Page 48 of Bleeding Outside the Lines

“It is, you know it is. And that knife at his throat? That’s mine too.” I smirk confidently.

“And this is you also? Please pay special attention to the time stamp in the corner.”

It’s a video clip of me in Cassius’ shirt in his office last night. Garrett sitting at the desk, me and Cass standing behind him. My stomach drops to my knees and bile rises in my throat. Where the fuck did they get this? How do they have access to Cassius’ cameras? Besides through Rowan, and I know she would never betray me. Ever. Right?

“Did you or did you not just tell us you were on a recruiting trip?” Africa sneers. “How could you be in two places at once?”

“I was on a recruiting trip, I stopped at Mr. Cross’ for some last-minute recon before I came home early this morning.”

“Have you ever done recon without a disguise prior to last night?” South America digs, her accent growing thicker to match the air in the room.

I clear my throat, commanding the women on the screens before me to listen. “As I said, Mr. Cross has proven to be quite the opponent. I have to earn his trust, and after last night I believe I have. Bleeding hearts make humans vulnerable, andwith a mark like Mr. Cross, I need him that way. He bared his heart to me, and now he will bare his throat, gifting me an opening to drag my blade across it. I will bathe in his blood, as I have with all the others.”

“Dios mío,” South America mutters. “Why must you always paint such a picture?”

I smirk and shrug my shoulders. Game on bitch.

“He dies tonight,” Asia says. “Enough games, enough waiting. We know you’re the best, now fucking prove it or face our wrath.”

A wicked grin plays at my lips. “Cassius Cross will die tonight.”

The screens turn dark, leaving me alone to stew in the mess I’ve made. A mess of my own destruction. Cassius dies, and then Rawlings. When I have bled them both dry, Europe will hang like a pig in a slaughterhouse and one by one the queens will fall.

thirty-four

It’s been eighteen hourswithout a word from her. Eighteen hours since she slipped away under the cover of night. Eighteen hours of unknown. G has been trying to track her with traffic cams, but so far has been unsuccessful. I refuse to believe she just left. That after everything, this is how it ends.

In front of me, the heavy bag sways from the force of my fist. Smears of blood litter the surface from my raw knuckles. My veins throb, my muscles cord with tension. Tension I thought I had felt the last of. Tension I thought I would never feel again.

I pound the bag, over and over. The thuds reverberate in my head, echoing my labored breathing.

“Jesus, how are you not keeled over yet?” Garrett asks when he enters the gym.

I shoot him a glare and hit the bag again. The strip of duct tape running down the center rips, exposing the original tear. Exposing its scars, like Ruby’s exposed mine. “You better fucking have something,” I say through gritted teeth, hitting the bag again.

“They don’t call her a ghost for nothing.”

“You found her last time.”

“Yeah,” Garrett says sheepishly, “because she fucking let me. I’m telling you, man, she’s gone.”

“You’re supposed to be the best.”

“I am the best.”

“Apparently fucking not.”

“Fuck you, man, you realize this is all your fucking fault, right? You were the idiot? It’s your fault that Hannah died. It’s your fault that Sophie’s life went to shit. Fuck, you’ll be lucky if I don’t fucking kill you myself.”

“I deserve that,” I admit.

“I don’t even know how to look at you, Cass.” Garrett drags his hand over his face. “Tell me this, the money you made off the suits? That’s what we used to escape, right?”

I nod.

“Every bone in my body hates you right now. And you're lucky I’m terrified of your assassin girlfriend, or I probably would have killed you the other night. I know I just said Hannah’s death was your fault, but I know it wasn’t. You had no way of knowing. But Cass, you could have told me. We could have taken those suit fuckers and Neil out ten years ago. Who the fuck knows what other fucked up shit they’ve done since?”

He can spew whatever bullshit he wants, but Hannah’s death is on me, and that’s something I have to live with forever.

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