Page 36 of Dangerous Heat

He was easier to talk to than I was, though. Their banter was cute as opposed to barbed. Plus, he held all the cards whereas I’d been frantically trying to gather mine off of the floor in Freya’s presence.

I was still a little miffed.

“She claims she killed them, but I’m not sure how she resisted the biological urge to mate while she was an unmated Omega. Especially recently, when she must have been on the edge of death. We’re going to find someone for her to kill so she can prove it.”

“I saw her kill someone,” Emmett said. “She doesn’t need to kill someone here.”

“Sadly, I’m not going to trust your word either. Don’t worry, I’ll find the perfect asshole for her to butcher. We’ll see how steady her hands are when it comes down to it.” Nolan was visibly excited, his smirk settling into a radiant smile. “She’s eager to accept my job offer so far.”

“It might have something to do with you holding her cousin, familiar, and friends hostage,” I said dryly, nearly stumbling over the word friends. We were more than that, but also less. Freya wouldn’t count me in her friends after I’d done nothing but lie to her, but we’d had a damn good time fucking each other’s brains out.

“No, it has more to do with what the offer entails. She’ll be paid handsomely to do something she wanted to do anyway.”

The offer he’d made to her clicked at the same second he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. I watched it register for Emmett and Oswald, then looked back at him. “Killing my cousin is going to be a multi-person job, even if she is as skilled as she claims she is. I’ll pay you all to assist.”

“No way. The Next Life Company will have our heads,” I said.

“I guess you wouldn’t have heard, being locked up in here. The Next Life Company already wants your head after the act of war you pulled with Jude. There’s a bounty on your whole team. They’re in full cover-up mode. To the people who matter, they’re claiming you went rogue. On the bounty notice to the general community, you may as well have never worked for them. When you leave this building, you’ll have a target on your backs. You’ll be caught and sent to Kylan within days.”

“They wouldn’t send us to him, they’d handle the matter internally,” Emmett said.

“You have such an optimistic view of the company. If their options were war or handing over three measly operatives to be tortured, they would pick the lesser of two evils. I know my cousin well enough to know he’s demanded you be given to him as payment for the damages done. Are you really willing to bet that your precious company is as righteous as you say? Hell, you don’t technically work for the Next Life Company, because you three work as undercover agents and assassins. You’re subcontracted out so they have plausible deniability if anyone from general society asks about you. The public might be stupid enough to think the Next Life Company and the AEA are inherently good, but I didn’t think you would be.”

He had a point.

My break in control had cost us fucking everything.

And to think I’d been keeping Caspian on a tight leash so he wouldn’t divulge secrets and get us fired. When I’d loosened my own binds, I’d gotten us fired, erased from the employment logs, and possibly fucking killed. To me my actions hadn’t been an act of war because they’d struck first and I was reclaiming what had been stolen, but Director Knoxwell hadn’t cared much about Freya being taken in the first place, other than the impact on any valuable intelligence she might have.

Besides, we all knew the Company wasn’t as squeaky clean as it seemed from the outside.

Our entire task on this mission was to do exactly what Nolan was doing right now. We were supposed to find the killer and offer them a proposal: kill Kylan and be rewarded with a boatload of money and a head start on evading the AEA, plus perks if they got caught.

They wanted the problem gone, but they didn’t want it linked back to them.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck,fuck.”

My hands raked through my hair, tugging the strands hard enough to send shocks of pain through me. All three of them were looking at me like they were worried, and they were right to be. Freya had driven me out of my mind and I’d lost every piece of the cold, calculating mask I’d worn since the memories of my past lives had started. I’d created that perfect, emotionless version of myself so I could save the next person I cared about, where I hadn’t been able to save Sigrid.

Look how that had worked out for me.

Not well.

For the moment, I’d have to shed the fake person I’d become while in the employ of the AEA and the Company and be the person I’d always been underneath. A brutal killer who didn’t actually give a shit about regulations. After the people I loved were safe again, I would piece my mask back together.

“Freya doesn’t kill Kylan,” I said after a pause so long everyone had started to fidget. “I do.”

Nolan snorted. “As if she’ll let you. How about I set you both up in a position where you could do it, and we’ll see who makes it to him first?”

“Deal. I’ll win.”

No one else looked confident. Oswald rolled his eyes on the couch behind me. They didn’t know why I was so protective of her, however, and I had no plans on having a heart-to-heart about it. The two people I should have told weren’t even here.

“I’ll be sure to inform her you’re so confident. I’m glad you’re on board for the plan.”

“Of course I’m on board for it. Our entire mission for the Company was to find her and offer her the same fucking job. Why do you want to have him killed?” I asked, watching his expression.

It flickered with something dark. “He’s a huge asshole. Do I need more of a reason? My company’s main purpose is to carry out assassinations.”

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