Page 117 of Crossfire
“We have Vosch’s location.”
Just a few short days ago, those words would have unleashed a euphoric wave inside of me. What a tragedy that it was so damn dull right now.
“Seth worked his magic with those surveillance cameras, and we found him. He’s just outside the city. We’re putting the tactical team together now. You still want to be the one to finish him?”
This pain would go away, right? It had to. I couldn’t give up the opportunity to finish what I started, and I couldn’t allow this heartache to distract me.
“Yes,” I said.
“Good. Because I fought to keep you on this assignment and it wasn’t easy. You need to be free to do it.”
Free. As in free of Ivy.
My chest caved in on itself.
“Seth and I are meeting tonight at the safe house on Elm,” Daniel said.
Elm. That was the place close to Hunter’s.
“You need to be there, or they’ll assign another operative to be the one to finish him,” Daniel said.
Everything I wanted a few short days ago was being handed to me on a silver platter. My second chance to end Vosch and redeem myself in the eyes of the CIA. An organization that I had pledged my absolute loyalty to, above my family, above my wants in life.
Sure, another operative could take Vosch down, but this had been my mission, and this was what I had wanted.
“No more delays,” Daniel urged. “Take care of the target.”
I had dedicated my life to fighting the very evil Ivy represented, and now, to protect everything I stood for, to carry out my duty to the CIA and the citizens I vowed to protect, I would have to kill the woman I had started to fall in love with.
I ended the call with Daniel and shoved a stack of books off the desk—watching as they flew through the air like paper bullets, slamming against the drywall like the truth slammed against my heart. Running a hand through my hair, my periphery caught movement in the doorway before her voice broke the silence.
“Grayson?”
52
IVY
Grayson’s eyes, filled with tenderness and desire just minutes ago, now burned with something dark as he stared at the laptop screen. When he didn’t even look away from it to address me, nerves ignited in my stomach with warning flares.
He’d been waiting for files from his handler—files that should clear my name. After all, they couldn’t contain proof of crimes I’d never committed.
And yet…
Grayson’s demeanor and stiff body told me everything had changed. I could feel it. The air was charged with the electricity of a storm brewing just before a lightning strike, and his soul felt like it’d drifted out to sea.
When he finally looked at me, the eyes that stared back at mine weren’t those of a lover. They were the dark eyes of a killer, void of any emotion.
Except betrayal.
And fury.
Grayson flexed his hand into a fist, his knuckles turning white before he finally spoke with venom-filled words. “You had me convinced…” His voice was too calm for the level of accusation he was making.
My heartbeat jolted into a frantic rhythm, my mouth running dry—afraid to say the wrong thing. Afraid to say nothing at all.
One wrong move, and he could end me before hearing me out.
I wanted to believe that my instincts were wrong—the ones screaming that I was a doe trapped in the hungry path of a lion. This was Grayson. Sweet, protective, took me here to shield me from dangerGrayson. This was the man who’d spared my life and had put his on the line to keep me safe.