Page 80 of Covert Vengeance

“You think.”

Amber groaned. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

Her sister chuckled, her ponytail bobbing as she walked. Its own little ball of energy, just like Megan. “Join the club, sis. But I gotta say, after having a few months more of experience in these matters than you, it’s a pretty damn great club to be in.”

“He stayed to back us up on this op when he didn’t have to. He put himself in the line of fire for me twice. And at the end he…let me take Stanislav down alone.” Amber looked at her, knowing her sister would understand the significance of that. “How did you do it? Decide you wanted to be with Ty.”

Thankfully, Megan didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I surrendered, I guess.”

A totally foreign concept to a Valkyrie. “I don’t know if I can.”

“You can if he’s the right one. Trust me.” She reached down to pluck a long blade of grass in mid-stride, chewed on it while they walked. “Have you talked to him about this? About what you both want, and where you think things might go?”

“Not yet.” Well, he’d made his position pretty clear. She just hadn’t given him an answer on what more she was willing to give. Today’s op had crystalized things for her. “I don’t want him to go.”

“So tell him.”

“This has all happened so fast.” Too fast. She didn’t trust it, even if she trusted him.

“And?”

“And I…”

“You’re not sure if you can trust your feelings or not. Hey, I was right there with you a few months back, and here I am still with Tyler. It’s the best decision I’ve made.” Megan nudged her with an elbow, giving her a secret grin. “Besides breaking you out of your cell in London.”

Amber returned the smile, heartened and reassured. “You’re never gonna let me forget that, are you?”

“Nope.”

Megan had figured out how to make it work with Ty. Trinity was engaged. Georgia was married. Surely that meant she had a shot too. But until she knew where her legal situation stood, everything else was on hold.

They walked for over an hour before returning to the manor. Kiyomi was in the parlor, watching the news on one of Amber’s computer screens when they entered.

Amber sank onto the couch beside her, Megan to her left. The newscaster reported a glitch in the security system in a particular area of London near the docks. Several dead bodies had been found. Authorities had taken charge of the investigation, and were quick to reassure the public that this was a targeted attack. Criminal organizations were suspected due to the brutal methods of execution.

“Well, that’s one way to spin it,” Kiyomi murmured, and looked over at Amber. “Did you kill him?”

She meant, had Amber killed Stanislav personally. “Yes.”

“Good. I hope it hurt.”

“It did.” Right up until that bullet had slammed into his brain.

Voices sounded from down the hall. The tap of Marcus’s cane came toward the parlor. He paused in the doorway, his gaze moving from her to Kiyomi and back. “You’ve a visitor.”

Frowning, Amber got up. “Who is it?”

His smile was kind, pulling at the scars on the left side of his face and neck. He’d grown a short beard to cover them, but they didn’t completely hide the way they pulled at the skin around his eye and nose. “A friend.”

Jesse?

Her heart leapt and she followed him to his most favorite room in the manor—his study, permeated with the smells of leather-bound books and furniture. Megan was right behind her and Amber was glad to have her close.

She stopped in surprise when she entered the room and found Alex Rycroft leaning against Marcus’s huge, antique desk. Hiding her disappointment and trepidation, she put on a polite smile. “I thought you were still in London.”

“I decided to take a little drive after all the paperwork and red tape was dealt with.” He looked behind her at Megan, then to Amber. “You sure you want her here for this?”

“I’m sure.” She wouldn’t keep anything from her sister, so Megan would find out anyway.

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