“She can’t leave. Guards shadow her everywhere. Calls are monitored and scripted. The excuses she feeds her family are not hers. They’re his. You know how these men work.”
Women vanish when they try to leave. No noise. No bodies. Just silence.
“She got one call out. Not to her parents. Too risky. She called a friend. Told her he’s keeping her and their son locked down. Said they haven’t been off the estate in months. She begged for help, and the friend went straight to the parents.”
She risked everything for that call. Which tells me she’s desperate, and she knows how bad it’s going to get.
“The husband owns the police, politicians, judges—everyone whose job it is to keep a woman safe.”
“That complicates things.” And leaves no room for mistakes.
“The family wants no headlines. No bodies. Unless there’s no other choice,” Terrence says.
He slides a tablet across the table. A map loads with satellite footage of green acreage strangled by stone walls. At the center sits a compound that resembles a war bunker more than a home.
“Mexico. The place is a fortress with full perimeter guards and ground sensors. It’s locked down like a black site.”
I study the layout, angles, and weaknesses. “You can’t breach it alone.”
His jaw flexes. “No. Security’s tight. Timing’s tighter. And if I try it solo, I don’t come out. I need someone who knows how to move like a ghost.”
Terrence meets my eyes. “I needyou.”
I slide the tablet back to him across the table.
It’s not the mission I’m weighing.
It’s her.
I just need to feel safe tonight.Her voice from three nights ago still plays on a loop in my head.
Going with Terrence means leaving her exposed. No eyes on her. No fallback. No shadow waiting in the dark. And with the Lemaire family still out there, pretending her danger ended with Julian’s death would be the biggest lie I’ve told myself yet. His death didn’t end their need to stop the trial. If anything, it stripped away the last restraint. And she’s still the one obstacle they’d kill to remove.
“I need to think about it.”
Terrence’s eyes narrow. “Are you in the middle of a job?”
“Not exactly.”
His brow lifts. “Not exactly? The hell does that mean?”
I shrug, leaning back in my chair.
Terrence watches me for a beat, then tries another angle. “You wouldn’t have to work the rest of the year with what they’ll pay you.”
I almost smirk. “It’s not about the money.”
He studies me. “It’s the woman, then?”
I don’t even pretend otherwise. “Yeah. A woman with a talent for attracting danger.”
His brow lifts. “She’s under your skin.”
“She’s under a lot of things. But mostly, she’s under my watch.”
His grin widens. “That explains the hesitation.”
“She’s crossed a family that doesn’t like to lose. The kind that makes problems disappear quietly and permanently without lifting a finger.”
