Page 58 of Brooks

“No. He gave me a two hour clock to assassinate Sefa Nazari.”

“What the fuck?” Declan stood. “Zane didn’t say anything about that.”

“He doesn’t know about the mission shift. My orders are need to know. I was specifically told none of you were to be in the know.”

Well, I now knew how to get a room full of operatives stunned into silence. The men all exchanged looks and waited for someone to say something. Declan’s face turned to stone, and Brooks looked like he was getting ready to explode.

Great.

Chapter 24

Long moments ticked by before Tatiana spoke, “Anyone?”

I suppose she was waiting for someone to say something, but it wasn’t going to be me. I was too fucking pissed to utter a word.

“Let me see if I understand,” Declan started. “Leon agreed to lend you to Z Corps for the mission. Then he calls you and gives you a side job to take out Sefa, but wants it kept from the team. I get that right?”

“Yes.”

“There’s no interpretation? Straight out he said you were not to tell us?” he asked again.

Tatiana’s eyes rolled and she answered, “Yes, Declan. His words were, it was need to know and none of you needed to know. He gave me two hours to complete my assignment.”

“Then why are you breaking security protocol?” I asked.

“Huh?” Her eyes moved from Dec to me and they looked wounded that I’d questioned her.

“You were specifically ordered not to tell us, yet here you are passing on information on a mission you were given. One I assume, would be classified as top secret. Your ass should be out the door carrying out your task.”

Tatiana squared her shoulders and the woman who I’d met the first day in Bahrain was back. Expressionless. Assessing. Cold.

“The order from my team leader was hold fast and wait for new intel. Not only that but we’d all agreed more information was needed on Sefa before we moved. Zane has not weighed in and given further instructions. Until that time, I’m following Declan’s direction.”

“Leon Brown is your handler. Not Zane. Not Declan. So, again, why the hell are you standing here and not following orders?” I pushed.

I needed more. More than Leon Brown and Zane Lewis having what I believe was a pissing contest with Tatiana stuck in the middle.

“Declan said—”

“Bullshit. You work for The Company, not Z Corps.”

“I work for Z Corps on this mission,” she argued.

“Again. I call bullshit. What you’ve done is akin to subversion. Best case, you’ll be terminated. Most likely they send someone after you to eliminate what they’ll feel is a loose end.”

Tatiana’s face lost the mask of indifference and she leaned forward, unleashing her fury. “It feels like a lie,” she said through gritted teeth. “Something is not right. Sefa Nazari has never been on radar for a hit. Why now? Why her and not Matek? He’s always been the one we’ve watched. Now after tonight and what we saw, why is Sefa suddenly on The Company’s list?”

“What feels like a lie?” Declan asked, beating me to it.

“Sneaking away and killing a woman we all agreed we needed more intel on. Leaving and not telling anyone. Leon telling me that my team doesn’t need to know. All of it. It’s all wrong.”

That was what I needed to know. Where her loyalty was. Even though her telling us about Leon’s assignment should’ve told me, it didn’t. Her explaining she didn’t want to be dishonest was what I needed to hear to continue to trust her.

“How are you supposed to carry out the kill?” Kyle asked.

Apparently, he, too, had gotten the answers he needed.

“My discretion.”