Page 68 of Fractured Allegiance

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Pull the trigger once.

He folds.

Lydia saw it.

She doesn’t move, but our eyes lock.

Through smoke. Through noise. Through blood on the walls.

And for a second, it’s just us.

Me with a gun still smoking.

Her in red, breathing like a woman who’s just seen behind the curtain and recognized what stared back.

She doesn’t speak.

Neither do I.

Dom grabs her wrist and pulls her toward the side exit Drazen’s yelling about.

She goes.

But she looks over her shoulder once.

Straight at me.

The kind of look that isn’t thanks. Isn’t fear. Isn’t even confusion.

It’s recognition.

Like she’s replaying something in her head.

And finally, it clicks.

Not what I am.

Who I am.

I wait until they’re clear. Until Drazen’s halfway through the loading bay screaming into his burner phone about ruined merchandise and dead buyers. He’s angry, but not surprised.

Which tells me everything I need to know.

This wasn’t a botched deal.

This was a test.

Of loyalty.

Of reactions.

Of me.

And maybe of her.

I holster the weapon.

Wipe blood off my gloves.

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