Chapter Sixteen
ZACHARIE WAS TAKINGhis time changing into his clothes.
He realized why as he fastened the cuffs of his suit—platinum links set with black diamonds, the kind of understated extravagance that cost more than most people’s annual salary and yet meant absolutely nothing to him now.
Within the confines of his hospital suite, he had convinced himself he had an excuse not to think. The sterile walls, the steady beep of monitors, the parade of doctors and nurses—all of it had created a buffer between him and reality.
But once he stepped outside, he would be forced to remember.
Mira was gone.
Mira had discarded him.
Because just like his parents, she thought he was weak.
Zacharie stepped out of the en-suite bathroom, adjusting his jacket, and frowned when he saw Calixte standing at the window. His friend had parted the shutters and was studying the commotion outside with an expression of mild interest, like a man observing weather patterns rather than whatever chaos was unfolding in the corridor.
The sound of raised voices and camera flashes filtered through the tinted glass.
“What’s happening?” Zacharie asked.
“Mira’s arrived.”
The news had his body stiffening, but he deliberately focused his efforts on turning his heart to stone. “Ignore it,” he said curtly. “I’ve already given security instructions on how to deal with her.”
Calixte turned from the window, one dark brow arching. “What instructions would those be?”
“She’s probably feeling guilty for leaving me for the right reasons. That can only be dealt with in one way.”
“You choose to be cruel to be kind.”
“The ends justify the means is more how I think of it.”
Calixte studied his friend for a long moment, his gaze sharp and assessing in a way that made Zacharie want to look away.
“You still haven’t told me why the two of you have broken up,” Calixte murmured.
“We were never in a relationship.”
So his friend said, but the shuttered expression on Zacharie’s features said differently. “Be that as it may—” Calixte moved to the window-side table, where a breakfast tray remained untouched, and set his phone down beside it. “Perhaps this will change your mind.”
He pressedPlay.
And Tanya’s voice filled the room.
‘The other girls from your case are all thriving in their new identities. New cities, new names, new lives. Clean breaks, just as intended.’
Zacharie froze, every muscle in his body locking into place.
‘And yet here you are. Still creating problems.’
His jaw clenched, but he told himself that protecting Mira was no longer a duty he deserved to perform. She had made her choice. She had looked at him bleeding on a stretcher and walked away.
‘Agents like him don’t grow on trees. Civilians who get them killed, unfortunately, do.’
