hopefully she believed this idiotic character I was playing.

"I...it's something that I couldn't say in front of the others. I needed it to be just the two of us."

"Then say it, girl. They're not here now."

I shook my head, wide eyes straying to the three soldiers stationed around her office. "We still have company. What I'm about to tell you...I need you to hear it, and you only. No prying ears or eyes." She followed my gaze and gave them a nod. Without question, the three went to leave the room.

As all their attentions were diverted, I made a show of leaning forward to sit in the chair before her desk. But what I was really doing was slipping the vial of liquid into her dark coffee. No one noticed a thing. I resisted the growing smirk on my face in lieu for a worried frown.

The door clicked shut behind me. I waited until the soldier's marching footsteps disappeared down the hallway to speak. "Living in the compound, I hear things. My team talks when they think no one's listening. I've heard some things of interest. I felt like I needed to tell you first."

She raised her coffee cup to her lips. "Go on."

I watched her drink from it with dark glee. "The first thing I heard was that they don't like you in the director's seat. They want Hunt back." I was feeding her information she was expecting to hear; she expected criminals like us to turn on a respectable woman like her. So she wouldn't doubt the validity of what I was saying.

Krasowski let out a dry laugh. "I didn't need to hear it from you to know that. It's very clear to me I'm not liked. And I didn't anticipate to be."

She thought I was stupid for telling her something so obvious. But I was only stalling for time. As soon as the mixture reached her stomach...

"You're not worried? You don't think they'll go to drastic measures to get Hunt back?"

I was preying on her insecurities, her deepest worries. Of course, I had no idea what our crew had planned for her. But wherever it was, it would need to come soon. After this, her suspicions about us would only be increased. But according to Jake, this information was worth it.

"That's for me to worry about." But then she cocked her head to the side. "Did they give you reason to believe that would go to drastic measures?"

I shrugged, doing my best to seem unsure of myself. "I'm not sure...It's clear they don't like you. And they're dangerous people. We all are, but...they haven't said anything in front of me. I think they're already suspicious. And they certainly will be now that I've come here."

"You made the right choice." Her dark eyes seemed to warm a bit. "You were right to come to me with this information first."

Nodding, I let out a shaky breath. I wished I could claw her face off.

Still watching me intently, the director asked, "Now what else did you hear?"

"Right, there is more. Now, this is much-"

I jumped as she suddenly doubled over, banging into her desk. All the trinkets on top fell over.

The poison had just set in.

I leapt to my feet. "Ms. Krasowski, are you alright?" She shook her head violently from side to side, her face extremely green.

"Do you want me to get-"

"Leave me," she managed to get out before rushing to the connecting bathroom, tightly holding her stomach.

So I left her in her office to vomit up her guts for the rest of the afternoon, feeling very proud of myself.

My next target were the series of conference rooms down the hall. That was where Jake had said he'd seen them congregating earlier. Hopefully I could hear through the walls, because there was no way I could actually get inside.

I got there without a problem. No one was staring yet; after all, the seven of us were here relatively regularly. I leaned up against the wall as close to the door as I could be without drawing suspicion. Staring down at my nails, I pretended to look bored and not like I was listening in on a top secret meeting.

For a moment, the commotion in the hallway was too loud for me to focus and I wondered if we'd have been better off sending Arlo. But then I raised my chin and told myself that I could get this job done. It had to be me.

Only snippets of the conversation was audible to me. I did my best to piece together the information I heard, hoping that something would be good enough to bring home to the others.

But then I heard it. Someone said it loudly, even easier for me to hear and know it hadn't been my imagination.

My heart dropped. What they'd just said...it could change everything for us. For the worse.