Page 65 of Assassin's Game
I cleared my throat. “Sullivan, it’s your turn.”
The man’s dark eyes narrowed on me. Now that he didn’t have a gun shoved against his skull, he was closer to the powerful persona I’d seen in him earlier this morning, but the man was smart; he was still wary, especially with Levi stalking closer.
Eli’s brother planted himself next to me, his feet wide, arms crossed—the picture of pissed-off alpha. The look on his face as he stared down at our target… Even I hesitated to speak, but not Eli.
“Where is X?”
Such a simple question and yet so vital to everything, including our futures and our families’ safety. Sullivan glanced between us, a well of secrets in his eyes. “He’s in a secret government facility outside of Atlanta.”
Government.The brothers and I exchanged looks. We’d known it was a possibility, but I’m not sure any of us had truly thought X was military. He was using using blackmail and threats—but then, if there was one thing my past had taught me, it was that criminals didn’t have a corner on intimidation. Or murder.
“How exactly do you know him?” Eli asked.
Sullivan’s mouth went tight, his eyelids dropping to veil his eyes. “I’m not at liberty to tell you that.”
“Name, rank, and serial number?” From the corner of my eye I saw Levi’s hand fall to the gun now strapped to his thigh. Sullivan saw it too and tensed.
“For fuck’s sake.” His chin jutted out. “X is not someone you cross; you know that as well as I do.”
Eli moved closer, dropped to a crouch in front of Sullivan’s chair. “I’d like to keep you alive, buddy; I really would. But you aren’t making it easy.”
Sullivan proved just how cool he could be by considering that instead of immediately spilling his guts. Finally his chest expanded, his gaze coming up to meet ours.
“I don’t know exactly what kind of game X is playing here. He’s got his fingers in a lot of pies, and he works pretty much without oversight. A lot of blacker-than-black ops, off-the-books stuff, which may be why he’s come to you. What I do know is that revealing exactly how I am connected to him would end up with that car accident you staged becoming a reality. So”—he squared his shoulders—“if it’s a choice between you killing me and him killing me, we might as well go ahead. Hell, I might already be compromised. The only thing that will save me is if this was just as much a test for me as it was for you.”
Eli stood. “Considering you’re here, I think you failed that one.”
Sullivan glared at his back. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with; I do. X is not afraid to take a walk on the dark side to get what he wants, or to make sure you’re doing your job.” The twist of Sullivan’s lips told me he thought he fell into the latter category. “He is more powerful than you can imagine. But I’ve put my life in his hands more than once. My advice?” He shifted slightly in his seat. “Give him what he wants.”
I didn’t bother to hold back my laugh. “What he wants is you dead, apparently.”
Sullivan closed his eyes at the reminder, low curses leaving him. “Right.” He cursed again, opened his eyes. “I will give you the location and as much information as I can about the building.”
“Why?” I asked. “You just said he’d kill you for that.”
“If I reveal my connection, not his location. Besides,” he muttered, “I have a feeling he wants you there.”
Levi grunted next to me. “Can you tell us how he got into the mansion?”
“I’m not familiar with that location, but I do know he is fond of high-altitude drones for surveillance—no noise and plenty of tricks. The man has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. A lot of cutting-edge tech. Getting to him isn’t going to be easy.”
“We’ve gotten in and out of similar places,” Levi said. “We’ll manage.”
“We?” I asked. Something in his inflection hinted that he didn’t meanus, and if he thought my team was getting pushed out of this op, he could think again.
“We.” Levi waved a hand dismissively and turned his back as if to leave.
“Look, Levi,” I began, “in this business it’s always better to have someone watching your back.” It was the argument they’d used with me, right? All of us were better than half of us.
“I work with my brothers; they’re all I need.” He rounded the couch.
I didn’t look toward Eli, but I could feel the tension ratchet up in the room. Was Eli in agreement with his brother or not?
I planted my fists on my hips. “He’s as much a threat to my team as he is to you. We shouldn’t be fighting over a target we both need to take out. It’s ludicrous.”
Levi turned back to us and tilted his head, eyeing me up and down. “So you want to watch our backs? Because I’m not seeing you stepping down, Nix. And I’m sure as fuck not down for someone else telling my brothers and me what to do.”
“But we should be down for you telling us what to do?” I looked to Eli. “Is that how y’all run things, bowing to the master no matter what?” Because that wasn’t the impression I’d gotten.
