by Addison Jane
My heart pounds so fast I feel physically ill. Could Lily have been playing me all this time? Is she really one of the bad guys I’ve been fighting against for so long?
I’ve just trusted her with everything.
Who I am.
Who the Seven are.
Have I thrown my entire team under the bus for a woman I thought I could trust?
Have I been played?
“Here’s a folder with everything you need to know.” She leans over and picks up a dark-colored folder with the word ‘Confidential’ written in red across the top and bottom. Lily’s picture is in the middle on the front. She hands it to me.
“Fine, I’ll go now.” Grabbing the folder from her, my chest heaves at the thought that Lily is not who I thought she was.
“I know you like her. But don’t let your feelings cloud your judgment on this Kace. Think about what your father would do.”
Gulping down hard, I think of Dad and how amazing he was at this very job. He always put his emotions aside. He was one of the best operatives in the field, and never let emotion get in the way of his duty. I need to make him proud.
“He’d do what he had to do to protect the lives of the innocent. Fighting to bring down bad guys. No matter the cost.”
I’m getting ready for bed, and after the events of today, I’m really freaking tired. I just want to curl up in my bed with a good book and forget all about Kace goddamn Colt and his band of merry men, for a moment at least.
As the fresh mint floods my mouth, I brush my teeth thoroughly and spit out the foam, rinsing my mouth under the water. Walking through to my bedroom I realize the glass on my side table is empty, so I pick it up and head out to the kitchen to refill it. The room is dark, but I don’t bother flicking on the lights, I know my layout well enough to dodge the furniture. My pajamas cling to me as I fill my glass and sigh. The water squeals and groans coming out of the tap. “Fucking taps,” I whisper as the clear liquid fills the glass. I turn off the tap, and it shudders making me roll my eyes in annoyance as I head back through the living room to my bedroom.
“Sit down, Lily.” A bellowing voice echoes through the dark living room scaring me half to death. My heart leaps into my throat, and I jump a foot off the ground dropping the glass of water. It cascades to the floor as I squeal in fright, colliding with the carpet spilling water all over my already stained carpet.
I turn breathing harshly to see Kace standing in the shadows against the wall with a stern face and taut muscles like he’s holding himself back.
“What the fuck? How did you get in here?” I ask, my voice cracking with the tension in the air.
He steps out of the shadows. A sliver of light shines through the window on his face from the street lamp outside, his face is hard and cold.
It frightens me.
“Sit down, Lily,” he reiterates.
Folding my arms over my chest, I stand a little taller. Even though I’m intimidated by him right now, I don’t want to show it. “You can’t tell me what to do!”
“Sit. Down!” he yells so loudly it feels like my eardrums vibrate with the sternness of his voice. It rattles me to my core. And as I swallow hard, my body reacts before I can think and I sit down instantly on the nearby sofa. He takes a step back from me like he’s restraining himself at being near me, or from coming to me, I’m not sure which.
“I trusted you. I shared my secrets with you. Risked the lives of others just because I thought I owed you that much. I gave you the truth. Now I deserve the fucking same.” His voice is raised, clipped and harsh—he’s definitely angry. No, he’s furious, and as his muscles clench, the veins on his neck are pulsing with every frantic beat of his heart. Which is only making my heart race violently within my chest.
I’ve only ever felt safe with Kace. But right now, he’s frightening me, because I’ve never seen him as on edge as he is at this moment. And I have absolutely no idea why.
“Y-You’re s-scaring me.”
“Good! Because you have no idea what I’m capable of. You should be scared.” He glares at me, the harshness in his eyes is unsettling. “Gael Sinclair,” he jabs.
I shudder unmistakably at hearing his name.
“So you do know him?” Kace yells stepping closer to me then clenching his fists at his sides like he’s restraining himself again.
I flinch as my breathing hitches. “I know of him.”
Kace groans and rolls his head from side to side cracking his neck. “Don’t fucking bullshit with me.”
Shaking my head, I exhale. “I only know of him because he’s the asshole who raped my mother in an alleyway and beat her senseless leaving her to die. She found out she was pregnant, and I was the product of that rape. Then she saw the news while she was pregnant with me, that Gael was found dead in the bottom of a lake.”
Kace jolts his head back in what looks like astonishment, then he shakes it furrowing his brows. Reaching up he rubs the back of his neck, his tense body relaxing slightly.
“How the hell did you even know about him? My mom never put his name on my birth certificate, or told anyone other than my stepdad what had happened?”
Kace shakes his head from side to side like he’s trying to process the information, but it isn’t registering properly in his mind. “DNA doesn’t lie. The Agency killed Gael. You’re here in my apartment building to seek revenge for the killing of your biological father,” he accuses.
Jerking my head back in confusion, I shake it and scoff. “For what? For starters, I’m glad he’s a rotting corpse for what he did to my mother. He should be dead. Do you know what it feels like to be a product of something so disgusting and violent? I love my mom. And I hate him for what he did to her. So thank fuck someone put him down.” My breathing is becoming heavy and emotional. I close my eyes for a second in an attempt to calm myself before I speak again. “So you guys killed him? What for? What did he do to you?”
Kace frowns and exhales. “The Sinclair’s have history. They’re all chemists. With their background, they were able to develop, create, and produce bombs and weapons. They were selling them to known terrorist organizations. It’s well known that the Sinclair’s pass down their skills through the generations of their family.”
My eyes open wide and I cough slightly. “They what now?”
Kace’s face hardens again, but even I can see the resolve coming over him. He’s hearing my words, taking them in and piecing them together in his head. “Seriously, don’t play dumb with me, Lily. I know you’re in on this with them—”
Standing up, I shake my head. “I’m a vet! I know nothing about any bombs. Hell, I don’t even like static electricity!”
He races forward grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. His fingers clenching into my skin making me cringe. “Stop fucking around!”
My eyes well as I cower away from him trying to break free from his vise-like hold, but his grip is too strong.
“Kace, you’re scaring me. Stop it!”
He flinches looking down into my watering eyes and the darkness in his blue eyes lifts as does his tight grip on my shoulders. “I’m used to people being scared of me. But I never want you to be afraid of me.”
Sniffing, I swallow hard forcing my eyes not to let the tears fall over my eyelids, and so I stand a little taller. “Yeah, well, you don’t have to be so angry with me. I had no idea about Gael. And I can prove it about Ron, my step dad. There’s a letter,” I say looking over to the opening of my bedroom door.
His arms drop to his sides as he lets me go. I move over quickly to the doorway and glance back to Kace. His stance is hard as he watches me with his eyebrows drawn and a stern stare. I turn and step inside my room taking a moment to just breathe, then walk to my closet and reach up above the hanging space for a box I haven’t opened for a long time. It’s a keep-sake box for special memories. Things from my childhood. Memories, mostly good, but some from things I’ve tried to forget.
I grab the box with unsteady hands an
d pull it down. Taking it carefully back out to where Kace hasn’t moved, not even an inch. It’s like he’s scared if he moves that something between us might fracture irreparably. At least that’s how I’m feeling right now. I open the box, he eyes me suspiciously as I take out an envelope and hand it to him.
He takes it from me and furrows his brows. “What is it?”
I sit back down on the sofa, and he exhales and takes a seat next to me. “It’s a letter asking Ron to adopt me. I remember being really upset when I found out that Ron wasn’t my real dad. So much so that I wrote this letter to ask him to make it official, because to me he was my dad, in every sense of the word. He was there for me ever since I could remember, and just because I have someone else’s DNA that doesn’t make him my parent. Ron is my dad, not Gael.”
Kace exhales loudly closing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair in agitation. “Fuck. The Agency made it seem like you were in the Syndicate with your family.” He shakes his head like he’s as confused as I am.
I don’t know why they’d do that?
Suddenly his face drops and all the color drains from his cheeks. His muscles clench and his breathing becomes rapid. “Oh shit!”
I tense up and shake my head. “What?”
Kace races toward the door and just as I’m about to cry out in frustration at being left once again with no answers, he drops down, crouching in front of a large duffle bag. He pulls at the zips before snatching a cell phone from inside and looking down at it, his eyes wide. “Fuck.”
I’m frozen in place, confused and a little frightened. Kace isn’t the kind of man to freak out easily. He always has his shit together, knows what he’s doing and keeps calm in the process. But the look on his face right now it’s like he’s seen a ghost.
“Kace… again w-with the scaring t-thing,” I say nervously, unable to keep my voice from shaking.
He tosses the phone back into the bag and turns to face me, the look he just had has been replaced instantly with one of determination. “This time… you should be scared.”
I stand up slowly. “What does that mean?”
“Go… get some clothes on, and shoes,” he orders as he moves toward the wall, his hands run across it almost delicately before he reaches a painting. He lifts it off the hook and drops it onto the floor next to him.
“Hey! What are you—”
I scream as he smashes his fist through the plasterboard. He begins ripping it away, creating a gaping hole in my living room wall.
What I don’t expect is the large black box that sits just inside it.
I gasp, and Kace turns back to me. “Go Lily! We don’t have time.”
My heart beats double time as I trip against the corner of the couch, stumbling over to the hallway before I catch myself. I propel my body forward, dashing into my bedroom, my eyes scanning the room quickly before I spot the pair of jeans I discarded last night on the floor.
I snatch them up, forcing my leg in one side and jumping around as I try to balance while pushing the other through as well.
My breathing is rushed, and I can still hear Kace down in the living room rummaging.
“Let’s go!” he yells.
I jump at the stern tone, grabbing my sweatshirt off the back of the door and slipping my feet into some sneakers before hurrying back out to meet him. I pull my sweatshirt over my head and grab my handbag as I emerge from the hallway.
Kace has his large bag over his arm, and with the wall now completely destroyed I can clearly see the black safe inside, its door swung open, and it’s completely empty. Kace lifts the gun in his hand and checks the clip, the sound of him clicking it back into place makes me shudder.
“Wait. Woah. Why do we need a gun? And how the fuck did you get a safe inside my w-wall?” I stammer.
“We have connecting walls, remember?” he answers absently as he adjusts the thick belt that’s now wrapped around his waist. He tucks the gun into a holster at his hip.
“Do I need a gun?” I ask.
He looks up, his eyebrows raised. “Do you know how to use one?”
I wrap my arms around my waist and shrug. “Kinda. I grew up on a farm.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. “I’m surprised, and slightly turned on.”
I can’t help but smile. “Really?”
“Save it for later. We’ve got to go.” He moves toward me, grabbing my hand. I pull back.
“Go where?” I demand. “For how long? Do I need to tell Molly? What about Daisy?”
“We’ll figure that out later,” he says, obviously growing frustrated. He wraps his hand around mine once again, and I have no choice but to follow as he pulls me toward the front door.
A loud bang startles us both, sounding like it was out in the hall.
“I think we better take the balcony,” he states, spinning us around and heading for my small outdoor area.
“Kace. Have you seen that fire escape? I don’t even know if it will hold us,” I tell him nervously as he throws the doors open and we break out into the cool air. It hits my face, stunning me for a second.
“I’d rather risk that than a bullet in the head,” he tells me as he drops his heavy bag over the edge.
“Kace, seriously. I’m scared. Are we really in that much trouble?”
Kace pulls me to him. For a second I think he’s going to kiss me as his hot breath fans against my forehead. But it’s when I feel the cold metal of a gun slip down the back of my jeans, I quickly inhale. “Go!” he growls, pushing me to the small space where there’s a metal ladder. I pull the strap of my handbag over my head and it rests on my hip tight across my body. My hands are frozen, but I grip onto the skinny bar like my life depends on it. And with the way Kace is talking, it does.
There’s a loud bang from inside my apartment, just as I’m about to jump from the bottom rung of the ladder about five feet to the ground. I look up just in time to see Kace leap from my small balcony, across to his own, catching himself with the ease of a cat on the other side.
I jump off the ladder next to Kace’s bag.
“Don’t make me shoot you, Kace,” Luca’s voice warns from above me. My eyes widen as I look up at him. Axel stands next to him, the both of them with their guns aimed at Kace, who’s frozen half way down his own fire escape.
He glares up at them in defiance. “She’s innocent,” he snaps.
Luca seems unwavering by his admittance. “That’s what they all say.”
I watch as he unclicks the safety on his gun, I can tell he’s hesitating, but I have no clue how far he will go, even if right now, the enemy is his best friend.
Pulling the gun from the back of my pants, the decision to protect Kace, not one I have to think twice about. I’m not exactly a sniper, but I know how to aim and shoot a gun, so I squeeze the trigger, a loud bang filling the alley around us. The bullet lodges into the wall of the apartment building, right next to Luca’s head. Both he and Axel jump back. I hold my aim, even as I hear Kace leap down onto the ground, his heavy footsteps pounding toward me.
Luca looks down over the balcony, his brows furrowed together. “You missed,” he growls.
“Piss me off some more and we’ll see how good my aim gets,” I snap back, fully prepared to defend myself.
An arm comes around my waist, lifting me off the ground as Kace rushes us the short distance to the exit and out onto the back street where his car is parked at the curb. He ushers me inside before slamming my door closed and throwing himself across the bonnet to the driver’s side like we’re in some kind of Mission Impossible movie.
The gun is still clutched tightly in my hand, my fingers starting to go numb, maybe from the cold, but more likely from fear of what I just did.
His warm palm suddenly covers mine, easing the panic coursing through my veins. “You did good, Lily.”
I chew on my lip for a minute before I allow myself to look over at him. Kace maneuvers the streets at speeds I know aren’t legal, but he handles
the car with perfect precision.
“I kinda owned him, didn’t I?” I ask with a small smile and a touch of pride.
Kace doesn’t say anything for a second, maybe he’s allowing me my moment of glory before he absolutely crushes me. “He could have killed you in a second if he’d wanted to.”
I shudder involuntarily.
I know he’s right.
If everything he tells me is actually true, then Kace’s team is the best.
The best of the best.
We are in trouble.
We are only driving for a few minutes before the inside of the car begins to fill with a loud beeping sound. Kace growls and slams his palm into a button next to the stereo.
A robotic voice begins to speak. “Operative gone rogue. Is now in alliance with a known offender. Orders are to seek and capture. Repeat, seek and capture.”
I sit frozen, staring at the dashboard. “That’s a good thing, right? They aren’t trying to kill us.”
He reaches an arm into the backseat, rustling around in his large bag until he draws out his cell phone.
“Kace?” I prompt again when he doesn’t answer me.
“Sure, it’s a good thing if you enjoy being tortured for information,” he says calmly as he presses on the button to roll down his window.
The cold breeze hits my skin, just what I need to shock some sense into me. “Tortured?” I scream, throwing my hands in the air.
His eyes flick to me. “I’d prefer if you didn’t wave that thing around.”
I look to where I still have a death grip on the gun and inhale sharply. Making sure the safety is on, I place it on the floor between my feet.
Kace takes both his hands off the wheel for a moment, grabbing each end of his phone and snapping it in half before tossing it out the open window. The show of his sheer strength shocks but excites me at the same time.
“We need to get rid of this car,” he states as he winds it back up and focuses on the road again.
I tuck my hands between my legs, a useless attempt at trying to stop them from shaking. “Then what are we going to do? Walk?” I snap.
