To Die for... Virtue E-Book

Scarlett Finn

• Herausgeber: Moriona Press
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Some secrets should never be shared...
I need to make the rendezvous. That's all that matters.
My mind is somewhere else…
Forbidden love.
Our steamy, secret affair is wrong. If anyone found out…
Secrets are easier to keep without allies. Without people asking questions. Without the truth fighting to break free.
Brother stands against brother.
My Heart is too possessive. Too protective. The alpha males are locking horns. 
The ranks will crumble. Security falter.
We'll be vulnerable. Weak. Exposed…
Like I am in front of him. When he touches me, kisses me… takes control…
We're in every kind of trouble.
I need a truth he can't give.
We're drawn together and pulled apart.
We can never be but just can't let go.

Warning: Contains explicit language and imagery. Suitable only for ages 18 and over.

Leseprobe

Copyright © 2022 Scarlett Finn

Published by Moriona Press 2022

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

First published in 2022

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. It may not be used to train AI software or for the creation of AI works.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover Design by Shepard Originals

www.scarlettfinn.com

TO DIE FOR…

To Die for Truth

To Die for Honor

To Die for Virtue

To Die for Duty

To Die for Love

Read them in order for maximized reading pleasure.

For other titles from Scarlett Finn, please read on after the story.

Click here if you’d like to leave a message for Scarlett.

Enjoy!

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

ONE

WHEN IN THE AIR on the way to London, the miles had stretched between her and Daire. Those miles didn’t feel any shorter on the bus ride to Miami.

Leaving him in the Beast, giving him permission to follow his gut, was the least she could do. The guy dealt with an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Since birth, it had been drummed into him that Olympus was his everything.

Given the explosion, the potential devastation, of course he should be with his people. His Olympus comrades were his family, or the closest he had. That didn’t change just because they had feelings for each other. Daire’s priority was Olympus. His life was Olympus.

The television news mentioned fatalities. Any number of Daire’s underlings could’ve been killed in the blast. And his superior, his mentor, the man he looked up to as a father, who also happened to be her biological father, whether he’d kept his life was still unknown too.

For her, in their relationship, her Heart said he wanted to be uncomplicated. Tess wanted to be his freedom. Whatever he had to do, whatever was right, her love would endure.

The Sunshine State was beautiful, shrouded in glorious light. Just like she remembered. It hadn’t been so long ago that she and Daire enjoyed it together. Well, her and Danny.

From her current angle, it didn’t look quite the same, yet it was so welcoming, comforting. All her memories of being there with him were positive. Even the not so positive ones. In Miami, the truth of her mother’s death hit her hard. It was in Danny’s arms she’d found solace.

Danny, Daire, one and the same. Almost.

A lot of time was spent thinking about her past. About their past too. Daire had taken over her life. No, he’d taken over her heart. Her soul. Her breath. Her being.

Running away together sounded romantic, though it wasn’t really an accurate description. After freeing her from the thug escorting her for Zeus, rather than letting her go on the run alone, Daire hitched his travel-trailer to his truck and fled with her.

They’d been less than five hundred miles from their destination when they learned about the desert house explosion on the TV. In a convenience store. While they were making out.

Damn. Hadn’t she told him she wouldn’t compromise his integrity? She’d tried to be strict. Well, she’d said the words they should be strict about being platonic, because he belonged to Olympus, not her. In theory.

If that was true, she wouldn’t be so worried. Her father, Harry, also known as Hades, may have been caught in the Vegas blast. Her father could be dead. She’d known him for less than two months and might have lost him already.

All her life she’d been with her mother. Only her mother. They moved from town to town, city to city, trying to escape the Olympus shadow. Not that she’d known it at the time. They were running from some unknown something, that was all she’d known.

By complete accident, after her mother’s unexpected death, she’d found a stash of letters. Love letters she later learned were from Harry. Written in vague terms with coded references, making immediate sense of them was impossible. Those letters started her on the path of discovery, determined to find out about the writer and the ominous specter in her wake.

As part of that mission, she’d gone to a junkyard to search the remains of the car her mother died in. It was there she met Danny Winger. Hauling Danny’s trailer, they traveled across the country and back again, pursuing her mission.

In the end, it turned out Danny was dropping the breadcrumbs she was gobbling up, believing that they were making progress. But it was all a lie. A con. A double-cross. He wasn’t Danny Winger at all, he was Daire Canon. Protégé to her father.

His ruse ended at the Olympus Beta site, where he’d been raised to be the perfect operative. Elite expert and the supreme agent, Daire was the pinnacle of a lifetime of constant training. Thrust together by tragedy, Harry fulfilled the role of tutor and parent, and the ward dedicated his life to winning his surrogate father’s approval.

She’d learned so much in such a short time. Six influential and affluent individuals from different areas of government, crime, and business created Olympus. They recruited three young soldiers to be trained as the principal agents. Hades, her father, was one of those three principals. Poseidon, James Garrick, was another.

The third principal, Zeus, was a man named Ulysses Sherwood. Heading up the strategic section, he was the overarching leader.

Overarching and overbearing.

Ideas above his station led to the benefactors, known as the Six, bringing Operation Zulu to Harry. Its aim? To eliminate Zeus and restructure Olympus. Of course, the plan was secret. Top secret. Classified. The process was slow; the timing had to be perfect. As the months went on, Harry brought in individual subordinates to inform them of Operation Zulu, so as to minimize disruption after the assassination.

Except it never happened.

Lowell, the only remaining original member of the Six benefactors, informed Zeus of the plot. Harry only just managed to send an alert to his men, saving their lives by telling them to flee.

Long story short, the Exodus happened. The principals and agents disappeared in the wind.

Daire hadn’t been aware Zulu was on. While Styx, Daire’s surrogate brother, was chosen as the assassin and had been the first person Harry told.

Just like any family, they had their issues.

The brothers hadn’t seen each other since at least the Exodus, just over a year ago. Harry hadn’t seen Styx since then either, or maybe even before that. Where was Styx when it all went down?

She’d have a chance to ask him. Soon.

Back to the Danny/Daire duplicity. She’d discovered that in the Olympus Beta control room when Daire tricked her into meeting her father. The men faced off in there, any of them could’ve been killed in a snap. Daire’s feelings for her and acceptance of his father’s apology prevented him from following through. Whether her father knew about her and Daire’s intimacy was still a mystery. They’d never been blatant about it, and he’d never asked.

Sort of by accident, the three of them met up with Poseidon. Through the Zone project, he’d gathered some of the Olympus agents. At the time of the Exodus, most of the agents were taking part in an experimental process that infused them with some kind of synthetic isotope. That isotope was traceable within a certain radius of the control unit.

Garrick had taken a couple of operatives into the field to try tracing others. As far as she knew, they were still out there. If that intel was accurate, they wouldn’t have been around during the explosion.

The explosion.

It was so fantastic, in the most horrific way, that she almost couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Zeus sent her to the desert house to retrieve the keys he needed to revive Minotaur, the Olympus mainframe. They weren’t there, Tess knew that, but she’d gone anyway. Just as she knew her running away would piss off Zeus.

But she couldn’t have imagined…

Clinging tighter to the bag on her lap, she stopped looking at what was outside and stared into nothingness. They didn’t know for sure what or who caused the explosion. If it was Zeus, it was on her. The man was used to being on top, used to dealing with disciplined, obedient agents who respected his authority. That wasn’t Tess. Her attitude tended to center around acting in the moment without a lot of consideration for the future.

Except this time, it was possible her impulse had cost lives.

Olympus might be intrinsically linked with her existence, that didn’t mean she wanted it to rule her life. Funny that a big part of the reason she’d started down the rabbit hole was to free herself from the looming threat. Getting away wasn’t so easy. The more time went on, the deeper she got pulled into the mess.

All she wanted was Daire’s happiness. If that meant Olympus, then she planned to deliver for him. Hence Miami. For her rendezvous with Styx. The brother Daire didn’t know she’d allied herself with while in London.

In the busy, fast-moving European city, Styx tracked her down and they got to know each other a little. At the same time, they’d hatched a plot to steal the two keys in Zeus’s possession and meet again in Miami.

One of Styx’s conditions for helping her was keeping their association a secret. She had, which meant it probably wasn’t such a bad thing she’d left Daire behind.

Presenting the brothers to each other without warning could be a disaster.

Fox Den. That was the name of the club where they were meant to regroup. Inside, across the bridge, past the seating and through the curtain. Easy as pie. Other than knowing the club was in Miami, she wasn’t sure of its exact location… or what kind of club it was.

People began to move around as the bus approached the terminal. It wasn’t super busy, so she didn’t have anyone next to her. Still, she’d kept her carpet bag in her lap as opposed to stowing it or even putting it on the seat next to her. It contained most of what she’d had in London and some of her Vegas clothes. In it would be something club suitable to wear, and maybe some makeup, enough that she’d be able to fit in.

She’d get a cab and change in the back. There was no point finding a motel or setting herself up anywhere until she’d seen Styx. Perhaps he wouldn’t be there at all. Maybe he’d had an involuntary detour of his own. If he was there, she’d get the keys and… What next? She’d really intended to give them to Daire, except he wasn’t with her, and his people were in a precarious position. If she put those keys in his palm, there was a good chance he’d hand them straight over to Zeus to protect what remained of his men.

Everything she and Styx had done would be for nothing. Ultimately, it was Daire’s choice, but she didn’t want him to regret it. Didn’t want him to be manipulated by a man who didn’t understand the meaning of honor.

The explosion.

Images from the TV news flashed in her mind’s eye. Her father could be dead. Zeus might have killed a man who’d been in his life for decades, since they were basically kids. And to kill his own men. Bodies had been taken out of the smoldering mess. The news reporter said they were unidentified. Who could they be?

Harry had no reason to set charges. Despite not being close or knowing each other well, she couldn’t imagine her father, who’d dedicated his life to rearing agents for Olympus, would execute the men he’d nurtured.

Putting it out of her mind wasn’t so easy. Except she had to. Would Styx know? He’d have seen the news. That was a reprieve. She didn’t want to be the one to tell him his fellow operatives could be dead.

The bus pulled in and came to a stop. People got up to retrieve bags and organize themselves as others filtered down the aisle. She didn’t leap up but was in no mood to loiter either.

Slipping into the aisle in front of a guy who gestured for her to go first, she offered a smile in thanks. Without being too pushy, she excused herself around those blocking the way and eventually got to the front.

Tossing her rebellious hair from her eyes, she went down the stairs and jumped onto the asphalt, only to turn toward the sidewalk and stop.

There, leaning against a pole, was a man she recognized. Arms folded, ankles crossed, he was waiting… for her.

TWO

WHILE STANDING FROZEN, holding up others, gaping at the familiar man, people split from behind her to go around and on their way. She didn’t even think to kick herself out of her shock until he boosted his shoulder off the pole and came over to take the bag from her.

“Good to go?”

His arm curved around her shoulders to draw her away from the bus.

“What…” she stuttered, stumbling along, being led by the man she’d left behind just hours before. “Daire! What are you doing here?”

“You said Miami. Didn’t take much detective work.”

Stopping, she turned to face him, prompting him to stop too. “Why didn’t you go home?”

“I did,” he said, brushing the hair from her face. “Driving in the opposite direction to you wasn’t ever gonna be right. You go, I go.”

“Daire,” she exhaled, her hands relaxing on his torso. “Harry… your men.”

“If they’re gone, they’re gone,” he said. “Me rushing over there won’t change that. I said never again, and I meant it. Whatever we are to each other, whatever our future is or isn’t…” He scooped both hands under her hair to cup her jaw, tipping her face up toward his. “I can’t have you out of my eyeline.”

Speechless, she couldn’t figure out how to show him what his choice meant to her. Olympus was his purpose. Harry the closest thing he had to family. Yet, he’d walked away from both to be by her side.

When she blinked, a loose line of moisture escaped the corner of her eye.

Daire dipped to kiss it away. “You want me to leave, I’ll leave,” he said, trailing his lips to hers. Though he didn’t actually kiss her, the promise was there as his breath merged with hers. “You are my meaning and my reason.”

His curse, but not his salvation.

Sealing her lips, she restrained a yelp of emotion that wanted to escape. Her fingers curled around the edges of his jacket, clinging to him. She could force him to leave. Olympus was supposed to be his primary focus. Distracting him could backfire. Taking him away from his unit could lead to resentment, especially because it was her fault he hadn’t been there at the time of the explosion.

Except he was there, with her, by choice. No one compelled him to be there. He’d been free to go back and deal with the fallout. Liberating him from any guilt or fear of repercussions in the Beast, she’d given him back to the cause that had driven him since he was a child.

While she was still processing, he stepped back and bent to pick up the bag at their feet. She hadn’t even felt him drop it. That was what being so close to him did to her.

“You got the truck?”

“No,” he said. “Got a cab, didn’t know your plan. Figured it was best not to be hindered… or to show potential enemies our ride.”

“Why do you think I brought you here?” she asked, taking his hand to pull him through the people and concrete, seeking somewhere she might find a cab. “We’re not here for a fight.”

“Shame,” he said. “I could use one.”

Her lips curled as she peeked over her shoulder. “Keep that unvented tension for me later. You came all this way, least I can do is be your pressure valve. It’s my absolute favorite thing in the world to be.”

Spotting a line of cabs, she headed for the first one and was about to jump in when Daire gave her arm a sharp tug, hauling her back behind him. Confused, she watched him open the door and gesture for her to get in. That’s what she’d been about to do. Seemed he knew that. Why did he want to open the door?

Once they were both in with the door closed, she slid to the front edge of the seat. “You know a club called Fox Den?” she asked the driver.

“Sure do,” he said and got them underway.

Drawing down the side zip of her skirt, she grabbed her carpet bag and slid to the opposite door to put it on the seat between them.

“What’s in Fox Den?” Daire asked as she searched around inside her bag.

She frowned at the dress she pulled out. “I don’t really know yet.”

Deciding it was fine, she dumped it in her lap then crossed her arms to pull her top up over her head.

“Uh, babe…” Daire said, shifting position, shoving the bag around his back to his previous seat while he landed in the center, twisted to face her, blocking her from the driver. “What are you doing?”

“I need to get changed,” she said, tossing her top into his lap since he’d put her bag out of reach.

Pushing back, she shimmied out of her skirt and gave him that too.

“I’m not a fan of this plan,” he said, planting a hand on the door next to her, doing his best to shield her.

Smiling at him, she sat up, stealing a quick kiss before trying to figure out her dress. “You’re adorable,” she said. “I doubt he cares and even if he does, you think he’d be fool enough to make a move while you’re here?”

“What worries me is this was your plan before you knew I was around,” he said as she put her dress on over her head. “And there are people outside too.”

“They’re even less likely to make a move,” she said, raising her hips to straighten out the skirt. “There. All done.”

Twisting to put her back to him, she scooped her hair aside and waited for him to pull her zip up. Once done, she slid back to dip under the arm he had braced on the back of the seat.

“What are you doing now?” he asked, trying to see her as she took makeup from the bag.

“Have to sell the picture,” she said, opening her lit compact to do what she could in the confines of the cab with few supplies.

“You didn’t tell me we had to dress for the occasion.”

“I don’t know what kind of place it is,” she said. “It’s better if you don’t come in anyway.”

He caught her chin to bring her focus to him. “You want me to wait outside?” She said nothing, just blinked at him. “Bambi eyes won’t work for you here. They only remind me how important it is to keep you safe.”

“I’m not doing Bambi eyes, I’m admiring the man I love.”

“That won’t work either,” he said, tipping her head one way while his went the other.

Tess smiled. “You thinking how much prettier I am with makeup on? You could let me finish.”

“I’m thinking I already don’t like whoever you’re going to this effort for.”

“How do you know there’s a someone?”

He let her go, so she returned to her makeup.

“Because the thing I thought you wanted to come for, it turns out you already have. We’re nowhere near the places we came before, so you’re not retracing our steps.”

Putting her makeup away, she squeezed under his arm again because he was still caging her into the corner. If it made him feel better, she wouldn’t complain. Retrieving her comb and her perfume, she sat up to spray her décolletage and noticed his frown when squirting it on her wrist.

“What?”

“Now I have a hard-on,” he said, fixating his grump on the side window.

Poor guy didn’t seem happy about it. Laughing, she leaned in and trailed her fingers from his cheek to his chest. “Then you really should wait outside. I don’t want to get in a cat fight for your affection.”

He didn’t say anything, just turned to slouch against the seat, folding his arms. She combed her hair, and used her fingers to boost the volume, twisting to flip it across his lap before flipping it back.

“Now you’re doing it on purpose,” he said.

“What on purpose?”

“Your little routine meant to drive me nuts.”

Leaning in, she held the comb and perfume in her lap, pouting up close to him. “That little routine looks much more like my mouth open and your cock in my throat,” she purred.

His jaw relaxed only to clamp shut again as he exhaled. His grump amused her. Maybe it was just because she’d told him he couldn’t come into the club. But she liked to think some part of it was down to them being in company.

Living together in the Beast, driving together, they were spoiled by the time they had alone. Sure, it had only been a few days, but it had been enough to remind them what it was to belong to each other with complete unrestricted access.

“Besides,” she said, pressing her body into his lap as she deliberately stretched further than needed to put everything back in her bag. Staying there strewn across him, she tilted her focus over her shoulder to find his. “We’re platonic, remember?”

The grump dwindled just a little. He laid a hand on her hair, stroking down the length of it and continuing on to her ass. He spanked her so hard she sat bolt upright.

The shock written across her face seemed to erase his bad mood.

His smile quickly became a short laugh. “In Miami, you were mine, Little Red.”

No matter where she was on the planet, she was his. Even if she didn’t want to be, even if she fought it, not that she would. She couldn’t remember not being his and never wanted to. Daire might belong to Olympus, but she definitely belonged to him. Though she’d never put it to him like that, he lived with enough guilt and sense of responsibility. Uncomplicated meant not laying anymore pressure onto his already strained shoulders.

Picking up his arm, she wrapped it around herself and nestled against him, closing her eyes as her head rested on his shoulder.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in this place,” she said, hoping Styx would be there.

Although she hadn’t broken her promise not to tell anyone about him, bringing his brother to his doorstep was really striding deep into a gray area.

“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together.”

Her eyes opened. “Even if we can’t be together?”

That wasn’t the first time they’d had the discussion. “We will always know the truth.”

No matter what, he accepted her, and whatever she needed. Daire accused her of tormenting him with her routine getting ready for the club. But the guy was no saint when it came to tormenting her heart.

The cab pulled to a halt. As she ducked down to try seeing where they were, Daire took money from his jacket to pay the driver. In the shadow of the cab, she hadn’t really paid much attention, but something drew her eye downward to a gun in a holster on his waistband under his jacket.

Before she could say anything, Daire grabbed her hand and guided her out of the cab onto the sidewalk. They didn’t get far. She tugged his hand to get his attention.

Moving in close, she slipped her hand into his jacket to lay it on the gun grip while searching his eyes. “Why do you need that?” she whispered. “How did you even get it?”

He brushed the hair caught on her gloss away with his thumb. “I have it because you have me walking into an unknown.”

“You’re not walking in anywhere carrying that,” she said, recalling her conversations with Styx in London.

The men might consider each other kin. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t act against each other in anger. If there was a gun in the mix, Daire could act too quickly. Before he thought through what he really wanted to do. She wasn’t ignorant of his ability to kill. That wasn’t her problem. Styx believed Daire had the right to take him down for the way things had happened before the Exodus.

She didn’t want Daire to kill his brother. Not only because she liked him, but because he’d regret it in the long run.

“Just…” she said, letting go of his hand to step away. “Stay out here. I’ll be back.”

Leaving him there without giving him a chance to object, she went into the building, toward the pulse of music. Though there were people in the booths and the coat check place, no one stopped her as she strode on to the internal double doors up ahead.

Going inside, she only took a quick second to glance at the clubbers and the lights. Music was the dominating force. Everyone came for the music, for the heat, for the freedom.

Everyone except her.

Following Styx’s instructions, she went over the bridge walkway to a seating area filled with tables and booths. The bar was right where he’d said it would be. Between the end of that bar and the empty booth opposite was a curtain with the word “private” above it in stark, glowing white letters. That was her goal.

Everything was as Styx described. The curtain suggested whoever was back there didn’t want an audience. Having come so far, a piece of fabric wasn’t going to deter her. Confidence got her through the front door, so she let it carry her onward.

Without looking in the direction of the bar, to give the bartender no chance of stopping her, she pushed the curtain aside and stepped around it.

The increased illumination took her by surprise. It wasn’t bright, but certainly was lighter back there than it had been in the club. Blinking to adjust her eyes, she found herself under the scrutiny of four men seated around a card table at the far side of the room, next to an opening in the wall that led to a darker… something.

Couches and other tables around the cobbled-together room didn’t look like any of the club she’d seen so far.

The men just waited, watching her, so she broke the silence. “I’m a friend of Patch’s.”

That did something. The four of them looked at each other.

The one who appeared oldest spoke. “He didn’t tell us he was expecting anyone,” he drawled.

A test. It had to be. She was grateful to her mouth for asking questions. “Maybe because whoever you spoke to wasn’t Patch, because Patch is no he.”

Again, they glanced at each other before returning to their assessment of her.

“What you need Patch for?” the older guy asked. “Patch only works with the best.”

“I’m sure,” Tess said. “I’m a friend of Patch’s, I didn’t say I needed Patch.”

“Wrong season,” the older guy said. He wasn’t old, old, and definitely appeared keen. He’d be handy in a fight. He had that quick, shrewd look about him. “You’re looking for a hand-up, you’ve gotta come in winter and bat those pretty eyes at Dam.”

The guys around the table seemed to enjoy that comment. She didn’t get it or know who Dam was. How to respond? Styx hadn’t told her to mention him and, as far as she knew, that meant his condition of secrecy was still in place.

Before she came up with anything, a voice came from the shadowy opening near the men’s table.

“Done playing with her yet?” the male voice rose. She perked up in anticipation, waiting for him to reveal himself. When Styx came into the light, she relaxed. “Took your time, Lady. Deal was for you to come alone.”

She frowned, unsure how he’d known. “I did… didn’t I?”

Styx wasn’t looking at her, he was looking past her to someone she hadn’t heard join them. “Hello, brother.”

THREE

SHE DIDN’T NEED TO LOOK to know the identity of the person behind her but did anyway. By the curtain, glaring across the room at his brother, was the man she’d left outside. The one meant to stay outside.

Her bag was on the floor a few feet from him. “What are you doing…” she said, though Daire was so focused it was doubtful he heard her. “I asked you to wait outside.”

Styx was no less focused. “Golden boy, ignoring orders?” he asked, subtle in his amusement. “The old man will have you running laps for days for insubordination. Lost your tact too. You knocked out three of my guys to get in. Isn’t discreet.”

Her mouth opened in shock as she twisted to Daire again. Still, he saw nothing except his brother. Given the direction Styx had appeared from and the timing, how did he know what his brother did to get in?

Her Heart’s narrow eyes were laser precise on the man in his sights. “They tried to take my gun.”

The guys at the table took that revelation as a warning and pushed their chairs away from the table to get closer to the wall.

“Don’t worry,” Styx said, inching his chin their way. “My brother is a pretty good shot. If he wants to take me out, one shot’ll be enough.”

Panic fueled her retreat to Daire. Styx wouldn’t put up a fight and her Heart didn’t know that. “Daire—”

“What did I tell you about code names in the field, Lady?” Styx asked.

Spinning around to pin her back against Daire, she hoped to prevent him from reaching for his gun. “He doesn’t know, Styx. Please don’t… Letting him is not the same as provoking him.”

“He’s trained to take emotion out the equation. He’s good at it too. If executing me is his mission, he’ll carry it out. What is your purpose here, Ares?”

“None of your goddamn business.”

“So it’s personal, not professional,” Styx said, easing away from the doorframe, showing he held a gun in his concealed hand. “Good. Always said you needed to grow a set.”

She gasped but didn’t have time to say a word. Somehow, Daire had already put himself in front of her. He’d reacted before she even fully registered the threat.

“Thought guns were for pussies,” Daire said, aiming his weapon at his brother.

“I’ve acquired a taste for them.”

Still trying to figure out what was going on, the parallel between her first meeting with her father and this moment was striking. At least this time she wasn’t between the firearms. Although either of the men being hurt or killed wouldn’t be a win.

Her pulse pounded. Laying her hands on Daire’s ribs, she wanted to speak or get in front of him, except any sudden movement could startle the men into action.

“What do you want, Styx?”

“You wandered into my house, brother. Uninvited.”

“Please, don’t…” she said, trying to go around Daire.

He stepped to the side, blocking her, scooping his other arm around to hold her at his back.

A shot went off. On instinct, she ducked. Daire didn’t react at all, he didn’t flinch or recoil. The bullet hit the wall behind her, betraying the identity of the shooter. Instead of firing back, as she might expect, Daire’s arm sank to his side.

“You need practice,” Daire said, stalking across the room toward his brother.

Holding her breath, tension tightened her every muscle. The possibilities were agonizing. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if they hurt each other.

One twitch and Styx could put a bullet in Daire. Only she knew he didn’t want to. Unless he’d been lying in London. Maybe the plan wasn’t to let his brother kill him. If it was a lie, she could be seconds away from losing the most important person in her world.

Styx didn’t fire. Daire shoved his gun back into its holster and swept his brother’s gun arm aside to get right in close, facing off with the man point blank, toe to toe.

“You always were better up close,” Daire snarled. “With your bare hands, right? It’s your gift.”

“If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead ten times over,” Styx hissed, dropping his gun to shove Daire back.

Her Heart swung, making contact with his brother’s jaw, sparking a flurry of movement. Styx swung; Daire blocked. There was a punch and push; the card table tipped over as they crossed the room in combat. Furniture fell and the card-playing men leaped from their seats to get out of the brothers’ way. She was frozen to the spot. They were fighting. Actually fighting. Hitting each other, blocking, grabbing, shoving.

Snapping out of her trance of amazement, she dashed across the room. “No,” she screeched. “No. No!”

Forcing herself between them, she didn’t care about the blood or the panting or the adrenaline racing heart beats firing their testosterone. She wouldn’t let them hurt each other. Wouldn’t let them turn on each other in that crucial time.

As she ramped up for a lecture, Daire breathed out. He was behind her, his weight bearing down on her back until he began to relax. Styx’s lips twitched, he smiled, then the man behind her was laughing and the two of them were slapping their palms together, doing some special handshake.

“You’ve let yourself go,” Styx said.

“Me? Fucker, what was that upper left cross? Weak. You haven’t been training.”

Styx put a hand to his shoulder and rolled his arm. “Had some fun this year, still getting back up to speed.”

“You need an assist?”

“Nah, I was good… Got my ass saved by a beauty with a set of balls and a fuck-me figure.”

“Really?” Daire said, the note of interest in his voice teasing. “We get to meet this beauty?”

Styx exhaled a laugh. “Don’t think her boyfriend would like that. Boyfriends don’t like you.”

Lost, she didn’t know whether to be shocked or relieved. “What the hell?” she asked. The moment was reminiscent of Daire and Harry burying the hatchet after a simple apology. “You were trying to kill each other!”

“Just for fun,” Daire said.

“You get H’s message?” Styx asked, talking over her.

Message? What message? Her ignorance was irrelevant.

Daire answered. “Yeah.”

When was the message sent? Received? What did it say?

“Get proof of life?” Styx asked.

“Not yet,” Daire said. “Tomorrow… This your SP?”

“Nah, just friendlies,” Styx said. “Got something serious yet?”

“As per instructions, yeah.”

Tipping his head in a backward nod, Styx backed away. “Come upstairs, I’ll grab my shit.”

He disappeared back into the shadowy doorway. Daire’s hands landed on her shoulders to push her after him. They went up some stairs into a hallway that was like going through a time warp. Styx led them into a bedroom with a pink rug, bare floorboards and not a stick of furniture that matched.

“Take a seat, Lady,” Styx said without turning around.

Daire urged her toward the bed while keeping his own post by the closed door.

“This isn’t Olympus,” Daire said.

“Encyclopedia would know,” Styx said, grabbing a familiar bag from the floor by the other side of the dresser nearest the window.

“You wanna give me a report?”

“We’re not on a mission, bro,” Styx said, taking things from the top drawer to put them in his bag. “And no one is coming for us here… Even after all the shit that’s gone down, you’re loyal to the core… It’s the orders, isn’t it? You’re going nuts without a specified objective.”

“How do you know?” Daire asked.

Styx paused to look at his brother. “Twenty-one years, that’s how I know. The old man’s fine and you know it, he’s made of steel.”

Just like his word in the letter. These men were raised by her father. Losing him would be a blow. It had to be on Daire’s mind, maybe Styx’s too.

“We’ve gotta keep it together,” Daire said.

“Yeah, ‘cause Z just blew it to shit… I’m gonna bet it’s ‘cause someone didn’t hit her mark.” Styx turned to her. “You missed your flight,” he said, coming over to angle her chin toward the light. “Your mouth get you into trouble?”

“Maybe,” she said. Before giving him any kind of update, there was something more important to clear up. “You have something of mine.”

“Yep,” he said, returning to his bag to unzip an inner pocket.

When Styx next faced her way, he held up his hand and opened it to let the bullet drop on its chain. Ecstatic to see it swinging, she’d missed it more than words could express.

Pouncing to her feet, she dashed over to snatch it from him. “Thank you,” she said, putting it over her head and sweeping her hair out of the chain.

Holding it in a fist, she closed her eyes and exhaled in relief.

“Feel better?” he asked, then returned to his conversation with his brother. “We won’t get to Z.”

He spoke as though her involvement in the moment hadn’t happened at all. The men clearly shared a mindset and followed the same train of thought.

“No,” Daire said. “I’ll bet he’s already burrowing in deep.”

“We have to send a message.”

“Your favorite way to send a message is to gift wrap a corpse.”

Styx shrugged. “What’s wrong with that? I know where the Six are.”

A ripple of trepidation crossed Daire’s shoulders. “Where?”

“Fourteen.”

Her Heart exhaled disbelief. “I should be surprised, but I’m not… You need a go order for a move like that.”

“So get me one.”

Obviously, Styx didn’t think that was going to happen.

“Beta site’s in lockdown,” Daire said. “I was there but couldn’t get into the armory… Guess now we know why H was so adamant about us training without equipment. What I’d do for a field rig right now…”

Styx’s hand disappeared into his bag and a moment later, he held up the black box she’d seen in London. “Got a Gizmo.”

Daire straightened up, clearly not expecting to see it. “How did you…? Shit, you were in the field when the Exodus went down.”

“Yeah,” Styx said, putting it down on the dresser. Daire started toward him… or it. “For all the good it will do you with Minotaur offline.”

“We can ping H’s base unit,” Daire said, turning it toward himself.

“Maybe,” Styx said, going to his brother’s side. “Will he know it’s us?”

“We can open comms… if we’re careful.”

“Can’t verify the clearance with Mino offline.”

“Then we bypass Mino,” Daire said, surprising her by pressing something on the device to bring up a glowing image of a keyboard on the lower portion of the perpendicular device.

She couldn’t see it very well, bobbing back and forth to peek between the brothers. The unit hadn’t physically changed; the lines were just vague light in an otherwise unremarkable space. What else could it do?

“You have the clearance for that?” Styx asked.

Daire crooked a brow at his brother. “I have H’s clearance.”

“We’re gonna use his clearance to contact him? How the hell does that work? He can’t be in two places at once.”

Her Heart was working furiously on the glowing keyboard, the screen filling with letters, numbers, and symbols as he went. “With Minotaur offline, we could get away with it. Gizmo won’t code through the system; I’ll have to reach out to the base unit direct.”

“For a guy so set on following the rules, how come you always know a way around them?” Styx asked, putting a glimmer of a smile on his brother’s face. “We don’t wanna do that when we don’t know where he is or who’s watching.”

Closing the unit, Daire laid a hand on it. “Yeah, we should be stable, prepped and ready.”

“He expects a battle,” Styx said. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“More ready than you. We have to get you in shape before H sees you again.”

“That could be a while,” Styx said, putting the thing he’d called Gizmo into his bag before zipping it up and throwing the strap over his head, across his body.

“You got a ride?”

“Out back. Follow me.”

FOUR

THEY DROVE THROUGH the dark streets of Miami. Daire in the driving seat, as he knew where they were going. At least, that was her assumed reason for him driving Styx’s car.

She expected them to arrive at the Beast. For Daire to take his brother back to the place he’d been calling home. Instead, they ended up in a shady area. The kind of neighborhood no woman would be comfortable walking through in the daytime, let alone in the dark. Glancing around at the spray-painted gang signs and dilapidated buildings, she couldn’t believe it when Daire drove down an alley into a shadowy parking area and switched off the engine.

Styx seemed to get that they were at their destination and got out to retrieve his bag from the trunk, his brother not far behind him.

No stranger to shady areas, there were rules about places at the lower end of the economic scale. Walk at a consistent pace, don’t look around, keep a key in hand to be used as a weapon if anyone approached. Sometimes she got hassle but didn’t have any problem telling people where to get off. Showing confidence was usually more effective than appearing afraid.

Her mind was working. The brothers had referenced a message. She wanted to know more. What did it say? Who sent it if they didn’t know for sure that Harry was alive? Daire said he wouldn’t get proof of life until the following day. Was that proof of Harry’s life? She didn’t get it.

The side door opened, startling her.

“Get moving, Lady. No time to take in the scenery.”