Page 67 of The Bait

And anger was a better emotion to cling to right now than betrayal.

Betrayal was a dangerous thing.

It kept very close company with goodbyes, and astempted as Asher was to take Harry and leave Yunho and Lucas behind, he just couldn’t.

Not for their history. Not for all the years they’d worked together, relied on each other, and saved each other’s lives. Not because Yunho was like an older brother to Asher. Not because they were two lone wolves who found each other when the rest of the world had abandoned them.

The only reason Asher was going in to save Yunho was for answers.

Answers about who Asher really was and why Yunho had kept that from him.

And why the fuck there was a file in that damn secure server about Harry. Not just Harry either. About his work, spanning a decade, about his time in the military, about operatives just like him.

The Milvus files.

Why Harry wasn’t the only one, and why it was still active.

Asher had said nothing to Harry about this. He needed answers before busting open a door Harry had only just managed to close.

That fucking court case with Clive Parrish that was still all over the news, that had cratered out the Australian special forces and brought the entire military and its operations into question.

Every case, every agent, every national security issue for the last decade was now under scrutiny, all while Parrish rotted in a jail cell somewhere awaiting trial.

Asher needed answers and for that, he needed Yunho alive.

If Asher didn’t like one of Yunho’s answers, if Yunhohad hurt or used Harry in any way, he’d hand deliver Yunho back to North Korea himself.

And if Lucas was actually MI6, Asher couldn’t guess.

He was definitely English. He’d been a construction project manager when Yunho was building his house on the island. He and Yunho had hit it off, and when the house was complete, Lucas quit his job and stayed.

He cared for Yunho. He loved him, Asher was sure of it. Granted, Asher didn’t have much experience with what love should look like, but Lucas adored Yunho. He worshipped him.

Was he too perfect for him? Was their whole meeting a set-up by the British government?

Asher didn’t know what to think about anything anymore.

He felt sick.

“I don’t like this,” Harry whispered as they drove in.

The property itself was quite rural. A long dirt driveway led up to a huge industrial-style shed. There were black 4WDs parked to the side, security cameras everywhere, and no sooner had they got halfway down the drive, a black SUV appeared behind them. And when they pulled up near the huge open roller doors, four men came out to greet them.

Wearing stoic, grim expressions, in black army gear from head to foot, armed with AK-74 assault rifles.

“Welcoming committee?” Harry asked.

“I’m sorry for bringing you into this,” Asher murmured.God, how his heart was aching...

“Are you kidding?” Harry said with a smile. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else right now. With you is all I need.”

“Together, right?”

“Always.”

Two of the armed men opened their doors while the other two pointed their guns at them and ordered them out of the Jeep. One of them barked at them to put their hands up. “They’d like us to put our hands up,” Asher relayed in English for Harry.

They got out of the Jeep, nice and slow. They were patted down, their guns and knives removed.

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