The beam of my flashlight trails over the ground until I find the holster Reid discarded. He doesn’t even attempt to get to it first. I pick it up and continue talking.
“One day, Blake broke down and admitted she’d had enough. We made plans to bring her home to Boston. I even bought her an airline ticket, but in our last call, she said she’d changed her mind.” I blink away tears. I hate thinking back to that argument. “She accused me of brainwashing her and that’s when I lost it. We both said some hurtful, horrible things. And I haven’t heard from her since.”
“Quinn,” Reid says. I don’t like the sympathy dripping from his lips. “You know Ilya’s never going to tell you where she is, right?”
“It’s OK. I’m not exactly going to ask him.” Reid simply tilts his head in question. “Strider gave me a tracker. I’ll follow where he goes, and find her that way.”
Reid heaves a sigh as he takes his earpiece from his pocket and fits it back into his ear. “Ilya’s men regularly check for transmitters. I could ask Mace to see if there’s an alternative way of tracking him, but that would still require you getting close to him. And as I mentioned, that’s not going to happen,” he says. He holds out his hand for his holster. “I promise we’ll find another way, Quinn. What’s your sister’s full name?”
I give Reid the gun, but he’s not getting our last name. “You’ve taken enough from me for one night. I’m leaving now.”
“Quinn.”
I’ve already turned in the direction of the house. I needto be as far removed as possible from this situation. It’s better if I forget everything that happened tonight. I did not kill a man, and I definitely didn’t share orgasms with Reid.
When a strong hand grips my arm and spins me around, I want to cry. “Don’t.”
Reid cups my face and his mouth swallows my sob. Or maybe his own.
“If I have to let you go,” he says. “At least give me a way of contacting you. Please. You’re not doing this on your own.”
His promise breaks me in ways I didn’t think possible. He isn’t demanding I give him what he wants. He’s giving me what I need, and I know it’s killing him.
I hold out my hand. “Let me have your phone.”
After tapping in the number of my burner, I pass it back. He keeps hold of my hand. “Here, you’ll need this.”
He places his Glock in my palm and presses my fingers around it. “Only to be used on the bad guys,” he reminds me.
I narrow my eyes. “And which are you again?”
“I’m not just a good one. I’m the fucking best,” he says with a smirk that I know is hard fought for.
I lean in for a final kiss. It’s soft and tender, and almost too tempting. I’m smiling as I walk away. If that’s our last kiss, it’s a good one.
Chapter 10
Reid
Shafts of sunlight filter through the cabin’s windows and stretch across the oak table. The days are getting longer and warmer, but that’s not the only thing heating up. The atmosphere in the crowded space I’m currently calling home is tense.
“Do you think Ilya’s going to retaliate?” I ask Ash.
My big brother is sitting opposite, shadows under his eyes. He’d driven through the night to get here, and has said little since his arrival. His grave expression has been a permanent feature, and he’s yet to voice his thoughts on last night’s fuck-up.
“It’s not a question of if he retaliates, but when,” Mace interjects. “The extra team Ilya sent to the estate were in and out within an hour, which means they didn’t need to work too hard to find the bodies and establish the hit came from outside. They’ll know it’s us.”
His mood has been easier to read. He’d made a few crude comments about mytalkwith Quinn after we got back from our failed mission, but he’d spent most of theearly hours working on his laptop. He’s worried, and that only adds to my anxiety.
“And since they didn’t try to speak to Quinn,” Ash adds, “it’s safe to assume they don’t suspect her involvement. She’s safe for now, but we’re not. From now on, we take every precaution.”
Which was why Ash had driven rather than flown, to avoid being noticed. There was never a question of Hunter coming too. Someone needs to be in Chicago in case the first strike is closer to home and the people we love.
“And while I don’t mind taking the heat away from Quinn,” he continues, “she’s still a problem we need to contain before she makes matters worse.”
I lean forward in my seat. “You can’t blame her for what happened. She’ll do anything to get her sister back.”
“I don’t blame her, Reid. If anything, I admire her for what she’s doing,” Ash says. “But we have to be realistic. A year would be a long time for her sister to survive in Ilya’s depraved world. Quinn isn’t going to find the answers she wants, no matter how close she gets to him.”
