She took the time to wash off the grime of travel. Grey wouldn’t hold her to the fifteen minutes. He knew better than anyone that her outer appearance made a difference to her inner self. No matter how removed she was from her old life, there was still the little girl inside her needing approval. Wanting to look her best, to be the best. Beauty had been a large part of her training. Luring men to their deaths required certain prerequisites, including knowing how to attract them. Ms. Watkins, former spy and retired assassin, had trained her in all things related to her appearance and using sensuality to lure her target.

From makeup and hair, to fashion and decorum, to subtle, sensuous moves of her body to attract the eye. Ms. Watkins’s teaching methods had been as harsh as any drill sergeant’s, and her punishments had been fierce. But they also had been effective. On occasion, Irelyn could still hear her sultry, gravel-like voice say, “When one feels beautiful, one can deceive the world.”

Not that she was planning on deception tonight. Lying to Grey wasn’t something she took lightly, and it had been years since she’d actively sought to deceive him. In the last few years, though, she’d developed a nasty habit of not sharing her thoughts with him. They had drifted away from each other. Even while she had recognized the symptoms of the separation, she had done nothing about them.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror in the large dressing room, she took in her appearance and felt herself settle. Yes, she did look nice. A maxi-dress the color of a quiet dawn over a field of heather was perfect for the occasion. The dress was loose enough for freedom of movement and had a clingy, silk-like material that felt lovely against her skin. She made a graceful turn and was pleased that the knife sheath attached to her left thigh wasn’t the least bit visible.

Satisfied, Irelyn walked out of the room and into the master bedroom. When Grey had issued the ultimatum about her luggage, she had wanted to laugh with sheer happiness. Her fears and insecurities had been unnecessary.

“You look lovely.” Grey stood at the door, waiting for her.

“Thank you. I feel lovely.”

He held out his hand. “Are you hungry?”

“No. Not really.”

“Me either. Come join me in the den. We can eat later.”

She walked with him out the door and down the stairs. With each step, her nervousness increased. Risking life and limb was so much less terrifying than opening up and sharing what was in her heart. Even as much as she and Grey had shared over the years, she still felt astonishingly vulnerable

She could fool the world, but Grey was an exception to every rule where she was concerned.

He knew she was nervous and squeezed her hand several times as they headed to the back of the house and the small, cozy den. She felt a slight lessening of tension the moment she entered. A fire blazed in the hearth, and the lights were dim enough to not make her feel as though the spotlight was on her. An open bottle of her favorite wine sat beside two glasses.

Her nerves vanished like they’d been covered in a calming blanket. She settled on the sofa in front of the fire and accepted the wine Grey poured for her.

He poured a glass for himself and then sat down beside her. “I’ll go first, if you like.”

In their earlier years, this had been routine for them. Whenever they had issues or problems, they’d call a special “meeting of the minds” discussion. As time went by and life got busier, they’d gotten out of the habit. It felt good to be headed back in the right direction.

“Perhaps it’s best if I go first, since I anticipate questions.”

“All right.”

“We started drifting apart, and I didn’t know how to stop it.”

“I think we got too comfortable. I took us for granted.”

“We both did.” She wasn’t about to let him take all the blame on himself. “By the time the real trouble started, it was almost too late for us.”

Grey nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. Hill Reed’s reentry into their lives had come without warning. Though Reed had on occasion contacted Irelyn, it was only once or twice a year. Nauseating, yes, but she had done her best to use the infrequent meetings to their advantage.

Life had gotten busier, more complicated. Both he and Irelyn had been focused on trying to clear Jonah and bringing down Mathias and Adam Slater. Hill Reed had exploded back into their lives with the killing of Thomas O’Connell, Kennedy’s first husband. It had come as a complete shock to both of them. Grey hadn’t handled things well.

“You started blaming me again.”

He wanted to disagree, but he would not lie to her or himself. For years, Reed had been at the periphery of their lives. A dark, distant cloud they were both aware of, but did their best to ignore. That dark cloud had moved over them and settled in, almost destroying them.

“You’re right, I did. It was wrong of me. Thomas O’Connell’s murder brought back all the memories I’d done my best to push aside.”

“The minute Reed reentered our lives, I felt us begin to crumble. And then—”

“You’re still angry about his death.”

“Angry? Devastated might be a more correct term.”

“Are we going to rehash this? I—”

“You still don’t get it, do you, Grey? For more than a decade, the man was the only father figure I’d ever known. Yes, he was hideous. Yes, he was a monster. And yes, he deserved to die. But killing him broke something inside of me.”

Her words stabbed through him as he saw the event through her eyes. Hill Reed had tried to turn a small child into a killer. Irelyn had fought his teachings as much as she could, but his influence had been great. She had done things she hated herself for, would never forgive herself for. But Reed had also given her a home, food to eat, and an odd, if sick, kind of affection.

Grey had told her he forgave her, but had he really? By insisting she do the one thing Reed had never been able to get her to do, Grey, not Reed, had turned her into an assassin.

“I never completely understood how it was for you to kill him. That was damn selfish of me. We both knew the man had to be ended. After what he did to you, you deserved to be the one to do it, but I failed to foresee how that would affect you going forward and I’m very sorry for that.”

He wasn’t usually so inept at reading a situation, but he admitted to a total screw-up with this. His focus had been on finally ridding the world of Hill Reed, but he had missed the most important part. He had treated Irelyn as if she were a killer. She had fought so damn hard to overcome her past, and he had pushed all of that aside without an ounce of awareness of what it might do to her.

“I felt as though, after all these years, you were punishing me for your parents.”

Was she right? Hell, had he been punishing her? Had he deluded himself into making the event into some kind of noble cause when instead it had been payback? The thought sickened him.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Irelyn?”

“Because you were implacable, so determined. And as much as I hated everything about it, I knew it had to be done. Hill should have died long ago.”

“Yes, he should have.” Rarely tentative in any aspect of his life, Grey felt so now as he reached out and smoothed his hand over Irelyn’s silky hair. Nothing in her life had ever been easy, and he’d expected her to do this incredibly difficult thing without considering how much it would cost her. He had known it might destroy their relationship, but he hadn’t considered that it might well have destroyed her, too.

“I’m sorry. I should have been the one to do it. Not you.”

“No, Grey. Please. Let’s not do this again. What’s done is done. Let’s figure out a way to move forward.”

“Can we? Move forward?”

“If you can forgive me for your parents, how can I not forgive you for this? Let’s put the past where it belongs.”

She was right. Rehashing the past would never push them forward.

“Very well. Want to tell me what you’ve been doing for the last two years?”

“You mean besides trying to get back inside Hill House?”

As much as he hated it, he had to ask. “If I hadn’t instigated...” He held up a hand. “I won’t say forced, because as you’ve said before, if you had outright refused, I wouldn’t have pushed it, but I did instigate Hill’s death. So tell me, if I hadn’t done that, would you have gone about trying to get back into Hill House by killing those assassins?”

“I don’t know. Once Hill told me I had a brother, my sole focus was on finding him. And I knew the only way to find him was to get inside and find his file.”

“And then when you found out I was your brother’s next target?”

“I had to stop him, of course. If you’re asking me if I regret shooting Kevin, I can only say I’m very sorry he’s dead. But I could not let him kill you.”

She hadn’t needed to tell him—he had known that. Despite all the pain, sorrow, and anger throughout their life together, they cared for one another. Most would never understand their mutual devotion, but that was all right.

“Now I’m worried that all of that was too easy,” she said.

Glad they’d gotten past the roughest part of their talk, Grey moved closer to her on the sofa. Only their shoulders touched, and that was good for right now. Her warmth beside him felt perfect.

“What was too easy?”

“Getting inside was tough, I’ll admit. Even though those men were the lowest scum in the universe, and I don’t regret their deaths, I hated what I had to do. If there had been another way—”

He squeezed her hand. “You would have taken it, Irelyn.”

He felt her soft sigh before she answered, “Yes, I would have. Other than to accept a contract for a hit, which I never would have done, taking out well-known assassins was the only way I knew to impress Dark.”

She would need to tell him about them at some point. He knew that from experience. If not, it would eat at her soul.

“And then Dark’s invitation came?”

“Yes. By courier, which is exactly the way Reed would have contacted me.”

“How was your first meeting?”

“Polite, but with an edge. Like he was trying too hard, maybe. I remember him from the old days. Back then, Reed called him Pippin, said it sounded weak and that’s what he was. I don’t know how or why his name was changed to Sebastian Dark.

“He was small for his size, and Reed often allowed others to use him as a punching bag. As you know, Reed was good at finding what scared you most and using it to either punish you or reward you. Allowing others to beat him up was Reed’s method of tough love. Dark finally had a growth spurt, and the beatings stopped, but that kind of pain never really leaves you.”

Grey slid an arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him. Irelyn’s training had been like that, and worse. It would never leave her, but damn, she was strong.

“How long were you there before you went for the files?”

“I had to do it the night I arrived. Dark made it clear I wouldn’t be there long. I had hoped to insert myself back into the social scene there. I thought I could gather intel on who might be behind your contract. After I arrived, though, I realized that wasn’t going to be possible. The house was almost empty. I think Dark’s having leadership difficulties. He had plenty of guards, though. Looking back on it now, it was way too easy to get to the records room.”

Considering she’d been confronted by two of those trained guards, easy was definitely a relative term. He wouldn’t even allow himself to think about what would have happened if she hadn’t been able to get away.

“Maybe Dark’s careless.”

“No. He’s calculating, meticulous…a perfectionist. And he’s much more into technology than Reed ever was. He’s got the money to have all the records transferred digitally, but he hasn’t.”

“So you think everything was a setup?”

“I didn’t then, but I was so focused on getting what I needed and getting out.” She shrugged. “That wouldn’t have stopped me. I had to do it. In hindsight, though, I can see where so many things were too damn convenient.” She raised her head and shifted slightly to look up at him. “So what’s his reasoning?”

“Could he have wanted you to find your brother?”

“You mean in an altruistic ‘let me reunite a family’ kind of way? No, that’s not Dark. He might be different from Reed in many ways, but he’s just as evil.”

“Maybe he wanted you to have to choose, me or your brother.”

“Now that’s something I could definitely see him wanting to do. But why? What’s his endgame?”

“Who the hell knows? What I do know is that he’s a dangerous psychopath who’s not going to just stop on his own. If he wants to hurt you, he’ll keep trying.”

“I know.” She dropped her head back onto his shoulder, pressed her face against him. “So what are we going to do?”

His chest went tight, and several seconds passed before Grey was able to speak. They were back to working together again, to being Grey and Irelyn, indomitable, inseparable. He had feared the gulf between them would never be bridged.

His voice thicker than usual, he answered, “We’re going to do what we do best. We’re going to stop him.”