Page 96 of Code Name: Typhon

“As long as you do not raise your voice again or make any demands of me. I’m not a child, Niv. You’ve no right to treat me as such.”

“Agreed.”

“The other thing you should know is that, regardless of what you tell me, I love Levi.”

“I promise that when I explain, you won’t.”

I folded my arms. “Get on with it, then.”

“Your fiancé wants to kill me. He’s been waiting for an opportunity to do so for eleven years.”

“Go on.”

“Isn’t that enough? Do you really want to be married to someone who’s threatened to kill a man who is as close to you as a brother?”

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “The only person I heard issuing such a threat was you.”

“It was a figure of speech said to protect you.”

“I heard you, Niven. It wasn’t an idle threat. I stood there, waiting for you to say more, anything at all that would help me understand.”

He shook his head. “You’ve met Kima Sakari.”

I raised my chin. “I have. She’s a lovely woman.”

“Do you know who she is to him?”

With every word Niven spoke, I felt more disgusted. “They’re like siblings?—”

“He blames me for her father’s death. Holds me personally responsible for it. That’s why he wants to kill me. The man he considered his mentor was a double agent. He got himself killed. Typhon can’t accept that, so he’s made me the scapegoat to anyone who will listen.”

“While I have no idea what you’re talking about, it still makes little sense. If what you’re saying is true, there would’ve been an investigation. No one would act on Levi’s word alone.”

Niven shook his head. “There was one, and the findings were sealed. Even I wasn’t given the chance to read it. I know damned well that whatever it contains would’ve exonerated me. Typhon and Z buried it to cover their own arses and Jekyll’s.”

“If that’s the case, why are you considering returning to work for Z?”

“Another man who was there that day has appealed to him on my behalf. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was blackmailing him into it.”

“Refuse. You certainly don’t need the money. Even after spending a million pounds on the cottage, I know you have more than enough to live on. We have the same trust, Niv.”

He stood and paced. “Money isn’t the point. If I can get back into MI6, maybe I can get my hands on that report somehow, then I can prove exactly who Jekyll was and who Typhon is now.”

“If you’re suggesting Levi is also a double agent, I don’t believe you. I’ll never believe you. That night in the hospital parking lot, I heard every word you said as clearly as I would’ve if you were standing beside me. Rather than admit I heard it, I asked Levi what you’d said. He covered for you, Niven. He said I must’ve misunderstood.”

“Did he tell you what happened between us in Shere?” he asked.

“He hasn’t mentioned seeing you.”

Niven shook his head. “Of course he hasn’t. He wants you to think he’s the bigger man. He’s even proposed, for God’s sake. Once he’s worn you down, made you trust him, that’s when he’ll strike. He’ll devastate you as a way to get back at me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He walked over to the door and pulled it open. “When it happens, and I promise you it will, know this. I will be there for you because I love you. Because I’d do anything for you. I’ve proven this to you time and again. I’ll forgive you for not believing me, and I will comfort you just like I have every time your parents have trod all over you.”

“Niven—”

“I love you, Eliza, no less than I’d love a sister. I am the one who’s looked out for you and protected you. That will never change.”

---