Page 48 of Kiss of Fury

Fury jumped to his feet and paced the small parlor. Steel and Honoria’s cabin was a carbon copy of their own, except they’d replaced the diminutive sofa with a full-sized model, adding a comfortable chair built for two. Colorful rugs and draperies further softened the austerity. Pictures and tapestries hung on the walls. They’d turned a cookie-cutter pre-fab into a welcoming, warm home—the kind of home he would never have.

“She believes the absolute worst—that we were involved in the Chicago massacre,” he pointed out.

“That’s the easiest part to clear up because it’s so patently false.”

“It was on the news!”

“Headlining on the news is pretty much proof it’s bullshit.”

Despite his misery, he chuckled. He couldn’t refute that. However, there was enough truth to the rest of the allegations that he couldn’t claim innocence.

Steel stroked his chin. “Don’t be surprised if our list of crimes grows. We’ll probably become the two most infamous cyborgs in the history of Earth. As long as we remain ‘at large,’ they’ll continue to use us as scapegoats, pinning everything from unsolved homicides, to botched missions, to hurricanes, andpoor student test scores on us. Solutions will use our disappearance to their advantage, but believe me, behind closed doors, they’re freaking out, worrying when we’ll surface. They’re probably scared shitless we’ll targetthem.”

“That Solutions execs and the government might be crapping their pants is the sole bright spot in all of this.” He stopped pacing and cocked his head as an idea came to him. “We could fuck with them bymakingthem think we’re out for revenge.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can use the HyperSphere like they do. We’ll plant some deep-fake, false sightings of us at various locations outside their homes and offices. Drop some names of their top execs and key government officials.”

Steel tossed his head and roared with laughter. “That’s fucking brilliant. Let’s do it.”

After losing Verity, to fuck with the organization that had been the source of his misery would give him vicious satisfaction.

A tentative knock sounded outside the cabin.

Fury practically fell over his feet lunging toward the door.She came!

“Can we talk?” Verity’s face was pale, and dark circles ringed her tired eyes.I did this to her. I caused her this pain.

“Of course. Thank you for coming.” His heart thudded.

She stepped inside, and her gaze shot to Steel.

“I was just leaving.” Grabbing his coat, he thumped Fury on the back and vacated the cabin.

She took a seat at a tiny table identical to the one in their kitchen.

He pulled out a chair.Déjà vu.Except, this time, the shoe was on the other foot. She would demand answers from him.

“You owe me the truth. The whole truth. If I sense you’re lying or withholding something, I will get up and leave, and you won’t get another chance.”

“I understand.” He felt sick. He would lose her, but he owed her the truth.

“Were…cyborgs responsible for the Chicago massacre?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t involved. For the record, neither was Steel.”

“But you’ve killed other people.”

“Yes.”Please don’t ask me how many.His brain had kept an exact count. He could never forget.

“You’re an assassin.”

“I was.”

The twist of her lips showed she didn’t consider that to be a mitigator. Once an assassin, always an assassin. “You thought you’d ignore the past and start over here?”

“That omits a lot of context,” he said.

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