My stomach tightens.
“No records. No visitors,” he continues. “As far as the world’s concerned, you didn’t make it out of that fire.”
Dead.
The word lands heavily and stays there.
“You planned this?”
“We prepared for it,” he corrects. “It’s why you’re alive.”
Dragging in a slow breath, I force my head to clear.
“Then get me a phone. I need to call Sophia.”
Sam doesn’t move.
Something in me sharpens instantly.
“No.”
My eyes lock on his.
“What do you mean, no?”
“She thinks you’re dead, Ryan.”
The room stills.
“No.” I shake my head, ignoring the pain that fires through my neck. “You fix that. You call her. You tell her right now.”
“We can’t.”
Anger hits fast and hard.
“My family thinks I’m dead. My girl thinks I’m dead, and you’re just leaving it like that?”
“It’s the only way this works.” His voice is calm and measured. It’s the voice of a man who has already made the decision, and it’s final. “Clemente believes you’re dead. The cartel believes it. That gives us an opening we haven’t had in three years.”
“I don’t give a fuck about openings.”
“And what about Riley?”
The name hits like a fist to the sternum.
Everything in me goes still.
“What about her?”
“She’s already in. Deep undercover. Mexico. Inside Clemente’s operation.”
My jaw tightens.
“No. She wouldn’t…”
“She did.” A beat. “And she’s alone in there.”
Riley comes to me immediately. She’s stubborn, fearless, always pushing more than she should, and always convinced she can handle whatever comes next.
