My brows furrow. Not in anger, but in deep thought. She says the words almost like she’s trying to remind herself. Like she’s clinging to old feelings and grudges instead of heralding in new ones.
“Doesn’t change how much I love you,” I reply, kissing her neck.
“You’re a monster,” she mutters, the words weighed down with sleep.
“Yes,” I agree. “But I’myourmonster. You’ve enslaved me, Scarlett. You’ve made me your own. There’s nothing you could ask me for that I’d be capable of refusing… except for freedom from me.”
“I hate you,” she whispers. “Hate, hate, hate…” she trails off in the middle of her mantra.
I’m almost certain she insists on telling herself as much because she might be starting to feel somethingotherthan hatred for me. I don’t dare delude myself into believing that it’s love or anything comparable, but it isn’t hate. That much is beyond question.
I’m tempted to wake her up and torture answers out of her… but I restrain myself. She’ll confess what she feels in her own time, and if need be, I’ll give her someencouragementdown the line. For now, I’ll let her get what rest she can before waking her up for round five.
The following day, I’m nearly as sore as I imagine Scarlett is… but that doesn’t stop me from fucking her one more time in the morning. She’s half-awake, but she clings to me nevertheless, and comes for me again like the good girl she is. Afterward, she rolls over onto her side, clutches a pillow, and falls right to sleep.
I kiss her forehead before taking a quick shower, getting dressed, and reluctantly making my way to Cain’s quarters. At this stage, there is no affection or even comradery between us, but I know I still need to do my job, and a text came in this morning for a strategy meet.
I don’t expect to find Max waiting outside of Cain’s office. He cuts me a quick, slightly resentful glare, but otherwise ignores me.
I guess he’s still pissed that I pulled rank and forced him to amp up the hunt for his Chosen. If he didn’t set his eyes on Scarlett, I wouldn’t have done so. I don’t like the rift in my friendship with Max, but if losing him means I keep Scarlett safely with me, that’s what I’ll do.
He’ll get over it eventually. It was only a matter of time before Cain ordered him to find a Chosen; I simply… pushed up the process.
Cain opens the door a few minutes later, giving both Max and I a thorough once-over before waving us in. He takes a seat at his desk; we take the two opposite him, and wait in silence for him to start talking.
“I spoke with Eric last night,” he begins. “He was naturally… hesitant to continue working with us in light of recent events, however I assured him that I didn’t know who Scarlett was when I offered her sanctuary—” he pauses to chuckle at the ludicrous lie, “—and made it clear that digging into her revealedbothof their relationship to Luther Sharpe. The carrot and the stick, so to speak. Eric will continue working with us to take down Luther, but I don’t know if we’ll manage to keep him beyond that.” Cain directs a blank stare at me. “If you could persuade her to persuade him, it’d be much appreciated. He’s proven to be an extremely valuable ally.”
I don’t respond to that beyond a quiet snort. Cain’s nostrils flare, but he doesn’t press the matter. Yet. I’m sure this isn’t the last I’ll hear of it.
“According to Eric’s sources, Luther has sent a small team of his men to prepare their new property and land,” Cain goes on. “Chatter indicates that they’ll be there for about two weeks, getting everything ready. Which means we have a two-week window to attack Luther’s compound while their force is split, and they’re presumably distracted. I’d like to move in immediately, but…” Cain locks eyes with me. “You’re not ready to be back in the field after the punishment you took for Scarlett.”
“I’m back at the gym,” I disagree. “My wounds have healed. I’m fucking ready.”
“I saw the weights on the leg press yesterday,” Cain says with a yawn. “You’re pushing half what you did before the stabwound—”
“Which you put there.”
“For a good reason.” Cain arches a challenging eyebrow. “Or have you forgotten what the outcome of my play was? You have a particular pep in your step this morning, Greyson. Things are good with your Chosen, I presume?”
My jaw clenches. What Cain did was fucked up beyond compare, but itdidvastly shift the landscape of my relationship with Scarlett. Ultimately, that led to me losing some of my power over her, which I don’t like… but I very much like the fact thatshecame ontomeyesterday.
Still, I despise Cain’s methods. I despisehim. Things could have gone wrong in a dozen ways. But, they didn’t, and he achieved what he set out to.
He just did it in the cruelest, riskiest way possible.
“There are two options,” Cain says. “Option one is we delay—which I don’t want to do. Option two is that you and your unit stay behind and hold down the fort while other operatives go into the raid.”
“You don’t sound like you’re asking for input,” Max observes.
“That would be because I’m not,” Cain replies. “I’m still deciding. If you care to give your input—knowing it may very well be ignored—now’s the time.”
“I want to be on the op,” I growl.
“At the risk of ruining the op altogether?” Cain asks. “If you’re not in tiptop shape, you’ll be a liability. Do you really want to be a fucking liability, Grey?” His demeanor doesn’t change, but the threat is clear. “You know what I do with liabilities. I let them die for the cause.”
The subtext is unmistakable. The threat isn’t even veiled. If I go on the op and fuck up, Cain will sacrifice me for the sake of the op. I won’t be coming back… and then he’ll give Scarlett to Max.
I don’t think I’ve ever hated Cain as acutely as I do now. I can picture killing him so clearly, watching his blood pool around his pretty head…
