I grabbed my sweatpants from the ground—really testing my muscles now, but I made it out of his room and across the hallway. I couldn’t believe I’d been put in a room opposite him.I rested against my room door for a moment, looking acorss at my bed and the teddy on it—Mercy knew me well, she’d told me herself, she’d even got me a replica teddy of my childhood one.
There was nothing I need right now more than a shower and to process what just happened.
In the bathroom light, Donovan’s dried blood was under my fingernails and pooled in the palms of my hands. I had toadmit it brought me joy. He deserved more than that, maybe an actual bite, maybe my name really carved into his back, maybe—just maybe an actual letter telling me what the fuck happened all those months ago.
He’d left me.
He destroyed me.
I had Mercy to thank—well, River, he’d helped me out more than anyone else. The voice in my ear, any intel I needed—any intel on anything to do with getting my revenge, and nothing on Donovan Kurt. He was still going to pay for what he did, I thought we were end game, I thought he was going to propose—I was a fool, clearly. He only cared about himself—and his dick.
4. DONOVAN
That little fucker actually broke skin. I was impressed with him, he’d always impressed me, and it was one of my biggest regrets, leaving him, but my life wasn’t the life he needed to live. He was destined to be out there, building a life and getting a closeted boyfriend in some business—or, better yet, sleeping with the boss and then suing—not like I taught him, but it’s how some people got ahead in business.
I slept a little more after a shower, enjoying the sting of the cuts he’d made on me. But tomorrow—official tomorrow, when I was ready to start the day, I’d need to have a talk with him. This place and world wasn’t safe for him, no matter how many cheap tricks he had under his belt—his sass would only get him so far before someone decided to point a gun at him and mean it.
Mercy was in her office, it was obvious when she was because her name plate wasonlineso to speak. I was in the standard issue Sanctum attire, a pair of sweats and a nice, white t-shirt. I loved Mercy, she was sometimes my favorite person on this planet. She was South American by heritage—Colombian was my go to thought but only because of a bust I was on were we intercepted a shipping container of cocaine.
I gave the door a gentle knock.
“Donovan,” she called out. “Come in.”
Kicking at the slip-on shoes, I’d kinda hoped she would’ve been busy so I could mull over my words with a coffee and some breakfast. “I came down first thing,” I said, entering to see a seascape playing out on the screen behind her. She was tapping away at the keys on her computer, mostly just the nails tapping, her fingers barely made contact. “As Jinksy so kindly said whenhe woke me up in the middle of the night.” The door closed behind me.
“Take a seat,” she said. “We have a lot to talk about now that you’re sober.”
“Is it how much I owe you?” I slumped into the leather seat. “Because you know, take it out of my funds, or whatever is in my account.”
She nodded. “Don’t worry about that,” she said. “But your accounts are still very healthy, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
I scoffed. “As they should be, fifteen percent is kept in reserves right?”
“Twenty-five,” she said. “I made the decision unilaterally after the whole—Conrad sitch, I don’t really care for what happened there, and nor should you, what matters is here, now, and going forward. The future.”
“Honestly, that’s fine with me,” I told her. “As long as it’s not in another Swiss bank account, you know, I hate the cold so much. I never wanna go back there.”
She chuckled. “Ok, cards on the table, Donovan. I think you should stick around,” she said. “In Sanctum.”
Leaning forward, my brow knotting together. “Is there a warrant out for me? Someone put a hit out?”
“No, no, no,” she said. “I know you’ve had relations with—with—”
“Artemis.”
“Good, so you’ve already reconnected,” she said, clapping her hands once. “The kid has potential. He’s worked through his anger, his revenge, and, I think he’s ready.”
My knees shook, rocking from the balls of my feet. “That’s why he’s here?” I asked. “I thought you were bringing him in to fuck with me. I—I thought it was some sick way of you dangling him like a carrot. Is he the carrot, Mercy?”
Slowly, she stood and dusted her navy power suit with the backs of her hands. “Believe it or not, you left him, we didn’t tell you to leave him,” she said. “You left him because there was an op for a multi-million dollar hit abroad, six months you spent around Eastern Europe.”
“You all but told me to take the job or get cut from the Sanctum,” I said, my mind spinning. “I’m not imagining this, Mercy, am I?”
She pulled out a packet of Camel cigarettes. “You know the rules, you’ve got to take one job every six months, and it just so happened that you were perfect for it,” she said, offering my a cigarette. I took one and as I placed it between my lips, she was already there with the lighter. “For what it’s worth, you did what was best, I don’t think he could’ve handled being your little lackey, and since then—”
The first drag of the cigarette with the rush of nicotine was heaven. “Since then, you’ve been using him,” I said. “Right?”
She shrugged, take a long drag herself, the smoke came out and was instantly sucked into a vent. “We helped him get the higher ups, we helped him get his revenge, and he was good at it. It was just what I needed to show proof he was ready.”
