Page 60 of Vengeance & Sin

Wanting things in life is dangerous, no matter how strong you are, and I haven’t wanted something for myself in so long that I forgot how consuming it can be.

“What about Spencer?” He asks, and I return my attention to him, pushing my thoughts aside to focus on the conversation.

I let out a huff. “Spencer hates me, but he isn’t an issue. I can see that he takes his mission seriously, and that’s all that matters. Mostly, he avoids me.” Kratos’s brow pinches, and I know he has something to say to that, so I cut him off before he can.

“I’m free.”

He relaxes as he searches my face for something. Whatever it is, he must find it because, after a moment, he nods.

“My question is, do you intend to stay that way?” He asks, and my whole body goes stiff—my breathing hitches.

“What?” I ask because I don’t know what else to say. There's no way he could know my plan. Yet as I look at him, I know he does.

He shakes his head as he pushes off the floor and paces back toward the desk. He stands in front of it for a moment looking down, unmoving as if he’s frozen in place. He stands there so long that I’m just about to get up and go to him, but right before I move, he does.

He lets out a roar of anger as he reaches forward and swipes everything on the desk to the ground. His shoulders rise and fall quickly as he heaves in a raging breath. Then, he spins back to face me, and if I thought he was predatory before, it was nothing compared to now.

“Tell me you aren’t planning to go back to that? Tell me you will let us handle the last ring, Jade.” He yells, and I’m thankful the room is most likely soundproof because I don’t need anyone else assuming what he is.

I open my mouth to feed him some bullshit answer, but the question burning a hole in my brain comes out instead.

“How?”

I don’t need to elaborate. As soon as I ask, I see the understanding shine in his eyes, even through the anger.

He rakes his fingers through his hair, pulling some strains free from his low messy bun, but he ignores them.

“Do I look stupid to you?” He asks me, but instead of answering, I just continue to watch him, waiting for him to answer me.

He finally gets himself under control before sinking down to sit his ass on the now-empty desk and looking at me.

He stares at me so intensely that I have to fight the urge to look away. “You are my responsibility. Do you think I gave those boys your files and a bunch of unknowns, and I wasn’t going to dig into them? It didn't take a genius to see that each ring went down not long after you left, to connect each death to the fall of a ring.” He says it confidently, and I can’t bring myself to tell him he's wrong even if I know I should.

“Tell me you haven’t been making sure to be sold off before or purposely staying behind? Why would you want to stay? You could have been free. Working with us to take them down instead of in that hell for all these years.” The emotion on his face reflects in his eyes, and I do turn away from it this time.

“It was the only way.” I tell him, even though I know it’s not what he wants to hear. “I had to make sure they went down so completely that they would never be brought back, and I had to make sure the girls weren’t put in danger in the process. It was an inside job, and if you let yourself put that big brain to use, you’ll see that I’m right, and you know it.”

He might not like it, but I can hear the wheels turning in his head as he puts my pieces together. I’m right, and he knows it. I can see it on his face.

He shakes his head. “All of that is irrelevant now. We can’t change it, but you don’t need to go back for us to bring the last one down. Tell me you won’t go back.” He all but pleads with me, and I don’t understand what the big deal is. What’s one more ring to ensure no girl in this city has to go through what I did?

“I can’t tell you that. I have to finish this. I've put too much time and energy into this not to see it through. Those girls deserve better than what I had.” I don’t know why I’m even arguing. I should just walk out the door and go to the guys to go home. I look over to the door, but I can’t make myself leave. I want him to understand. “Nobody deserves that kind of life.” My voice is quiet, but I know he hears me.

He paces in front of the desk a few times, and I watch him, waiting to see what he has to say. He paces for so long that I wonder if he’s even going to respond before he finally stops and faces me, where I still sit in the chair.

“Let us try first. Stay away from them, give us time and work with us on the outside to see if we can do it this way first. If we can’t take them down like that, we will figure it out together, but I swear to you, we will take them down one way or another.” He finally says. I search his face and see the truth in his words. No matter what, he will help me. The thought both frightens me and brings me comfort at the same time.

I don’t want to put anyone else in danger with this, but this also could make the whole thing easier. We might be able to bring them down faster with more resources, and I’m sure they have much more than I could ever dream of.

It's worth a shot, at the very least.

I nod, and some of the tension seems to leave his body. His shoulder slumps as he releases a relieved breath.

“You better get your boys on it then because you have three months. Not a day over. If we don’t have a plan in place by then, I will do whatever I feel necessary to take them down.” I hold his gaze, standing up to walk to him as I look him in the eyes so I know he hears me. “And you will not stand in my way.”

“Do we have a deal?” I stick my hand out, and he doesn’t even hesitate before he grips my hand with a nod.

“Deal Killer.”

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