Beside her, Jax held her hand.
Greyson and Dimitri stood behind her in case she needed them, and Heath joined in too.
They fortified her resolve.
It was time.
She explained.
“Like you were told, I’m plan B. Ten years ago, I was chosen from a bunch of young women in Russia who were starting their career in the KGB. I was picked to be Alexsandr’s wife. I’m number One. I’m the only woman he’s ever loved, and managed to escape him.”
They all stared at her.
Holy fuck.
Elizabeth didn’t know this. Clearly, Greyson was keeping secrets. If he thought he was getting MATE now, he was out of his damn mind.
This wasn’t a secret you held onto. Alyona was a KGB operative at one point.
“Greyson, we’re going to talk,” she said to him.
He sighed.
“I figured as much.”
The Hunters, on the other hand, couldn’t believe this.
“Oh, boy,” Jagger said.
This just took a turn.
“And?” Elizabeth asked, needing to know if they could use this information to save their asses, and possibly not take down a whole country in the process.
Because she would for her children and family.
Alyona continued to tell them all about her, putting her faith in family.
“I was beaten, raped, trained, tortured, broken, destroyed, and supposedly rebuilt. I was sent here with a bunch of other agents to dig my way into your society, become one with it, and prepare for the day when I would help destroy you.”
Maura tensed.
She really hoped they didn’t put someone who would betray them in the midst.
She kept going.
“Only, I hated him. At the end, when he sterilized me, since he fears having to make a child live through losing its parents like he did, I wasn’t brainwashed. I was angry. I was seething. I became a monster, but not the one he intended.”
They let her talk.
Why?
They were curious.
“I came to this amazing country and began living my life here, staying in contact until I could make enough money to change my face. Then, when I was endowed with enough cash, I went under. I disappeared. I ran from him, knowing he could never find me once I looked different.”
She held out her arm.
On her wrist, there was the location of a tattoo that she’d had laser removal for, and was gone.