Page 108 of Heart of a Villain

Gage left his seat and crouched next to her. “Talk, love.”

“I…need…to…breathe.”

“I won’t ask again.”

“You…didn’t ask…the first time.” She shifted her gaze, moving it around the table. “Wolfe. Dez. Huang. Hunter. Giorgio fucking Pozza. And you,” she turned to Joel, “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t mind getting to know. Hey, cutie.”

Gage stood. “Thanasis?—”

“Wait, wait.” She scrambled to her feet. “Just…fucking wait. I’ll talk. I just get sidetracked when faced with beautiful faces.” She massaged the ring forming around her neck. “Adrían knows who I am. He can vouch for me.”

“Not the question I asked,” Gage said.

“Why I’m here. Right. So, I’ve been following Mora Bentley and her Gamma deployments. Tonight, she sent four: Paoli, Novi, Memphis, and Dallas. It didn’t make sense; Novi, on his own, could level an encampment, so why send four? That was when I realized it was because Alpha was going to be here.”

“And if she sent reinforcements, she knew,” Dez finished. “She’s watching us.”

“I believe so.”

“Do you know what she wants?” Julien asked. “If she’d like, she can go crawling back to Central so that we can take her down in the blaze. I’m not a fan of multiple trips.”

Hannah continued to massage her neck, meeting everyone’s eyes except for Thanasis. “She’s not on the outskirts of Central anymore,” she said. “You guys probably thought she was here to get money? No, it was solely because she was expecting Alpha to peek from the hole for her to take a shot. To verify that she’d found you.”

“So why didn’t she take it?” Gage prodded.

“Who’s the woman with the blond hair?” Hannah asked. “The fighter.”

“Mine,” Giorgio hissed.

“Is her name Mo?”

Giorgio stood.

Gage stepped between Hannah and Giorgio. “Lady, get to the fucking point.”

“I heard one of the twins call her Mo,” Hannah clarified. “I was trying to figure out if it’s dialect or whether they used a name. I think they know her.”

“Do you know how?” Joel questioned.

“My god, you’re beautiful.” She sighed, one hand moving as if to cover her heart, but she lowered it to her breast. “What’s your name?”

Joel didn’t so much as blink.

“You’re not saying anything about a wife or girlfriend.”

“Why should I? My wife’s not the only reason I don’t want you.”

“Ouch.” She laughed, the sound encased in the first show of visible nerves she displayed since Thanasis and his rope. “What I’m saying is, trust me. Those two crazy assholes will be ridiculous assets to your team. Mo can?—”

“Do not,” Giorgio said. “Wolfe will not stop me.”

Gage shook his head. “I won’t.”

“And what about you?” Adrían asked. “Did you show up just to slink back into the shadows?”

Sayeda deserved to know Hannah was still alive. Still, he didn’t want to be the one to tell her. Finding out that she had a twin was more than enough information saturation over the past twenty-four hours.

“Mora tried to kill me,” Hannah began. “I’m done hiding.”

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