Page 271 of Assassin

“I have this,” she promised.

He calmed down.

“Okay, so you have a chance.”

Maybe, if the universe favored her—just once—she’d come home to him.

That was all she wanted.

Was that so much to ask for?

“I’ll be okay,” she reassured him. “You can relax. After this, I’m going to need a nap.”

He laughed a little.

“Only a nap?”

She found his mouth with hers, and kissed him like it was the last time she was going to see him. Honestly, she believed that was the case.

Alyona was even more scared now than before she had talked to him.

It all came back to her.

And it was bad.

When she broke the kiss, there were tears in his eyes, and she was sick to her stomach.

“That felt like a goodbye.”

She smiled gently at him.

“Think of it more like a ‘just in case’,” she said. “I’m covering my bases.”

Oh, he didn’t like that at all.

Before he could toss her over his shoulder and run with her, there was a knock to the door.

When she opened it, Greyson stood there.

“He texted. The Spiders are ready to transport you, and then get into position before you go in alone.”

Then, it was showtime.

“Can you do this?” he asked. “If you can’t, you absolutely can back out. We can…”

She stopped the man she now considered her father.

“No, we can’t. This is it. There’s no plan C, Dad. I’m it. I’ll handle him, or I’ll go down trying.”

Ajax was shaking his head the second she said that last part. Only, he didn’t get to say anything.

“Go,” Greyson said, letting her past him. “I love you, Aly,” he added.

She smiled.

“I love you both,” she said, and then was gone.

When Ajax tried to follow, Greyson wouldn’t let him past.

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