Page 131 of Trigger Happy Ending

Soren. I don’t want to panic, but my body betrays me. I feel clammy, a light sweat begins to cover my face, as all the worst-case scenarios begin manifesting in my imagination. I somehow muster the courage to ask a question that could end my world.

“Where is he?”

O turns, looks back over his shoulder, and says simply, “Gone, Raine.”

Permanently gone? Or gone by choice?

“Considering I thought you two couldn’t stand each other, imagine my surprise when Soren offers to trade his freedom for yours.”

My jaw hangs open, I forget to blink, to breathe. Trade his freedom? “What?”

“When you decided to go off script and start a war with one of New York state’s most powerful motorcycle clubs, you set off a chain reaction. Soren was in the middle of collecting PARM-17 from Carson when they were alerted to you being abducted from the Golden Claw. Soren decided to be a big, bad man and withhold delivery of PARM-17 until he knew you were safe and were to receive the best care. The arrogant prick had me over a barrel … so I agreed. But he had one final demand: He would only hand over PARM-17 on the condition that you were free.”

My mouth goes dry. “Why would he do that?”

“Because apparently he thinks you deserve some peace.”

It doesn’t make any sense. Why would O agree to release me from the Agency? It’s not likely. He doesn’t make deals, and he sure as shit doesn’t do gestures of goodwill. He’d only do it if it served him.

“You’re wondering why, aren’t you? Why would I agree?” O turns, leans back against the windowsill, facing me. “At first, I wasn’t going to. Why would I willingly give you up? One of the best Black Widows we have? All those years of training, conditioning, teaching you … For what? To give you what you’ve always craved? Your freedom?”

O pauses and shakes his head, chuckles softly. “No. I wasn’t going to have that. Especially after the shitshow you caused with the Raptors. You needed to be punished. Not rewarded.”

O runs his tongue along his teeth. “But as Soren kept talking … I realized something. I could have the best of both worlds. I could retain a strong operative in Soren, while simultaneously punishing you.”

The clock above O’s head suddenly sounds deafening. The incessant tick tock rattles my brain.

“What better way to teach you a lesson than by freeing you, yet denying you of the very thing you want. Him.”

My chest rises and falls faster and faster. “What did you do?”

“I gave him what he asked for.”

“No.” I shake my head, a guttural scream rising in my chest. “No fucking way. The answer is no. He was to be free, to be done with this shit! Release him. I’ll stay,” I stammer, the words rushing out of me, one after the other. “Y-you don’t get to do that, h-he doesn’t get to do that.”

“It’s too late, Raine,” O interrupts, and the smugness in his mismatched gaze makes me want to rip his throat out. He pulls something from his jacket, a sleek black envelope. “You’re officially severed from us. Free on paper.”

My rage detonates. “You fucking asshole! How could you let him do that! He was free from you!”

“Wasn’t my idea,” O says mildly. “He walked into the cage and closed the door himself.”

I swallow and try with all my might not to crack, not to break in front of the man who has been the cause of so much misery in my life.

“Do you want to know why he left so easily?” O cocks his head to the side. “What have I always taught you, Raine? Attachments cause weakness. And Soren’s biggest weakness? Was you.”

My heart damn near flatlines as I feel my chin tremble. This is my fault.

“He’s a man with nothing to lose now. Exactly how I like my operatives.”

“Y-you fuc—”

“Nurse!” O bellows.

The door to my room opens, and three nurses come in. O gives them the signal, and they move to restrain me. I thrash and cry out, but I’m weak. So fucking weak. “No!”

The needle pricks my arm before I can stop it. My reflexes begin to slow, thoughts dazed, and I feel like I’m being dragged underwater, the drugs swarm my senses almost immediately. The nurses hastily exit.

“Once upon a time, Raine, you were my favorite agent. God, you were so bloodthirsty, so eager to please. But now? You’ve become too much of a liability,” O says, walking over to my bedside. Now that I’m under the effects of drugs, he deems it safe to stand near me. He stares down at me, one normal eye, one dead one. “Just like your mother.”