Page 65 of Hunter's Game
Assuming she survived this latest catastrophe.
Assuming any of them survived what was coming next.
But then, survival was a family trait. One that Eden had inherited in spades.
She fought her way back to consciousness for the second time in as many weeks, this time to find both Hunter and Katherine at her bedside.
“You know,” Hunter drawled as she opened her eyes, “we’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
“Where’s Romano?” Her voice was stronger this time.
“In federal custody,” Katherine answered. “Along with what’s left of his private army. The neural toxin worked exactly as Sarah designed it—incapacitated them long enough for federal teams to move in.”
“And the explosions?”
“Controlled.” Hunter’s hand found hers. “Bastard tried to bring down the building, but Katherine’s people had already disabled most of the charges. Seems she inherited your mother’s talent for planning ahead.”
Eden studied her newly-discovered ally in this fight, seeing familiar features in a new light. “How long have you known? About us being related?”
“Since the day Sarah died.” Katherine’s voice was soft. “She made me promise to watch over you, to help guide you when the time came,” Katherine explained. “But you needed to find your own way first. Sarah was adamant that you develop your skills independently, without influence from her existing network. She wanted you to become your own kind of operative.”
“By letting me think I was alone?” But there was no real anger in Eden’s voice. “That’s very...calculated of you both.”
“Strategic patience,” Katherine corrected with the faintest smile. “Something Sarah emphasized in my training. While you were developing direct action skills with various federal agencies, I wasbeing prepared for deep cover operations. She designed our training to be complementary—creating operatives with different specialties who could eventually work together to dismantle the organization from multiple angles.”
“Along with an unfortunate tendency toward elaborate revenge plots and falling for dangerous men.”
“Speaking of which.” Eden turned to Hunter. “The FBI’s offer still stand?”
“With some additions.” He squeezed her hand. “Seems finding out you’re the heir to one of the families that built Romano’s organization changes things. Lots of people are very interested in working with someone who has your...unique heritage.”
“And unique talents,” Katherine added. “Sarah left us quite a legacy—not just evidence against the organization, but resources, connections, everything we need to finish what she started.”
“Which is?”
“Dismantling the entire network.” Katherine’s smile turned dangerous. “Not just Romano’s operation, but all the families. All the corruption. Everything.”
Eden absorbed this, feeling pieces of her life realign into a new pattern. “That’s why she trained us differently. You to work from the inside, me to fight from the outside.”
“Two sides of the same coin.” Katherine nodded. “Together, we can do what she nevercould: expose the truth about who really runs things from the shadows.”
“With a little help.” Hunter’s voice held amusement. “Amazing what you can accomplish with a combination of federal badges and outlaw bikers.”
Eden looked between them—her dangerous outlaw and her deadly…cousin? She still wasn’t sure how that connection lined up exactly—and felt something she hadn’t experienced since finding her mother’s body: hope.
“Well then.” She managed to sit up straighter, ignoring the pain in her side. “When do we start?”
“Already have.” Katherine showed her a phone displaying multiple news feeds. “Federal teams are moving on identified targets across three continents. Romano’s arrest was just the beginning.”
“And the Blind Jacks?”
“Standing by.” Hunter’s smile was pure predator. “Darkness is actually looking forward to working with federal backing. Says it’ll be nice to shoot people legally for a change.”
Eden couldn’t help but laugh, even though it hurt. “So that’s the plan? Federal agents, outlaw bikers, and two sisters with a family legacy of violence working together to take down an international shadow organization?”
“That’s the plan,” Katherine confirmed. “Unless you’ve got a better one?”
Eden thought about her mother’s letter, about all the pieces that had led her here. Thought about the dangerous man holding her hand and the deadly woman watching her with familiar eyes.
