Page 47

Xavier and I exchange glances. His bravado has slipped because this conversation has crossed into reality.

Sex. With Silence.

“Would it be a one-time thing?” I ask.

Zayden shrugs again. “Again, no clue. If it doesn’t go as planned, then yes. If it does … and we’re all able to remain adult about it”—he looks at Xavier, whose response is to grin—“then yes, maybe it could happen more than once.”

Fuck. This is big. Huge. It could change everything, or it could just be a one-time experience that we never discuss again. There are so many variables, things that could go wrong …

Things that could go perfectly.

“I’m in,” Xavier says, though he’s far less cocky than before. “No clue how this would even go, but I’ll follow your lead, Z.”

Zayden nods, then moves his attention to me. “How about you, Yale?”

I run my hand across my mouth. “I’m in, too. But if at any point it feels weird, I’m backing out. I’m not risking what I have with her.” I expect Xavier to make another joke, but surprisingly, he remains quiet.

“That’s fair.”

“Okay. Okay … good.” Zayden takes his phone out and taps the screen. Mine and Xavier’s phones ping. “A group chat, if you have any questions. Silence’s idea.”

Yale chuckles. “Of course it was.”

“Why don’t we just use our existing chat?” Xavier asks.

“Because I don’t want to discuss our sex life in between your selfies with targets’ bodies, X. And by the way, stop fucking doing that.”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s called enjoying my job.”

“Well, a court would call it evidence.”

I cackle, and as I’m about to rename the group chat to something amusing, my phone vibrates with a call.

I lift my eyes to Zayden. “It’s Envy.”

Envy runs the Agency for us, specifically the training program, and lives at the property full time. It’s intense, and bloody, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it. She was in the recruitment group after ours and spent years travelling the world, eliminating targets with deadly precision.

I answer. “Envy, you’re on speaker with all three of us.”

“I don’t care. You need to get here. Now. One of the lights has gone out.”

Code for: a trainee is dead.

“And? We have bad electrics,” Xavier responds. Code for: What’s the big deal? It happens all the time.

“Guys,” she says, her voice low. “You all need to get here right fucking now.”

“I don’t like you going alone,” I say as I follow Zayden out of the bedroom. Xavier is on my heels, pulling on a T-shirt, still a little unsteady on his feet.

“Yeah, fuck that. I’ll go with you.”

Zayden shakes his head as he takes the stairs. “You’re hurt, and I’m not leaving Silence alone without someone who can defend her.”

We all pause at the bottom of the stairs as Zayden snatches his jacket off the banister and pulls it on.

“I’m fine,” Xavier insists. Z pokes him in the ribs and he winces, slapping his hand away. “Fucking ow. Cheap shot.”

Zayden looks at me, his point proven. “You’ll need to drive me to the airstrip, otherwise you won’t have a car. Xavier, take Silence to the⁠—”