Page 15 of Fractured Allegiance

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It’s a precise lie.

Because Silas Ward isn’t as clean as he’s trying to look.

And if I had to guess?

He’s watching us with the same caution we’re watching him.

But saying that now would raise too many questions. I need time. Space. I need to understand what I saw in his eyes when he looked at me and didn’t blink.

So, I lie.

I can’t tell if Dom buys it.

He leans back in his chair. “Drazen will want a follow-up,” he says.

“Of course.”

“He might want you to get closer.”

I say nothing.

That’s what he’s waiting for, isn’t he? A reaction. A flicker. A shift.

He gets nothing.

Until I speak.

“He’s not my type.”

That makes Dom grin. “You don’t have one.”

“Exactly.”

I stand.

Dom holds up the folder like it weighs more than it should.

“I’ll pass this on,” he says. “But if V doesn’t like the answer, he’ll come to you directly.”

“I’m counting on it.”

I leave the office with my heartbeat in check, my breath steady, my hands clean.

But inside?

Something's shifting—a pull I can't quite name that isn't fear or desire, just raw awareness, which makes it all the more dangerous.

Because I don’t let people matter.

I don’t let them register.

That’s how Elias Voss taught me to survive.

Don’t look too long. Don’t stay too close. And never let the knife turn inward.

But this man, Silas… he looked at me like he already knew where to cut.

And I liked it.

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