Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40057 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
She shook her head. “Not after the last few designs. He’s been pushing to meet in person again, though. Kept hinting that a critique would help. That I’ve been slipping. How he needs to course-correct.”
My chest tightened. “He knows you’re pulling away.”
“Probably,” she murmured, her lips pressed tight. Then she looked up at me, eyes steady and determined. “That’s why we should let him think I’m still playing along.”
I was already shaking my head before she even finished.
“Don’t,” I warned. “Don’t even fucking say it.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m the one he wants to see. Who will come to. We can use that.”
“You want to be bait?” My voice was calm, but only because it was buried under six fucking feet of fury.
“I want to help,” she snapped, the flush rising in her cheeks. “I’m the one he used. He branded me. He turned my work into something wrong. And I’m not going to just sit around doing nothing while the rest of you handle this.”
“You being safe is helping.”
Her eyes flashed. “Not if it lets him get away.”
I crossed the room in two long strides and caged her against the wall, bracing my palms beside her head. “No.”
It was adorable and hot as fuck that she didn’t flinch or cower beneath my show of strength. She met my stare with defiance, but I could see the flicker of uncertainty underneath it. The weight of what she was asking, while being unsure if it was the right call.
“Elena.” My voice was rough from the pressure building behind my ribs. “He branded you. Used you. Lied to you. He made you a target. And I already have to live with the fact that I didn’t see it sooner. That I let him touch you without knowing what he was doing. You think I can let you walk into a trap now? Just offer yourself up so we can get a clear shot?”
She swallowed hard. “Not unprotected. I’d be surrounded. Out in the open. In a public place. You could take him before he even sat down.”
My jaw clenched.
“I can’t stop him if he runs,” she pressed. “But I can draw him out.”
I didn’t answer.
Because the fucked-up part was that she was right. This was our best chance to lure him out of hiding. And if we didn’t act soon, he’d vanish into his own smoke screen, and we’d be chasing ghosts for who-the-fuck-knew how long.
I turned and walked to the far end of the room, dragging my hands through my hair and trying to force myself to think through the haze of rage.
Elena didn’t follow, knowing I needed space. She understood what I was fighting against—and what agreeing to this would mean.
“Fine,” I finally agreed. “Set a meet, but somewhere we can control the space. You stay within sight of at least five patches. He needs to see you, but you don’t speak to him, you don’t go near him, and you don’t do anything unless I tell you. If he so much as fucking blinks wrong, we take him down.”
She nodded once, her lips trembling—but with resolve, not fear.
“Reeve.”
I looked back at her.
She crossed the room slowly, placing one palm flat on my chest, directly over my heart. “I’m not trying to be reckless. I trust you. I trust all of you. But I can’t be afraid of him forever.”
My hand closed over hers.
“You’re fucking brave. But bravery doesn’t mean you walk into fire without backup.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed again. “So…I set the meeting?”
I exhaled hard, then nodded. “Yeah.”
By nightfall, everyone was briefed.
Wizard traced the IPs tied to Marks’s earlier messages—no red flags. Ace cross-checked flight logs and bank activity. Marks hadn’t left the city. Ash and Kevlar scouted three potential locations, settling on a café with wide windows and high visibility. Marks would be able to confirm Elena’s presence from outside, and we’d be able to get her out the back before he stepped foot inside.
The back exit would be covered. The front would be monitored. We’d place men at every entry point, hidden and armed, with at least two enforcers inside, close enough to make our move before he could react.
Marks had requested to meet for lunch at 1:30.
We’d be in position at least an hour before.
King signed off on the plan, but I didn’t miss the tightness in his jaw when I explained Elena would be the bait. He knew what it was taking for me to agree to this, got that I was not okay with it. Not by a long fucking shot.
“Gonna be able to handle this?” he asked when it was just the two of us left in his office.
I gritted my teeth, not sure how to answer honestly. “Do you want to know if I can handle the idea of Elena as bait? Or if I can stop myself from putting a bullet between Mark’s eyes the second I see him?”