Page 30 of Tainted Lie

My brain snapped into overdrive, my body fully awake. “Carnifax.”

“It’s been a long time.”

When it came to my boss, forever wasn’t long enough. I might work for him, but I didn’t want to talk to him. Or worse, set eyes on him.

He trained every assassin. He also oversaw the trials. Nobody could become part of Gladius without going through them.

Everyone who was part of Sicarius—the branch of Gladius responsible for all assassinations—went through a hellish training program first. Becoming part of Gladius had saved me when I needed it but was now a noose around my neck. It was only a matter of time before it would tighten.

“What can I do for you?”

I was proud of my steady voice that didn’t broadcast my swirling emotions. He didn’t usually contact me. I received my assignments through a safe deposit box.

“We have a special request.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuck.“Of course.”

“Can you deliver an extra balloon to a birthday party?”

The balloon stood for the target, and a birthday party was an official event.

“No problem.”

The words tasted like coal on my tongue. Everything in me rebelled at the thought of taking on an extra job. I’d been fine with it until now. But every time I had completed an assignment lately, I’d felt off. Unsettled. Unable to move on.

“Details are in the mail.”

That meant they’d already dropped the information in my assigned lockbox. There was no choosing a job. Whatever they gave me, I had to complete.

He hung up, and I dropped the phone in my lap. Tipping my head forward, I took a deep breath.

I couldn’t get back to sleep, my mind churning with the implications of my sudden conscience. I knew I was one of their best assassins, but the drive to complete jobs had always been for my brother. To give him a better life. To keep paying Mom so she wouldn’t come after us.

Something that now seemed laughable because she’d come for us anyway. All the sacrifices I’d made over the years were for nothing.

No, that wasn’t right. Not for nothing. Because I got Lenny away from her. Even if he might not be able to stay away.

I pulled on tracksuit pants and a sweater, needing to get out of the stifling apartment, the walls closing in around me. I forwent shoes since it was easier to walk on the roof barefoot. Snatching a blanket off the back of the couch on my way past, I made sure I set the alarm and the camera feed on my phone worked before locking the door behind me.

My breath slowed and my body lost some of its tightness once I’d settled on the roof. The nights were getting colder, and I knew I couldn’t come up here for much longer.

Scratching sounded nearby, and then Jude’s head appeared at the edge of the roof. “Couldn’t you have chosen somewhere that’s easier to get to?”

I watched him climb up with an effortless grace I was sure I’d never displayed when coming up here. “Nobody is making you climb up.”

I’d always been a loner, preferring to sort through my problems on my own. But Jude’s intrusion wasn’t an unwelcome one.

He carefully lowered himself next to me and I lifted the blanket. He shuffled closer, his arm going around my back, cocooning me in his warmth. No more thoughts of an uncertain future existed. No more thoughts of losing Lenny swirled through my head. They’d all evaporated, replaced by the feeling of his strong body next to mine.

We didn’t speak, just sat next to each other for hours. Jude held me close, his head resting on mine. I didn’t want to get used to his support.Couldn’tget used to it. Because eventually he’d be gone, and I’d have to go back to the way it was.

Everything in me protested, even at the possibility of not having this anymore. But I was a realist. And one thing I knew better than anyone was that nothing was sure in this life.

But the way I felt when I was next to him was addictive, I had no idea how to stop it.

“You hungry? We could wake up Lenny and go somewhere.”

Jude’s rumbling voice broke through the silence. The sun was rising over the buildings, and I knew it was time to get back to a reality I no longer wanted to be a part of.

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