I’m walking into a setup, and I know it. I have nothing to lose though.

I’ve got a vest on and three guns on me. I’m going with the one with the silencer first.

I shut the door to the car and take a look over my shoulder.

Gabriel and Andrew are parked across the lot at a café. They know it’s going down. My heart beats chaotically in my chest, trying to escape. Andrew is Gabriel's right-hand man. He doesn't know everything, but he knows enough. I saw the surprise in his eyes though. I felt like a traitor.

It'll be worth it after today though.

Gabriel may kill me the second I walk out of those doors. If I walk out. But if he gives me the paperwork and I can pull this off, everything will be worth it.

I could’ve called my handler, Gates. I could’ve been pulled. But I keep thinking about James and Olivia. If I leave now, it was all for nothing. His death and everything I put her through would be meaningless. Gabriel won't give me the papers until Stone is dead. This has to happen.

Gates wanted me out when he called. He said we had to abort. My boots crunch on the gravel as I walk up to the old packaging center. Ricky bought it for cheap, and his office is in the back.

No fucking way. Not after Gabriel offered me this deal. If he’s telling me the truth.

She’s safe. And that’s what matters.

I push open the double doors and take a look around. A few men are playing cards on a cheap table to my right. One’s smoking some skunked pot, and the scent fills my lungs.

I don’t know who all knows I'm undercover. Intelligence says it's just Ricky. So I'm taking my chances. But it could be all of them. I nod at the men and they give me a nod back, and one even a quick wave.

I hope I’m right. I walk down the hall and all the way to the back. With each step my heart beats louder and louder knowing I’m walking to my death… unless I kill him first.

Being back here reminds me of what happened that night.

I thought about it the entire drive back up here. What would've happened if she’d never walked down that alley? I never would have met her. I never would have ruined something so beautiful. But I also wouldn't have gone to Gabriel. She's a bigger part of this than she'll ever know.

I stop in front of the closed door to his office and hesitate before knocking. I could still run. I could leave and never look back.

But I have to do this. I knock on the door twice with the back of my hand. Knock. Knock.

I can feel the sweat on my brow and I wipe it away as I hear him say, “Come in.”

I take a deep breath and turn the knob. It opens slowly with a creak, and Ricky’s right where he always is, smoking a cigarette behind the old desk. I take a quick glance around the room. No one else is here. I shut the door with a loud click and look at the man who thinks he’s about to kill me.

“Have a seat, Maddox.” The way he says my last name makes me want to cringe. It’s like he’s poking fun at it. He knows that’s not my real name. Barrow’s my real last name. How many times has he done that? How many times has it slipped by me?

I take a seat across from him and let the leather jacket I'm wearing slide up some as I sit back. My hands slip into my pockets, but the right one has a hole at the bottom. My hand slides through and I grip the butt of my gun.

My finger rests on the trigger.

“Kade, I have a few problems with the order coming up.” Ricky leans back in his seat, his fingers in a steeple and taps his pointer fingers against his lips.

“We need virgins. They get the good money.” I keep my eyes on his and nod.

“These used up cunts aren’t bringing in what they used to.” Every word that comes from his mouth disgusts me more and more.

“Did you see Vic yesterday?” he asks me. “He's supposed to be on the lookout for buyers, but he hasn't gotten back to me since he was on his way to you.”

I play it off smoothly and say, “Didn't see him yesterday. Maybe I left a little too soon.” He doesn't believe me. But it doesn't matter.

He leans forward and I follow suit, pulling the gun out slowly.

“Well, I’m gonna need two men to round up the product, now that that fucker, what was his name?” he asks me with his eyes narrowed.

“Who’s that?” I ask him. My heart beats faster. James. I know that’s who he’s talking about.

He gives me a wicked smile as he nods his head and snaps his fingers. “That’s right,” he says as he pulls out a drawer to his desk.

My heartbeat slows and I pull the gun out. The metal slips against the leather, but I'm quick and efficient. Aim. Fire. Two shots. Both to the head.

The silencer is barely heard as his body jolts with each shot and he falls back in the chair, sagging with two neat bullet holes dripping blood down his face. And the gun he’d picked up from the drawer falls to the thin-carpeted floor with a low thud.

I push back in the chair and it topples over. Done. That fucker's dead. It's about time. If I die right now, at least I contributed some good to the world. I've sure as shit done my fair share of bad. But I'm done.

My heart beats rapidly and adrenaline surges in me as I leave the office, locking the door from the inside and closing it tight.

I walk out as casually as possible, waving goodbye to the fuckers playing cards and walk across the lot to my car.

Gabriel’s standing outside the driver's door and as I unlock the car, he opens it for me.

“It’s done?” he asks.

I nod my.

“He’s dead. Two bullets to the head.”

Gabriel smiles and hands me a large manila envelope.

“I don’t believe we’ll ever see each other again.”

“I don’t think we will.” I answer him with the same tone as I slide into the driver’s seat and start the car. I make sure to do it while he’s there, just in case. He closes the door and takes in a deep breath as I put the car into reverse.

I place the envelope on the passenger seat. I don’t know what’s in it, but I don’t plan on looking until I get to the safe house.

“It's been fun, Kade. I'm sad to see you go, but I think it's for the best for both of us.”

Again I nod. And I have to agree.

Our heads whip around to the packaging center as I hear a dim scream of anger and then another. They found him.

“Time to go,” Gabriel says with a smile. “Best of luck to you, Kade.”

“Same to you.” We lock eyes before parting ways. As I drive out of the lot, I see Andrew give me a short wave from his truck across the road. I return the gesture and drive off. I’m still waiting for a bomb or a bullet.

I anticipate my death the entire three-hour drive to the safe house.

It doesn’t hit me until I get there and park and look through all the documents that Gabriel handed to me, that it’s finally over. It's really over.

Every contact, first and last name, alias and locations are all in neat, organized columns.

I lean back in my seat and rest my head against the cold window.

It’s over.

The hurt and hollowness in my chest doesn’t move, and I stay in the car longer than I should before I gather the strength to go in and call Gates. I’ll take pictures of the evidence and send them to him… just in case.

I get out of the car slowly and follow through with the orders Gates gave me days ago.

I sit at the desk in the back room and dial the number.

The phone rings and rings.

Finally, a man answers.

I give him the code words, and it’s done.

My mission is done.

The only thing I want to do is to run to Olivia. I need to know if she’s okay. I need to make sure she’s alright. But I could never do that.

The world I’ve been living in vanishes before my eyes. The reality sets in.

Everything I did to her plays through my mind in slow motion.

I fell in love with her, but she should hate me for what I've done.