want to destroy this atrocious man for letting her name pass from his lips. Lainey is a spy with a history I was never sure of. I knew she gathered basic information about SEALs to pass on to her superiors. This man is her superior. Her life is far more secretive and dangerous than I ever would have dreamed. He hits me with an open fist. “I asked you a question, X. Answer me.”
“Yes,” I reply. I answer honestly because I’m too busy piecing the puzzle of Lainey Rosemont together in my mind. I can’t make up lies when I’m too busy reeling from the truth.
“That love is the reason she stopped reporting back to me. I need this information; you see? I sell it for a lot of money. Elena has cost me a lot of money. Her love for you, more specifically her disloyalty, makes me angry. She was my best agent. I thought about it for a long time. About what the proper punishment for something so costly should be. Take what she loves most? Yes. That’s what I needed to do. Either that or you give me the information I need. You know how I caught you so easily?” He pauses, watching my face. I’ll never talk. He knows that.
When I don’t say anything he says, “Go ahead. Ask me! Come on, I know you want to know.”
“How? How did you catch me so easily?” I humor him. It has to be blind fucking luck. I swallow, anticipating his words. My spit tastes like iron and stale air. Oh, God, Lainey how deep was she? To be working for a man like this—a man capable of orchestrating a kidnapping successfully and fuck knows what else he’s into. Drugs, sex trade—anything that makes a lot of money the illegal way. V is the type of man Navy SEALs hunt down and extinguish. He’s surely responsible for mass amounts of lives lost.
He cackles, exposing disgusting teeth again. My empty stomach flips. “With the information she gathered from you in the beginning, before she fell in love with you. Isn’t that ironic? She did this to you. I love a good romantic story gone bad.” He laughs. It’s loud and echoing and pure evil. “She’s the reason you’ll live in a cell for the rest of your days. I mean, I’ve debated whether I should send you back into the world after I’ve dismantled you beyond recognition, but in the end I think it’s better if she suffers your death,” V explains through laughs. His hands are on his fat stomach as he chuckles. I envision him dead on the ground. His fucking fat stomach is what I will shoot first, just to watch him suffer. Men like him don’t deserve a quick death.
My head is spinning. I can’t think quickly enough to form coherent questions. Lainey. Oh, God. Is she strong enough to survive this? Knowing she is responsible for this atrocity? “Kill me,” I spit out. He shakes his head, a knowing, evil look in his eye.
“Oh, I’m not going to kill you. No.” Leaning against the shitty desk, I watch as he grabs the old scissors and then approaches. Every muscle in my body tenses, readying for pain.
“How did she get messed up with you?” I ask. My voice is a quiet whisper. He hears.
He laughs again. “She never had a choice. She was born into this. That little bitch defied her heritage when she cut contact with us. Think she’s crying right now? She’ll never suspect it was me because you were on a mission with the rest of the SEALs. I mean, how well planned was this?” I’ll admit, he’s good. This will look like a normal hostage situation to the rest of the world.
I shake my head. She’s an artist. Better at her espionage than any other person I’ve met. Had I known I could have better protected myself. I could have protected her. “You’re going to help me with the rest of the master plan. Faking your death. A true death isn’t warranted, I don’t think. I enjoy your company after all.”
“I’ll never crack. I’ll never give you any information. Make it a true death.” Begging for my death isn’t part of my skill set. It’s an odd combination of relief and sheer terror.
V rubs his hands together. “I’m thinking of a beheading video. Those have gotten so much play lately, though. You’re so good with computers. What are you thinking? How