Page 25 of Toxic Vengeance

“Notusehim. I mean he’d be a good asset for us, because of his current involvement with the Agency. He’s got the most recent service with them, the most up to date contacts there, and he has easier access to their intel resources than the rest of us. Except for Amber, but every time she hacks something from them, it increases the risk they’ll be able to find us.”

“There are plenty of intel specialists we could bring in to do that.”

“Yeah, except Maguire has intel on someone we think might be connected to another Valkyrie we’ve identified,” Trinity continued. “Also, and this is pretty damn telling, Zack only agreed to this meeting when Rycroft explained it involved you and told him your real name.”

“Yeah, because he wanted to find me.” For the CIA? Himself? Because he was still angry with her for walking away? For ruining his missions? Or was there more to it? Dammit, she shouldn’t want there to be more to it, but she did.

“Did he threaten you at all?”

“No.”

Trinity glanced at the phone in her hand, then back at Eden. “No alerts from Amber about his phone. He’s still in the room and hasn’t tried to contact anyone. If he wanted you captured, he would have called it in by now.”

“I can see how he’d be useful to us. But he’s got every reason to want to turn me over. So how can we trust him?”

“Sure you want me to answer that?”

“Yes.”

“Because of your history together.”

Eden flushed. Trinity and whoever else had been looking into this couldn’t know the extent of it. She and Zack had been careful. “Whatever history he and I do or don’t have, is between me and him.”

Trinity shrugged. “You wanted to know. Also, Rycroft is one of the best operatives I’ve ever known, and he can read people like a book. He said Zack was protective of and concerned about you when Rycroft questioned him. That, combined with him wanting to find out who killed his friend means he’s motivated, and suggests his allegiance might not be with the Agency. So if he agrees to come on board with us now, chances are he’s not going to turn you in later, and this way we’ll be able to keep a close eye on him.”

Eden didn’t like it. She’d never imagined Zack being brought back into her life, and never like this. How was she supposed to work with him and stay objective after everything that had happened? How could she trust him after what had happened?

“How long did you give him to decide?” Trinity asked.

“Twenty minutes.” She was torn between wanting to get away from Zack and going back upstairs to tell him everything. That she had continued to see him after that initial op because she hadn’t been able to stay away from him. That she had started falling for him, and it still scared the shit out of her. “He’s got fourteen minutes left.”

“Amber texted earlier to say she’s got your personnel file ready if you’re interested in reading it when we get back, by the way. She left it in your room at the manor.”

“What personnel file?”

“From the Program. She hacked some of their files before they could shut everything down.”

Impressive. “Does it say anything about my parents?”

“It will, yes.”

An unexpected pang hit her and she looked away, staring at nothing through the windshield. “I don’t remember them. My dad’s mom raised me after they died.”

“What happened to them?”

“Some kind of an accident. She took me in, kept me until her health gave out. Something to do with her heart. I was put into foster care when she went into a palliative facility.”

“I’m sorry.”

Eden nodded, glanced at her. “What about you? Did you know your parents?”

“No. The paperwork says my mom was a single parent when she dropped me off at the facility one day. There was no mention of my father. When no one wanted to adopt me I was put into foster care, bounced around from place to place. To tell you the truth, it was a relief to wind up in the Program. For the first time, I felt worthy, even important.” She shot Eden a wry smile. “That was back before I realized what I was being groomed for, of course.”

Yes. Trinity’s experience was way worse than Eden’s. Eden didn’t know how operatives like Trinity and Kiyomi handled what they did. “Did you have any say about it?” she asked, curious. Because she couldn’t imagine candidates ever choosing that kind of life. “They were torn about where to put me after the initial phase. I cross-trained with Kiyomi in several areas, and I think they were grooming me for that specialty. I loved studying botany and toxins, so maybe that’s why they put me there instead.” Thank God for that. Eden couldn’t have done what Kiyomi and Trinity had.

“No, it wasn’t a choice.”

Her stomach tightened. She’d been so afraid they would force her to become a femme fatale too. Unable to face the thought of having to let strangers use her body time and again. “What about Kiyomi? Did she get a choice?”

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