Page 55 of Assassin's Game
There was no balancing this.
Wet warmth registered on my cheeks, and only then did I realize my eyes were stinging. Tears. I hadn’t cried since the night Levi told me our mom and dad were dead. The night I realized there would be no more hugs, no more sweetly scented perfume clinging to my clothes afterward. No strong arms keeping the bogeyman away at night. And sure as hell no more safety. The thought that Levi and Abby’s child had died with no one to save them pushed the tears out harder.
“Eli, what the fuck are you two doing in here? Titus said—”
Remi’s snarl would have done a lion proud. Sensing that, despite no outward display of grief, his need to hurt someone or something, to get out his own anger—and likely fear, given that Leah was also pregnant—I jerked around to plant myself between them. Mikaela jerked to a halt halfway across the room. Confusion came and went as those brilliant green eyes studied my face, the evidence of my grief.
I didn’t turn away; I couldn’t dishonor our loss by hiding it.
Slowly comprehension, then what I swore was sorrow, crossed her face. “Abby?” she asked carefully. She rocked back on her heels as if sensing just how precarious our control might be.
She had nothing to fear from me. I nodded, holding on to her gaze like a lifeline, unable to form words.
She squeezed her eyes closed, opened them. “Is there anything we can do?”
“There’s nothing to do,” Remi snapped behind me.
In a way he was right, but in another… “You can help us keep them safe.” We’d worked together well so far, but last night could very well have change that. Would Mikaela take our…whatever it had been—sexual conflict, maybe, an emotional baring of souls—out on my family?
Mikaela’s mouth tightened, and I thought for a moment she would tell me no outright. Then, “That is something we have to discuss.”
Well, fucking A. My face went tight, and I knew she saw it by the way her eyes widened before narrowing on me. I shot a quick glance over my shoulder at my brother. “We’ll join you in just a minute.” The words weren’t a warning, but she could take them that way if she wanted.
Mikaela left—reluctantly, but she left. What, did she think I was going to climb out a window with everything that was going on, just to avoid a frank chat in front of everyone about how I’d come on to her? Why she’d want to discuss it with anyone but me was a mystery, but what else could this discussion be about? Unless something had happened with Sullivan.
But no, Remi had been with him the last few hours. If something had changed in that time, he’d know.
Sullivan wasn’t high on my priority list given the circumstances. Or Remi’s either, if the minutes he took preparing a cup of coffee for each of us was any indication. By the time we walked into the main room, my face was dry and every member of Mikaela’s team was waiting. Sullivan was nowhere to be seen.
“Did Remi rough up our guy too much while he was on watch?” I asked. I was deflecting; I knew it, and maybe everyone else did too. My MO, right? Who the fuck cared.
Mikaela didn’t look amused. “Have a seat,” she said and gestured toward the old couch in front of her. With her men on either side—including Rhys, looking fully recovered—it looked more like a trial than a friendly chat. Sitting would put us at a disadvantage, and at greater risk if it came to a fight. With the memory of Mikaela’s kiss, her climax strong in my mind, I really hoped it didn’t come to that.
Remi and I answered at the same time. “We’ll stand.”
Mirroring their positions, we crossed our arms over our chests and planted our feet behind the couch. We’d worked and fought together since we were barely a decade old; it really did become second nature after so long. Granted, we didn’t usually talk out our issues with other people—it was much easier to go straight for the kill—but we could negotiate when we absolutely had to.
Working with another team was definitely a disadvantage that way.
“What is it, Mikaela?” I used her name deliberately, reminding her with three syllables of the intimacy that had occurred between us. The flare of her nostrils as she breathed in deep told me my message got through clearly.
“You are the Assassin.”
Shock jolted through me, though I didn’t allow it to show on my face. For twenty years, no one but the three of us had known our secret. Abby probably wouldn’t know even now had Levi’s role as the Assassin not been integral to their meeting—or her kidnapping, technically. But now X knew. Mikaela and her team knew. And the more people who knew, the harder it would be to protect our family.
I glanced at Remi.Agree or deny?Remi had more to lose than I did. It had to be his decision.
His gaze returned to Mikaela. “How did you figure that out?”
She didn’t look triumphant, just stared back. “X isn’t the only one who can make inferences. You just have to put the pieces together the right way.”
“Mikaela—” I wanted to ask what she planned to do with the information, what her intentions were. If she gave a shit about me or, if not me, my family. But I couldn’t show weakness, not right now, when strength might be our only bargaining chip. So I clamped my mouth shut.
The team stared us down just like their leader, varying degrees of displeasure on their faces. Mikaela’s gaze slid from Remi to me, unreadable. “There’s one thing that’s peculiar about the Assassin, something his enemies probably never noticed but should take to heart.”
“What is that?” I rumbled.
Her head tilted slightly. “He never targets the innocent.”
