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I stare at the collection, my heart pounding, my blood boiling. The images are damning. Cole won’t waste a second contemplating their legitimacy.
“I’m sorry, Decker, but you’re too valuable to simply walk away. If you leave, I’ll make sure your friend gets exposed as a traitor.” She keeps flicking the screen, moving to similar pictures with Sarah. “His fiancée, too.”
I see red, my vision narrowing into spiteful slits. “You’re going to get i
“I
I react without thought, grabbing my gun from my waistband and stepping close as I ram it under her chin.
I shouldn’t be surprised she doesn’t respond in shock or fear. Instead, she keeps that smile in place like the fucking psychotic bitch I know her to be.
She’s sweet to smell. Sweet to touch. And I know from experience, she’s sweet to taste, too. But everything else about this woman is bitter. Tainted. Evil. She does a lot of wrong things for a person who is supposed to be on the right side of the law.
“Don’t mess with me.” I get in her face. “What you’re doing is illegal. You can’t fucking manipulate me.”
“I already have.” She maintains her grin. If anything, she appears empowered by my weapon.
It sickening.
“Sebastian.”
I wince at the sound of Keira’s voice and the subsequent slam of the Porsche door.
“Let her go.”
“Yeah, Decker,” Anissa taunts in a whisper. “Let me go.”
I step away, shoving my gun into the back of my pants. “Get back in the car, Keira.”
Her footsteps rush up behind me, stopping a few feet away. “What are you doing?”
“Get back in the fucking car,” I growl and glance over my shoulder to give her a warning look.
Her eyes are wild with pain and confusion. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, and that’s a good thing. I can talk myself out of an ignorant situation. What I can’t do is manipulate her once she knows the truth.
“The car,” I snap. “Get back in it.”
Her lips part on silent words.
“Yeah, bitch,” Anissa adds. “This is none of your fucking business.”
Keira balks, clearly daunted by a woman who would reject help when being threatened by a gun. And for the first time, I’m thankful for the agent’s input. She’s maintaining my cover, if only a little.
Keira steps back, once, twice. She meets my eyes, but the confusion doesn’t leave her gaze. She’s panicked. Traumatized.
I raise my hands in surrender. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll explain.”
She retreats another step and another, not acknowledging me.
Fuck. I can’t hold her hand through this while Anissa watches. I need to attack the closest threat before I can set things right.
I turn back to the witch and lower my arms to my side. “Leave.”
There are more footfalls. The pace fast and frantic. The sound becomes distant. Keira is ru
“You’re sleeping with her?” she asks. “Isn’t that kinda messed up given your situation?”
It is. It fucking is. But I also know Keira isn’t the enemy.
It’s her father.
Her uncle.
And maybe Cole, too.
I know she’s i
“I don’t need my morality questioned by someone like you.” Besides, the situation is too fucking complicated to explain. It was never supposed to go this far.
I wanted to watch their family from the outside. From my safe position working surveillance for Hunter. But then Sarah came along.
It wasn’t in the plan to get sucked into the i
“Well, then, what’s it going to be? Are you going to stick to our arrangement, or do I leak these photos of your buddies?”
Keira’s retreating steps haunt me.
I can’t stand it.
“If you haven’t blown my cover, I’ll keep helping you,” I seethe. “But you need to give me some fucking space so I can keep working this angle with her.”
“I’ll do one better.” She winks. “I’ll do you a favor.”
I frown as she straightens to full height and glances over my shoulder in the direction Keira fled. Her face crumples, turning into an emotional montage.
I can’t resist my curiosity. I glance behind me to see Keira staring at us from the building at the corner of the street.
She looks devastated. Betrayed. It takes all my determination to turn back to Anissa, only to see her palm rushing toward my face to slap me hard across the cheek.
“Motherfucker.” I pull away from her. “What the fuck was that for?”
She backtracks, one tormented slide after another. “You told me you loved me,” she screams. “You fucking cheating bastard.”
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter.
She’s still playing the relationship angle, giving me an out that feels too fucking complicated for my current level of exhaustion.
“Thanks. This is very fucking helpful.”
“I hate you.” She stumbles toward her car. “You’re dead to me.”
“That’s enough,” I hiss. She’s attracting too much attention.
She drops the act as she pulls her car door wide. “If I were you, I’d start chasing your girl before she has a chance to hide.”
“Fuck you,” I grate.
“Jealousy is better than the truth, Decker.” She climbs into the vehicle and closes the door behind her, giving me one last wink as she starts the ignition.