I hated that I wanted him so much. My eyes feasted on him as soon as I walked into the hotel bar, my soul knocking on my heart with excitement.

He was so handsome, with his thick black hair and penetrating grey eyes. Even the stubble that dusted his chin appealed to me. His body was beautiful. I hadn’t seen many male bodies, but I knew his took some work to get that six-pack. Or, maybe, it was just his job, God knows I had muscles – especially where I didn’t want them.

He rose from his chair when I approached.

I was confused. The tender look in his eyes wasn’t what I expected. I had anticipated hostility, anger over me turning away from what we both felt. After all, I had put being a Weapon before him, and that would hurt anyone.

But…

“You didn’t need to do this to get my attention, Euan.”

He appeared confused at first, but when I sat in the chair opposite him and picked up the glass of wine he had already ordered for me, he sighed. “I had hoped I wouldn’t have to do this, Elsie, but you gave me no choice.”

“Just tell me she is okay.”

His brow creased with confusion and he reared back slightly. “Sorry?”

“Felicity. You better not have hurt her or I will hurt you.”

He shook his head, and his lips parted – I stared at them like they were my next meal. “What the fuck are you on about?”

Okay. Now even I was baffled.

“You sold her out to Peter. Just to make your stupid male pride feel better.”

He froze, staring at me with wide eyes. “I’m confused. Fill me in with whatever the fuck has gone off.”

I stared at him, trying desperately to read him. “Seriously?”

He seemed affronted, his eyes widening on me. “Jesus, do you really think I would do that.”

“I don’t understand. Why the hell did you ask me to meet you if you don’t know where Felicity is?”

His brows touched his hairline, and he reared back. “Felicity is missing?”

“Mmm.” I swallowed back the fury, making sure to rein my temper in before I broke his neck. “Why did you ask me to meet, Euan? You said you had info on Felicity.”

He nodded, but still appeared puzzled. “I do. But I didn’t know she was missing.”

“Euan!” I shouted. “Just fucking spit it out!”

He twisted his lips and closed his eyes for a second. “Felicity is working for Peter.”

The blood in my veins turned to cement, hardening in my veins and making my soul shudder. “What?”

“I already had a suspicion, and I did some digging, Elsie. She’s your mole. She’s the reason Peter knew where we were. The Cabin, Petra’s farm, the hit tonight. She’s giving him everything.”

I shook my head. “She… She wouldn’t do that!”

The pity he looked at me with caused the lump in my throat to widen. “I hacked into Peter’s system a while ago, and I’ve been logging all his communications. There was one veiled email that I couldn’t find the address for, and after we kept getting sold out, I knew you had a mole somewhere. At first, I thought it was Ebony, yet something told me to trust her. I started looking into Felicity and Tehni, but Tehni came up clear. So, I had to go deeper for some help. My guy found the address for me. I got into the email account and found a payment schedule…To the bank account of a Miss Elsie Grey.”

“What the fuck!?”

“Well, I knew it wouldn’t be you, seems as Peter is trying to wipe you off the earth. So that got me even more interested. I hacked into the bank’s…”

“You hacked into a bank?” This was becoming absurd.

“Well of course. Anyway, they’re a high-profile bank. They concentrate on lots of large business transactions and such, and each account holder needs photo ID.”

He pulled some papers out of a bag beside him. “I’m so sorry, Elsie.”

There were dozens of emails, all consisting of locations, assignments, some general correspondence about payments and such. And then there was the bank account form – with Felicity’s photo beneath her fake name – my name.

My stomach twisted, and I had a hard time keeping my dinner in.

“Why would she do this?”

Then he handed me some more bank account information. “Felicity’s main account.”

Closing my eyes in dismay, I shook my head. “How can anyone get into this much debt?”

“It looks like it’s been going for a while too. There’s more debt that I uncovered other than just her bank. She owes loan sharks, Elsie, huge bad ones.”

“I’m not too worried about those,” I admitted with a small laugh. “Felicity can hold her own. They’ll probably get a huge shock trying to break her bones for payment.”

“What will happen to her?” he asked, the concern on his face making me smile.

“As I said, you’re a good man, Euan Sinclair.”

“Elsie, just answer my question.”

I gulped and looked him in the eye. “Frank will terminate her.”

“And by terminate,” he winced, “You don’t mean her contract.”

“She will be the contract.”

My heart hurt, and I looked at Felicity’s bank statements once again.

“I have to find her.”

“I may be able to help there.”

 

***

 

I stared with wide eyes around Euan’s den. The mass of keyboards, monitors, electrical equipment, and even the large servers placed to one edge of the room made that much noise I could barely hear myself think.

“That’s why I have those huge fuckers,” he enlightened me, pointing to four massive speakers. “It’s the only way I can focus.”

This wasn’t just some hobby, nor was it just for the job of a tracker. This was on a colossal scale, specialised.

“Who the fuck do you work for, Euan?”

He stared at me, his cheeks blanching a little. “I think you know the answer to that, Elsie.”

My heart stopped, and I stumbled backwards. “Fuck!”

He stepped towards me and took my trembling hand. “It’s okay. I’m not here for you. My assignment is Peter O’Keefe. MI5 have been looking for a way in for over four years, but nothing. A contact of a contact got me an in when Peter requested a tracker to find you and Sally. The day we went to see him I planted a device that gave me access to his network.”

Acid burnt my throat, and I closed my eyes in dismay. “How can I be so fucking stupid? You used me! You offered me to Peter, like a lamb to the slaughter, so that you could plant a damn bug. You’re fucking secret service, and I didn’t even see it. Fuck! I’ve given you so much shit that you’ll probably get fucking knighted for this!”

“Elsie!” he yelled, grabbing the tops of my arms. “Listen to me. I – am – not – here – for – you. I am in this for your grandfather. Frank said he couldn’t just take him out, the repercussions from that will slaughter Three Blades. I am your only way. I can take him down, and finish him for the rest of his life!”

“But this is your job, Euan. How can you not disclose Three Blades to the service?”

He frowned at me. “Why would I have to? Think about it, we both, respectively, do the same damn job. Mine just comes with more red tape.”

Tears plummeted down my face as I gawped at him. My soul disintegrated, and the agony from it was worse than anything I had ever experienced. Throughout all my training, the lashings and torture we endured to make us stronger, all the bullets and beatings I had taken, none of those were fuck all on this pain inside. It was ripping me apart, taking every fibre of me and blistering my insides under the scorch of the fiercest fire.

“I fell in love with you, Euan Sinclair,” I whispered through the devastation clogging my throat.

His eyes shot wide. “What?”

“You were the home my soul needed to keep warm. I had an assignment to kill you.” I turned, unable to look at him any longer. “I should have upheld my duty.”

He didn’t follow me out. He knew I would drive a fucking blade through his heart if he did.