Page 51 of Fired at the Heart

The pain in my chest intensifies, a physical reminder of what Raphael and I once were. Partners. Lovers. Parts of the same machine, every action seamless, every breath so in sync that I was foolish enough to think nothing could tear us apart.

I was wrong.

“Avery.” Lena’s hand lands on my arm, and she searches my face. “Are you sure about your decision? Because once you do this, there’s no going back.”

My throat burns, and my stomach is hollowed out from two days of coffee without food. I haven’t been able to keep anything solid down, and I despise how powerless this all makes me feel.

But Raphael has made his choice twice now. So I need to make mine.

“I’m sure.” I shut off the engine. “This is the only way I’ll ever be free of him.”

Cassian’s going to lose his shit when he discovers that I cut him out of this plan, but that’s a problem for later. I don’t have the headspace right now to decide what to do with my second-in-command after the stunt he pulled at the club.

He’s too sure of what’s going to happen between us after this is done, and I don’t think my words to him sank in.

I reach for the door handle. “Once Raphael is out of my life for good, maybe I can learn to breathe again.”

Lena doesn’t comment as she exits the SUV behind me.

The late afternoon sun beats down on us as we exit the car, and heat ripples off the asphalt, but I’m cold inside. The warehouse door stands propped open an inch, a sliver of darkness inviting us in.

Lena falls into step beside me, her steps silent, her brunette braid swinging between her shoulder blades with each step.

As we near the warehouse door, my heart thunders and the pain in my chest spreads, a voracious monster eating me from the inside out. I push it away, locking it behind walls I’ve spent years building.

Now is not the time for weakness. Now is the time for endings.

The warehouse interior spreads before us in a vast cathedral of concrete and steel. Sunlight streams through broken skylights, casting geometric patterns across the floor, and dust motes dance in the light beams.

The space echoes, empty except for the two figures standing in the center.

Raphael waits with his hands in his pockets, golden-brown hair catching the light from above. He looks just like the Alpha I fell in love with all those years ago, dressed in a tailored suit, with broad shoulders squared and his stance confident. His hazel eyes find mine, and the air between us crackles with electricity.

Ezra stands beside him, his posture rigid. We had agreed to only bring one person for backup, but I’m surprised he went with the young Alpha instead of bringing Caleb.

What does he expect the kid to do if we betray him? He hadn’t even fought alongside my people. He’d been there as support, helping Sebastian get into systems he couldn’t access virtually without a man on the inside.

Is Raphael so confident in his safety where I’m concerned that he didn’t think it necessary to bring real backup?

Raphael takes a single step forward, and my resolve wavers. The ghost of his touch burns on my skin, the memory of his dark whispers in my ear. The way his hands used to cradle my face, gentle despite his strength.

This is why I need to end it. Because I can’t move on when he still owns a piece of me.

“Avery,” he says, the love behind my name pouring salt into my wounds.

I force my feet to keep moving, Lena a shadow at my side. We stop ten feet from them, the distance a final barrier between what was and what must be.

“Raphael.” I pray he doesn’t catch the tremble in my hands. “Did you bring it?”

The money doesn’t matter—it never did—but I need to maintain the pretense. Need to keep my focus on anything other than the way Raphael looks at me, like I’m still his, like the years of separation never happened.

Raphael lifts a sleek aluminum suitcase, the kind used to hold anything from corporate secrets to blood money. The kind we used to transport together when we were partners in every sense of the word.

“Cash, as agreed.” He extends the case toward me. “Come and get your payment, Avery.”

My stomach clenches at the way he says my name, the two syllables a caress when they fall from his lips.

His lips curve into a knowing half-smile that reaches those hazel eyes that shift between amber and green depending on his mood.

---