The mood is pretty tense as we sit inside the cabin. Noah is with us and we’re waiting around for Luca to arrive with a progress report. There’s a weird buzz between Noah and Molly, and Lily is unusually quiet, but that’s understandable. She did just witness her own funeral and was almost found by one of Camilla’s goons all because of me.

The sound of tires on the drive doesn’t go unnoticed and Noah stands up looking out the window. His stature shows of ease, so I’m not alarmed knowing it’s more than likely Luca coming to give me an ear bashing. I’m expecting it, I’m ready for it.

The door slams open and Luca storms in, his face red and his nostrils flaring like he’s beyond pissed. “Seriously? What the fuck were you thinking?” he yells not stopping his fast pace as he races up to me reaching down grabbing my shirt and pulls me up from the sofa.

I smack his hands away from my clothes, glaring at him and shaking my head. “I fucking wasn’t, okay!” Swallowing hard, I glance at Lily, to make sure she’s okay. It’s fucking hard to admit when I’m wrong but I was, and knowing Lily could have been hurt today is doing my head in.

Molly sends a death stare at me as her arms are wrapped around Lily tightly not letting go of her for anything, while Daisy rests her head in Lily’s lap.

“You fucking left her by herself,” Luca declares almost like he’s clarifying the intel he received as well as stating the facts.

Turning, I groan and pace the floor. “I know.” I scrub my hand over my face. “You think I don’t know that. I’m a fucking idiot. There, you happy you son of a bitch?”

Luca smirks. “Well… yes, actually.”

I glance to Lily thinking about how easily I could have lost her because the fire in me burned hotter for vengeance, it took over every morsel of common sense I had left in me.

I feel so betrayed by my mom.

I desperately want answers, but I’m not willing to risk what I have with Lily in order to get them. Lily’s more important. She’s the reason I’m still here and the reason I’m fighting. The reason I’m not killing innocent people anymore. I think I realize now that the fight is for Lily and me, and I need to trust my team.

Fuck! I need to hand over the running of my team to Luca if I’m to be around to protect Lily.

“I’ve got your back, you need to trust that. I saved your life once before… trust I can do it again,” Luca says.

I nod even though my chest sinks at the thought of not being the one in charge.

“I still want to be involved with how this all goes down, but you need to take the reins from here, Luca. Lily needs to be my top priority here on out. I failed her today. I won’t let that happen again.”

“Damn fucking right you won’t,” Molly calls out.

It takes me a second, but I glance around the room remembering it’s not just Luca and me in here talking about me handing over the SO7—my team, my life. Molly, Lily, and Noah are here too, to witness my surrender and fuck if I don’t feel inferior, like less of a man. I just hope Lily doesn’t see me as less, I hope she knows I’m doing this for her. She looks at me and half-smiles with a slight nod. It sends my heart back into a normal rhythm. Lily seems to know me so well and gives me encouragement at just the right times. No wonder I fucking love this woman!

“Now that’s sorted, we need to talk about what you heard,” Luca asks.

I nod. “We should go outside, boys,” I say and subtly look toward Molly.

They nod, and Noah stands up as we all head toward the door. We make our way to the rickety wooden chairs and take a seat.

“So? Who the fuck are the blond men?”

Gritting my teeth, I shake my head and sigh. “I’m still not sure on that, but I heard some weird shit that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean?” Noah asks.

“The older looking one of the two… he seemed to be the one in charge, I guess. They seemed like they were in the industry or something similar.”

Luca exhales. “Shit really? You think they’re on her side?”

Rubbing my chin, I shake my head. “I don’t think so… Fuck! I really don’t know. I didn’t get to hear much, but I did hear them say, that they did this and that they need to pay for the people they’ve hurt.”

Luca jolts his chin back and furrows his brows. “What the fuck? That’s some pretty interesting words right there.”

“I know, I wanted to hear more but then I looked back and saw what was happening with Lily and left.”

“Well, what was Camilla saying in all of this?” Noah queries.

“Just that I have a proposition for you… and that’s all I heard before I had to leave.”

“Fuck me, what’s the witch up to now?” Luca asks, and I shrug.

“I have no idea. But Luca, I need you to find out who they are, and what the fuck Camilla wants with them.”

He nods and looks to Noah. “Hacker genius here can help me.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling it’s going to be all hands on deck for this one,” Noah says.

“All except for mine,” I murmur and Luca slaps my shoulder.

“You have a role, Kace. Keep Lily alive. You can’t get much more important than that,” Luca says.

“True. Thanks. Speaking of Lily I should check on her, make sure Molly isn’t making her spill the beans.”

Noah chuckles and nods. “Yeah, that Molly, she sure is… something.”

Luca and I both look at him raising our eyebrows but say nothing as we head for the door. Molly and Lily’s voices echo through the air and it’s actually nice to have someone here for Lily. I know she’s missed her best friend. Through the door I hear Molly talking to Lily, but her tone is clipped and harsh.

“He rules over you. You never used to let a man make decisions for you. Why the hell are you starting now, Lily?”

Grunting, I open the door walking in and the girls’ heads snap up to look at us while we walk through. Lily glances at me with her brows creased and a frown on her face, her eyes pleading with me in a look that screams ‘help me.’

Looking back to Luca, he’s smirking and I figure he’s in charge now so I’ll see how he likes the authority. “Luca, seeing as you’re in charge now, how should we handle this?”

Molly stands up and opens her eyes wide shaking her head. “No. No. No, no, no. You’re gonna tell me what’s going on, and you’re gonna tell me right now!”

Luca winces and sighs. “Okay, I don’t think we really have an option here, Kace?”

Running my fingers through my hair, I simply nod. “Okay, yup, let’s fill her in.”

“You might want to sit down, Molly,” Noah says.

She purses her lips and creases her eyebrows at him. “Don’t tell me what to do. Just because you’re so fucking hot it’s illegal doesn’t mean you can wave your eight-inch wand around and magic me into your bidding.”

“Sit. Down. Molly,” Noah says with a harsher tone.

I raise an eyebrow to him as Molly grins and tilts her head.

“Okay. I like you a little demanding... you’re still a fucker though.”

Noah rolls his eyes as Molly sits down, Luca takes a seat next to Lily. Noah next to Luca, and I sit on the coffee table in front of Molly. Technically, I guess, Luca should be doing this seeing as he’s in charge, but old habits die hard and Molly knows me best, so this should come from me.

“Molly, Luca, Noah and I… we work for the government.”

Molly rolls her eyes. “Pffft booooring.”

Lily giggles and shakes her head.

Smirking, I grin and take a deep breath trying not to let that offend me. “Well, boring not so much. We work for a Top Secret division of the government.”

She sits up a little taller and her eyes open a little wider. “Ooh, not as boring.”

“Our section is called The Agency and our division… the team Luca, Noah and I work for… are called SO7—”

“Oh my God, you’re fully like secret agents aren’t you?” Molly asks her eyes opening wide as her smile beams on her face.

We all nod. “Yes.”

“Holy tittie fucking Jesus… Lily you bagged your very own Jason Bourne,” she says, and I roll my eyes as she nudges into the side of Lily who grins. “So wait, why are you two dead?”

We all frown. “The Director of The Agency is corrupt. When she saw that Lily and I were getting close, she decided to wipe Lily out of the equation so I would get back on track.”

Molly jolts her head back in shock. “Ahhh… excuse me? What the fuck? Why would anyone want to hurt my Lily and how were they going to take her out exactly?”

Noah shifts uncomfortably. “They put out a waste order on her—”

“A what now…”

“A kill order.”

Molly swallows hard as Lily looks at her and fakes a smile. “I don’t know what to say? So you faked your own deaths to get away from this… waste order?”

Lily huffs and I shake my head. “No, if only it were that easy. The waste order was sent, but luckily Daisy was at Lily’s that night when the Operative came through.”

Noah shifts again not looking at Molly or Lily. “And who was the fucking dirtbag who tried to kill my best friend? Obviously, Daisy got him real good…” She pauses and recognition dawns on her face. “Oh wait! Daisy got the guy in your apartment and Noah was in your apartment that time…” Her eyes go wide. “What the fucking fuck? Noah, were you there to kill Lily that night?” Molly almost screams the last part standing up and glaring at him, her chest heaving like she’s a rabid dog about to attack.

Noah sinks into himself and winces. “It was an order, I didn’t know who she was.”

Molly reacts before we even have time to comprehend what she’s doing and lunges for him. She claws at his face, her nails ripping at his flesh as she mounts him on the sofa. He sits there letting her claw at him. She’s rabid, as she screams in his face slapping and clawing at him, but I jump up along with Luca and grab her as quickly as possible, pulling her off him and holding her back.

“Fuck you, you fucking piece of fucking shit. I’m gonna kill you myself you mother fucki—”

“Molly… stop!” Lily yells standing up between Molly and Noah as he sits panting on the sofa with streams of blood forming rivers down his face. “It’s not his fault. He thought I was the bad guy. He was just doing his job. I don’t blame him and I hold no grudges. You shouldn’t either.”

Molly stops struggling and looks to Lily furrowing her brows and shaking her head. “I don’t understand. If he’s a member of your team then why the hell…” She pauses and bites her lip. “I don’t get it? Kace, tell me everything.”

“Sit back down, keep your hands off my team—”

“My team,” Luca interrupts and I send him a death glare.

“Keep your hands off everyone and I’ll finish telling you what happened.”

She nods and looks to Noah who’s now dabbing his puffy face with some tissues. Poor guy. She winces and tilts her head in a sort of apology and then sits down.

“So, Noah was given the waste order for Lily, but luckily Daisy got to him before he could get to Lily. Then we arrived and scared him off. It wasn’t until then we started to notice something was off in The Agency, things weren’t adding up. Our leader was giving out missions to the team without the rest of us knowing and that just didn’t happen. We had no idea Noah was given the order on Lily… he was told not to tell us. It wasn’t until he found out that Lily and I were a thing that he came clean, and I saw the scuffle marks on him from Daisy that it all came out. Right then I knew something wasn’t right. I went to our leader and she told me that Lily was my next target… that I had to take her out because her biological father ran a syndicate.”

Molly nods. “Oh yeah, Lily told me about her real dad and that he was a bad guy.”

“Yeah, well, the Director of The Agency told me that Lily was part of the Syndicate and that she was playing me, and that there was a requirement to take her out. It didn’t add up, though. When I spoke to Lily, I could tell she was telling the truth about not being part of the Syndicate. It was then I knew she was in trouble. There was more to the story too… something was happening in The Agency I wasn’t aware of. So I had to take Lily and go.”

Molly nods. “Oh, so your holiday wasn’t a holiday at all?”

“No, we were on the run, from my team. She sent them after us. Said I’d joined Lily and swapped sides.”

“Wow! How many are on your team exactly?”

“Seven.”

“So you were running from six well-trained Operatives, with my best friend… for your lives?”

I shrug. “Well, it was the six of them. Plus, the rest of The Agency.”

Molly slumps her shoulders. “Oh… for crying out loud. But obviously something has happened to make your team trust you? Or at least some of them, ‘cause you know, they’re here in the same room and all.”

“When they found us I told them what I’d found out. About how The Agency wasn’t what we thought it was. About how the head, and our leader, were not helping our country and fighting against the bad guys. About how they were, in fact, helping organize and fund terrorists instead, and we were the ones actually killing the innocent victims in this all along. We had no idea, we were pawns in their much bigger game. So once they knew, we devised an out plan for Lily and me. To make it seem like we were killed in action, and our bodies destroyed in a house explosion so they couldn’t be recovered and The Agency wouldn’t look for us. When Luca went back to our leader telling her of our deaths, she devised the crash and incineration for the news and for Lily’s family. There was a reason for having no bodies… we went into the wind. Once we heard the leader was going to be at Lily’s funeral, though, we knew something else was brewing. This isn’t over… I just… I’m still not sure what’s going on.”

Molly exhales shaking her head. “So, this leader of yours sounds intense. Why would she have such a strong dislike for Lily? Like, I know she wants you to be at your best, but surely you guys are allowed to have relationships, right?”

I slump my body and grimace. “She’s my mother.”

“Whoa! Plot twist. Did not see that coming. Wow! So your mom wanted to kill your girlfriend because she wanted you to keep focused. Geez, the mother-in-law from hell award right there.”

Lily laughs and nods. “I know, right? That’s what I said.”

I smirk as Luca laughs and Noah grins.

“So yeah… that’s pretty much it. You’re in the loop.”

“So this is why I’ve had your dog the whole time?”

I chuckle and nod. “Well… yeah.”

“Mind blown!” Her hands come up to her face and then blow out like an explosion making Lily chuckle.

“Well, I better take you home,” Noah states still dabbing at the grazes on his face.

“Now I’m in the loop, you better not try and keep me out of what’s going on,” Molly snaps.

“We’ll see, I have to do what’s best for Lily.”

“Oh yeah, ‘cause you did such a great job of that today,” Molly snaps back at me.

“Okay, I think it’s time to go now,” Noah says reaching into his pocket to grab something.

Molly quickly snaps her hand up to her eyes. “Don’t be flashing me with one of those Men in Black mind wipey things now, sexy agent man,” Molly says in all seriousness as Noah chuckles while shaking his head.

“You’re weird,” Noah replies pulling out his car keys and jingles them on the end of his finger making Molly part her fingers just slightly glancing through them to see the keys. She giggles and pulls her hands down from her face with a grin.

“Oh…” she simply says standing up. “Okay, let’s go. But I swear, if you die on me again, Lily, I will kill you! Don’t think you can keep me away now I know you’re alive either.”

“I promise, I won’t die again,” Lily says, and I smile at her.

“Oh, Noah won’t like assassinate me will he? Like this isn’t one of those… if I tell you I have to kill you… type scenarios is it?”

Noah smirks and I shake my head. “No, you’re safe and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this but don’t tell anyone. We will be watching and listening to everything you say and do from now on.”

She lets out a small laugh. “Naw really?” Luca, Noah and I all nod. “Shit, you’re serious.”

“Deadly.”

“Okay wow! You guys actually look really fucking serious right now, so I might actually play by the rules on this one. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed unless there’s a nice juicy cock around, all this Jason Bourne talk’s got me horny. Anyone interested?”

Noah and Luca both open their eyes wide as Lily rolls her eyes and giggles.

“Oh my God, Molly, you’re such a flirt. Go away and leave the boys alone.”

“Spoilsport. Daisy… c’mon,” she calls.

Daisy jumps off the sofa and runs out with her as Noah takes a deep breath turning and heading for the door. Molly moves in behind him and makes a lude gesture toward Noah’s ass with her hands as they walk out.

Luca snorts. “Oh God what have we done?” he asks as Molly closes the door behind her.

Lily smirks. “Made my life easier. Didn’t realize how much I needed her until I had no one.”

I furrow my brows. “You had me.”

“You know what I mean.”

I look to Luca. “You need to find out who those guys are and report back to me as soon as you know what’s going down.”

Luca salutes and looks from me to Lily to me. “Will do. Right, I’m off. I’ll leave you two to unwind. It’s been a long day.”

“Okay, thanks… for everything,” I say and walk with him to the door.

“Thanks, Luca,” Lily calls out.

He turns back and smirks. “Wait… what was that? Were you being nice to me?”

She smiles and shakes her head. “No. What I meant was thanks for leaving, Luca,” Lily jibes while Luca nods matter-of-factly.

“That’s better, wouldn’t want to think you actually liked me or anything, Lily.”

She scoffs. “God no! It’s not like you’re actually a friend or anything.”

He nods and winks at her as he turns back to me and exhales. “You look after her, okay? She may seem all bright and bubbly, but she’s crumbling man. You take care of this, I got everything else.”

Nodding, I take in a deep breath as he walks out of the door.

This has been a bit of a reality check. I need to know when to let people help. The time is now and who better to help than Luca. Sure he’s not me, but he has the same skills as me. He’s just as good, I hate to admit that, but I’ve taught him everything he knows so I can be humble in that.

I watch Luca head down to his SUV, then I turn and head back straight toward Lily who’s sitting on the sofa staring off into space. The zoned-out look in her eyes makes me think there’s more to Luca’s crumbling comment than I thought.

“Lily, I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened today. I don’t know why I was so focused on other things and not you, but I promise that you come first from now on.”

She smiles weakly. “Okay,” is all she answers and then looks away from me like she’s a little bit out of it.

Maybe she’s emotionally drained from seeing her family in so much pain? I can’t blame her.

I can only blame me.