Page 254 of Assassin

Aly stopped her.

“You can’t help. He’ll know you or if he gets wind of you even being there, the mission is ruined.”

Ethan looked freaked out, and he was glad someone was the voice of reason.

Yeah, she figured as much.

“I meant more foot the bill for the Spiders. I don’t want one on her. I want all four. I wouldn’t want one kill switch, as Heath called it. I’d want four.”

They knew that was going to be hella expensive. Two were watching Chartres, and the other two didn’t come out and play all that often.

That she was willing to do that said it all.

As for Greyson, he was so proud of her.

He moved toward Alyona and hugged her.

“I love you,” he said. “Thank you for what you’re willing to do. It’s very brave.”

She let him hug her, and the whole time, she prayed to a God that never listened before that this time would be different.

“What do you need?” Maura asked.

“I can’t go in with a gun, and I can’t go in with Marines. I’m going to have to walk in unarmed.”

Oh, Jesus.

Ajax looked kinda green over that one.

“You have to trust me to do this alone. When I’m with him, I’ll have to handle him.”

Dimitri was worried.

“Will you be able to do that?” he asked. “If you’re afraid of him, what if you freeze? And I’m not trying to insult you, but instead point out a potential outcome.”

What choice did she have?

“We’ll find out when we find out, but at least you’ll know where I am. If he starts to kill me, I can hold up for a bit—in time for the Spiders to help me.”

This was risky.

They didn’t know if all the mercenaries were handled.

“If he knows about you guys, what choice do I have? I can tell you that you’re going to have your hands full with the assassins that he’s already sent out. You worry about them, and let me handle him.”

Ethan, who had been silent, agreed. He’d been doing what he did.

Profiling.

“He’s going to isolate himself now. No one will get close enough to him but her. He isn’t going to trust her either, but his ego is going to win out. He’ll want to hurt her more than be safe. Think of it as a showdown.”

They let him profile the man.

“She’s the One who got away, literally. He’s never replaced her, and that’s because he likely loved her. He abused and broke her so that she’d never leave. He won’t be able to help himself. Alexsandr, will want to see her. To re-own her, and to break her all over again for his ego. He’s a narcissist. He’ll want to blame her for being trapped here because it couldn’t possibly be a shit plan from him.”

That sounded delightful.

And dangerous.

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