AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The truth, but I still wasn’t shooting as well as I should have.
Santino raised a brow at me. “You’re not concentrating. And if I had to take a guess, your mind is on our guest, not the target.”
Grinding my teeth, I glared at him. We both knew he was right. Didn’t mean I’d admit it out loud. We might have been best friends once, but a lot happened while I’d been gone. He wasn’t the same person I’d left behind. Just like I wasn’t either.
But we both fought to find our way back to the friendship we once had. Trust was still fragile between us, and I had my suspicions that he was reporting my every move to Maurizio. But this was all temporary. And leaving him a second time—which was exactly what I was planning to do—wouldn’t go down well.
I should have tried harder to find a way to get him to leave with me last time. But he’d been too loyal back then and loved the life we lived. Maurizio had taken him in when he was a little boy, and we grew up together. Became brothers. Did everything together.
This was the only home he’d ever known. He wouldn’t have left without a good reason. And I didn’t blame him. But I also couldn’t stay.
My desire to leave had been greater than our bond, and one night I’d disappeared without a word. I didn’t regret leaving. I regretted not doing it sooner.
But having regrets didn’t help me accomplish what I came here to do. And lamenting about past mistakes wouldn’t help me make decisions in the present, only delay them.
“She’s interesting. She’s already put our accounts back in order. She also made improvements that mean we don’t have to worry about our money disappearing again.”
Santino studied me, his face giving nothing away. In this world, emotions got you killed. “Don’t let anyone else hear you talk like that. She’s on borrowed time.”
It was nothing I wasn’t aware of. But his words still pulled at me, reminding me that I had to find a way to get her out fast or it would be too late. As soon as she wasn’t useful anymore, Maurizio wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of her. “I know. Now, are we doing this, or do you want to ask me about my hopes and dreams as well?”
Two things that were on short supply in this world.
It was his turn to flip me off, and we turned back to the dummies. There was a time when we used to go hunting in the jungle to improve our aim. But nobody was allowed out of the compound without a small army. Maurizio had made too many enemies.
I just hoped one of them would be skilled enough to take him out.
Though what his death would mean for me wasn’t something I liked to think about.
We kept practicing for another hour, switching from dummies to moving targets. Santino’s aim was true, never missing a mark. Once I pushed thoughts of a certain blue-eyed girl away, my aim improved as well.
Not having Maurizio breathing down my neck all day improved my mood significantly. He still checked in every hour, but phone calls were a far better way to communicate than watching him lord over everyone from his ridiculous throne.
I fought the urge to check in on Everleigh on the way to my office. It was already hard to ignore my feelings for her; being around her any more than I had to was dangerous.
Once in my office, I checked for bugs, as usual finding a few. I left them where they were, making sure nobody had added cameras to my surveillance as well.
My burner phone was safely stored in my bedroom, the one place I’d cleared of bugs the first day I returned. I also checked it every day, even though nobody had access to my room but me. But safety and privacy in this compound were an illusion. If Maurizio wanted to get inside my room, he would. But so far, he’d ignored my small act of rebellion.
He knew I was aware of what he was doing, and he was getting impatient. His constant need to check in proofed of my suspicions that he might have welcomed me back but didn’t think I was loyal anymore.
Nobody ever accused him of being stupid. I still couldn’t figure out why he would give me back my previous position. He hadn’t had a second the whole time I’d been gone. I’d been sure he’d appoint Santino. But while my former best friend was in charge of a lot of the operations, he’d never gained the official position.
Something else that made reconnecting with Santino more difficult. He said nothing about it, but he must have felt resentment at being moved down the ladder after my return.
I’d barely sat down when the first person stormed in with a trivial issue. My office was never empty. Something else I was sure was Maurizio’s doing. He wanted eyes on me. And since I would have found any cameras, he had to use his men.
I finally escaped when everyone was busy with dinner. Retrieving my burner phone from my room, I went to the edge of the cliffs the property sat on. They weren’t all that high, but it was enough to stop anyone from accessing or leaving via the water.
Dense vegetation covered most of the region, and I easily slipped behind some bushes and trees, sitting at the edge of the cliff. The water churned beneath my feet. Sofie would have loved it here.
Thinking of what I’d left behind reminded me why I was doing all of this in the first place. For her. Because she deserved better.
I powered up my phone, scrolling down to the only contact in it. CIA Officer Harris answered after the first ring.
“About time you called.”
His gruff voice sounded through the speaker. He’d been my handler since I’d returned. A chain-smoker with a bullshit radar that could rival a lie detector. I’d come to appreciate working with him.
