“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Everyone has a purpose,” he said. “Some purposes are noble. Others are service-oriented. Some are designed to move the world forward. Some are evil.”
“Where do we fit in?”
“Your childhood tragedy shaped you. Your parents’ careers shaped you, despite what youthoughtyou knew. Your skills determined a lot of it. Maybe you’re here to ensure that good people get to live as long as they can. But that comes at a cost.”
She hugged him hard. “Thank you for letting me be my most authentic self.”
“How was the spanking for you?”
Through the sadness, she smiled. “The best.” She paused for a beat. “Did you like it?”
“It’s very sexy.”
“I know, right? Kinda blows my mind.”
“I’ve never spanked anyone.”
“I’ve never been spanked by anyone.” After they shared another kiss, she said, “This is it, isn’t it?”
“For the rest of our lives,” he replied.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING,after an hour of target practice in the woods behind the building, Teddy led himself and Sydney through the BLACK OPS exercise program. When finished, they were soaked in sweat, exhausted, yet invigorated at the same time.
Back inside, they showered, collected their laptops and headed to the conference room.
“I’m researching who owns the lake house cabin,” Sydney said. “Can you flash that photo up on the screen?”
Teddy hooked up his laptop and, seconds later, the photo of Haqazzii, his lieutenants, and Sydney’s cousin, Robby, loomed on the back wall.
Teddy’s phone rang. It was Greystone.
“Hey,” he answered.
“How’s everyone doin’?” Greystone asked.
“We’re good.”
“Get any sleep?”
Teddy and Sydney smiled. They were doing everythingbutsleeping.
“I didn’t realize we were comparing our sleep schedules,” Teddy said. “Do you want to know what we had for breakfast?”
“We had each other,” Sydney murmured.
“I heard that,” Caroline said.
Everyone laughed, which helped ease the constant tension.
“The cops arrested the five guys from last night,” Greystone said. “The driver and passenger were multiple-time convicted criminals. You name it?—”
“Rape?” Sydney asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Greystone replied.
She shuddered. “I hope payback in prison is hell.”
