Page 63 of Scars Run Deep

He stared at me in that penetrative way again. And then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t be certain. You still qualify as a risk.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.” I’d determine a way around it either way. “And in this first option, what of Aurora?”

“My daughter will be gone. Off the grid.”

“No deal.”

Ignoring that, he said, “The second option is Aurora remains with you. You don’t get my assistance in such a profound way, in person. I continue to work from the shadows. I’ll keep the Head Infidels from discovering you’re responsible for taking their dollhouses down by causing several key distractions. I’ll also hold back the Heretics, preventing them from coming close to you again.”

“And what would the third option be if I went home right now and told Aurora all about this? You contacting me that day, being at the scene of battle, sniping our remaining opponents, then every detail of this encounter between us?”

“Aurora and me reuniting has to be on my terms. Not hers. Her emotional reaction to this will invite far too much risk and unpredictable results that will endanger her, me, Liv, all my sources, and you.”

“If you pull her out, it’s going to be a snatch-and-grab?”

“Yes.”

“That’s fucking brutal for a father who hasn’t set eyes on his daughter in years, who even made her believe he was dead for a time too.”

“All that matters is the outcome—ensuring her safety and protecting the mission.” He moved right up into my personal space. “I’m not worried about you telling her, so your threat to try to counter my manipulations is rendered null and void. You’re aware that the moment you tell her, she’ll run to me and leave you.” A dangerous smirk played on his lips. “You see where your growing desperation to bring down the Infidels has led you? You thought you were challenging me and gaining a win over me by threatening me with your knowledge of Nyx to force a meeting. But all it's done is allow me to move you into a difficult and no-win position with the woman you love.” He growled and grasped my jaw. “A position that will ensure, no matter which direction things go in, she’ll see you as betraying her trust, keeping secrets again, her own father from her, in fact.”

I stared up at him. “Why?”

“I told you, kid, you can’t have my daughter.”

I dislodged his grip and knocked his hand away. “You come for her and I’ll stop you.”

“Is that so?” he asked, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“You’ll be making an enemy where you need an ally,” I reminded him.

“Hmm, so that means you’ll be taking Option 2, yes?” he said, sarcasm dripping.

I shook my head. “No wonder my father had such an affinity for you.”

“When it comes to my family, nothing is off the table. There are no lengths I won’t go to, no lines I won’t cross to protect them and shield them from this fucked-up world. You hold the same sentiment for Jonah and Killian. You just aren’t used to having that thrown back at you.”

His tactical watch buzzed, jolting us both, and slashing through the intensity enveloping us.

“Time’s up,” he was telling me in the next beat.

The door behind me beeped and I shot a look over my shoulder to see it unlocking a moment later.

It was barely a second before I turned back.

But he was gone.

I scanned the immediate area.

Absolutely no sign of him.

He’d disappeared back into the shadows.

Son of a bitch.

I retrieved my phone from my jacket pocket and I was poised to dial in the next moment.

Then I was gritting my teeth, resistance getting in the way.

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