Page 265 of Vicious Temptation

Grey straightens and dusts off his uniform. “You’re the one who’s fucked.” He points at me. “You’re letting pussy get in the way of doing your job.”

I wrench one arm free, then the other, and Grey’s confidence evaporates as I start toward him again.

“Officer Braga.” The commander’s voice stops me before I reach him. "My office. Now."

The locker room goes silent.

I slam the office door behind me and stalk toward Elena’s desk.

She leans back in her chair as if this is just another day at the precinct, not as if I were seconds away from tearing Grey apart with my bare hands.

“You were the source of the intel, weren’t you?” I slam my fist on her desk. “Tell me. Was it you?”

She studies me before reaching for a cigarette, then lights it and takes a slow drag.

“I’ve been gone for weeks, Operative, waiting for you to fulfill your end of the deal you agreed to.” She exhales a stream of smoke. “Did you plant the devices?”

“Fuck the devices, and fuck this assignment. You’re not getting intel because there isn’t any to find. Remi knows nothing.”

She trusted me enough to share her family’s past, but none of it gives Elena what she wants.

The commander smiles around her cigarette. “Is that right, or are you compromised, just as I knew you would be?”

“I know her better than I did when you sent me after her. If she knew anything, I would’ve found it by now. You want something on the Cains so badly?” I step closer. “Then do it yourself. Walk into their house and take whatever the fuck you think is there. I dare you. But I’m done with this assignment.”

She arches an eyebrow. “Fine. I’ll start your transfer immediately.”

When she reaches for her phone, I snatch it and hurl it at the wall. “I’m not leaving Philadelphia.”

“You don’t get to make that decision.” She rises from her chair and steps around the desk. “You’re in serious breach, Operative. You stopped sending useful reports weeks ago, ignored every check-in I issued, and never confirmed you planted the devices. Did you really think I hadn’t noticed?”

“What are you going to do?” I move toward her. “Put a hit on my head, too?”

Her lips press into a thin line. “Get out.”

“I’m calling HQ to request your transfer. You’re out of control, Elena. This stopped being about justice a long time ago. You’re out for blood, and I’m done helping you get it. This isn’t what we do, and it sure as hell isn’t what I signed up for. One of the kids you sent Grey after is only seventeen.”

“I said, get out. Empty your locker while you’re at it.”

I point at her. “Stay away from Remi and her family.”

“Are you threatening me?”

I wrench open the office door. “No. That’s a fucking promise.”

“Do you really think it’s that simple?”

I stop with one hand still wrapped around the handle.

“You don’t resign from Helios, Operative.” Her voice remains calm behind me. “Helios decides when it’s done with you.”

Sixty-Five

remi

“That’s the fourth dress you’ve tried on. When have you ever cared this much, Rem? Plus, you look great in anything, and it’s not like you’re the one trying to make a good impression,” Valentina says with a yawn.

My phone is propped against the mirror on my dresser, Val taking up most of the screen as she watches me move between my closet and the bed, adding another dress to the growing pile.