Tears run down my face, and I feel like such a fucking idiot.

I definitely don’t feel like the badass agent I’m meant to be at the moment. I knew my damn charade would come back and bite me in the ass. And it has.

I slam the fucking car door after I get out. I don’t say a damn word to any of the guys and run straight into the house and up to the room where I’ve been staying.

It’s late, and suddenly, I feel exhausted.

The bed looks so inviting, and I vow to only rest for a few minutes.

When I wake again, the whole ugly truth comes back to me. What the fuck am I still doing here?

I need to get out.

It takes me less than ten minutes to pack my bag. I can’t believe I fell asleep and didn’t make a quick getaway.

I pick up the bag and start downstairs so I can get the hell out of this place. I want to put it as far behind me, as fast as I can.

But I hear something, a noise of some kind.

I can’t describe it, but it’s pretty fucking loud.

I drop my bag on the floor at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer and follow the sound. I’m not sure what kind of a noise it is, but I’m not leaving until I figure it out.

My insides tell me it’s not a good noise.

I follow the sound down the hallway leading to the kitchen. As I get closer to the noise, it gets louder and louder, so I know I’m heading in the right direction.

The closer I get to it, the more I realize it’s a beeping noise.

Like one of those fucking alarm clocks that doesn’t have the music option.

I find the noise in the closet where the furnace is located off of the kitchen in the back of the house. As my eyes find the source, I suck in my breath.

What the fuck?

The noise is coming from a bomb.

What a fucking perfect spot to place one, right where the gas line comes into the house. I have two minutes to deactivate the bomb.

I sprint back to my bag and look for my pocketknife.

I haven’t seen a bomb like this one before.

Then again, I haven’t deactivated very many bombs as an agent.

I look at the wires and try to figure out which one I should cut. There are six different ones in four different colors. The bomb’s ticking makes me even more nervous than I already am.

I sure as hell don’t want to screw this up.

I carefully move the wires around to see where each is connected. With two seconds left, I clip the only yellow wire. At the same time, the numbers on the timer and the noise on the bomb stop.

I’m so fucking relieved.

I lie down on the floor and relax. I thought I was going to piss my pants. Of course, if I hadn’t gotten the right wire, it wouldn’t have mattered.

“Are you all right?” a man’s voice asks behind me.

“I just fucking deactivated a bomb,” I say.

I sit up on the hardwood floor and see Marco standing in front of me.

“What do you mean you just fucking deactivated a bomb?” he asked me.

He has a puzzled look on his face.

“Just what I said.”

I give him a what the fuck do you think I said look. I can tell Marco is confused.

“I mean, we’ve already defused one bomb that was on me back at the warehouse.”

He’s still just standing there.

“I was upstairs packing, and I heard a noise. When I got downstairs. I tracked it down to this closet. I deactivated it just as you got here.”

Marco helps me up off the floor and gives me a hug.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re okay.”

“I know who planted the fucking bomb, Marco.”

I don’t give him a chance to do anything else.

“Who?” The puzzled look on his face has disappeared.

“No one is going to fuck with me anymore. I have a plan, and I’m going to take care of the person who did this.”

I pick up the bomb and take it to the kitchen.

“So what do you plan to do with it?”

He looks at me.

“Remember the senator I told you about? He’s the one who did this. He’s the one who tried to blow up your house.”

Marco just stares at me, so I continue.

“I know he has buildings here in the area. There’s one building that’s a casino and hotel complex. It hasn’t been finished yet, but it’ll be the best fucking place. It’ll get rid of the bomb and I’ll get even with the senator at the same time.”

The more I think about this fucking situation, the madder I get. The senator will fucking pay for what he tried to do to me and what he just tried to do to the Monatello brothers.

“So what’s your plan?” Marco brings me back to our chat.

“I’m going to take this fucking bomb and put it in that complex. There shouldn’t be anyone there, because it’s still in the process of being built.”

“And what’s the purpose of that?” Marco asks, his brows deeply furrowed.

“You have to fucking ask?” I can tell he’s still not following me.

Marco gives me a blank stare.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. Not like the senator tried to do to me. I only want to make my point. I want to destroy something of his. Something he’s building to destroy others people’s lives.”

“Oh, I fucking get it now.” Marco nods his head. “But I still think you should blow that bastard up for what he tried to do to you.”

“But that’s not me. I may be this badass agent, but I try not to kill people. I don’t like killing people if I don’t have to. Destroying their shit is a different story.”

“I like your fucking style,” Marcos says. He smiles at me. “That’s the best way to get even with someone who has fucked with you.”

I smile back at him. “Now let’s go get this bastard.”

“Wait a minute. I think we need to let the other guys in on it, too. After all, we know what’s going on, and we like nothing more than to see this bastard get what he deserves, just like you.”

“I prefer for this to stay just between you and me. I don’t want anyone else to know what’s going on.”

“I really don’t think that’s an option. We’re all in this together.”

He gives me this shit-eating grin.

And all I can do is nod.