Page 60 of Assassin's Game
Agony shot through me as another bone snapped in my hand.
Time stopped—it could have been a moment, or it could have been forever. I didn’t know, didn’t care. Next I knew, I was on my knees, body a broken pile of anguish on the cold concrete floor, the sound of harsh breathing all I could hear. My breathing. Screams echoed in my head—
My screams.
There was no one to answer. Our baby was still gone.
Tears stung my eyes.
It was a long time before I came back to myself—only my heartbeat pounding in my extremities finally got me up and moving. Like an old woman, I dragged myself to my feet with hands that screeched with pain. Shuffling across the room, I opened the mini fridge near the gaming center, the piercing light blinding me temporarily. That didn’t stop me from feeling around until I found the bowl of ice inside and pulled it out. Shoving my right hand into the freezing cold, I closed the door with my hip and turned toward the room.
“A fighter’s hands are his most precious weapons.”
I’d dropped to my knees in front of the couch before my brain fully registered the voice. Before I realized it wasn’t my voice. That it wasn’t me talking to myself.
Holy shit.
Someone is here.Someone had gotten past security and entered the mansion. It should have been impossible, but…
My heartbeat moved up to my throat, choking me. Should have been. How the hell—
Figure it out later.Right now,keep everyone safe.
Breathe, Levi. Think.
“An assassin uses his tools. Hands are just one of them,” I said finally. The ice clinked when I pulled my hand out.
“Whatever kept you here must be important. Your brothers have followed the mission I gave them, and yet you haven’t. Why?”
X.A hiss left my lips, but I held my position. The couch wouldn’t stop a bullet, but it would hide movement if I needed it to.
“What kept me here is none of your business, bastard.” Carefully I placed the bowl on the couch cushion, out of the way. “Why are you here? What do you want from us?”
“I believe I was very clear on what I wanted.”
“We don’t fucking work for you,” I snarled.
A laugh filtered through the dark. I hadn’t heard footsteps, but the sound was closer, more to my right. “You do,” he said. “You just don’t know it yet.”
I shifted, facing the new direction. “I’ve faced worse shitheads than you, X. If you think I can’t take care of my family, whether your intel is public or not, you really haven’t done your homework.”
“I’ve done a thorough investigation, thank you.”
The words held a hint of culture and a whole lot of command. I’d wondered yesterday if X was a lone man (or woman), a group, possibly a consortium looking to harness their own personal hit squad—not to mention access to a grade-A research facility. That tone told me this man was in charge of someone. The fact that he’d come here personally said his company, whatever it was, was small.
Two pieces of the puzzle we hadn’t known before.
“I admit I didn’t expect my two candidates to team up. You’re both deadly on your own; why join forces? Yes, that took me by surprise—and I’m not easy to surprise.” No footsteps, but the voice was definitely moving. Pacing or deliberately coming closer? His communication methods had worked fine so far; there was no need for a face-to-face. What exactly did he hope to get out of this meeting other than the possibility of killing me? “But perhaps it’s best. It truly would be difficult to choose between you. And now I don’t have to.”
You’ll never have to, because you’ll never have us.
“How did you get in here?” I had to know before I took this man out. “Tell me before I get my hands on you, and maybe you’ll live.”
He definitely wouldn’t live.
“Agozi, I’m well aware of your capabilities, and rest assured I didn’t come here tonight to test them. There’s no need. This little…demonstration is merely to impress on you the seriousness of your situation.” He was close enough now that I heard cloth rustle as he moved. I began tensing and relaxing my muscles, readying myself for attack. “Yes, I can ruin you. If what I know is released, not only would your lives be destroyed, but so would those of the innocent bystanders you’ve dared to take in. But I’d truly rather not—destroying innocents leaves a bad taste in my mouth, though it is sometimes necessary.”
The voice dropped, the tone menacing. Deadly. “No, I don’t want to ruin you; I want you in my service. Permanently. If you and your brothers do not carry out the mission I’ve set for you, you won’t just be ruined.Theywon’t just be ruined. They’ll be dead, and you’ll be left to live with the aftermath.”
