The Soldier's Assassin

Chapter 1

s Graydon King sat with his legs bound, a silk tie

stuffed firmly into his mouth and his hands zip-tied
together; he had to admit that this was not how he
imagined his date going.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the woman

who had put him in this predicament move around
the room. Every step intentional, every movement
calculated.

She was as quick as a whip, reminding him of

shadow and smoke as she ran her fingers along the
surfaces  of  his  desk.  She  left  nothing  untouched;
nothing  escaping  the  scrutiny  of  her  gaze.  As  he
watched  her,  he  couldn't  help  but  think  about  the
events leading up to this night.

✽✽✽

Graydon got coffee per his usual spot at the

corner shop in front of the produce market. The

type of place that made you pay a little more than
the commercial joints, but offered coffee that
warmed your soul.

When he was a soldier, he used to criticize

targets for having a routine. Routines made his job
easy.  He  supposed  there  was  something  innately
human  about  having  a  scheduled  set  of  patterns
each day to be followed. However, when the wrong
people  discovered  those  practices,  that  comfort
could quickly turn into cruelty.

He had been a soldier for most of his life. He

was raised as a ward of the state; he didn't have
family or anything else to tie him down, so joining
the military had been a smart option.

The pay was decent and there was a certain

camaraderie that came with it. It was as close to a
family as he had gotten in all of his eighteen years
before joining.

Graydon had even discovered he had a knack

for the work that most didn't enjoy. He could do
things others couldn't, find his way into places that
he shouldn't.

He could keep a calm edge of steel when most

men crumbled. It had seemed his street smarts just
needed to be honed. He needed to be given skills

and pressure to become something only a rare few
achieved.

When Graydon was first recruited for the

special  ops  division,  it  had  dealt  with  hands-on
security breaching and extracting information from
targets. The times had changed though, and towards
the  end  of  his  twenties,  he  specialized  in
cybersecurity.

He enjoyed the job. He could work with his

hands,  be  creative,  and  play  an  ultimate  game  of
cat  and  mouse.  The  job  wasn't  always  roses,  but
when  it  was  done  correctly,  there  was  no  other
feeling in the world.

He had enjoyed his job, taken pride in securing

assets and eliminating problems; although half of
the awards he received would never make it to the
public's eye.

He had spent over twelve years in the military

before his thirty-first birthday had arrived. It was
the birthday that changed everything.

It had been a routine raid; a special ops team

had been sent in to retrieve two hostages, and he
was sent in with them to extract information from
the group’s head leader.

A rebel group had made threats that the United

States wasn't willing to leak to the American people
yet. Threats that needed to be neutralized in the
quietest way possible.

The mission had looked from the beginning like

it would be successful. The team had secured the
hostages, and within mere moments the three
targets were neutralized.

Graydon had made his way through the enemy

compound on his own; seeking out the head of the
organization as the threats were neutralized one by
one.

He had made it to the room where his target

should have been, only to find it empty. Graydon
had spoken into his radio, clarifying the target’s
position, when he was attacked.

It was an unknown, a rogue that slipped through

their  net.  The  intelligence  had  failed  them,  and  it
was  that  fourth  man  that  almost  cost  Graydon  his
life. Graydon had made it out of that mission on the
doorsteps of death. The special ops team had been
quick  in  their  recovery  and  actions,  but  it  hadn't
been quick enough.

The dark-haired male had received a shattered

tibia, four fractured ribs, and enough internal

bleeding to warrant a year of mandatory cognitive
behavioral therapy; with the bonus of an honorary
discharge from the military.

The discharge had been a blow. Graydon was

used to getting roughed up, it was commonplace in
his line of work to bleed, but it had seemed the
brass in higher command thought differently.

He spent weeks in and out of surgery, followed

by intense physical therapy that sometimes was
more frustrating than the wounds had been.

He had been angry and though he would have

never admitted it; he had been scared. A life in the
military was all he had known; all he ever planned
for.

When he petitioned to have his discharge be

reviewed, it had been turned away and further
denied.

They marked it up as an honorary physical

discharge though he knew he could pass the
physical fitness test better than most of the recruits
they were getting in.

They were angling for new blood, and he was

old news. That was the way of things sometimes
and he understood that, but it hadn’t made it any

easier.

He could still remember the day he collected his

things  and  left  the  base.  Graydon  had  been  bitter
and  convinced  he  would  make  them  change  their
mind.  He  had  been  sure  they  would  swear  him  in
for service after the first time they needed someone
with  his  particular  skill  set.  The  months  had  gone
on however and Graydon learned the hard way that
anyone could be replaced.

Graydon paid the woman at the counter as a

young man walked over holding two coffee cups
out to him; one black with one packet of sugar, and
the vanilla latte that went with it.

Graydon made his way to the faded brick

building he went to every Tuesday. He liked to
think of this chore as less of a routine and more of a
requisite. The Broadholder and Young Wellness
Center was located in an artsy part of town.

A part of town that made a guy who looked like

him  stick  out  like  a  sore  thumb.  Most  of  the
inhabitants  of  the  area  wore  trendy  hairstyles,
colorful  clothes,  and  friendly  attitudes.  They
greeting one another as if they were all related.

Graydon, in contrast, wore his hair buzzed and

his clothes muted. He kept to himself though that

was due to lacking social skills more than not being
friendly.

He made this walk every Tuesday for the past

51 weeks and today would be the last. He would be
officially finished with his enforced therapy. That
thought was enough to bring a smile to his face as
he walked through the double doors of the center.

Graydon checked in and followed the older

lady who he knew to be Amanda down the hallway
to Dr. Brenna Klien's office.

He had to admit that he would not miss the

smell; the light lavender that trailed the office with
the lingering stench of disinfectant following
closely behind.

He would not miss the boring classical notes

that played imperceptibly over the speakers; it was
always the same few sonatas repeated over and
over. He would surely not miss the sad look most of
the patients who walked in and out of the doors of
the building had, but he would miss her.

Dr. Brenna Klein had taken over for Dr. Peter

Copelheld from Graydon's second visit on. Dr.
Copelheld had a sick child and Dr. Klien had been
newly appointed to the office.

He sometimes mused if her getting him as a

patient  was  their  way  to  throw  her  to  the  wolves;
test  her  mettle  before  giving  her  one  of  the  good
patients.  Graydon  had  been  resistant  at  first  to  the
whole idea of therapy.

He was a soldier; he was trained to shove

emotions and feelings deep down inside himself.
There could be no room for feelings on a
battlefield.

Sharing, communicating, and voicing his

thoughts to a total stranger railed against everything
he believed in and knew. He had given only the
bare minimum for the first few visits.

That was until she had arrived late one day.

Graydon had been shown into her office and told
by Amanda that Dr. Klein would be there soon. The
minutes had ticked by, and as he thumbed his way
through a fishing magazine, the door had flown
open.

Dr. Klein was there, gripping her briefcase in

one hand; her other hand clutching stacks of wet
papers and her muddied purse.

She ran in apologizing, her red hair falling from

the immaculate bun she always wore; wobbling on
the shoes she had worn with one broken heel.

Without giving it a second thought, he jumped up
and relieved her hands of the wet papers and
briefcase.

He could see the coffee stain on her usually

spotless top, and as she slipped out of the broken
shoes, he noticed the run in her pantyhose. If it
hadn’t been for the look of utter misery, he thought
she would have looked comical.

She then proceeded in one great breath to tell

the story of her awful morning. It began with spilled
coffee  and  broken  shoes  and  had  ended  with
dropping  her  study  papers  into  a  muddy  puddle  of
street water.

He listened, fetching the jacket she kept at her

chair and handing it to her while she put her papers
and case together. She gave him grateful eyes as
she took it and before he could muster up any
speech from his lips; she began crying.

Graydon had never known what to do when

females  cried.  They  always  seemed  so  fragile  in
those  moments  to  him.  It  was  like  holding  a
newborn.  He  didn’t  want  to  breathe  any  heavier,
much  less  do  or  say  anything  to  make  matters
worse.

Awkwardly, he stuffed his hands in his pocket

and became interested in a spot on the floor. She
had grabbed tissues, but the tears kept coming. Her
speech was a mix of apologies and embarrassment.
He debated on leaving when he looked up from the
spot on the floor he had been staring at; his eyes
finding hers.

There was a pause and before she could say

anything, he did. A smile playing on his lips as he
asked, "If I fix your shoes will you give me credit
for two days?"

She laughed, the sound of her voice filling the

room and soothing a place he hadn't known had
been aching. It had been like he unlocked
something hidden that day.

They were no longer the stuffy therapist and

mandated ex-soldier. They were more like friends.
He agreed to be less resistant to her questions, and
she agreed to share snippets of herself.

She lamented over the spilled coffee she would

never  get  to  enjoy.  From  the  next  visit  on,  he  had
shown  up  with  her  favorite  vanilla  latte  in  hand
before  every  session,  just  in  case.  It  was  a
beneficial balance of give and take that worked out
better than he could have hoped.

There was nothing romantic about it. They

talked about his adjustment, skimming over the
heavy and dark talk, but there was a friendship
there that neither could deny.

Graydon followed Amanda down the small

hallway  and  stepped  inside  of  the  familiar  office.
Dr.  Klein  was  writing  something  in  a  notebook,
extending  her  open  hand  to  the  latte  he  held  out
towards her.

She finished writing in the book and pressed her

lips  to  the  cup.  Her  eyes  closed  as  she  grinned
broadly  after  tasting  the  first  sip.  “You  are  the
best,” she replied.

He once made fun of her for the way she

always indulged in that first sip of coffee. When
she pointed out that he never indulged in anything,
he gave it a rest.

Her red hair caught the light from a nearby

window. She was beautiful, stunningly so, but he
had known early on there would never be a future
between the two of them.

She was quiet, precise. In the first few sessions,

she would sometimes just stare at him; waiting for
his resolve to break and answer her questions. Her
eyes could pin him to the couch.

He could practically see the thoughts that

constantly ran through her brain. She was quiet, but
he knew her brain was loud. She was always
working towards figuring out whatever puzzle she
had before her.

He knew from past conversations that she

enjoyed  reading  and  had  even  thought  about
becoming  a  librarian  at  one  time.  He  always
imagined  her  as  the  quiet,  shy  girl  in  school  who
was pretty but never knew it.

She was the perfect woman for any man that

wasn’t like him. He was the direct opposite of her.
Graydon, even in his early life had known he
wasn’t meant to be one of those normal, happy
people. He was a soldier, and that was what he was
good at.

He didn’t have any hobbies unless you counted

cleaning his weapons. He couldn’t stand to be in
the company of most people long enough to
develop any kind of friendship.

The people he spoke to throughout his day

always seemed to be typical, common. How could
he expect a civilian to understand why he did what
he had to do?

How could he explain why he loved the feel of

his gun in his hands in a way that didn't sound like a
murderous psychopath? He couldn’t expect a
woman to give up a normal life for someone like
him, much less a woman like Brenna.

Graydon took his normal place on the couch,

opposite her chair and sipped his coffee. He took a
moment to enjoy the silence and appreciate the
rich, nutty flavor of the warm beverage.

It was usually himself that spoke up first to start

their session, but this time Dr. Klein spoke first.

She tucked her feet underneath herself as she

sat in the chair, gazing at him. "Did you see the big
game last night?" Brenna asked.

Graydon raised an eyebrow, he knew Brenna

didn’t  watch  sports.  He  asked  her  about  her
favorite  team  during  an  earlier  visit  to  make  small
talk  and  she  had  laughed.  She  then  said  if  she
wanted  to  watch  kids  chase  a  ball  she'd  go  to  the
park. "I did...did you?"Graydon asked skeptically.

She shook her head. "Definitely not. That's all

anyone has talked about all morning though."

Graydon chuckled before replying, "Culbert

scored five touchdowns in a single game, which is
huge. That's a record actually, it's not like - " He

watched her wave his words off dismissively and
grinned before he dropped it.

There was no point in him trying to convince

her to like sports any more than she could convince
him to like ballet.

They sipped their coffee and spoke about the

weather. She got her pen ready to take notes when
he glanced over at her, "You know, I'm going to
miss this a lot more than I thought I would."

A flash of confusion filled her features before

she scrunched her eyebrows and asked him what he
meant.

"I mean today, this. It’s my last day. I'll miss it

more than I thought I would," he said as he
shrugged.

Graydon watched as she stilled. Her face was

unreadable as she glanced at the calendar on the
wall. Brenna sat up straighter before turning her
attention back to him.

Her voice was inquisitive as she spoke, "I

thought  you  would  continue?  We  talked  about
stretching  it  out  for  a  week  or  two  until  you  get
adjusted."

He shook his head, "No. We mentioned it, but I

think it'd be best if I just jumped in. I'd say you did
your job. I feel confident I can assimilate."

Graydon grinned before asking, "Isn't that what

they want to hear? That I'm capable of assimilating
into civilian life?"

The grin was still on his face as his eyes found

hers. She didn't look relieved or happy to be rid of
him; in fact, he thought he saw the ghost of regret
on her face.

Brenna shook it off, nodding her head as she

spoke. "Oh, yes. You're ready. It would be
ridiculous to go on. Let's wrap this up, shall we?"
she asked, her voice more formal.

The session began and Graydon couldn't tell if it

was just his imagination or if she was being quick
with him. She was asking short, clipped questions
and no matter how many times he tried to make her
laugh, she didn't give him the ghost of a smile.

Moving to the door after she handed him the

final paperwork, he hesitated and looked back at
her. "Dr. Klein are you - are you mad at me?" he
asked timidly.

He felt embarrassed for asking the question at

all. He was not here to be her friend. This was her
job and his requirement, feelings had no business
here.

Still, he felt his chest catch when she looked up

at him. Her eyebrow was a perfect arch as she
spoke, "Why would I be mad at you Mr. King? You
fulfilled all of your requirements."

He laughed at her reply. "Mr. King? Since when

do you call me that?"

Shrugging, she moved a few papers around on

her  desk  before  looking  up  at  him.  "Would  you
prefer  I  called  you  Major  King?  Is  that  what  you
would  like?  And  here  I  thought  we  had  made
progress," she replied bitterly.

It was his turn to raise his eyebrow. He

surveyed her, her emerald eyes meeting his. He
made a living out of watching and reading people.
She wasn't hostile. There wasn't any trace of anger
in her features.

Her warm and open demeanor was no longer

there though, it was like a wall had closed between
them. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her
hands hugging herself slightly as if in protection.

No, she wasn't angry at him, she was hurt, he

realized with surprise. The realization hit him like a
ton of bricks. Graydon found the urge to clear his
throat, his mouth suddenly becoming dry.

It seemed to him like Brenna hadn’t wanted

their time to end yet. He hadn’t imagined she would
miss him hanging around, but the signs were all
there.

Graydon shifted his weight, pushing himself to say
the words before he could talk himself out of it.

"What I would like is for you to call me

Graydon. So I can call you Brenna, and we can
have dinner together like normal people."

The words falling out of his mouth and

sounding more certain than he was actually feeling.

Her eyebrows rose at the question he laid out

before  her.  Brenna's  mouth  parted  in  surprise  and
he  felt  a  moment  of  horror  as  he  wondered  if  he
had  read  everything  wrong;  if  maybe  she  had  no
interest in getting dinner with him.

It had been a long time since Graydon asked a

woman out and he was fairly confident he messed it
up. While she took her precious time answering
him, he spoke quickly, backtracking.

"I mean as friends...nothing...like...I mean, not a

date or anything," he stammered. She watched him
flounder a moment more before she gave him a
sideways smile.

"I'd like that," Brenna replied softly. Her reply

sending a small shiver of satisfaction down him.

"Then it’s a date,” he said with a grin.

Chapter 2

raydon walked out of the Wellness Center with a

lighter  spring  in  his  step.  It  wasn't  every  day  he
asked  out  a  woman,  and  it  certainly  wasn't  every
day  that  the  woman  said  yes.  It  wasn't  just  any
woman  either.  Brenna  was  gorgeous,  well  above
anything he thought he would ever deserve.

Although his blundering had ensured this wasn’t

a date in the romantic sense, there was no telling
what this could be.

There was a world of possibilities stretching

before  him.  He  couldn't  quite  see  one  that  ended
with them in anything serious, but it would be nice
to  have  a  friend.  Brenna  was  kind  and  smart.  She
excelled  in  all  the  areas  he  was  lacking.  An  ex-
grunt could use a friend like that.

Graydon had a car waiting outside for him. The

driver, Jonah, was absorbed in his phone and only
put it down once Graydon slid inside the car.

"Afternoon Mr. King, happy to be a free man

again?" Jonah asked.

Jonah started the car up and Graydon buckled

his seat belt, shrugging casually before replying,
"I've always been a free man Jonah."

"Yeah, I guess, but now you're a free man with

a cleared bill of health." The young man continued
speaking,  his  voice  now  in  an  exaggerated  tone.
"We,  the  valued  therapist  at  the  cry-me-a-river
wellness  center,  are  pleased  to  inform  you  that
Graydon King is not a crazy, murderous, ex-soldier
for hire."

Graydon smirked from the backseat, "I don't

think that's exactly how they'd classify everything."

Jonah shrugged, "Maybe not, but I guess it's

good they have it in writing."

"That I'm not a murderous, ex-soldier bent on

vengeance?" Graydon asked with amusement.

"Yea, I mean, I'd want it in writing. You don't

look  like  a  lamb  if  you  get  my  point.  Plus,  if  they
have  it  in  writing,  no  one  could  go  after  them
whenever you snapped,"  he said, his voice matter
of fact.

"When? Not if? I appreciate the support."

Graydon chuckled. Jonah was barely out of college,
and despite falling head-first into such a well-
paying position, the kid was as snarky and sarcastic
as they came.

The first day they met was when Jonah had to

pick  up  an  important  client  from  the  airport.
Graydon  had  ridden  along  to  oversee  the  pickup
and  provide  extra  security.  All  had  gone  well  until
Jonah  grabbed  the  man's  satchel  and  asked  where
he needed to put the man purse.

It had taken some smooth talking to convince

his boss not to fire the kid the minute they got back.
However, aside from being outspoken and arrogant,
he was quick, and he got the job done. Graydon
liked him. It wasn't every day you met someone
who told the truth and spared no feelings.

The ride to work wasn't long and if he had it his

way,  it  wouldn't  happen  at  all.  His  boss,  Hart
Druvell  had  insisted.  The  first  time  he  turned  the
offer  down  he  had  to  ignore  Jonah  driving  at  a
snail's pace next to him while he walked along the
sidewalk.

Since that embarrassing day, he had given up

the fight over it. There wasn't much Druvell didn’t
get his way on. Harvell Tech was founded by Hart
Druvell. He took the small processing and software
company he started in his grandmother's basement
and built it into the monster it was now.

Harvell Tech was responsible for most of the

good toys the government liked to brag about, most
of the bad ones too, but no one talked about that
too much. It was one of the leading agencies the
government contracted out.

It was handy with developing and researching

new toys they didn't want to divulge information on
to the media.

Graydon had gotten a security position there a

few weeks after being back from his medical PT. It
had been a small stroke of luck for him to have
even gotten the job.

A full year in and he was Hart's right-hand man

for security. Graydon took the job seriously, but he
found there was something boring in guarding
secrets as opposed to wrenching them out of
people.

The car pulled up to the enormous building.

Graydon gave Jonah a quick wave before shoving
out of the car and heading towards the doors to

Harvell Tech.

The tech company was every bit as impressive

as  their  resume  of  clients.  The  large  steel  frame
towered  over  the  neighboring  high-rises.  The  glass
paneling  of  the  windows  aligned  perfectly,  so  it
always shined like the inside of a diamond.

It was impressive, but more importantly, it was

impenetrable. There were perks to hiring a person
who made his living getting into places he shouldn't
be and exploiting those weaknesses.

Walking through the doors, he moved past the

line of people shuffling through the metal detectors
and security pat-downs.

Graydon stopped a minute to check in with two

of  his  guards  overseeing  the  entrance.  They
monitored  the  throng  of  visitors  and  employees
who  made  their  way  in  and  out  of  the  building
daily.

"How's it going, guys? Anything I need to know

about?" Graydon asked as he made it to the
security desk.

The taller of the two guards handed Graydon a

clipboard detailing the morning report before
speaking up, "One employee triggered an alarm

when she went through without proper ID. Her ID
was  then  verified  and  re-entered  into  the  system
and  cleared.  Two  packages  were  dropped  off  and
marked for Mr. Druvell, scanned and checked out.
Box  contents  seem  to  be  various  sized  metal  parts
for  one  and  the  other  contains  threaded  plastic
rings."

Graydon nodded to the security officer, signed

off on the report and handed it back to him. It was
always frustrating when assistants ordered parts
and

components

without

labeling

which

departments they were supposed to go to. He took
the packages with him on his way up to his office.

Graydon liked to keep his office on the higher

level of the building with the executives and CEO.
It wasn't a power play move; he couldn't care less
what anyone in the company thought about him. It
was all about strategy.

Since the dawn of mankind, men have been

killing each other. The smart ones knew one of the
biggest elements of a successful battle was the
layout. If you had the high ground, you were solid.
If you didn't, well...you had better have numbers on
your side.

Being on top wasn't just a euphemism for

winning wars, it was an ingredient. While a building

was a different beast than a mountainside, it still
held the same principle for many of the same
reasons.

Graydon also oversaw almost everyone who

went in and out of Druvell's office. Hart's office
was where most of the valuable and untested
prototypes were stored.

Graydon walked into his office and sat down at

his desk, putting the two packages on top of it. He
made a mental note to sort them out before leaving
for the day.

He checked emails and scanned over the

various bumps and flags their system recorded,
both online and in the building. Graydon wondered
what his commanders would say about him having
a desk job.

While he occasionally outfitted a new security

system or followed around the execs when
someone flashy came to visit, the main part of his
job was sitting behind a desk.

He had never imagined his life would be that

way. He always figured he would die at the hands
of an enemy who was just a little faster. Lately, he
had wondered if he would die among the blue glow
of a screen, sitting comfortably in a chair that was

ergonomically fit for him. No, this wasn't what he
ever imagined for himself.

Graydon had an uneventful rest of the day. The

only thing needing his immediate attention being a
call from one of their clients, verifying information
for their visit.

Graydon had taken his time with the client's

coordinating  team,  ensuring  full  security  measures
would  be  in  place  to  accommodate  the  visiting
dignitary. Before he knew it, the end of the day was
near and he stood in Mr. Druvell's office.

Graydon put away the latest design plan for

something they dubbed the Gordian Project. It was
secured behind a safe, triggered only by both he
and Mr. Druvell pressing in a sequence of numbers,
putting their fingerprints on a scanner and verifying
a code word.

The prototype was also barricaded behind two

inches of bulletproof glass in the unlikely event the
system  was  breached.  The  security  measures  had
been  updated  and  overseen  personally  by
Graydon.

As the small door closed over the safe, Druvell

grinned. "I can see it now, this will be a big one,"
he said, excitement filling his voice.

The two men walked out of the chamber

together. Graydon keyed in the last of the security
codes into his tablet. They both watched as the
door sealed off the room they were in, giving off
the appearance of a solid wall.

"That's what you say about all the things we

lock  away  in  there,"  Graydon  said  with
indifference. Mr. Druvell laughed, a great booming
laugh  that  always  made  Graydon  internally  cringe.
The  older  man  ran  his  hands  through  his  receding
hair and moved to sit behind his large desk.

"Yes, that might be true, but that one is the only

one I meant. You wait...you'll see," he said, his
voice holding promise.

Graydon tucked his hands behind his back in a

relaxed at-rest form. It was an old habit he still had
a hard time kicking. "Yes sir," he replied, his voice
uninterested.

Mr. Druvell leaned back in his chair as his

assistant  walked  into  the  room  holding  out  notes
and  bringing  in  foul  smelling  hot  tea.  Graydon
hated  the  stuff,  but  it  was  something  his  boss  was
passionate about.

He liked to think it had something to do with

money. He hadn't met a rich guy yet that wasn't

obsessed  with  some  type  of  odd  drink.  Water  was
never  good  enough,  it  was  as  if  they  all  needed  to
prove  they  were  better,  even  with  the  most  basic
needs of life.

Graydon waved off the offer of whatever his

assistant was holding toward him in small, delicate
cups before speaking.

"Sir, the security system update is running as

planned and there are no issues or flags to date. It's
been a solid 28 hours since implementing it into the
program. I'll keep monitoring the system throughout
the night, but we should have no problems."

His boss nodded before waving him out in a

form akin to a man who couldn't be bothered. "I'm
sure it will be fine Mr. King, I didn’t hire the best
for nothing."

Graydon nodded in return and took his leave

after  promising  a  full  report  by  the  9:00  am
meeting. He then went back to his office, checking
the  last  of  his  messages  before  shutting  everything
off for the night.

Graydon lived a mere eight-minute walk away

from the Harvell Tech building. It was a quiet
apartment complex, nestled near the side of town
that had yet to be built up by developers.

This side of the town held historical townhomes

and small businesses that still closed up shop early.
The kind of places that were still run by the same
families since their openings.

The apartment building was on the edge of that

tranquil world and the world that demanded
renovations

and

modernization.

The

newly

designed shops and buildings that stayed up all
night and featured contemporary furniture and
patrons alike.

He wondered sometimes how long the old

building could hold out. How long before the right
property king came along with an amount the
owners couldn't refuse.

Modernization didn't happen overnight. No, it

was bought piece by piece until only the person
with the deepest pockets got to see their vision
come alive for the city.

Graydon walked up the steps of the apartment

and checked his mail in the small, metal box inside
the foyer. He nodded a brief hello to a passing
neighbor as he put his key in, pulling a few pieces
of mail out and shuffling through them.

There was nothing important, there never was

when it came to his mail. He had no family to send

cards to or from and he paid all of his bills online.

The only thing he could regularly count on was

an advertisement. Graydon threw the pieces of mail
into the trash before shuffling his way up the stairs,
turning the corner onto the fourth floor.

He walked five spaces down to the one that

marked his current home. Turning the key in the
lock, he stepped inside and pressed the security
code into the keypad on the wall.

It wasn't anything fancy; he wasn't anyone

important anymore. There wasn't a need for a high-
tech system and he was in a decent enough part of
town that he would've probably been fine without
one altogether. That wasn't who he was though.

He needed some level of security, some small

virtual watchdog. Even if the only thing it deterred
was kids looking for extra cash or a gaming system
to steal.

He checked his phone before getting in the

shower to see if Brenna had sent him a cancellation
message. He felt a mixture of relief and slight panic
when he noted that she hadn't.

They texted back and forth earlier that

afternoon about their night’s plans and he had been

calm. As the date edged closer, however, his nerves
started getting the best of him.

It had been over five years since Graydon had

been on a date. The last time he did anything close
to  asking  someone  out  was  flirting  with  a  girl  at  a
bar  he  and  his  battalion  had  been  stationed  near
years  ago.  That  had  been  ego  and  confidence  all
rolled  up  into  a  whiskey-induced  package,
complete with a camouflage bow on top.

Before that, he had only gone on a handful of

dates. His relationships tended to end shortly after
the first night. He was not what someone would call
successful in the dating world.

That was not this, whatever this was, he

reminded himself. Brenna knew him. As he walked
to his closet, running his hand through his wet hair
he realized she knew everything about him.

She knew his history, his years in the military.

She knew about the worst day of his life, and she
knew all about his weaknesses and faults.

He, in turn, knew she didn't like sports, her

favorite color was green and that she liked romantic
comedies. This, he mused, was like going on a date
with the priest you confessed your deepest sins to.

There was no backing out of it now. He

supposed he should take it as a compliment if she
knew all of those things about him and still wanted
to be seen in public with him.

However, even as he buttoned up his light blue

collared shirt, he couldn't help but feel like he was
at  a  disadvantage.  His  fingers  slipped  on  the  last
button.  For  a  brief  moment,  for  perhaps  the  first
time in his life, he felt a genuine fear that he might
not be wearing aesthetically pleasing shoes.

Graydon mentally cursed himself for being this

nervous.  There  was  nothing  to  be  nervous  about,
historically,  for  him.  Tonight  there  was  no  one
shooting  at  him,  there  were  no  state  secrets  he
needed to pull out of someone. There was almost a
zero percent chance this would end with any spilled
blood. No, there was just a girl. Somehow that was
worse.

Graydon looked into the mirror, tugging and

pulling various places of his shirt until he willed
himself to settle down.

His dark brown hair was fine, there wasn't

much styling that could be done to a buzz cut. His
blue eyes seemed brighter with the blue shirt he had
on, although there was nothing he could do about

the dark circles that remained under his eyes.

His face had a hint of stubble, but he didn't trust

his hands enough to shave at the moment so he
resigned that it would have to do.

The man took a deep steadying breath before

sliding his keys, wallet and cell phone into his
jacket pocket. This would be all right, it was
Brenna; she was a friend he reminded himself.

Graydon looked into the mirror, giving himself a

reassuring nod before keying the alarm system and
walking out of the door.

Chapter 3

raydon arrived early to the restaurant. It was a

habit  he  had  for  as  long  as  he  could  remember.  If
there  was  a  time  when  Graydon  King  was  running
over five minutes late, something was wrong. It was
a  habit  that  was  useful  for  a  soldier,  but  one  that
proved frustrating as a civilian. The restaurant was
already packed, even at the modest time he picked
for their dinner.

Already, there were people waiting to be sat

down. Noise and laughter spilled from the building
anytime  someone  opened  the  door.  Watching  the
people  waiting  made  him  thankful  he  made  the
reservation early in the day.

The restaurant was downtown. It was a quiet

Italian place, with an open terrace to people-watch
and view the cars that passed by. It was one of his
favorite places to eat, and it had been an easy
choice when Brenna requested that he picked the

place they dined at.

He waited outside for her, stuffing his hands in

his  jacket  to  hide  his  anxious  energy.  He  wavered
somewhere  between  scanning  the  streets  for  her,
and  appearing  as  if  he  wasn't  interested  when  she
would appear at all. It was exhausting.

He hadn't needed to worry about missing her

however. As Brenna Klein made her way towards
him, it was as if his world stilled. She wore her hair
down, and in soft curls; the streetlight catching the
rich, red hue and stopping his heart.

She wore a pastel dress with a white cardigan

over it, something utterly soft and feminine. When
she saw him, her face broke out into a smile he had
never seen her show before.

She was gorgeous. No, gorgeous didn't do her

justice, but he wasn't functioning properly enough
to find the words that could accurately describe
her.

She lifted her hand up in a friendly wave, and

he knew at that moment that any pretense of them
being just friends was out the window.

Graydon wasn't sure how he had overlooked it

for so long. How he could be so blind to her. He

didn’t know if he would ever be lucky enough to
call her his own, but he knew he would try.

She made it to him. Her eyes were alight with

what he hoped was happiness. As she gazed up at
him, she gave him that heart-stopping smile again.
Graydon noticed for the first time that she had the
barest of dimples at the corners of her mouth.

He felt the dryness return to his throat almost

instantly, and he prayed he didn't outwardly look as
dumbstruck as he felt. If he looked like the fool he
imagined himself to be, she never hinted it.

Clearing his throat, he found his voice. "You

look beautiful," he said, the words spoken softly.
Brenna self-consciously looked away, and he was
pleased to note the tiniest reddening of her cheeks.

He felt his heart quicken at that small reaction.

This woman was causing a stirring of feelings he
hadn't thought was even possible in a guy like him.

Graydon King was clearly in over his head. He

was a soldier, he memorized and followed plans to
perfection. If the first plan fell through, there was
always a second, a clear guideline of protocol and
direction.

When he made Brenna blush, he realized just

how far into uncharted territory he was. She met his
gaze for just a moment before glancing him over in
an exaggerating way, a pleased look of surprise on
her face.

"I have to admit, you clean up nice yourself. I

didn't recognize you at first without all the olive
green on," she teased.

His brow furrowed and the hint of a smile

appeared on his lips. "What's wrong with green?
Green is a neutral, it goes with everything," he
remarked.

"There's nothing wrong with green, but eight

different shirts in various shades of green might hint
at a problem. Do you have some odd obsession I
need to know about?" Brenna questioned, a smile
on her lips.

"Wouldn't you know already? I mean you are

my shrink." Graydon said smirking back at her.
Graydon crossed his arms as she pointed a finger at
him.

"Was. Past Tense. I was your shrink and don't

call me that. It's offensive," she said, one hand on
her hip. He laughed before replying.

"The only thing offensive is your distaste in my

wardrobe. It's difficult I'll have you know. I'm used
to  wearing  a  slightly  modified  version  of  the  same
outfit  every  day  since  the  age  of  eighteen.  That
habit is hard to break ma'am."

She met his eyes, and he thought he saw a flash

of hesitation. Her lips pursed as if she wanted to
say something to him. However, it was gone as
quickly as he thought it appeared.

"Do I need to take you shopping? Are you

hinting  at  a  makeover  because  I-"  Brenna  wasn't
able  to  finish  her  sentence  as  someone  ran  into
them,  slightly  knocking  into  him  and  bowling  her
over.

Brenna gave a surprised yelp as she was shoved

forward, her foot slipping and body pitching
forward. He reacted in a heartbeat, leaning forward
and catching her in his arms before she could fall.

She looked up at him with large, surprised eyes

and all he could think about was how right it felt to
have her in his arms.

Her perfume filled the surrounding air,

something floral and delicate he couldn’t recognize
if his life depended on it; other than knowing it

smelled like what he imagined heaven to be. He
stayed there a moment, her face so close to his he
had to force himself not to kiss her.

That moment only slightly ruined by a man

apologizing  for  his  friend  who  had  obviously  had
too  much  to  drink.  The  two  of  them  eyed  the
apologetic  man  before  he  took  off  down  the
sidewalk  towards  the  stumbling  drunk.  Brenna
cleared her throat before uttering a thank-you, and
he nodded in reply.

Graydon righted her, noticing how the cool air

and  absence  of  her  felt  more  wrong  than  it  had
been  before.  Gesturing  to  the  restaurant  next  to
them  he  found  his  voice.  "We  should  head  inside,
I'm sure our table's ready."

Graydon glanced at the watch on his arm as

they moved towards the restaurant. They were
almost seven minutes late to the reservation he set.
He could count on one hand the number of times he
had been late in his entire life. Here he was mere
moments with her and already losing track of time.
The odd thing about the whole situation was that he
didn't care.

He held the door open and followed her inside,

pausing in the doorway to look at his phone. The

small device had gone off in his pocket, alerting
him immediately.

Graydon had gotten a new phone when he took

the job at Harvell Tech, and he had to admit it was
the most underutilised piece of equipment he
owned. There was no one he cared to text with, no
family who needed to reach him at all hours of the
day.

The man mainly used the small device to set

alarms and call his boss. When he received the
small ping of an incoming notification, he knew
instantly something was wrong.

Pressing his finger to unlock the device, he read

the message that was sent to him from the
automated security server at Harvell Tech.

Automated Response//Disturbance Noted In

ESO 703//No Current Active Disturbances
Detected//

Press

Authorize

Police

Response//Press 2 To Notify Base Security//Press 3
To Record Event In ASIC With No Further
Action//

Graydon paused, reading and re-reading the

message. ESO was their Executive Suites Floor and
office 703 was his. There was no one allowed

clearance into his office, period. There wasn't a
single person other than his boss who even had a
key.

It made little sense that there would be any

disturbance, and it was even more puzzling that
there wasn't any current movement.

His mind began running through the various

scenarios that might have triggered a disturbance
when he felt Brenna place her hand on his arm.

"Are you ok?" she asked, her brows pulled

together in worry.

He pursed his lips in thought, reading over the

message one more time before his finger pressed
the 3 key. "Yea, it's fine. I just got an odd message
from work," he explained.

He glanced over the automated message that

was sent in confirmation of his action.

The hostess then motioned for them to follow.

He took one step before sighing and turning to face
her, his voice dejected. "I'm sorry Brenna, but I
should go check something out at work."

He watched her face fall, disappointment filling

her features. She smiled tightly though and brushed
it off, nodding with a smile.

"It's fine, work is important. You go. We can

always meet up another time," she said, waving
him off.

Graydon tapped his phone against the palm of

his hand before speaking, his words rushing out.
"Would you want to come with me? I mean it's
nothing special or anything like that, but it shouldn't
take long. After, we could still get a bite to eat? If
you want to I mean."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise and that smile he

was becoming all too dependent on lit up her face
before she shook her head. "It's ok. You don’t have
to do that. I wouldn't want to be in the way," she
said as she turned her face from his.

Graydon caught her eyes, the fear of not having

this chance with her again embedding in his chest.
"You wouldn't, I promise. It'll be in and out," he
replied.

Graydon watched as she took a moment to

think about his offer; feeling as if the chance to
have something special was hanging in the air in
front of him like a carrot on a string.

He was close, so close, to having an actual,

meaningful date that held real possibility. If not for
his work being the invisible force that hoisted the
carrot higher up and out of his reach.

The moment hung between them with a

pregnant pause before she finally spoke. He almost
let out an audible sigh when she agreed, a small
smile on her lips.

"All right. If it's something you have to stay for

though;  and  I  have  to  do  the  lonely  walk  out  of
there you have to bring me dessert tomorrow at the
office,"  she  demanded.  Brenna  adjusted  her  purse
strap  before  eyeing  him.  "It'll  be  something
expensive too."

He chuckled before extending his hand out to

her. "Deal," he replied. She placed her hand in his
and he shook it before they both walked out of the
restaurant and back out into the cold.

They decided to walk; the night was brisk, but it

wasn't too cold. They were in that spell of seasons
when Fall was coming to a close and Winter was
just arriving. It was one of his favorite times of the
year.

The air had the crisp scent of fall and the

crunch of leaves still sounded underfoot, but it held
something more magical the closer it got to Winter.
Winter air always seemed to arrive with something
enchanting in it, the chance of snow, the holidays
approaching.

It was as if nature was saving her best moment

for last. The combination of them both, one season
blending into the next, always made him happy.
They walked along the sidewalk, taking the first
few moments of their walk in a comfortable silence.

It was Brenna who spoke first, looking over at

him quizzically. "Don't you work as a security
guard? You're not going to get me shot are you?"
she asked with mock suspicion.

He laughed lightly. There tended to be romantic

notions to being in the security field. Whenever he
needed to share his job title people usually related it
to something out of a spy thriller. He imagined they
pictured him talking into an earpiece; gunning
down a thief who was dangling from a suspended
rope over jewels.

In reality, he sat behind a desk and looked at

numbers and figures all day. It was usually a
letdown when he went into detail, and he tried not

to take it too personally when they always looked
disappointed.

"I'm the Chief Security Officer, and no, you will

not get shot. I just need to check something in my
office. It will be boring, I promise," Graydon
replied.

She gave him a sideways smile before threading

her arm in his. He tried to ignore the hammering
that was going on in his chest as a result.

"What about you? Do you like being a

therapist?" he asked, looking over at her. Graydon
watched as she seemed to mull the question over in
her mind before she replied.

"Usually. I enjoy uncovering layers that people

like  to  keep  hidden,  seeing  past  the  masks  that
people  like  to  wear.  I  like  helping  them  work
through problems, but it can be frustrating at times
too," she said before elaborating, "Not everyone is
easy  to  work  with.  I've  met  some  really  stubborn
people.  One  guy  in  particular  was  awful.  Ex-
military.  Answered  my  questions  in  yes  or  no
format."

Brenna rolled her eyes playfully, nudging him

with her elbow. He chuckled. He hadn't been easy
to get along with in those initial days, but at least he

was willing to admit it. When he first arrived to the
center, he had been filled with anger and
frustration.

He hadn’t thought it was their business to

demand he see a therapist. Especially when they
weren’t willing to give him his job back when it was
through.

He was trying to come to terms with this new

life, all while re-imagining a future that seemed
foreign and bizarre to him.

He always imagined himself as a soldier. He

didn't think he'd be able to do the physical parts of
the job all of his life; but he certainly never
imagined a future out of the service.

That had been the good thing about the military,

the notion of it being solid. He always thought if he
followed protocol, and did what was asked, he'd
always have a home.

Even if that home was sometimes a barrack in

the  middle  of  nowhere,  it  was  still  familiar.  He
knew  exactly  what  was  needed  of  himself  and  the
guys  he'd  be  working  with.  That  was  before  he
almost died and was shoved out of there faster than
he could blink.

He could remember being in his new apartment

for the first time, sitting on the kitchen island
counter because he had no furniture yet. His laptop
resting on his knees, the light blue glow from the
screen being his only companion.

He combed through job listings and typed up his

resume, but it hadn't looked superb. The benefit of
having the same role in the military was that it
showed discipline, loyalty.

The disadvantage about having that same role

showed you were happy around things he figured
normal people weren't comfortable being around.

His marketable skills ran the gamut from

espionage to interrogations; with a particular knack
for  breaking  and  entering.  There  weren't  many
businesses  keen  to  hire  a  guy  like  him.  Graydon
spent  two  weeks  combing  through  ads  before
deciding to try his hand out in law enforcement.

He had been on his way to the precinct with his

application in hand when a movement caught his
eye. A guy was moving through the crowd, weaving
in and out of people. The man slid in next to
another taller man, matching his pace instantly.

He watched as the first guy slipped his hand in

the other man's coat pocket, pulling out his wallet

with ease. Graydon had yelled hey to get the man's
attention, but the thief was already making his
escape.

Graydon leaped into a chase, tackling the thief

to the ground. He received a swift blow to the jaw
as the two of them wrangled on the dirty walkway
before Graydon pinned him down.

The guy was quickly subdued and Graydon

handed  over  the  wallet  to  the  man  who  had  then
introduced  himself  as  Brantley  Marshall.  Graydon
stood  up,  hauling  the  thief  who  couldn’t  be  any
older than nineteen to his feet.

Brantley dismissed the young thief away, not

bothering to press charges. Graydon had wanted to
escort the guy to the police station. However if the
man, Brantley, was fine with letting him go; he
figured he might as well be fine with it too. As
Graydon dusted himself off, the man asked who he
was.

Graydon introduced himself, looking for the

papers he had been carrying. He bent over to
retrieve them as Brantly picked up the cover sheet,
asking if he was looking for a job. Brantley inquired
about his job experiences and his skills.

The man was beaming with happiness when

Graydon gave him a brief rundown of his work
history. Brantley had been the Chief Security
Officer at Harvell Tech before he took over.

He had been looking to retire and Graydon,

with his particular set of skills, had been an answer
to his prayers.

Graydon rarely believed in fate, but he believed

someone or something had been smiling in his favor
that day.

As they continued walking along the city street

Graydon  glanced  over  at  Brenna.  With  her  arm
linked in his, he couldn't help but think maybe that
same  someone  or  something  was  watching  out  for
him again.

He looked ahead, his eyes roaming over an

older couple walking hand-in-hand under the
streetlight as they passed by.

"So where are you from? I know you had just

taken on the job at Broadholder and Young when I
got there," he asked her.

She nodded before speaking. "Yea, I've been

here just under two years. I was originally from
Delaware, but I came here for college at the

University of Virginia. I fell in love with the state."

She smiled over at him before continuing, "I

went back home after graduating and got a job out
of college at a small psych center. It never felt right
though.  I  missed  the  mountains  and  the  people.
When  I  heard  about  an  opening  back  in  Virginia  I
jumped on it."

"What about your family? Don't you miss

them?" he asked curiously.

He couldn’t imagine having a family and

making  the  decision  to  leave  them.  There  was
something  to  be  said  about  independence,  but
having people who loved and cared for you wasn't
a  guarantee  in  this  life.  The  corners  of  her  mouth
smiled sadly before she answered him.

"I do sometimes, but I never felt like I belonged

there. My mom is a business lawyer and my dad is
an accountant. They never liked the idea of me
becoming a psychologist. They viewed it as a waste
of time. My mother liked to say it was the lazy way
out of becoming a real doctor."

He gave a sympathetic smile before she spoke

up again. "I had a younger sister, but she passed
away in a car accident when I was still in high

school. So it's only been my Mom and Dad for a
long time."

He murmured he was sorry to hear that, and she

nudged him. "Don't be. It happened a long time ago
and don't forget that I know your background. I'm
not the only one here who's lost someone," she said
softly.

He glanced over at her, her emerald eyes

meeting  his  with  an  understanding  look.  In  that
moment  he  was  thankful  they  were  walking  down
the street; his attention being forced to move from
her eyes and back to the sidewalk. If he hadn't been
required  to  look  away,  he  didn't  know  if  he  could
have ever torn his gaze from hers.

There was something so different about seeing

her like this. It felt to him like Brenna was a
different person when she wasn't looking at him as
a client.

Where before she was inquisitorial and stoic,

here, with him tonight she was a brightness, a
beacon of hope and happiness. She was the light
and laughter that offered to push away any hurt he
had, remove any bit of darkness.

He saw the familiar edge of the Harvell Tech

building approach and he took out his badge and

swipe card. "We'll go in through the underground
access. No need to bother the security team at the
front," he said.

The officers who kept duty at night were

basically there for show. The building was armed to
the teeth with various security systems; each
monitoring every aspect of the building, from the
computer hardware, to the building itself.

If one system went down, an alert was sent out

with  two  other  systems  waiting  in  the  wings  as  a
back-up.  The  only  time  the  system  was  vulnerable
was  during  forced  shutdowns,  and  those  did  not
happen, at least not on his watch.

He had personally ensured the company was a

fortress, but desperate people did stupid things. The
guards were there to deter any small-time thieves
looking for something easy to pawn. They patrolled
the front area and first-floor at night, with
occasional rounds of the perimeter of the building.

He could tell she was watching him as he got

everything together. Finally, she spoke up, wiggling
her  hands  in  exaggerated  awe,  a  smirking  grin  on
her face.
"Ooh  underground  access.  Is  that  for  the  secret
government  clients  to  use  when  they  can't  be  seen
by lowly peasants?" Brenna asked mockingly.

He paused a second, looking over at her before

retorting, "Yes, actually."

A satisfying smile coming to his lips as he watched
the  look  that  came  across  her  face  at  the  small
revelation.  Graydon  walked  to  the  side  of  the
building,  pressing  the  seven-digit  code  into  the
keypad.

He waited for the right number of blinks to light

up  the  screen  before  sliding  his  swipe  card  in  the
slot  and  putting  his  key  in  the  door.  "Welcome  to
Harvell  Tech  Miss  Klein,"  he  said  as  he  held  the
door open for her.

Chapter 4

raydon and Brenna walked through the

underground  area,  following  an  access  path  that
bordered the building's car garage. He led her along
until they came to an elevator. Graydon authorized
a  code  before  he  turned  a  key  on  the  panel  at  the
elevator  wall.  They  stepped  inside  and  Brenna
looked  around.    "I  didn’t  realize  how  intimidating
this place was," she said with awe.

He grinned before replying. "They work on a

multitude of projects for the military and wealthy
civilian sector. It's got to be secure, I'd be out of a
job if it wasn't."

Graydon watched the numbers tick off one by

one as they climbed higher and higher. He couldn't
help but feel self-conscious with just the two of
them in the small space.

He was suddenly all too aware of her perfume

again. The small brush of her hand against his that

sent shivers down him. He wondered if she knew
what her presence was doing to him. He never
thought he would willingly let anyone have as much
control over him as Brenna currently had.

With one smile, one look, she had slid into his

being. She made her way into a part of him he
hadn’t known was there, a part that was usually a
dark and empty place.

He forced himself to study the numbers

counting off instead of at the beautiful woman
sharing his space.

The elevator signaled they were at their

destination and the doors opened. Graydon stepped
out, grabbing a walkie-talkie off the nearby wall
and speaking into it.

"Knight, this is Rook, security code 1031-0523,

do you copy?" Graydon asked before he paused,
waiting for the response.

A voice came back to him in mere seconds with

a reply, "Copy Rook, Knight is Code 2."

Graydon replied, pressing the button again on

the talkie. "Copy. Proceed."

He then slipped the device into his coat pocket

and  looked  over  at  Brenna.  She  was  watching  him
with  a  mixture  of  amusement  and  what  he  hoped
was awe, but might have been mockery.

"Chess codes, huh? I didn't pin you for the

sort." Brenna mused, curiosity lighting her
features.

He feigned insult at her words. "Because I'm a

soldier? That's rude Brenna. Not nice." Graydon
replied incredulously.

Brenna laughed. "No, not because you're a

soldier. Because you don't have the patience for the
unknown.  I  think  I  know  you  pretty  well  Graydon
King. I don't think you're the type that likes to leave
things  open  to  chance."  Brenna  explained  before
adding, "You like to know what's coming. You like
being  prepared.  Now  if  chess  involved  tormenting
the plans out of your opponent, then you might do
all right."

She laughed lightly as he forced a grin. Every

word she said resonating with him. It seemed he
had been right; she knew quite a bit about him.

It was more than the superficial things she

needed to identify and help heal for her job. No,
she knew him deeper than that. He was beginning
to suspect Brenna knew a lot more about him than

he ever would have imagined.

There was a difference in knowing someone's

history and knowing how that history transformed
and shaped them. The latter took time; it took a
certain care he hadn’t realized she had for him.

"Ok," he began, " You got me. I don't like chess.

It was the last security chief's lingo, and it stuck.
We changed the codes, but the names stayed the
same. Less for the crew to remember."

She nodded in satisfaction as they walked

along. "So your boss is the King I'm assuming?"
Brenna asked.

Chuckling, he nodded. "I'm sure his next wife

will take the Queen code like the last one did."
Graydon replied with a hint of amusement.

"Wow, is that a tone of mockery I hear? I'm

shocked." Brenna said with a grin.

"No, not mockery. I'm just stating a fact. He's

had two wives in the little time that I've been here.
I think he's at six marriages total. We better not stay
too long or he'll try to make you his seventh."

Graydon pressed the button on the second

elevator. Brenna stepped in before him and he

followed  her  inside;  pushing  the  button  to  the
executive's floor. "Is he actually going to be here? I
thought  the  whole  point  of  being  a  CEO  was  that
you  didn't  have  to  spend  all  of  your    time  in  the
office." Brenna asked.

The corner of his mouth ticked up before

replying, "Are you going to be disappointed if I say
no?"

She laughed at that. The laugh that sent his

heart hammering in his chest, the happiness it
brought with it creeping into his soul. She was like a
drug, something blissfully deadly that he wasn't
sure he could handle. He couldn’t understand how
such a small person could consume so much of his
attention and thoughts.

She waved her hands dismissively before

replying,  "  No,  of  course  not."  A  smile  forming  as
she  added,  "Though  a  girl  should  always  keep  her
options  open."  She  replied  audaciously  before
winking  at  him.  Graydon  rolled  his  eyes,  smirking
back at her.

The elevator signaled and then opened, the two

of them stepping out into the darkened hallway. He
flipped a small switch pad on the wall and lights
turned on, illuminating their way. The Executive
floor was impressive, he couldn't lie about that.

Everything was immaculate and garishly too

modern for his taste, but it did the job of wowing
visiting clients well enough. The walls between the
departments were clear; with sleek lines etched into
them, minimal and yet opulent. The walls held
paintings from Warhol to Koons.

During working hours there were four flat-

screen  televisions  that  played  the  news  in  the
waiting  area  where  plush  leather  chairs  and
couches  were  arranged  together.  It  was  a  place  he
never imagined himself fitting in at.

Oddly enough however, the transition had been

a  smooth  one.  The  security  agents  under  his
command  did  their  job  well,  and  he  hadn’t  had  to
interact with many other coworkers in the building.
Mostly,  Graydon  could  keep  to  himself  and  not
have  to  worry  about  the  office  politics  he  was
certain ran wild in this place.

"Wow." Brenna murmured in awe as they

passed by a Jackson Pollock piece. She stopped and
faced the painting fully, her head tilted slightly to
the side. Graydon paused, watching how she
marveled at the artwork.

She looked as if the art was speaking something

only her ears had the pleasure of hearing; her eyes
filled with a wonderment he wasn't sure he had

ever experienced in his thirty-something years of
life.

The piece she was looking at was one he passed

by many times a day. He never liked it. He wasn't
into modern art and thought the painting looked
like something a child could do.

"If you'd like, I can show you some of the

better pieces we have, when we're open. Druvell is
obsessed with modern and abstract artwork. The
whole place is covered in it." Graydon offered
quietly.

She blinked, turning her attention back to him.

A faint smile was on her lips as she replied, "I'd
like that a lot, thank you."

He nodded to her before he began to walk

again. The two moving at a leisurely pace through
the hallway. When he stopped in front of his office
door, she spoke up. "From your tone, I take it you
aren't a fan of art?" she asked.

Shaking his head, he fished the security card

and keys back out of his coat before replying,
"That's where you're wrong. I like art. I've been to
the Louvre and the Prado in Spain. I enjoy real art,
but I hate all of that abstract mess. I like paintings
that depict life and passion, that capture a moment

in time, not make you squint."

She laughed and looked over at him with an

expression he couldn’t quite place.

Graydon pulled his gaze from Brenna as her

eyes fixed on his, turning instead to the door at his
office.  He  always  had  a  firm  grasp  on  what  those
around  him  were  thinking  or  feeling;  it  was
something  that  had  always  come  naturally  to  him.
He  found  people  said  more  with  their  expressions
and movements than anything they actually spoke.

The slightest twitch or pull of someone's lips

could sometimes give you more information than
any blade could. With Brenna, it was like grasping
at straws in the night.

He wanted to take her face in his and ask her

what  she  needed,  ask  her  what  she  wanted.  He
wanted  to  ask  her  if  there  was  anything  he  could
give her because he would run himself to the ends
of the Earth to make it happen.

Graydon pressed a code into the panel on the

wall  in  front  of  his  office  door.  He  waited  before
pushing  in  his  key  and  sliding  his  card  through  the
scanner.  There  were  variations  in  the  sequence.
Everything, or sometimes just the tiniest of details,
changed at each security checkpoint.

Some secure access areas required no key at all

or  the  code  combinations  in  reverse.  Everything
was  a  small  puzzle.  The  throng  of  protocol  and
procedure  might  have  been  intimidating  to  other
people,  but  it  brought  him  comfort.  There  was  a
certain  calm  assurance  that  came  with  all  of  those
methods of operation and security.

Graydon's door clicked open, and he made a

silent  motion  for  her  to  remain  in  the  hallway
before  slipping  into  his  office.  Graydon’s  eyes
scanned  the  area,  taking  in  every  surface  and
searching for anything amiss.

He knew within a heartbeat as he glanced inside

that no one else was in the room. He had picked the
corner  space  for  that  specific  reason:  there  was
nowhere  to  hide.    The  minimalist  design  kept
everything  clean  and  simple.  There  were  no  vents
capable  of  allowing  a  body  to  enter.  His  desk  was
clear and there weren't any knick-knacks around to
keep clutter.

It was the type of office space that prevented

anything from being awry. The only thing that was
not precisely how it should be was a small, brown
box on the floor.

The box had been sitting on top of his desk. It,

along with the other one he brought in from

downstairs had been left there earlier. He meant to
bring it to the proper departments, but the client's
call had taken longer than he anticipated. Graydon
had left them for tomorrow.

Walking towards the box he stopped only when

he caught movement from the corner of his eye.

He glanced in the direction to see Brenna

hesitantly peek her head in the door, her voice
barely above a whisper. "Is everything ok in here?"
she asked cautiously. She glanced around his office,
looking as if she would get mugged if she wasn't
careful.

He chuckled, unable to stop himself. She looked

like  every  ironic  hero  he  had  seen  in  an  action
comedy  movie.  As  she  tiptoed  her  way  into  his
office,  his  chuckling  turned  into  outright  laughter.
Graydon  could  barely  get  the  words  out  between
breaths, "What are you doing?" he asked.  Brenna's
lips pursed before she made an exasperated gesture.
"I don't know, I don't do this every day. Excuse me
for exercising caution here," she said defensively.

She made her way to him and playfully hit his

shoulder. "You shouldn't make fun; most people
don't know the proper procedure for a late-night
security check thank-you-very-much," she hissed at
him before adjusting her purse. He was grinning ear

to ear.

"Oh c'mon, you know I wouldn't put you in any

harm." Graydon replied.

"And why is that?" she asked, her voice still

holding an edge.

"Well for one, because you're a civilian. Also,

because you're my friend. Then of course because -
"

His grin dropped, and he felt his heart rate

quicken.  Graydon  wasn't  sure  if  this  was  the  right
thing  to  do  and  he  was  more  than  certain  this  was
terrible  timing;  but  he  couldn't  stop  himself  as  he
blurted out,  "Because I like you, Brenna."

He thought that sounded a little too childish for

what  he  had  been  feeling  all  night,  but  he  didn't
know  what  else  to  say.  He  never  read  the  manual
on  how  to  tell  your  previous  therapist  and  current
hopeful  friend  you  had  fallen  for  them.  Brenna's
eyebrows  raised,  and  he  noticed  her  lips  parted  as
she began to say something, but didn't.

The silence of the surrounding office seemed to

suffocate  him  as  he  waited  for  her  to  say
something,  anything,  back.  She  looked  surprised,
but  other  than  that  her  face  was  unreadable.  He

mused for a moment that she probably made one
hell of a poker player.

Graydon was about to turn away and lock up

the  office.  He  was  ready  to  forget  this  whole
moment,  this  whole  night  had  happened;  when  in
one  motion  she  leaned  up  and  pressed  her  lips  to
his.

Graydon was the one with eyebrows raised as

he  felt  her  soft  lips  on  his.  He  closed  his  eyes  and
brought  his  hand  to  her  head,  her  fiery  red  hair
falling  over  it.  Her  body  was  close  to  his.  Her
perfume wrapped around him like an invisible drug,
demanding  he  give  himself  over,  thrilling  him  with
an indulgence he didn't want to let go of.

She pulled away gently, and he broke the kiss,

staring at her face a few inches away. Brenna was
the one searching him for answers now. As a smile
spread across his lips, she matched it, both coming
together in another kiss.

His lips parted and her tongue found his, teasing

and  torturing  a  part  of  him  he  was  ready  to  let  go
control  of.  Graydon's  heart  raced  as  one  hand
remained  on  the  side  of  her  head,  pressing  her
closer, her hair getting tangled in his hands.

He was hungry for her. Every touch of hers,

every taste, was a jolt of electricity; life-giving and
deadly. He slowly slid his other hand down the side
of her body, wrapping around her waist and urging
her closer. Brenna softly moved into him, her body
gently pressing against his. He kissed her jawline in
a trail to her neck.

Graydon took his time kissing her delicate skin

before sucking, a small moan escaping her lips. The
noise resonated in his body and he forced himself
to move patiently, to resist taking her right there on
his desk.

Brenna timidly trailed a hand down his chest to

the  hardness  pushing  against  her,  forcing  a  moan
from  deep  inside  of  him.  He  moved  his  lips  from
her  soft  neck  back  to  her  hungry  mouth.  Graydon
slowly  moved  his  other  hand  to  the  curve  of  her
breast, thumbing her peaked nipple.

She gasped in pleasure and tilted her head back,

presenting her body for him to devour. He resisted
the urge to rip everything off of her as his hands
palmed and thumbed her breast. Graydon was
panting, heavy and ready for her; ready to feel her
skin against his. He was ready to be inside of her.

Graydon King however, was not ready to

receive 50,000 volts of electricity to his side. His
body locked up, his mind struggling to process the

hard switch from pleasure to pain.

He hit the ground, his muscles tense and rigid.

Brenna was there in an instant, her eyes as focused
as a laser. She took out a syringe, tapping the small
needle a second before sticking him in the neck.

He fought to speak, but his body was getting

warm.  A  pins  and  needles  feeling  covering  every
inch  of  him  like  a  heavy  blanket,  forcing  his  body
to relax. He thought she might have said something
but  before  he  could  process  anymore,  the  world
went dark and Graydon lost consciousness.

Chapter 5

raydon didn't dream in his drug-induced sleep,

which  should  have  been  his  first  clue  that
something  was  wrong.  The  man  always  had
nightmares.  He  couldn't  remember  the  last  time  he
didn’t wake up slick with sweat, rousing from sleep
with his heart thundering in his chest.

He knew the nightmares. He could paint them

vividly if he had any artistic talent, but knowing
them changed nothing.

Graydon had done research on the topic. He

read that confronting them was key, and discussing
them would take away their subconscious power.
All of that was crap.

Graydon couldn't shake them, and he had

resolved to be content with what few hours a night
he got. Brenna had once suggested sleep aides, but
the soldier in him wasn't ready to release that much
awareness at night.

His eyelids fluttered as his eyes opened slowly.

His mouth was uncomfortably forced open, stuffed
with fabric. Graydon tried swallowing, his mouth
painfully dry from whatever he was taken down
with, triggering a gag reflex when he couldn't.

"Don't vomit. Trust me when I say that is not

something you'll enjoy," a voice said.

The voice was familiar, yet foreign. Graydon

looked over at the source and saw her, Brenna,
though he now doubted that was actually her name.
His hands flexed against the zip ties that held him
bound. He could feel pressure at his legs where he
assumed a rope was wrapped around his feet.

The sluggish effect of the drug was almost gone,

his senses snapping into place. Graydon lunged his
body to the side, trying to get the chair to tip over,
only to realize it was tied to his desk.

Brenna chuckled. "Do you think I'd be so

careless?" she asked.

Graydon's reply was muffled through the fabric

in  his  mouth  as  he  tried  to  retort.  He  gave  her  a
glare  as  she  turned  her  attention  to  him,  a  smug
smile on her lips.

"Don't give me that look. You should have seen

this coming. The man running spec ops missions ten
years ago would have seen it," she replied.

Brenna walked over to him, kneeling so her

face was even with his. "You got lazy Graydon. You
stopped looking for the danger. Trust me when I say
there is always danger."

She stood up and began running her gloved

hands over items, pressing and moving things as she
went through the room.

He watched her and felt the anger rise. It was

like  going  home,  only  to  realize  a  new  family  was
living  there.  She  was  only  the  Brenna  he  knew  in
name,  everything  else  was  different.  The  way  she
moved  was  more  cat-like,  ready,  and  poised  to
strike.

Her small and hesitant facial expressions were

replaced  by  a  woman  sure  of  herself,  a  woman
oozing with a deadly confidence. Her voice was the
worst part, it was much harder and cold. There was
no  softness,  no  care  in  the  voice  that  was  now
speaking to him. None of the soft, lilting sound that
came  from  the  lips  he  had  moments  ago  been
kissing.

She was steel and fire. Whatever meekness and

blushing she had shown before was only a part of a
well-performed show, with Graydon as her
unknowing audience. Seeing past the masks indeed,
he thought bitterly to himself.

"Ok Graydon, I need you to cooperate." Brenna

stated. She picked up the small, brown box that had
been lying on the floor; taking a small device from
inside its contents and putting it in her pocket.

He could have kicked himself. She had been the

one  that  triggered  the  security  alert.  She  had  put
something  in  there  that  made  the  box  move,  but
how  she  had    known  it  would  be  in  his  office  was
beyond him.

Brenna kicked the box away from them and

walked back over to where he was, pulling out
what he now saw was a silk tie.

He cleared his throat, swallowing before

replying  sarcastically,  "I  would  applaud  the
excellent  acting  job,  but  my  hands  are  tied."
Graydon  knew  better  than  to  yell.  His  office  was
soundproof,  and  anything  that  carried  wouldn't
make  it  the  twenty  flights  down  to  where  the  only
other two people in the building were.

She smirked, "I need to know where the special

projects are kept Graydon."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're going to play that card? I'm

unimpressed, I've got to say."

"We work on computers, Brenna, I'm not aware

of any special projects."

"We both know you're lying. Save us all some

time and tell me where they're kept. This can all be
over in a snap," she said, her voice holding an edge
of irritation.

"When you say this, do you mean you and I, or

your failed mission? Because I've got to say, I liked
you a lot better as a shy therapist."

"Cute. Really cute," she replied sarcastically

before  she  glanced  at  her  watch.  "You've  got  five
minutes  and  counting.  Tell  me  where  it  is,"  her
voice humorless.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" he asked doubtfully.

Brenna shook her head, a small laugh coming

from her.

"No. I think I've grown a little too partial to that

handsome face of yours, but other people...well
they might."

Graydon's face remained impartial as his mind

worked  through  everything  she  said.  Harvell  Tech
was  a  leader  in  development.  While  other
companies  might  have  tried  to  steal  plans,  he
couldn't imagine them being so bold as to send in a
hired gun undercover for a year.

This felt more strategic, more military. He

couldn’t imagine who would take this big of a risk,
but he didn’t doubt what she said. She wasn't
working alone, she almost couldn’t be.

It was clear they did their research, whoever

they were. They had known about his background,
known  about  his  weaknesses.  These  people  had
taken  it  a  step  further  to  then  take  those
weaknesses,  and  garnish  his  trust  with  a  doe-eyed
therapist act. He didn’t want to think about all the
personal  details  and  information  he  had  willingly
told to this woman.

"Oh, well now you really have me scared," he

replied with an eye roll.

"Two more minutes Graydon. Tell me where it

is." Brenna said, her voice revealing an urgency
despite her calm demeanor.

"I told you, Brenna, I have no idea what you're

talking about."

"A loyal soldier to the end huh? Do you even

know what they design here? Have you ever
thought for a single moment about just what exactly
you're guarding? Or are you content with guarding
whatever they tell you to, like a trained puppy?"

He gave her a bored look. "Are you going to

move along to the torturing part yet, or do we have
more of this riveting conversation ahead of us?
Because if it's more conversation, I think I'll just
nap."

She pursed her lips, glancing at her watch

before replying. "Fine. Have it your way, but you
can't say I didn't try."

Brenna walked to the door and propped it open

with  the  other  box  he  had  on  his  desk.  Walking
back  into  the  room,  she  leaned  against  the  wall,
waiting.  A  heartbeat  later  a  shadow  appeared  on
the  door.  The  shadow    moving  rapidly  down  the
hallway towards them.

"How?" he uttered the question as his eyes

focused on the door.

There was no way anyone could have made it

through his security checkpoints without alerting
his guards, or the system itself. The process had
taken him two full days to memorize alone, just to

get the exact pattern and combination for each
checkpoint down. There was no way someone
could have just came in and gotten it right.

Brenna shrugged. "You made it easy when you

let me in through the unguarded basement. All I
had to do was leave something in the doorway to
jam the lock from securing. We have a team for the
rest."

Graydon felt nauseous. There was no use in

securing  the  hen  house  when  you  walked  the  fox
inside  and  invited  it  in  for  a  meal.  She  had  played
him,  with  a  precision  he  couldn't  have  imagined.
She guided him into doing exactly what she wanted,
how she wanted.

He wanted to speak, wanted to protest, and

argue, but the shadow made its way to his office.
When the figure stepped inside he felt his jaw
slacken.

Amanda, her assistant from Broadholder and

Young, walked inside the room. She kicked the box
out of the way, shutting the door behind her. There
was a grin of satisfaction on her face as she crossed
her arms, taking him in.

"Mr. King. I've got to say, I'm surprised to see

you like this," she said, her voice every bit as cold

as Brenna's.

Graydon gave a sarcastic laugh. "You think

you're surprised?"

The older lady smiled back, her face betraying

no  emotion.  She  looked  identical  to  the  way  she
always  looked  in  the  office.  Professional  attire,
garish  jewelry  he  had  always  hated.  He  always
imagined  her  as  some  divorcee  who  caught  her
husband cheating and ended up with his fortune.

Now that he was watching her smile like a

Cheshire cat, he imagined her as more of a widow
whose husband ended up with a mysterious death
no one saw coming.

"You've turned out to be less of a challenge

than we expected. It seems forced retirement has
turned you both soft, and stupid," she replied, her
words adding further insult to his situation.

Graydon didn't reply, silently flexing his hands

against the ties that still bound him. Her attention
moved from Graydon to Brenna. "Brenna, please
tell me what is taking so long in this matter. We do
not have all night, lest I remind you."

"No ma'am, I am aware, but Mr. King does not

seem to have possession of the asset. I've searched

the room and I don't believe it's here."

"His apartment was clear. Has reconnaissance

reported back any other containment areas?" she
asked.

It didn't surprise him that these people already

searched his home. He imagined their enjoyment in
having  discovered  it  was  secured  by  a  system  so
basic  a  kid  could  have  disarmed  it.  He  was  more
surprised that they bothered to break in at all when
they could've just bugged the place weeks ago.

"Yes ma'am, I've been told there is a secure area

in Mr. Druvell's office that was not listed in the
blueprint of the building. We think that is where the
asset is being contained." Brenna replied to the
other woman.

Graydon heard something to the left of him

vibrate, and he tried glancing over as Brenna
walked to where the noise had gone off. She picked
up a small cell phone.

"Recon says they cannot gain entry without

proper coding. It's well encrypted and one mistake
will shut the floor down." Brenna replied, reading
from the small phone.

The older woman looked at Graydon, and he

couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. It seemed not
every secret was compromised.

Amanda walked over, pulling her hand back in

a quick movement, and slapping him hard enough
for it to turn his face. The sharp, stinging pain
spreading across his cheek.

"I'm glad you find your situation amusing Mr.

King, you'll need to hold onto that humor in the
coming hours," she glanced back at Brenna, her
voice commanding as she spoke, "Initiate Code 2."

Brenna talked into the phone, and Amanda

walked out of his office. The older woman spoke
something he couldn't make out, but knew to be
Russian in the hallway. His eyebrows knit together,
his mind quickly trying to figure the situation out.

He couldn’t fathom why Russians would want

anything related to Harvell Tech. He made it a point
not to care about anything they were creating in
their labs, but surely it wasn't something warranting
this.

When Graydon first started the job, he asked

one  of  the  labs  what  they  were  working  on.  A
technician had then spent thirty minutes droning on
about  the  differences  in  each  type  of  processing
system  available,  using  more  acronyms  than

should've  been  humanly  possible.  It  left  him  with
more of a headache than an understanding. He had
zero  interest  in  finding  anything  more  out  since
then.
He  couldn't  imagine  anything  they  made  in  the
building  to  be  a  threat  to  a  governing  nation.  They
were  just  a  contractor  for  Heaven's  sake,  he
thought  incredulously  to  himself.  Government
officials  came  in  to  see  if  something  was  possible,
to create ways to make things faster, not plan world
domination. If it was anything like that he would be
paid more.

Graydon brought his attention back to Brenna,

who was packing her things back into her purse. He
watched as she jammed his talkie, security cards,
and cell phone in with her belongings before
moving back to where he was.

She pulled out a case and took out a syringe,
tapping it once before piercing his neck. He winced
as he spoke up, his voice demanding.

"Seriously? Do you think you'll just carry me

out  of  here  without  being  noticed?  Brenna,  think
this  through,  just  let  me  go  and  I  can-"  Graydon's
voice  wavered,  his  limbs  feeling  the  warming
sensation spread through his body. "I, Brenna...you-
"

Chapter 6

raydon's senses awoke to the smell of bacon.

With his eyes still closed, his brain might have
imagined happy thoughts of breakfast in bed, with
Brenna tangled in the sheets next to him.

However, as his eyes slowly opened, he

remembered. A Russian team had taken him
captive. His security work was threatened, and as
for Brenna...well, Brenna was a traitor.

Graydon  sat  up,  looking  around  the  windowless
room  he  was  occupying.  His  hands  were  free,  but
his  legs  were  chained  to  the  bed  he  had  been  put
on. Leaning over he noticed that the bed was bolted
to the floor. There was a toilet and sink, but nothing
else.

The bed didn’t have sheets on it and he didn't

have a pillow, which was lucky for his captors. He
could think of five ways off the top of his head a
pillow could have helped him escape, another three

if it had a pillowcase. Whoever designed this space
put time into ensuring he wouldn't be able to cause
much trouble.

His eyes made it to the door with fixtures that

locked  from  the  outside.  His  eyes  then  fell  on  the
plate  of  food  that  laid  a  few  feet  from  the  door.  It
contained the source of the bacon smell that made
his  mouth  water  and  his  stomach  tighten  with
hunger.

He wondered if it was morning yet. He assumed

so, from the array of bacon and scrambled eggs on
his plate, but they could also just be messing with
him.

Graydon got up from the bed, stretching his

muscles  that  protested  against  the  less  than  subpar
sleeping  arrangements.  It  had  been  a  long  time
since  he  had  to  deal  with  uncomfortable  beds  and
tight  spaces.  He  wondered  if  maybe  these  people
were right, he had gone soft.

Graydon walked over to the plate of food,

testing just how far his constraints would allow him
to reach. He could make it to the plate, but he
stopped short three feet from the door.

He walked the full length of the chain around

the  room,  noting  dryly  that  he  could  at  least  reach
the  toilet  and  sink.  Making  his  way  back  to  the
plate, he picked it up.  Graydon walked back to the
bed  with  it,  and  a  glass  of  water  they  had  left  for
him.

The food smelled good, and he knew better

than  to  turn  away  food  in  hostage  situations.  He
had  seen  too  many  people  waste  precious  energy
and  miss  chances  at  freedom  due  to  pride  and  ego
of not eating the food they had been given.

It made little sense for them to poison him with

it  either.  Brenna  herself  proved  that  there  were
easier  ways  to  take  him  out.  As  he  dug  into  the
meal,  he  thought  the  eggs  could  use  more
seasoning, but as for prison food he supposed it did
well enough.

As he was eating, the latches on the door slid

and the door opened. Graydon leaned his back
against the wall while still on his bed, not bothering
to get up.

It was Brenna who entered, a bemused look on

her face as she crossed her arms. "Well, it seems
you're making yourself right at home. How do you
like the accommodations? Can I get you some extra
towels?" she asked sarcastically, a grin on her face.

Graydon was irritated at himself for wanting to

grin  back.  He  almost  couldn’t  help  it.  She  was
sharper,  this  version  of  his  Brenna  he  was  now
meeting. The Brenna he knew was rarely sarcastic,
she  was  quiet,  and  contemplative.  The  woman
standing in front of him was like seeing an evil twin
of that Brenna.

He took another bite, stretching his legs out on

the small bed before shrugging.

"Nope. Don't have a shower in case you haven't

noticed.  If  you're  taking  down  request  though
inform  the  cook  the  eggs  need  more  salt,  and  I'd
like  a  western  omelet  tomorrow;  heavy  on  the
salsa."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the

doorway. "We will get the Gordian project
Graydon. If you want any chance at a life after we
do, I suggest you cooperate."

He set the plate down. "Is that so? And how do

you  think  you'll  accomplish  that?  Do  you  think  I'd
give  you  any  real  information  that  would  help  you
access  it?  Do  you  think  you  have  enough  of  a
bargaining  chip  to  trade  me  in  for  it?  I  would  love
to hear how you think you're going to win because
I'm telling you: you won't."

He was watching her as a smile broke across

her face. It almost looked like the kind, caring smile
his Brenna had once worn, but now he knew
better. Now he knew that smile meant she had a
secret she was hiding.

"Oh, I know we are. Because in two days any

piece of equipment you ever touched will be
deactivated and shut down. Especially all the
security measures you put in place," she said with a
satisfactory smile.

His eyebrows furrowed and he was speaking

before he could stop himself, "Why would they do
that? That doesn't make any sense."

Brenna replied, her voice like ice. "It does

when they find out you've become unhinged. When
your therapist calls your boss in a panic, telling him
you showed up at her office angry and belligerent.
When  she  says  you  were  spouting  hateful  things
about Harvell Tech. When they call your phone and
you  don't  answer;  when  they  show  up  to  your
apartment  to  find  you've  demolished  it.  They'll
think  their  good  soldier  snapped,"  she  paused
before adding, "You'll be a liability, a loose end that
will need to be tied."

His eyes narrowed and his knuckles whitened

as he clenched his fist. They would tarnish his
name, his character. This group would make it seem

like he had lost his mind, an ex-soldier who couldn't
cope with life anymore.

They would ruin any chance he had at a future,

and  everyone  would  believe  them.  They  wouldn't
have  a  reason  not  to.  He  had  been  in  counseling  a
year, he made no other friends who could vouch for
his  sanity.  He  hadn't  become  close  enough  to
anyone who would look for him.

He would go down in flames, in all the lies they

were spinning. Harvell Tech would have no choice
but to distance themselves.

He knew the procedure, he knew it would cause

a  lock-down  and  total  switch-over.  They  would
completely re-do his old security codes just on the
simple chance that he might show up again seeking
retribution  for  God  only  knows.  That's  when  they
would do it, that's when they would strike. It would
be when Harvell Tech was at their weakest.

He snapped out of his thoughts that were

quickly  spinning  out  of  control,  and  demanded
himself to focus on her. Graydon was a soldier, and
this  was  just  another  mission;  he  could  get  out  of
here.  He  could  stop  all  of  this  in  time  if  he  forced
himself  to  focus  and  figure  out  what  he  needed  to
do.

"Why is the Gordian Project so important? Is it

worth all of this?" Graydon asked, anger edging his
voice.

She watched him calmly, her eyes taking in his

anger before nodding. "Yes. It is."

Graydon rolled his eyes before meeting her now

narrowed  eyes  in  return.  Silence  filling  the  room
with  the  two  of  them  at  a  stand-still.  He  wouldn't
give  in,  and  after  spending  a  year  in  therapy  with
her pointed silence, he figured they would stay like
this for a long while to come.

Graydon didn’t know how much of her

personality she had let slip through the Brenna
Klein mask, but somehow he figured she was every
bit as stubborn as she had portrayed. A solid fifteen
minutes passed between them in silence until she
spoke, her voice softer than it had been before.

"Do you genuinely not know what you keep so

protected?"

"Look, I had a job, and I did that job.

Obviously, I did it well. I didn't need to ask
questions that didn't pertain to it."

"So they could've given you a nuclear warhead

and you would have guarded it without so much as

a question?"

"Well, yeah. It's a nuclear war head. Of course I

would guard it. What would you have done? Ask
them to show you their plans, how to operate it,
and for the access codes?"

She made an exasperated noise before firing

back,  "Well  I  at  least  would  find  out  why  I  was
guarding  a  device  capable  of  obliterating  half  the
continent."

"Look, whoever theoretically paid me to keep a

warhead  safe,  probably  had  perfectly  reasonable
reasons  for  having  said  theoretical  nuclear
warhead."

She pursed her lips and he watched her clench

and unclench her fists. He thought for half a second
she  might  walk  over  and  take  a  swing  at  him.
Instead,  she  took  a  deep  breath  in  and  out  before
speaking  in  her  therapist  voice  to  him.  "Graydon,
I'm  trying  to  help  you,  but  you're  not  helping
yourself."

He laughed at that. "Oh, I'm sorry Dr. Klein. I'll

try to be more open, more...what was it you always
said?  Oh,  yeah..."  he  mimicked  her  therapist  voice
as  he  continued  speaking,  "Be  accessible  to  the
broad  horizon  that  is  change,  because  possibility

can only come through change."

She marched closer to where he was and he was

off  the  bed  in  a  second,  the  two  of  them  a  foot
away  from  each  other.  He  knew  he  couldn't  reach
her,  but  if  she  made  one  mistake,  one  slip  in  his
direction, he certainly could.

"Fine," she said with her hands on her hips,

"You want to die in this room, be my guest. I'm
done trying to help you."

Graydon laughed bitterly before responding.

"You say you're trying to help me, but you've done
nothing to show me that. I don't even know who
you work for, or what's so important about this
thing, or your real name."

She met his eyes, her voice set. "Brenna is good

enough."

She crossed her arms as he shook his head.

"No. It's not," his voice demanding.

Her eyebrows knit together, "Why? Why can't

that be enough?" she asked.

"Because, if I'm going to trust you I need to

know who it is that I'm supposed to be trusting. It

isn't Brenna Klein the therapist from Delaware now
is it?"

She sighed in annoyance before uttering,

"Stacy."

"Wrong," he crossed his arms, mimicking her

guarded pose.

She snickered before asking, "Why is that

wrong?"

"Because it's a lie, I'm not kidding. If you're not

going to give me the truth, you might as well put a
bullet in me because I'm done being a puppet in
your show."

She watched him and he thought for a moment

there was a flash of sympathy in her features, but it
was gone before he could be sure. He was almost
certain he imagined it.

She didn't seem capable of sympathy or

remorse.  She  had  taken  him,  planned  to  besmirch
his  name  and  steal  from  the  company  he  had
worked  hard  to  keep  secure.  She  was  clearly  not
capable of human emotion. He was ready to tell her
to  leave  his  cell  when  she  spoke,  her  voice  thick
with a Russian accent.

"My name is Alena Vasiliev," she replied.

He regarded her a second, not sure of what to

say. Her voice was beautiful, annoyingly so. Her
accent was soft and light when she spoke, her name
sounding like something cherished on her lips.

The woman he knew as Amanda had sounded

harsh  and  unforgiving  when  he  heard  her  speak  in
her  native  tongue,  but  Brenna,  Alena,  was
different.  There  was  a  richness,  a  soft  reverence
that her voice held that the other woman’s did not.

"You're Russian?" he asked levelly.

She nodded before replying, "Yes."

"This group is Russian based?" he asked

cautiously, unsure if she'd give him anything more.

"Yes," She replied firmly.

"This group has ties to the RAF?"

The Russian Armed Forces was like the Army,

except  the  Russians  still  enforced  conscription  to
their  male  citizens.  It  was  a  practice  that  he
believed  had  failed  their  nation  in  more  ways  than
one. "No," she replied.

He tilted his head to the side, a bemused look

on his face. "Are you going to answer everything
with either a yes or a no?"

She gave him a sideways grin before

replying, "No."

Graydon opened his mouth to ask another

question about what, or rather, who he had had
been taken by. She spoke, her hand pausing in the
air to stop him. "That’s enough about us. I promise
I'll tell you more, but right now I can't."

He watched her a moment more, debating on

whether  to  push  the  questions.  He  decided  there
wouldn't  be  a  point  to  it.  Graydon  knew  by  now
that  she  was  stubborn,    and  once  she  made  her
mind up that was all there was.

He instead focused his attention back to

her,  "Did  you  have  that  bad  day  all  those  months
ago  or  was  it  an  act?  That  day  where  we  finally
talked  in  therapy?"  he  asked,  the  question  shoving
to the forefront of his mind.

He watched dumbstruck as her cheeks

reddened, a small, genuine smile tugging at the
corners of her lips. "Yes, that was real," she
murmured before turning back towards the door.

She was out the door quickly, the solid hunk of

metal securing tightly. The sound of a lock turning
in place before the room was filled with silence. He
stood there a moment unsure of what to do.

She had blushed. She had given an actual,

physical response to that memory. He didn't know
why that revelation shook him up so badly, but it
did.

She had shown something for him, even if it

was something small. The soldier side of him knew
there was a way he could use this small amount of
affection she had shown him to his advantage; but
he couldn't bring himself to give that side over.

Instead, he was thinking that Alena might not

have been pretending about everything. If her
feelings for him weren't all an act, how much did
she really care? Was the woman whose lips he had
tasted, whose skin he had caressed, still there? How
much of his Brenna was actually Alena?

He knew he shouldn't care. He hated that she

could still slide into his mind, interrupt his system
with no defenses, but there it was. Her small
blushing had sent him reeling.

Graydon walked back to where he had eaten,

picking up the empty plate and sliding it across the

floor so it would be closer to the door. He then
walked back to the bed and laid down, staring up at
the ceiling.

He was awakened by the door opening; the

metal scraping on the floor as it opened. Graydon
instantly shot up from the bed, his eyes searching
for the person who entered. He wasn't sure when he
had fallen asleep.

His mind had wandered from ways to escape,

how his job would handle his absence, and then
back to Alena. Sometime during that chase he must
have fallen asleep.

A man entered without saying a word and was

gone again, leaving only a fresh glass of water. He
had to give them credit for at least remembering he
was still in here, and needed things like water and
food to live. Graydon mused that he would give
them three stars on Yelp.

He walked over and took a sip of the water,

moving back to his selected spot at the foot of the
bed with the drink in hand.

Graydon closed his eyes and began reciting the

things he knew to be true silently in his mind. It was
a tactic he was taught to keep sane during things
like this.

He knew his name was Graydon King; he knew

he was alive. He knew Harvell Tech had something
that this group wanted, and he knew this group had
spent a lot of time getting close to him. He knew he
wasn’t a soldier, but he was trained as one, and he
could figure this out. He knew if he could keep his
focus on the situation, his odds were higher for
survival.

He knew he needed to stop thinking about her.

He knew he needed to act more like a soldier and
less like a civilian. He knew she had slid her way
into his thoughts, but the more he seemed to resist
her, the stronger the thoughts became.

He didn't have time to think anything else over

as Alena walked inside his holding cell, throwing
his mind off course.

It took a second for Graydon to realize it was

actually  her.  His  eyes  scanning  her  over  before
recognizing her features. Her fiery red hair that he
had  gone  crazy  for  was  gone,  replaced  by  raven
hair  so  dark  it  looked  like  night  incarnate.  The
darkness of her hair made her eyes stand out more,
deep orbs of emerald staring back at him.  Her lips
were colored red and for a second, he was sure his
heart  stopped.  She  was  striking.  Her  features
seemed  to  come  alive,  her  skin  shining  brighter
against  her dark hair.

He wanted to make her smile; he wanted to

take her in his arms. For a second, he forgot who
they each were and why he was here. For a
moment all he wanted in the world was to have her
lips to his again.

She spoke first. "Don't stare. The red was

annoying," she said in a dismissive tone.

He cleared his throat and found the ability to

shrug. "I don't care. I'm only staring because you
look like a vampire now," he said, hoping his voice
sounded more solid than he felt.

She laughed at his comment. "Oh, really?

Because you looked like you were ready to take me
to bed."

It was his turn to blush now, "If I did, it would

only be to smother you. Oh, wait that's right, I don't
even have a pillow. I guess you got lucky."

She smirked before replying, "You'll get a pillow

when you can prove you're ready to cooperate."

Graydon shrugged before sipping water. His

throat had been dry since he had woken up; he
assumed it was a side-effect from the drug they had
given him. That, or wherever they were keeping

him had terrible ventilation.

He wished they would have left his watch on.

Graydon hated not knowing how much time had
passed, and he was confident they intentionally
messed with his meal times to throw off his grip of
the situation.

"So, where did you find a place in Virginia that

came with its own torture room?" he asked
curiously.

She gave him a pointed look. "I'm not telling

you  where  we  are,  but  I  can  say  it's  very  secure."
She  looked  around  the  room  a  second  before
adding,  "You  would  be  proud  if,  you  know...you
weren't the one we were keeping under wraps."

"Funny. That's a real funny one Alena," he

replied humorlessly.

Graydon looked around the room, taking in the

foam padding that was attached to the walls, the
various textures in the different foam overlapping
in some places but not others.

"It's too big to be a closet or storage space.

Initial guess would have been a basement of course,
but the temperature is too mild for that. My guess is
a novice sound studio."

He watched her intently. Her face gave an

appreciative look for a brief moment before she
replied, "If you only used your talents for good and
not evil, Graydon."

He laughed before arguing, "Me evil? You're the

one tearing my reputation apart and taking me
hostage."

Graydon watched as Alena walked outside of

his cell, walking back in with a metal chair in her
hands. She carried it into his room and set it down,
well into the safe zone where he couldn’t reach.

Alena sat rigidly down in the chair and crossed

her legs before she spoke. "Ok. You want
information? We'll talk."

Graydon crossed his arms silently and watched

her as she began speaking.

"The Gordian project is essentially a smart

virus.  It's  named  after  Gordian  worms,  a  type  of
parasitic  worm  found  in  nature.  The  parasite  slips
into  a  grasshopper's  body  undetected  and  grows.
When  it's  ready,  it  sends  neurotransmitters  to  the
grasshopper's brain causing it to kill itself willingly.
Then the cycle can continue into another host. Are
you following me so far?" she asked.

"So there's a virus they created that was

inspired by a voodoo worm?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded, "Yes, in a simple form, yes.

Though not voodoo, it manipulates the signals in
the grasshopper's brain," she said as her eyes met
his doubtful stare in complete seriousness.

His eyebrows pinched together as he tried to

understand the correlation between a worm, and
whatever he was guarding. He motioned silently for
her to continue on. She tucked a rogue strand of her
raven hair behind her ear before speaking.

"The virus itself is undetectable, completely

untraceable. There's no way to disarm it. That alone
would be a valuable tool, as I'm sure you're well
aware of how hard it is to gather information
without being detected."

Graydon remained silent, his arms still crossed,

taking in everything she was saying.

"This virus, once unleashed, can travel from

every virtual, telecommunication system to another.
Think  about  everything  from  your  smart  television
to the phone in your pocket getting infected. Once
it  infiltrates  these  devices,  it  collects  information
from  every  one  of  those  infected  sources.  It
automatically records and stores conversations and

phone calls. It tracks websites visited and stores
emails."

She paused, letting the information settle

between  them  before  adding,  "Imagine  never
having  another  private  conversation  again.  What's
worse is that it then has the ability to run algorithms
based on anything the user wants to know. It would
be the end of privacy, the end of freedom. The user
would  have  effective  control  of  whoever  and
whatever  they  wanted,"  she  said  as  she  held  his
stare.

He in turn kept silent as his mind ran with

possibility, taking everything in that she was saying.
He replied after a moment, his mind working to
keep up. "Who was this designed for? You said the
user, who would that be?"

"They plan on inciting a bidding war and if the

US Government doesn't win, it will fall to someone
else. Believe me when I say they will have absolute
control. They might not have your figurehead
presidential post, but your president will be more
useless than the Queen of England."

He looked at her dubiously. "That won't

happen, the American people would fight it. That’s
not even considering the tech engineers the military
has on their payroll. It may take time to figure out a

patch, but they could stop it."

She leaned forward then. Her face holding his

as she spoke, every muscle rigid.

"This

virus

completely

untraceable

remember?  Your  government  wouldn’t  know  if  it
was  there  or  not  until  it  was  too  late.  It  would  be
downloaded into every virtual system there is. The
brilliant  part  of  this  virus  is  that  once  it's  sent  out,
you  can't  stop  it.  There  isn’t  a  patch,  choosing  to
not open a link or click a download button will not
keep it away. Once they unleash this, it will run and
it will destroy."

Alena sighed, "Even if your government could

create something to stop it from damaging anything
further;  by  the  time  they  realized  what  was
happening  it  would  be  too  late.  The  enemy  would
already have access to your previous conversations,
your  military  codes,  the  names  and  locations  of
service members and whoever they spoke with."

She looked at him pointedly then before adding,

"Any codes or classified information would now be
theirs.  They  would  have  every  secret  your
government  possessed.  If  they  applied  pressure  to
those  secrets,  your  president  would  have  to  bend
his knee faster than you could blink."

They were staring at each other, her crossed

arms  now  mimicking  his.  He  was  reminded  of  a
time  back  when  they  were  in  her  office.  When  all
she  was  to  him  was  a  court-appointed  therapist.
When  she  was  kind  and  gentle,  a  blushing  soft-
spoken  redhead.  He  wanted  that  girl  back,  he
wanted  the  girl  who  had  stammered  when  he  told
her she was pretty.

The black-haired, snarky woman in front of him

was  a  completely  different  person.  She  was
confident  and  conveyed  a  sense  of  strength  that
seemed  out  of  character  in  a  frame  so  small.  She
was fire and passion, a force unwilling to bend. He
didn’t  know  who  he  was  dealing  with  when  she
spoke to him now.

"How can I believe anything you're saying?

You, and whoever you're with, lied to me for a year
before taking me against my will. That's not
someone who I'd call a reputable source," he hurled
the words, anger and irritation seeping into his
voice.

She held her hands up apologetically before
replying.

"I get it. It was necessary though. I couldn’t just

approach you. You were being watched. Do you

think we were the first people to search your
place?"

Graydon  was  mortified  to  feel  his  cheeks
reddening. He mentally cursed himself for being so
naive.  He  had  such  a  false  sense  of  security  being
away  from  the  front  line,  being  away  from  all  the
blood  and  pain.  He  should  have  known  it  was
following  him,  guys  like  him  didn't  get  happy
endings.

Alena's hands went back to resting in her lap as she
watched  him.  "They  searched  you  out  Graydon,
they  had  their  eyes  on  you  before  you  were  ever
discharged. I think they had a hand in that as well. I
couldn't just walk up to you and start talking," she
replied,  her  voice  softer  than  it  had  been  before,
which irritated him further.

"What  about  the  three  months  after  that?  What
about  the  next  four  after  those?  Why  keep  the
charade  up  Alena?  Did  you  enjoy  it  too  much  at
that  point?  Enjoyed  hearing  all  of  my  private
emotions and thoughts?" he asked in frustration.

Graydon knew he sounded petty, but he didn't

care. He might not be a normal guy, but he didn't
think he deserved to be used and taken advantage
of for a year.

"You think I enjoyed listening to you bare your soul
for a year? Would you want to hear the personal
and private thoughts from your marks? Do you
think I'm that much of a monster?"

"So why do it?" he demanded.

"Because I had to, Graydon."

She was leaning towards him again, her anger

rising, though he couldn't fathom what she had to
be angry about.

"We all have to do things we don't like.

Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the sake
of others. You're a soldier. You should understand
this better than anyone," she replied, the words
venomous.

Alena  stood  up,  grabbing  the  metal  chair  and
heading  for  the  door.  He  thought  she  would  walk
out  without  another  word,  but  she  stopped  in  the
doorway.

She turned back to him, "We want you to

destroy it. We’re not keeping it, we're not selling it.
We want it gone, along with every bit of coding
they have on it, and you can be the one to do it. We

Chapter 7

lena walked out of the door, not waiting for a

reply  from  him.  Graydon  remained  sitting  on  the
bed, considering everything she had said. He was a
soldier;  he  believed  in  freedom  to  a  point  that  he
would willingly die for it. That type of thinking was
easy  to  say,  but  he  had  been  to  those  small
countries where freedom wasn't a right.

He witnessed first-hand the people who were

oppressed and servants to the will of the rulers who
led their nation. Men and women couldn't be
dreamers in a place like that. People were lucky to
survive, and happiness was a luxury most couldn’t
afford. When he said he fought for freedom, he
meant it.

He was thankful he lived in a country where

everyone  could  have  their  own  opinions,  thoughts,
and  ideas.  He  imagined  the  consequences  that
might  befall  the  nation  if  something  like  this
infiltrated  the  market.  It  wouldn't  take  much  for

mass chaos to ensue.

He weighed the option of her group lying about

the whole situation, but he couldn't say that made
much sense. If they were willing to follow his lead,
ensuring he was the one to have the chip, then it
was likely they were telling the truth.

The only other scenario he could imagine was

that Harvell Tech had information on this group.
Even still, it made little sense they would allow him
the chance to have the project, if it contained
information that could hurt them.

The code name was another reason he thought

they might be telling the truth. Hart had told him
the code name in the office on a whim, it wasn't
something he normally knew.

His job was to keep security systems in check,

and  that's  what  he  did.  He  didn't  care  or  know
much  beyond  that.  Especially  not  whatever
ridiculous  names  they  coined  for  all  the  projects
they  created.  Alena  had  told  him  the  code  name
and immediately verified what Hart had said in the
office.

No matter how many times he ran the

scenarios, it always came up with them telling the
truth. He almost didn't want to believe he had been

played by someone yet again.

Graydon made his living by being the best. He

had  to  be  the  best  because  the  people  he  met,  the
things  he  did,  all  relied  on  perfection.  If  he  had
been  sloppy  or  careless  in  the  slightest,  he  would
have  been  discovered  and  his  career  would  have
been  over.  If  he  had  been  slow  or  indecisive,  he
wouldn't still be standing. He made a career out of
being  an  untrusting,  always-on-guard  soldier  and
that had gotten him through more than he deserved.
It seemed almost comical that in his civilian life he
could be this naive.

It had all started with his job. He thought

getting the job with Harvell Tech had been a stroke
of luck; him being there at the right time and place,
but he should have known that there was no such
thing as coincidence.

Coincidence was a term that also went by

chance  and  fate.  Terms  that  those  who  weren't
smart enough to pull the strings called the abnormal
things  that  happened  in  their  life.  Those  who  were
running  the  show,  men  like  he  used  to  be...they
knew better.

He wondered for a moment if he would've

figured it all out if it hadn’t been for Alena being
there. Brenna, or rather, Alena had been the

constant  source  of  his  attention  and  focus  for  the
past  year.  They  hadn't  dated,  hadn't  even  shown
anything  towards  each  other  but  a  mutual
friendliness, yet she still captured him.

He did his job, but everything centered around

Tuesdays  with  Brenna.  He  would  sometimes  sit  at
his  desk  and  suddenly  remember  something  he
wanted  to  get  her  thoughts  on,  or  a  joke  he  heard
that he thought she might like. It would sometimes
be  the  smallest  things  that  would  trigger  his  mind
returning to her.

Even now his thoughts were going to her. He

wondered if she ever cared about him at all. If she
had ever cared about helping him through his
accident or if she had done whatever she needed to
do to get close to him.

Lesson learned, he supposed. You couldn't

escape the monsters that went bump in the night
because they were everywhere; even hidden in the
red-headed woman who had saved him from
himself.

Graydon ran through the whole scenario again,

closing  his  eyes  and  pushing  himself  to  be  the
soldier  he  once  was.  To  find  the  holes  in  the  story
and  figure  out  what  to  do.  He  didn't  see  an  option
that  didn’t  end  with  him  dying  other  than  the  one

where he believed what they were saying was true.
That didn’t mean he had to trust them though.

Graydon made it up in his mind. He would work

with them, he would create a plan, and he would
get that chip in his hands. When he got the chip, he
would hold all of the cards.

Once he got out of this cell and back into

Harvell Tech, he could see who was telling the
truth. He could decide then and there what the right
thing would be to do. He just needed to play their
game until then.

Graydon mulled the plan over in his head a few

times, pacing the room as he did. When the door
opened, he leaned back against the wall with his
hands in his pocket. He loathed being at the mercy
of strangers in an unfamiliar environment.

He was used to knowing all the cards in his

hand. This was like being blindfolded and told you
were playing a game that your life depended on,
without even knowing what the game was.

Two large men walked into his room, followed

by  Amanda  and  Alena.  He  noticed  the  two  men
each had a PSM holstered, with what looked like an
additional  MP-443  Grach  secured  on  their  legs.  It
seemed  they  were  prepared  either  way  for

whatever his decision might be.

Graydon had experience with the Russian

weaponry  the  two  men  were  carrying.  His  third
mission  had  been  in  Kotlas,  Russia.  The  team  had
gone  undercover  to  investigate  labor  camps.  He
never could pick up the language, but he could spot
a Russian handgun from a mile away.

Graydon watched them, looking for any hint of

motion or movement that might give away what the
men were thinking. Unfortunately, they were every
bit as skilled at being still and unflinching as Alena
was.

It was Amanda who spoke first in her heavy

Russian accent, causing him to switch his attention
from the men to her.

"Hello, Mr. King. My name is Masha, I am a

commander in our small group. I hear Alena has
told you about the Gordian project?" she asked.

"Who are you with?" he demanded.

"Mr. King I wouldn't be a very good

commander if I revealed that before you agreed to
help us, now would I?" she challenged, her voice
steady.

Graydon watched her a second more before

glancing over to Alena. Her face was like stone and
he resisted the urge to walk over and shake her,
force her to show whatever emotion she had to be
feeling.

He instead looked back at the older woman.

She  still  looked  the  same  as  she  had  every  other
time  he  had  seen  her  before.  He  wondered  if  the
office  assistant  look  wasn't  very  far  from  her
normal  attire.  She  still  had  on  the  garish  jewelry,
though  he  caught  the  outline  of  a  handgun  against
her business suit pocket.

"So, let's say I believe you. What happens

next?" he asked.

"We devise a plan to get to the chip. We enact

the plan and destroy the chip. You move on and we
all disappear back into the shadows where we came
from," she replied directly.

"Oh, is that so? You'll just let me go on my

merry way after revealing who you are and what
you've done?" he asked doubtfully.

"What we do, Mr. King, is for the good of your

country. If we had not stepped in, you would have
blindly allowed a madman to destroy everything
you hold dear and fight for. If we must go in

without you and take care of the chip ourselves, it
will be bloody. We certainly can, but it would more
than  likely  end  with  us  giving  our  lives  for  the
cause.  With  you,  we  could  get  to  the  chip  easily.
You  help  us  destroy  that  chip  and  all  of  its
documents, and we are even." Amanda replied.

Graydon hadn't taken his eyes off of her,

reading every expression and infliction that came
across her face. If she was lying, she was a far
better actress than any he had ever seen.

"Ok. You have a deal," he said.

The woman nodded curtly to him before turning

to  the  man  on  her  right  and  speaking  something  in
Russian.  Graydon  thought  he  caught  Alena’s
shoulders relaxing slightly, but he couldn’t focus on
her  as  the  man  Masha  had  spoken  to  walked  over
to him.

He watched as the man took a set of keys out

and nodded to Graydon’s shackles. Graydon
nodded in return before the man bent down and
freed him from his restraints.

Sloppy, Graydon thought to himself, it was

blatantly  sloppy.  If  Graydon  had  been  lying,  and
this  had  been  a  trick,  the  man  before  him  would
have  been  dead.  Sure,  he  would  have  been  shot

after that, but if he had been lying, he might not
have cared.

He wondered about the skill of these men, this

group.  If  he  was  going  to  go  into  this  mission  at
Harvell  Tech,  he  might  not  need  a  team;  but  if  he
did, could he depend on the guys he was looking at
now  with  his  life?  He  had  no  idea  who  they  were,
what  their  backgrounds  were  in,  or  if  they  could
accurately shoot someone.

If things got chaotic they might be his only

source of allies. The thought was troubling, but
there wasn't much he could do about it now. The
man straightened up and walked back to where his
companions were.

Graydon walked over to them all, his eyes

leveling on Masha's face before asking, "Who are
you people?"

She tilted her head to the side as if she was

about to explain something to a child. "We are a
group known as день, you Americans would call it
The Day. We are based in Russia, many of us from
Russia."

"Why do you care?" he asked before pushing

the question further, "Why not let this happen?
What skin do you have in the game?"

She shook her head. "That is why we care. We

all come from terrible circumstances in our
homeland. We have seen what it means to have no
freedoms and we will not stop until those who seek
to take away liberties are ended."

His eyes went to Alena who was staring at the

wall ahead of her, past him. He wondered what she
had gone through. Why she had joined a group like
this.  He  wanted  to  shove  them  all  out  of  the  room
and  talk  with  just  her.  It  didn't  make  anything  she
did  right,  but  it  was  another  level  of  the  story  he
needed to know.

"Have you ruined my name with Harvell Tech

yet?" he asked, trying to keep all the hostile
thoughts he was thinking out of his tone.

"No," she replied before explaining further,

"Not  yet,  that  was  Plan  B.  With  your  cooperation,
we  can  create  something  smoother.  One  that  will
get  you  and  a  team  in  and  out  before  they  even
know anything is different."

He snorted indignantly. "You're banking on a lot

of chance and historically speaking, chance hasn't
always been a fan of mine."

Graydon noticed Alena smirk, but he brought

his attention back to Masha as she spoke up again.

"We can arrange it so it looks as if you spent

the night with Miss Klein. We dropped your phone
off at a bar around two am so your boss should
assume you lost it while out on your date."

She checked the watch on her wrist before

adding, "It's barely into the afternoon. Pending you
can fake a hangover, I'd suggest you give your boss
a call with profuse apologies."

So they had been messing with his sense of

time, Graydon thought bitterly to himself.

He shook his head before replying, "I'm always

there before everyone else. I told him I'd have a full
report on his desk in the morning. He'll know this is
out of character."

Masha sighed in annoyance, "Yes, he will know

this  is  out  of  character.  However,  when  you  call
him, you will not say you have a hangover. You will
say  you're  sick  and  ask  for  the  afternoon  off.  He's
going  to  latch  onto  that  small  lie  and  believe  the
larger lie instantly. He has no reason not to."

The older woman paused before retorting, "The

only out of character trait he will think about is you
having  sex  and  getting  caught  up  in  a  night  out.
Which  is  usually  normal  for  someone  your  age;  It
will normalize the whole situation."

Graydon pushed away the indignant feeling that

came up when she insinuated he never had fun, or
sex, but he didn't feel like arguing with her. He
hadn't let himself let loose because that just wasn't
who he was.

He wasn't good in social situations and he didn't

do  well  with  meeting  new  people.  He  had  found  it
was  better  to  keep  working  at  his  job  and  doing
what  he  knew,  what  came  naturally.  Sighing,  he
held  a  hand  out.  "All  right,  give  me  the  phone.  I
assume It's untraceable?"

Masha gave him a pointed look before replying

with the phone in hand, "We're not idiots Mr. King.
The phone will be registered to Brenna Klein and
the cell tower will ping in the general location of
her building."

He raised his eyebrow, the reservations he had

earlier  easing.  Graydon  nodded  in  response  before
taking  the  phone  and  keying  in  the  number  to
Harvell Tech.

The receptionist recognized his voice and told

him  to  hold  while  she  connected  him  to  Mr.
Druvell.  She  seemed  relieved,  and  he  wondered
what  everyone  assumed  happened.  No  one  knew
about his date so he figured their imaginations were
running wild.

He had been right that his boss noticed his

absence  though.  A  thought  that  made  him  cringe
even though he realized that was ridiculous. If what
they  were  saying  was  true,  then  his  boss  had
created something abhorrent, he wasn't a good man.
Still,  Graydon  wasn't  used  to  not  doing  his  job  to
perfection.

When Mr. Druvell answered, Graydon acted

the part in the best way he knew how. He took time
pausing between words as if every thought caused
him pain. When he tried telling the man on the
other end of the line that he was sick he took extra
care in sounding worn, but clearly faking an illness.

He thought he sounded like an idiot but it must

have been believable because Mr.Druvell cut him
off, clearly tired of hearing him blather on. He was
shocked that his boss laughed and told him a good
greasy cheeseburger might be just what the doctor
ordered.

He then said it was no problem to miss a day

instead of threatening him with unemployment.
Thanking Hart, he hung up the phone and handed it
back over to Masha.

She took it back and gave it over to Alena.

"We'll need to dispatch teams to watch Harvell
Tech just in case, though I doubt we see anything

different  from  their  usual  routine.  Rolav  will  need
to  key  us  on  any  codes  being  sent  internally."
Masha  replied  before  she  turned  to  Graydon,  "For
now  I  believe  we're  in  the  clear  to  proceed  with
creating a plan for tonight."

He nodded sharply before replying, "Let's work

on a plan then."

Masha spoke something in Russian to Alena

who then nodded in response. Masha and the two
other men walked out. The space emptying just as
fast as it had filled up, and he sighed.

It was odd being in the room alone together, in

a  place  unfamiliar  and  foreign  to  him.  It  was  even
stranger  now  that  Alena  was  his  ally.  He  resented
that  he  was  helping  them,  but  he  could  do  it,  he
could bide his time.

He would play their game until he could get the

chip and take control of the situation. It didn't
matter who he had to work with as long as in the
end, he held the cards.

Alena watched them go before turning to him,

reaching into her pocket and pulling out his watch.
Graydon put it on and met her eyes.

He noticed she looked tired, dark circles had

formed under her eyes. He imagined he looked
similar. She was still wearing the same outfit she
had worn on their date although now it matched his
in the number of wrinkles it had. She spoke up first,
more hesitant than he would have imagined. "Do I
need to watch my back?"

He pursed his lips before shaking his head. "No.

We're on the same side until I take care of the
chip." Graydon said in a clipped voice.

She raised her eyebrow before asking, "And

then?"

"Then we'll count it even if I never see you

again."

She looked down at the floor before loosening a

breath and meeting his eyes, her shoulders squaring
back before she spoke.

"All right, well let's get you into the war room."

Alena walked towards the door, Graydon following
her out.

Graydon tried not to laugh as he noticed he had

been right, they made their headquarters in an old
music studio. The door to his cell was changed out
for something more secure. They had also added
fixtures to the inside of his room, but he had to give

them credit, it was a smart choice.

He followed her down a hallway as they passed

other  rooms,  some  with  the  doors  open,  revealing
bare  beds  and  items  strewn  about.  Most  of  the
doors  were  closed  though,  and  none  looked  as
secure as the one he had been held in.

"What are in those?" he asked as they passed

along the hallway, motioning with his head to the
doors.

"Most of them are still the rooms from the

original studio. We only changed out a few to make
rooms for the crew to sleep in. The dining area will
come  up  ahead  on  our  left,  and  bathrooms  are
further  up  on  the  left  as  well.  There  are  two  more
secured sound booths like the one you were in. One
we  have  for  another  holding  cell,  and  the  other  is
where we conduct business," she replied.

He nodded as they continued to walk along.

"How many are in your group?" he asked as they
passed an old advertisement from a record label.

"I don't know, honestly. In Russia, we recruit

quietly. It's growing in other countries though, other
areas that need us. We have groups that travel like
ours, and sometimes there are recruits from those
missions."

He chuckled. "You guys must think you're

something, huh? Superhero vigilantes on a
worldwide mission?"

He was still smirking as she stopped sharply and

turned to him. With her finger pointing up at him
she spoke a single word in warning, "Don't."

"Why?" he asked tauntingly.

"Because, you have no idea who we are, what

we do, and-"

He stopped her short, cutting her off. "Oh, I

know  exactly  what  you  do.  You  run  around  lying
and scheming, ruining lives to accomplish whatever
justice  your  group  deems  worthy  above  human
decency.  Take  someone  hostage?  It  happens.
Destroy a life? Collateral damage I suppose."

She stepped closer to him, her eyes full of fire.

"You were lied to for a year and held secure for

less than thirteen hours until we could tell you the
truth, so what? Do you want to cry about it a little
more? Do you think that's not worth your country's
freedom? Do you think we owe you more than we
owe the innocent people who are trying to live their
lives out there?"

He was rendered silent as she laid into him, her

eyes cutting him like a knife as she continued on.

"I thought you were one of the good ones. I

thought you were someone who would fight against
tyranny and injustice. Don't forget that it was me
you told all of your thoughts to, all of those feelings
of protection and loyalty. If we have the wrong guy,
tell me now. I'll send you home personally. I can get
this mission done without you if I need to."

Her eyes were challenging him, her face

unwavering  as  she  waited  for  him  to  reply.  She
closed  the  distance  between  the  two  of  them  and
she  now  stood  unnervingly  close.  Her  breathing
quickening  as  she  had  unleashed  her  anger  out  at
him. He suddenly had to fight the urge to press his
lips to hers.

She wasn't beautiful when she was angry, she

was  magnificent,  like  a  divine  angel  of  retribution.
Her gaze refused to back down, her body unwilling
to  bend.  He  remembered  the  way  her  skin  felt
against his lips, the way her body had arched as he
touched  her.  She  was  unlike  anything  he  had  ever
known, and it was both infuriating and entrancing.

He forced himself to pull away from her gaze.

To tear away from the look of steel and flame she
was giving him. "You're right. I'm sorry," he

conceded.

She was right; he admitted silently. What she said
was correct. Graydon would give up whatever was
needed to stop something capable of what they
were describing.

He would do whatever was necessary and the

whining would change nothing. Still, he wasn’t
convinced this group was as righteous as they were
making themselves out to be.

She gave him a nod in acknowledgment before
turning on her heel and making her way down the
hallway again.

They passed the small room he assumed was

the dining area she mentioned earlier. It looked like
an old break room they added a bigger table to, a
few pieces of fruit in a bowl on top of it.

The space looked tidy, and welcoming. He

thought  it  looked  rather  homely  for  a  secret
organization,  but  he  wasn't  going  to  point  that  out.
He figured he had insulted them enough.

They walked along in silence and he mapped out
the studio in his head as they walked. There wasn't
any natural light streaming in. Most places like this

had a reception area that would allow light in, but
he was guessing they boarded the windows and
doors up.

The pair turned a corner and walked through an

open doorway before Alena stopped and turned to
him.  Gesturing  out  her  hand,  she  opened  the  door
that  stood  in  front  of  him.  "Welcome  to  the  war
room,  Mr.  King,"  she  said  with  a  bemused  grin  on
her face.

Chapter 8

he war room was an area similar to the cell he

had been in, both spaces containing rubber foam on
the walls in various textures and sizes. It was a
smart option for a group who needed security. The
walls prevented any sound from leaking through to
listening devices, and the two-chambered room
offered another layer of security.

Graydon  stepped  inside,  noticing  the  door  in  this
room  had  been  replaced  with  one  similar  to  the
door  on  his  cell,  though  this  one  locked  from  the
inside.

There was a long table taking up most of the

space,  with  makeshift  seating  varying  from  office-
styled  rolling  chairs  to  a  few  plain  metal  ones
scattered  about.  There  were  papers  on  the  table
along with a few pens and coffee cups.

Masha was already sitting down, as well as the

two  men  from  earlier.  The  only  person  he  didn’t
recognize  was  a  woman  around  Masha's  age.  She
wasn't  paying  attention  to  him  as  she  continued
typing on the laptop sitting in front of her.

Graydon walked in and Masha spoke in her

clipped voice. To him, it always sounded like she
was tired of repeating something to a child, with
him being the exasperating child.

"Mr. King, this is Malachai," she said before

gesturing  with  her  head  to  the  man  sitting  across
from  her.  She  then  motioned  to  the  man  on  her
left,  "This  is  Leo.  They  are  a  part  of  our  security
team.  Leo's  brother  Rolav  is  one  of  our  internal
team  members,  I  believe  you  know  him  as  Mark
Brown."

Graydon thought a moment, recalling the

blonde-haired man with glasses. He was around the
same age as Graydon, though he might have been a
bit younger. Graydon hadn't paid him much
attention, which meant he must have done his job
well.

"Yes. I know him," he replied shortly. Mark had

been a part of the security team well before
Graydon had come into the position. That fact
made him curious to find out how long this had all

been going on.

Masha didn’t give him time to dwell on the

information before she spoke again.

"This is my sister, Galina. She is our

communications director. We have two more men
in the field who you should never have to meet.
You already know Alena. Please take a seat so we
can begin."

Graydon walked over and sat down in a chair

that was one seat down from Malachai. The guard
still had his weapons holstered and Graydon didn’t
like being the only unarmed person in the room.

He couldn't imagine Alena with a gun, but that

didn't mean he was stupid enough to count her out
of having one either. The tan-skinned man he was
sitting near reached his height, but had a wiry
frame.

Where Graydon's body was muscular and

broad,  this  man  was  slight,  with  an  athletic  build.
He  knew  he  could  overpower  him  if  it  came  to  it.
Leo  would  be  a  different  matter.  The  man  sitting
across  the  table  was  older  than  his  brother  who
worked at Harvell Tech. Where Malachai was lean,
Leo was massive. If things went south, he’d have to
watch the blonde man.

Alena took a seat across from him and Graydon

spoke up before Masha had the chance to say
anything more.

"I can gain access to the building using the

underground route, but the guards at the front will
be notified once the elevator is activated."

"That's not an issue. We can have Rolav switch

with one of the other guards so he can be there. He
can silence the code before the other guards even
realize it goes off." Masha said, her tone dismissive.

Alena spoke up before he could respond. "Why

do we need to be secretive? For all they know
Graydon could be returning to the office to work on
something he had needed to get done today."

Masha frowned before shaking her head. "No, I

don't like them knowing he's in the building. It
raises too much awareness."

"But if they think their boss is in they'll give

him more privacy instead of being on alert. As far
as they know he's just catching up after missing a
day of work, which is exactly what he'd do if any of
this was real." Alena challenged.

Graydon watched the two of them contending

back and forth before interjecting. "Alena is right.

They  don't  know  anything  is  amiss.  I  can  walk  in
and follow protocol just like I normally would, and
go  to  my  office  to  finish  up  whatever  I  needed  to
work  on.  That  would  be  the  most  natural  scenario
and it fits into our plan."

The two other men looked bored as they

watched  the  argument  unfold  between  the  two
women,  and  now  himself.  Graydon  wondered  how
many  times  they  had  to  sit  through  similar
discussions  before  one  of  the  two  gave  in.  He
imagined  it  was  like  watching  Heaven  and  Hell
battle.

Masha didn’t seem like the type to change her

mind easily, and he knew Alena was as equally
stubborn. He figured that the two men sitting at the
table must have to summon more patience dealing
with those two than anything the job threw at them.

Masha sat silent a moment before she gave an

imperceptive nod of acknowledgment. "Fine. You'll
use your card, give them your clearance codes and
go to your office. Then what?" she asked, her voice
clipped.

Graydon grabbed a nearby pen and began

tapping it lightly on the table. It was a habit he did
when he was thinking. For the longest time, his leg
would bounce when he needed to figure out a

problem or right before they were about to face
one. It was a terrible waste of misplaced energy, but
it was something he did unintentionally.

The leg shaking had stopped though after he

spent six months in physical therapy. His body had
reacted in turn by taking that nervous energy and
demanding it be let out, some times in the most
annoying of ways. That fact being abundantly clear
as his gaze found Masha frowning at the pen in his
hand.

Still tapping the pen against the table, Graydon

broke the silence.

"I can run a security check on the system. I was

supposed  to  give  Hart  a  report  this  morning,  so  it
would be likely that I would do it before creating a
report to leave on his desk tonight. That would not
only  give  me  an  excuse  to  access  the  system,  but
also  to  go  into  his  office.  I  could  be  in  and  out
within a few hours with no one the wiser."

"You're delusional if you think you're going to

be in there alone Mr. King," Masha replied.

He held his hands up to her. "Look, I'm not

trying to cause trouble or double-cross you people.
There’s just no way anyone without clearance can
be in that office without triggering an alarm."

"Just take Mark Brown with you. We could set

up a pre-arranged time, call the front office with a
message, and have him meet you. It would look
coincidental and completely plausible," Alena
offered.

Graydon's mind began working, trying to figure

out a reason that plan wouldn't be possible. He
didn't want anyone in there with him.

First, there was the matter of research on what

that chip was, or what it might contain. Then, there
was the matter of going into the office and either
destroying it, or tucking it away, if it was in fact
blackmail.

Either way, he trusted no one in this group any

more than they trusted him, which made it that
much more important he did everything alone.

He mentally tried throwing every problem he

could at it, but her plan made sense and it would
work. Nodding, he replied, "That'll work for me.
Feel better?"

"I believe that's the best way to ensure our

mutual goal is met. Once you and Rolav get access
to the chip and its codes, you will need to head
back to your office and dispose of everything. The
designs must all be erased, and the chip destroyed.

We do not want to take the chance of something
like this ever coming to fruition again." Masha
replied.

"What about after that? What happens next?

They'll have my face plastered to every news outlet
and police station for stolen property. They'll figure
you all out as well, once Dr. Klein and Mark Brown
disappear. Am I supposed to join you all? Become a
part of your vigilante group?" Graydon demanded.

Alena looked over at Masha, who reached into

her suit's pocket, pulling out a checkbook. The
woman wrote on the small pad before she tore a
page out of the book and held it up for him to see.

"Two-hundred thousand USD. That is your

salary for the year is it not?" Masha asked.

Without waiting for him to confirm the question

she added, "You destroy the chip and its codes with
Rolav, we will rendezvous back here, and I will sign
this check. You are free to join our group. With
your set of skills you could do a lot of good in the
world, and you would have protection, but we do
not force membership."

Masha slid the check to the other older woman.

Graydon watched as her sister grabbed the check
and tucked it away inside a folder.

"How do I know you have the funds to back up

that check?" he asked.

"I’ll send the funds electronically if you prefer.

You  can  check  your  account  immediately  for  all  I
care, I'll wait patiently while you do. The funds are
there  Mr.  King.  The  money  is  yours  for  doing  the
job.  If  you  join  us,  you  will  be  provided  with  a
salary, in addition to that check’s amount."

Graydon replied, his voice edged with anger.

"Thanks for the proposition, but that's not going to
happen."

Masha shrugged before replying, "The offer is

on the table."

Graydon ran the plan over in his mind. He

didn’t  like  that  he’d  have  to  trust  them  to  follow
through  on  the  money,  but  even  if  they  had  lied
about  it;  destroying  something  that  detrimental
would be worth it, money or not. He looked over at
Alena. "What’s your role in this?"

Her brow furrowed before she replied, "What

do you mean? My job is finished."

He shook his head. "I know better. You’re not

the type to sit on your hands while the rest of us
complete the mission. What are you going to be

doing? Do I need to watch my back?"

He noted that the corner of her lips tugged

slightly before she answered his question.

"Malachai and Leo will monitor the mission

from the outside, and I'll be monitoring from the
inside. You'll never know I'm there. The only thing
you need to watch is the clock. You guys will need
to be out of there no later than four a.m."

He regarded her a second more; not knowing

how she planned on getting into the building
without being detected, much less hiding there.

He had known better than to think she would sit

this one out. She could make fun of him all she
wanted about needing to be in control, but he had a
feeling she was the same way.

Masha spoke up.

"Alena and Mr. King will go to Brenna Klein’s

apartment  and  wait  there  until  4:30  pm.  Mr.  King
will then leave Brenna Klein’s apartment and arrive
at his apartment around 4:45 where he will carry on
with his routine," she turned to him before adding,
"Mr.  King,  it  will  be  imperative  you  act  normal,
there  are  eyes  on  your  apartment  and  every  move
will be watched."

He gave her a sharp nod, her words answering

the question of why they hadn’t bugged his place. It
would seem Harvell Tech had already done that. He
wondered how long he had been tailed.

If he believed the people sitting at this table,

then there had never been a time when he wasn’t
watched like an animal. The thought of that made
his blood warm.

Masha spoke again. "Mr.King will leave his

home in time to be at Harvell Tech at 7:30 pm. He
will enter through the basement and follow
protocol, alerting staff to his presence. He will then
proceed to his office. Mr. King, how long will you
need before going into Mr. Druvell’s office?"

Graydon remained quiet as he thought a

moment. He would need to run the security report,
which  would  take  anywhere  from  forty-five
minutes  to  an  hour  and  a  half.  While  he  was
running  the  report,  he  would  need  to  access  the
secret  files  that  were  stored  on  their  safeguarded
servers. He would have to cover his tracks, feigning
testing, which would take time.

With Rolav now joining him in Harvell's office

he would need to leave himself plenty of time in
private to see what was on the chip.

"Three hours," he replied with certainty.

Masha nodded. "We will have Rolav meet you

between your office and Mr.Harvell’s at 10:30 pm.
You two will then gain access to the chip before
you retreat to your office where you will then
destroy the assets. Once you destroy the assets you
and Rolav will need to leave the premises at once."

"What about the other security guards at the

main entrance? They'll notice their coworker never
came back." Alena asked.

Graydon leaned back in his chair watching

them all. He wondered how many times they had
sat around each other and planned missions like this
one.

Graydon thought he left the world of espionage

and  undercover  operations  long  behind  him.  He
hoped  those  days  were  gone,  yet  here  he  was,
planning  to  steal  and  destroy  the  projects  he  had
worked for a year to keep safe.

The first time he had re-upped with the military

he had been a kid, barely at the age of twenty-two.
He  could  remember  sitting  in  his  commander's
office,  telling  him  that  he  wanted  to  extend  his
service  another  four  years.  The  older  man  had
grinned as he got the paperwork together.

He told Graydon that re-upping was as good as

signing a life's term. Graydon had assumed the man
was talking about a love for the role. That those
who re-enlisted after their first term would continue
to re-enlist until they retired for love of the work.

While Graydon thought about everything that

led  to  this  moment;  he  wondered  if  the  man  all
those  years  ago  meant  he  could  never  escape  the
life,  even  if  he  wanted  to.  It  had  seeped  into  not
only  who  he  was,  but  the  world  he  inhabited.  The
military  might  have  ended  his  contract,  but  that
didn't mean he wasn't a soldier anymore.

It  was  decided  that  Masha  would  call  the  Harvell
Tech  building  at  11:00  pm  pretending  to  be  Mark
Brown’s  landlord  with  a  building  emergency,
prompting  the  young  man  to  leave.  That  would
allow both him and Rolav to exit together.

Graydon glanced at his watch, noting they had

three hours to get to the apartment and bide their
time until 4:30.

"It seems the plan is set. Speak now if you are not
in agreement with it," Masha asked.

Graydon watched as each team member

remained silent, waiting on the older woman to

continue.

"Then it's settled. Godspeed to you all," Masha

announced, promptly ending their meeting.

The  group  got  up  from  the  table,  Malachai
stretching  before  he  and  Leo  walked  out  together,
talking quietly. Graydon stood up and regarded the
woman,  Galina,  who  hadn't  stopped  typing  the
whole time they had been discussing the plan.

Alena spoke up, catching his gaze.

"Galina records everything we discuss and

reports it to our command. Everything is well
coded, it's an easy way to keep everything and
everyone in sync."

Graydon watched Galina a moment more before
turning to Alena. "So, are you ready to take me
back to your place?" he asked with a rogue smile.

Alena laughed, the first real laugh he had heard
since their date. The small indention of dimples
showing on her face.

"Keep it in your pants Romeo," she replied

before walking towards the door. Graydon
following her trail out of the room.

Chapter 9

raydon followed her out of the room and

wondered  how  they  would  make  it  to  her  place
without  giving  up  this  location.  He  realized
however,  that  they  had  thought  ahead.  Alena
walked to a stairwell near the entrance to the room
they  had  previously  been  in.  "After  you,"  she
gestured to the stairwell with a sideways grin on her
face.

He walked through the door, climbing the steps

as he spoke. "Your apartment is above the sound
studio. How did I not see that coming?"

He could tell she was grinning by the sound of

her voice as she replied. "Is that awe I hear?"

"Maybe. Is this a back entrance?"
"Yes. There's a stairwell that's more commonly

used  on  the  street,  it  goes  directly  to  the  studio
above. It's the only one I've been using for the past
year.  We'll  be  well  documented  exiting  together  if
they've  bothered  to  have  you  watched  today."
Alena answered.

"Then yes, it's awe," he admitted with a smile.

They made it to the top of the stair landing and

she took out a key, turning the lock before opening
the door. The door opened to a small entryway with
coats hung up, and women's shoes scattered
around.

The apartment was impeccably clean, aside

from  a  few  scattered  pieces  of  mail.  It  was
organized  and  decorated  like  something  from  a
magazine.  As  he  looked  around  the  room,  he
realized  it  was  exactly  like  a  magazine,  everything
superficially  comfortable  and  homely.  It  was  the
kind  of  home  that  no  one  ever  actually  lived  in.
"Your place is nice," he remarked.

She gave him a pointed stare. "This isn't my

home."

"It might as well be, you've been here for a year

right?" he asked.

"This is my office if you want to get into

specifics. I own nothing you're looking at. You
know how it is. I'm sure you never had to buy your
first set of pots and pans until you left the
military."

"Actually, I still haven't," he admitted,

chuckling.

She took the jacket from him and hung it up at

the door along with her own. "What do you mean?
You've been out a year."

When he felt the redness creeping into his

cheeks he pursed his lips. She glanced over at him,

her eyes taking in his red cheeks, and she began to
grin.

"Wait, you can't cook, can you?" she asked

incredulously. Graydon rubbed the back of his neck
as he replied, "It wasn't a skill I needed to know."

She laughed, musing to herself, "The great

Graydon King, soldier prodigy, foiled by a saute
pan. Who would've guessed?"

He knew it was embarrassing that a man his age

didn't know how to cook, but it wasn't like he was
exposed to it every day.

The military had been his source of breakfast,

lunch, and dinner for almost thirteen years. Food
was a source of energy and sustainment, he didn't
have the luxury of eating for pleasure.

She walked towards the kitchen and he

followed suit.

"I can make a sandwich just fine thank-you-

very-much," he retorted.

She pointed to one of the chairs pushed against

the kitchen island. "Here, have a seat, I'll make us
something to eat." Alena snickered.

Graydon sat down in the chair and watched

Alena as she pulled things out of the fridge. "Is
there anything I can help you with at least?" he
offered.

She shook her head, replying, "I've got it, you

just sit and think about the mission tonight."

He sat quietly, watching her work. The mission

wasn't on his mind, it didn't need to be. It was
simply another job to him. It was no different from
anything he had ever done before. There would be
deception, there would be a forced entry, and there
would be an intelligence extraction. This job wasn't
anything new to the ex-soldier.

Watching her cook, however, was something

new. He watched as she took her time precisely
measuring out ingredients, smugly surprised to note
she was a messy cook. As she chopped peppers and
onions he asked, "Where did you learn to cook?"

She paused a moment, and he wondered if she

would tell him anything personal. He was trying to
find  her  eyes,  but  she  was  focusing  on  the
vegetables  in  front  of  her.  Slowly,  she  began
chopping  again,  replying  to  him  quietly,    "My
mother. She loved to cook."

He nodded, watching her gather the chopped

pieces together. "I take it she isn't a business
lawyer?"

Alena shook her head before turning from him,

putting the vegetables into the pan on the stove. He
had figured that was the end of the conversation.

However, as she began stirring she spoke, her

voice soft and steady, "My parents were Russian
spies during the cold war."

Graydon's eyebrows raised, stunned at what she

said. He hadn't seen that one coming. He assumed
she had taken the vigilante lifestyle up after being

recruited, but now he was wondering if she had
been raised in it.

She said nothing more and continued stirring

the food on the stove. He remained quiet a moment
until he couldn't contain himself. "You've got to tell
me more than that. Is that how you ended up with
this group?"

She paused and let out a small breath before

replying, "That's a long story."

Shrugging, he simply said, "We've got time."
Alena glanced over her shoulder at him a

second before looking back at the stove, her hand
stirring in a steady rhythm.

"My parents were born in 1958 in Saratov,

Russia.  When  they  were  twenty-one  it  was  the
golden  age  of  espionage  during  the  cold  war.  My
Mother  and  Father  were  recruited  as  KGB  spies
and  sent  to  America  with  the  promises  of  a
glamorous, secretive life. They lived here for eight
years passing secrets onto the Russians until I came
along,  unexpected  of  course."  Alena  chuckled
before  continuing  on  with  her  story,  "My  father
worked for the CIA, in their IT department, and my
mother was a schoolteacher. They weren't supposed
to have a baby."

Alena turned the stove off and turned back to

him, refusing to meet his eyes as she walked to the
fridge and grabbed the eggs and milk.

Pouring the milk and cracking the eggs into a

ceramic bowl she continued with her story,
Graydon silently listening.

"After I was born they remained in America

three years until they could secure passage back to
Russia. My mother used to tell me that she never
cared much about the risk of what they were doing
until I came into the picture. I guess having a child
put things into perspective."

He continued watching her, not daring to speak.

She added everything to a dish and slid it into the
oven, walking over to where he was sitting. She
pulled the chair across from him out and sat down,
wiping her hands on a kitchen towel.

"They made it to Russia, but things were

different.  It  was  nearing  the  end  of  the  cold  war,
but  because  they  had  left  their  post  so
unexpectedly,  they  were  viewed  with  suspicion.  It
was, of course, made much worse by them bringing
their  American  child  back  with  them.  My  parents
went from being secret spies to being secretly spied
on."  Alena said.

"That must have been hard," he murmured.

She nodded. "It was. We had no privacy. We

knew our government was listening to everything

from  telephone  calls  to  dinner  conversations.  My
Mother  couldn't  find  work  once  they  returned,  but
my  father  was  able  to  get  a  job  with  the  newly
created  Foreign  Intelligence  Service.  Though  that
only increased our level of being watched."

He noticed she had twisted the small hand

towel  around  her  hands,  upset  at  the  memory.
Graydon's  eyes  took  in  her  face.  He  spoke  softly,
his  voice  remaining  steady.  "What  happened  to
them?"  Alena’s  green  eyes  met  his,  a  sadness
haunting them.

"Everything we did was tightly controlled. We

were second-rate citizens in our own country. They
took away anything they deemed unnecessary, and
the suspicion was everywhere. One day, my father
had a few friends over from work for dinner. I was
fifteen and I remember helping my mother wash the
dishes from the meal when we overheard my father
mention  America.  That  was  an  unspoken  word  in
our  home.  My  mother  had  walked  into  the  room
they  were  sitting  in  and  listened  as  my  father,
having  too  much  to  drink,  began  talking  about  our
time there. My mother had tried to get him to stop
talking, but his friends were just fueling the fire."

She stopped twisting the towel in her hands and

her eyes stared at nothing in particular, her gaze a
million miles away.

"He talked about free speech. How he had been

in  awe  of  a  country  that  supported  the  people  of
their  nation,  though  his  heart  would  forever  be  in
Russia.  My mother had then run to her room, while
I  moved  closer  to  the  door,  listening  to  my  father.
He  never  talked  about  the  life  they  led  all  those
years  ago,  before  I  came  along.  I  had  been
entranced  by  the  stories  he  was  telling  to  his
friends,  but  my  Mother  had  come  back  into  the
room,  thrusting  a  bag  at  me.  She  knew  it  was  all
over."

Graydon leaned forward and put his hand on

hers, that action snapping her out of her faraway
gaze. Her eyes found his. He didn't say a word as
he softly squeezed her hand. Alena smiled in thanks
before continuing on, her hand still under his.

"I went to a neighbor's home that night. When I

woke  up  for  school,  they  were  gone.  They  were
tried as criminals, as traitors, and were sentenced to
life in prison. They never made it there, they were
murdered  when  the  sentencing  was  finished.  I  was
told there would be an investigation, but even as a
child I knew they were sending a message with my
parent's deaths. I ended up in an orphanage, though
I didn't stay longer than a month. If you want to see
hell  all  you  need  to  do  is  visit  a  Russian
orphanage."

Graydon felt the urge to hold her in his arms, to

go back in time and shield her from the pain. It was
no wonder she had reacted so strongly to the chip
that would force everyone into what her parents
had gone through.

She had been willing to do whatever it took to

keep something like that from ever happening
again. At that moment he realized she was more of
a soldier than he had ever been.

He had made his life by doing what he was told,

by enacting whatever he needed to do to get the job
assigned  to  him  completed.  Alena  was  fighting  for
something  she  believed  in,  an  injustice  she  could
prevent and shield others from. Alena was fighting
for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  this  country
and  the  freedoms  they  hadn't  even  known  were  at
stake.  She  was  braver  and  stronger  than  he  ever
had given her credit for.

The timer on the oven went off, and they both

jumped.  Alena  laughing  before  standing  up,
grabbing  the  oven  mitt  and  opening  the  door.
"When Masha and день found me I had been living
on  the  streets  for  a  year.  I  picked  up  a  few
unsavory talents on top of the few things my father
had  taught  me.  They  offered  me  a  home,  and  I've
been with them every since then."

He watched as she set the dish down. A

heavenly  aroma  of  eggs,  melted  cheese,  and
vegetables  filling  the  room.  He  got  up  and  walked
to  her  fridge,  taking  out  two  bottles  of  water.  She
took the one he offered and spoke again.

"I hope you like frittatas. Hopefully, it's

seasoned enough for you this time," she gave him
another pointed look.

"So you were my chef? Sorry. I didn’t mean to

hurt your feelings," he laughed.

She shrugged, "You'll have to say a lot more

than that to hurt my feelings."

He found himself watching her, a grin on his

face. She was nothing like he had pegged her for.
Yet again he was wondering who the woman in
front of him was.

He had thought when he first met her she was a

stoic therapist, then later a beautiful timid girl next
door, after that a traitor and then if he was honest
he would admit he had thought she was a
brainwashed idealist.

Now as he was meeting her, perhaps for the

first time, he saw her as a woman who, despite life
dealing her a terrible hand, fought for others. A
woman who chose to see the good in people. She

was  smart  and  funny,  someone  who  was  every  bit
as fiery as she was kind. As he gave her a sideways
grin  he  couldn't  help  but  wonder  if  maybe  he  had
met his match.

He took a bite and nodded, giving an

appreciative sound. "Thank you, this is delicious,"
he said before taking another bite.

She shrugged before replying, "It's just eggs."
He continued eating a moment before shaking

his head, "No, it's really good. I appreciate it."
Alena laughed.

"Well, I would give you the recipe but we

already established you can't cook, so you'll have to
be content with saving it to memory," she chuckled.

Graydon grinned before drinking some water,

half-choking when she added, "Or you could join
us, and I could make it whenever you liked."

He stared at her, the two trying to read one

another as neither of their faces hinted an emotion.
He had the cap to the water bottle in his hands, and
he began absentmindedly playing with it. "Did you
want to go on that date with me or was that part of
the act?" Graydon questioned softly.

He knew she had to have manipulated him into

asking  her  out.  They  needed  him  to  get  her  into
Harvell  Tech's  heart  and  he  had  played  right  into
their  plans.  With  every  small  blush,  and  feigned
disappointment  he  all  but  served  the  world  to  her

on a platter.

That didn't mean she hadn't wanted to go out

with him though. Call it narcissistic, but it was a
factor for him. His eyes remained on her,
unwavering.

She leaned back in her chair, the question

hanging in the air in front of them. "That doesn’t
matter."

"I think it does." Graydon replied.
"We’re asking you to put your skills to use for

good instead of evil. A beneficial way that can
change lives, and all you care about is finding out
whether I wanted to go on the date with you?" she
asked critically.

Graydon replied, irritation seeping into his

voice.

"I’ve spent my whole life putting my skills to

use  for  the  benefit  of  others.  Don’t  forget  that  I
almost  died  at  the  will  of  my  country,  Alena.  I
would  have  gladly  paid  that  price  if  it  meant
keeping people I’ve never even met before safe. So
don’t preach to me about being evil."

"You can’t honestly sit there and say you had

no  idea  that  company  was  creating  awful  things
Graydon.  I  get  the  Gordion  Project,  but  you  can’t
honestly  think  they  were  in  there  creating
something good."

“No, I knew a lot of their designs were on the

shady side, but I didn’t think they were creating

morally wrong things that went against our country.
Now answer the question,” he demanded.

She got up from the small kitchen island and

grabbed her plate, putting it in the sink. He grabbed
his as well and walked over to where she was. “Let
me clean those, you made lunch,” he said before
turning on the water.

She hadn’t said a word in return. Instead, she

silently picked up the bowls and utensils she had
dirtied, sitting them next to him at the sink.

Alena grabbed a towel and started drying the

dishes as he washed. She spoke softly, "Having you
ask me out, and gaining entry into Harvell Tech was
the whole point of that year we spent together.
Actually, the first plan was to knock you out after
five or six months of therapy, but I talked them out
of it."

“Gee thanks,” he replied dryly.
“You’re welcome,” she laughed.
He glanced over at her, the two of them sharing

a smirk. He waited for her to answer him, unwilling
to let the question go.

As she put a bowl into the cabinet, he could tell

the humor had left her without even looking up
from the dishes. She changed her demeanor from
witty and sarcastic to something more vulnerable.

Her voice was barely audible as she replied.

“Yes, I did." Alena's voice was more solid as she
added, "I don’t know why that matters though, it’s

not like that changes anything."

“It might for me,” he replied, shrugging.
She laughed. “Are you trying to say you would

still  be  interested  in  something  romantic  between
us?  Or  should  I  say  friendly?  You  were  awful  at
asking,  so  I’m  not  entirely  sure  we’re  on  the  same
page.”

Graydon felt his cheeks redden as he retorted.

“Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve asked a girl out. I
think I did pretty good considering you said yes.”

She rolled her eyes playfully, “I had to say yes.”
“But you admitted that you would have said

yes, even if you didn’t have to.”

“Yes,” she replied before continuing, “But none

of  that  matters  because  all  of  that  was  before  you
found  out  the  truth.  The  truth  changes  everything
Graydon.  What  is  that  saying?  The  truth  shall  set
you free?”

Graydon glanced over at her, her face giving

him a humorless smile. She dried their cups, and he
focused more intently than necessary on the last
plate in the sink.

She was right; he had been interested in the

woman she had been pretending to be. He hadn’t
known where that interest might go, but he wanted
to find out. She had been opposite of him in every
way, and he was drawn to her like forbidden fruit.

He now tried picturing what their life might

have been like, had she not been a part of this

organization. If she actually was the quiet therapist
he had grown to know and care for.

He tried to imagine what they would do, how

they would spend their weekends. What friends
they might spend time with, but it didn’t add up. He
couldn’t see himself changing enough to be what
she would have wanted.

He didn’t like to read much; he hated the quiet

and  impassively  calm  nature  she  had  always
carried.  Graydon  craved  adventure  and  action.
Now that he was allowing himself to think about it;
he  honestly  couldn’t  see  a  future  with  the
imaginary  woman  he  had  wanted  so  badly  only  a
few short hours ago.

He should have known better, he had known it

all of his life: guys like him didn’t get happily ever
after. The happiest ending he could hope for would
be a quick death. He wasn’t the guy that spent
quiet weekends at home, or attended parties with
other couple friends.

He couldn’t be what women like that needed or

wanted. Graydon wasn’t made for that. She was
right; the truth set him free. Free from idolizing a
life he would never have fit into.

"I guess you’re right. I don’t think Brenna Klein

would have stayed too long anyway," he said as he
gave her a subdued smile.

She looked curiously up at him before asking,

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he explained, “She was quiet and calm.

She didn’t seem like the type that would be ok with
guns and loud activities. Plus, she hated football,
which honestly, should have been my first red flag.”

She laughed, causing him to smile. He had to

admit the dark hair was growing on him. Where the
red hair made her look guiltless and angelic, her
black hair brought out something of a more deadly,
passionate side. She looked every bit as fiery and
unyielding as he was coming to know her to be.

She was the first to break the quiet that settled

between them. “She isn’t me. Even though I’d do it
again in a heartbeat to save what we’re risking our
lives for; I am sorry it had to be done to you.”

Alena turned to him. Her hip leaning against the

sink as she added, “You deserve happiness
Graydon, don’t let this stop you from looking for
it.”

His eyes searched hers, afraid of speaking the

words  he  wanted  to  say.  The  ones  that  said  he
wasn’t  worthy  of  what  she  was  telling  him  he
deserved.  She  was  echoing  words  that  people  said
when they didn't know all the terrible things he had
done.  Graydon  did  not  deserve  a  happy  life,  and
that was just how it was.

He knew well enough to know that there was

no magic in the world, there was no fairy who
would show up and suddenly grant him a peaceful
life.

People could sleep safely at night from the

monsters he kept away, doing things that in turn
had made him a monster himself. That kind of stuff
couldn’t be overlooked or forgiven.

"You’re not a real therapist Alena," Graydon

replied, his words icy. He turned back to the sink as
she immediately fired back a reply, “Maybe not,
but I was your friend for a year.”

His hands dropped to the edge of the sink, not

meeting her eyes. “How can you be friends with
someone who’s a lie?”

Alena's voice was commanding. “Don’t. You’re

trying to push me out. I know you. I was there
Graydon, don’t forget it. I may not have a piece of
paper that says I’m a therapist, but for a year I
listened to you. For a year, I helped pull you out of
the dark shell of a human you were when you came
in.”

He turned to face her, determination filling her

face. She was right, she had been there. Even if she
was no real therapist, he couldn’t deny she helped
him. He didn’t like to think back to what he had
been when he first arrived.

When he was fresh from the accident, the ink

still drying on his discharge papers. He had been
angry, and unwilling to see the truth. He had been
difficult, and callus, but she stayed.

She toughed it out for a year, making small

progress and opening him up little by little. Alena

had  been  the  first  one  to  make  him  laugh  since
leaving  the  military.  She  had  been  the  one  to  give
him  a  lifeline,  a  hand  in  the  dark  to  pull  him  up
when he needed it the most.

He turned fully to her, his dark brown eyes

finding hers. His voice rising as the resentment
seeped into his words. “You have no idea who I am
Alena. You don't know what I’ve done. Guys like
me...we don’t get families. We don’t get -”

She cut him off, her voice matching his, fire for

fire.

“You don’t get love because that’s just one

more  weakness  someone  could  use  against  you.
You don’t get to have a quiet life because when you
slow  down,  you  get  sloppy.  When  you  get  sloppy,
people  die.  You  don’t  get  to  share  your  life  with
anyone  because  how  could  you  ever  explain  away
your  night  terrors?  That  you  always  have  two
weapons on you at any given moment? I get it.”

Alena paused, her eyes unyielding as she

pressed on, “You’re not the only one who’s been
through hell and back Graydon. You’re not the only
one who wants more than they know they deserve.
You just have to be willing to fight for it. Be willing
to go after it as ruthlessly as you do any other job
you come across.”

He looked into her eyes so full of passion. He

realized then how much she was like him. Alena
was a soldier, she knew what it was like to fight and

bleed for something you believed in.

She knew what it was like to sleep with one eye

open, or more than likely, not at all. She knew what
it  felt  like  to  be  watched  and  hunted.  Alena  was
every  bit  as  much  of  an  oddity  as  he  was.  If  there
was  anyone  in  this  world  who  had  a  chance  of
understanding him, it would be her.

It would be Alena, with her fiery passion and

entrancing green eyes. It would be Alena with her
snarky, quick comments and dark red lips. With her
face alight with determination.

"Are you talking about me or yourself?" he

asked.

“Why do you have to differentiate?” she

demanded.

He shook his head, “Look, I’m not trying to

play down anything you do.”

“You don’t know what I do,” she interjected, a

hand on her hip.

He gave her a pointed look before replying,

“People like us aren’t meant to have that kind of
life, we aren’t meant to play those parts.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Are you scared? Is

that it? Does the idea of something good and happy
scare you? Because you sound like you’re making
excuses right now.”

He pursed his lips, the words he wanted to say

fighting to come out. He hesitated another moment
before speaking, the words barely audible. “What if

I fail? What if it all goes to hell? A relationship with
a person like me might not just end in heartbreak,
and I couldn’t put someone else through that.”

She gazed up at him, meeting his tense look. “It

will assuredly all go to hell, you just have to find
someone willing to take the trip with you. A partner
who makes the trip worth it.”

The words she said sent a chill down his spine.

“You sound like you’re offering,” he remarked.

The two of them were just a few inches away,

each breathing deeply. Their bodies tense and ready
for something to happen. Whether that action might
be an outright brawl or a burst of passion he wasn’t
sure.

She spoke then, her voice steady and level. “I

offered you a chance to do something with your
life, not a chance to play boyfriend.”

“So you’re all talk? You can sit here and preach

to me about not taking a leap of faith, but you’re
unwilling to do the same.”

“Maybe,” she began, “I’m just unwilling to take

the leap with you.”

She smirked and he was again reminded how

infuriatingly  snarky  she  was.  He  took  her  in,  his
eyes  searching  for  any  hint  of  emotion  or  clue  to
what she was actually feeling. His eyes ran over her
lips  and  he  felt  a  longing  to  have  them  pressed
against  his  again.  Her  green  eyes  were  playful  and
wickedly alluring. He wondered if she felt the same

burning desire that was getting harder and harder
for him to keep in check.

“Graydon, you’ve got too much baggage to be

worried about anyone other than yourself right
now,” she remarked.

“Is that my therapist talking or the Russian

operative?” he asked wryly.

She gave him an amused look before waving

her hand dismissively. “You’re not my type either
way.”

His face broke out into a wide grin, "Oh, I think

I’m exactly your type."

His eyes traveled down the curve of her body.

Graydon's hands fighting the urge to hold her
against him.

“You can’t say the moment in the office was all

an act. I felt you, Alena. I felt your body react to
mine. Are you going to pretend this is one-sided?”

Her cheeks reddened and something flashed a

moment in her eyes. He thought for a brief second
she  might  smack  him,  but  instead,  she  moved
closer.  Her  chest  barely  touching  his,  the  air
electric.  She  stood  on  her  tiptoes,  leaning  in  to
whisper  in  his  ear.  “You  couldn’t  handle  me,
Graydon King.”

He inclined his head to her softly, feeling her

cheek pressed against his as he asked, “Is that a
challenge?” Graydon could feel her grin before she
replied, “I don’t think you know what you’re

asking for.”

His hand went to her side, his finger trailing the

curve of her body slowly. “I’d like to find out.”

She closed the distance between the two of

them. Her hands going to his chest and undoing the
shirt’s buttons.

Within moments he was helping her tug his shirt

off.  He  pressed  his  mouth  to  hers,  a  hunger
threatening  to  consume  him.  When  he  had  first
kissed  her  lips,  there  had  been  trepidation  and
shyness. He hadn’t wanted to push her or scare her
away.

Now, as her hands traveled the length of his

chest  eagerly,  and  his  mouth  fervently  pressed
against  hers,  there  was  an  intensity  and  fire.  She
was  not  the  quiet  therapist  he  was  scared  of
hurting. She was Alena, a passionate soldier of her
own  making  that  could  take  him  toe  to  toe.  He
pulled  her  to  him,  not  wanting  any  space  between
them.

He could almost hear the blood pounding in his

body, needing her skin pressed to his like he needed
air to breathe. She leaned her head back, and he
kissed her neck. His hands sliding up her dress.

Her skin was soft and warm, and his body

pulsated with a desire to feel more. He followed her
thigh up, his hand tracing and teasing circles on her
skin. A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips as he
moved his hands between her legs. Lace met his

fingers, and he raised an eyebrow.

The lacy fabric was wet to his touch, and a

guttural  moan  came  out  of  his  lips  as  he  gently
rubbed  her.  She  moved  her  hand  down  his  chest
and  undid  his  pants.  Her  hand  sliding  inside  and
moving  to  his  hard  manhood.  He  slid  his  fingers
inside of her. Alena gasped in pleasure as he moved
in rhythm, in and out of her. Alena raised her leg up
his, pushing against his hardness.

He slid his wet fingers out of her and picked her

up, her legs wrapping around his waist. Graydon
pressed her back against the wall, her dress riding
up as he pulled off his pants.

She spoke then, the first words coming out of

her lips since their passionate kiss began.
“Graydon, you know this can’t be anything more
than sex. I have to leave when all of this is over.”

He moved back to sucking on her neck as she

was  speaking,  his  hands  roaming  freely  over  her
body, pressing her against the wall. She pressed her
lips to his again, her tongue pushing him closer and
closer to the edge.
His  reply  was  quick  between  kisses,  his  voice
heavy  with  want.  “Why?  Why  can’t  we  give  it  a
shot?”

She shook her head, “I can’t abandon them.”

He paused, catching her eyes. “But you can

abandon me? Is that what you’re saying?” he
asked.

She blinked, her face torn. A palpable tension

filling  the  space  between  them.  It  had  been  a  long
time  since  Graydon  had  been  with  a  woman,  and
there  certainly  hadn’t  been  any  who  had  matched
him  so  perfectly,  who  understood  him  so  well.  He
didn’t know where this could lead, but he knew he
didn’t want it to just be sex.

“When this is all over you still plan on leaving?” he
asked,  his  voice  strained.  She  replied  in  protest,
“Our  faces  are  going  to  be  sent  out  to  every
intelligence  agency  in  the  country,  we’re  all  going
to have to leave. It’s the only way you’ll have a life
after this.”

His eyes held hers. “I get that, but you know what I
mean. Do you still plan on leaving?” Leaving him,
the unspoken end of the sentence hanging in the air.

“That’s not fair Graydon, they’re my family,” she
replied softly.

He nodded, resolution hardening his face. “I

get it.”

He put her down, his body physically hurting from

not  being  near  her  anymore.  Alena’s  eyes  filled
with  sadness.  “Join  us.  Come  with  us.  You’ll  be
protected and safe. We could see where this goes.”
He shook his head, “I’m tired of being a soldier for
hire  Alena.  I’m  tired  of  fighting  the  battles  other
people decide are worth my life. Aren’t you? Don’t
you want something more?”

She bit her lip before replying, her face filled

with such sadness that he had to force himself not
to take her in his arms again, “I can’t”.

Confusion filled his features. “Can’t? You can’t, or
you won't?” he asked. She opened her mouth to
speak as a pounding on the door resounded through
the room.

A voice called out from the entryway, “You two

ready to get this show on the road? It’s time to go.”

Graydon was still watching her, ignoring the

voice that called to them. He watched as her iron
mask of indifference fell across her features,
replacing the hurt and pain that had filled her face
just moments ago.

Alena straightened her dress and ran her fingers

through her hair as he numbly began putting his
clothes back on.

Chapter 10

he two didn’t speak as they finished getting

dressed and walked to the side door of the
apartment. She glanced at her phone before looking
over at him.

"Your ride is waiting. Remember, when you walk
out of here you need to look like a man in love."

He gave a grunt of a reply to that before

slipping his shoes on. When he didn’t reply further
she continued, “You’ll be in the dark with everyone
due to your missing cell phone, but we’ll have eyes
on you at all times. If you need to contact us go
through Rolav.”

Graydon nodded and walked to the door. She

followed  him,  texting  something  on  the  phone
before  pausing,  catching  his  eyes.  “We’re  more
alike  than  you  might  think  Graydon.  This  group  is
my family, my unit. They’re the only life I have. If

you hadn’t of gotten discharged can you honestly
say you would've walked away?”

He read her eyes a moment before leaning

down and kissing her lips. There wasn’t anything he
wanted to say, anything he could say. He had
allowed himself to get swept away in romantic
notions of love.

He allowed himself to believe for a brief

moment  that  he  might  have  found  someone.  The
notion,  however,  was  as  fake  as  the  woman  Alena
had  pretended  to  be.  He  mentally  kicked  himself
for  thinking  this  was  anything  more  than  a  job  to
her.

He pulled the door open, and affixed a lopsided

half-grin  onto  his  face  before  waving  to  the  driver
parked  out  front  of  the  studio.  Graydon  jogged
down  the  steps  and  got  inside  the  waiting  car,
giving the man his address. He looked up to Alena’s
apartment window with a grin before the car pulled
away.  Graydon  didn’t  let  the  grin  leave  his  face
until he got home.

Even in his own apartment he knew he was

being watched, the dopey grin settling into a more
relaxed calm. It was exhausting, pretending that
everything was right in the world.

Pretending that his boss wasn’t a monster who

designed something that threatened the nation he
protected. Pretending that his therapist wasn’t a

Russian spy who had him wrapped around her
manicured little finger.

He forced himself to push the thoughts of her

away. He rehearsed the plan, but thoughts of Alena
came back to him like an addiction he couldn't
shake. Graydon's muscles were tense with
frustration as he padded around his home.

It was only when he stepped into the shower

did  he  allowed  himself  to  relax.  The  fake  grin
dropping,  his  shoulders  relaxing.  He  thought  back
to  what  she  said  to  him.  Would  he  have  left  the
military?  Would  he  have  stepped  away  from  the
only place he had ever known happiness? He didn’t
think so.

It was easy to say yes, theoretically, but he

knew reality was a much harder pill to swallow. He
had never thought he would leave the military. It
always seemed pointless to think of something like
that. He had enjoyed his job and the calming
routine of it all.

That had been his home, just as this group was

for Alena. Could he really expect her to leave
something like that for whatever they had
developing between them?

He didn’t even know how he felt for her. She

was  attractive,  obviously.  Her  smile  alone  had
awoken things in him he never thought he had. Her
touch  drove  him  crazy.  With  physical  attraction,
they  were  hitting  it  out  of  the  park.  With  anything

farther than that, things got tricky.

His last actual relationship was before basic,

before  he  even  knew  who  he  was.  It  hadn’t  gone
well  then,  and  that  was  before  he  became  who  he
was  today.  He  thought  about  them  together,  their
chances at a life.

Alena had been the one to pull him out of his

darkest days. She had been the one who saw
something in him and made him fight for it. She was
smart, much smarter than him, and determined. He
could see the arguments ending in broken furniture
already. She didn’t yield, and neither did he.

She understood him though, in a way that only

someone who was already a friend could. Someone
who had also walked through Hell and came out on
the other side. She understood him, sometimes,
better than he understood himself. She put the
mission first though, and he wasn't sure he wanted
that anymore.

There was something there, something that

could be great, but there was no getting around this
group. He couldn’t ask her to leave. He couldn’t
expect or demand that of her, but he also knew he
couldn't join them either.

Graydon was tired of being someone else’s

puppet. He was tired of fighting wars he didn’t
believe in or even worse, wars he didn’t know
about.

He was through with being used and played like

a toy. He was ready to have a real life. The
problem, was that the only person who could offer
him a shot at having a real life was in a group
determined to make him into another soldier.

He couldn’t even picture Alena as a soldier, he

wasn’t  sure  she  was  one.  She  hadn’t  gone  into
detail  about  her  specific  job  in  the  group.  He
prayed  it  wasn’t  a  repeat  position  of  pretend
therapist.  He  didn’t  want  to  imagine  her  traveling
around the world and spending a year cozying up to
strange  men.  The  thought  of  Alena  smiling  her
alluring  smile  at  another  guy  was  enough  to  make
his blood boil.

She had mentioned she would be there tonight

without him knowing, which he had doubted. Still,
it was preferable to thinking of her as a shadow,
and not a seductress.

Graydon stepped out of the shower and

gathered  his  things  together.  He  had  just  enough
time to make a sandwich before leaving for Harvell
Tech.  He  took  his  time,  trying  not  to  grin  when  he
thought  about  Alena  making  fun  of  his  lack  of
cooking skills.

He packed his suitcase and paused a moment in

consideration  that  he  would  never  see  this  place
again.  When  the  mission  was  over,  he  would  have
to  run.  There  would  be  no  coming  back  to  this
place,  or  anywhere  else  they  would  be  expecting
him.

He didn’t allow himself to think any more about

Alena’s offer to join her. There was too much he
needed to focus on, but it was certainly there at the
back of his mind. He closed the small briefcase that
he always took to work, not putting anything
personal inside.

Graydon had brought nothing with him, and

there was nothing he needed that he wouldn’t be
able to buy wherever he ended up. Mentally closing
this chapter of his life in his mind, he gripped the
suitcase firmly and walked out of the door.

The streets were crowded, and he used that to

his advantage, taking his time weaving in and out of
people. He tucked his head into his flipped-up
jacket collar as he walked along.

It was something he did when walking the

streets  in  an  unfamiliar  city.  Though  there  was
nothing  unfamiliar  about  the  walk  he  was  taking
now,  the  knowledge  of  him  being  watched  was
enough  to  warrant  it  in  his  mind.  Graydon  knew
there  was  nothing  that  a  coat  collar  could  do  to
protect a precisely aimed shot, but they had to have
that precise shot before they could take it.

Graydon made it to Harvell Tech at 7:32. He

knew  Masha  would  loathe  that  he  was  already
ruining  their  careful  plan  for  him  to  be  there  at
exactly  7:30.  Graydon  had  known  from  the
beginning  that  the  time  she  insisted  on  wouldn’t
happen.

If anyone had been tailing him and noting his

actions, 7:30 would have raised a red flag to even
the newest of newbies, but 7:32? Not a chance.

He entered through the underground garage,

following the same path he and Alena walked just a
day  before.  He  keyed  in  his  codes  and  rode  the
elevator  into  the  bowels  of  the  building.  Graydon
grabbed  a  talkie  off  the  wall  and  cleared  security,
making his way to his office.

His eye caught the painting Alena had fawned

over, and he knew without a doubt that hadn’t been
staged. His mind indulgently thought about the
galleries and shows they could attend. Alena
holding onto his arm, and how their evenings might
end.

He questioned if he was willing to give up those

thoughts for life as a normal man, unburdened by
being what this group or anyone else wanted him to
be. Graydon pushed the thoughts of her out of his
mind as he unlocked his office door.

He was here to do a job, a dangerous one. The

last thing he needed was to have his mind
wandering to thoughts of Alena Vasiliev. He walked
to his desk and accessed the computer.

He read over the security report that was

emailed  to  him.  There  was  nothing  worth  any
interest,  but  he  took  his  time,  and  even  ordered  a
random  supply  he  would  have  needed  in  a  few
days. He wouldn’t be here, but the less suspicion he

gave them was only more time he gave himself to
run.

Graydon ran the codes in the system; going

through the motions of the job exactly how he
would do if this all wasn’t a lie. He printed out the
report and made notes and comments he would
leave for his boss to read the next morning.

Graydon stapled the sheets together and

focused his attention back to his computer. He dug
into the computer’s security system, and into the
storage that housed their projects.

His clearance easily got him into the softball

stuff  they  didn’t  mind  sharing  with  people  who
might  breach  the  first  level  of  security.  They  were
projects  on  targeted  ads  and  gaming  speeds.  The
projects they always hinted at to the media to keep
the company in the public’s eye.

Those chips and designs were like the small fish

swimming at the surface of the ocean. He needed to
dive deeper into their security to get to the big fish,
and then further past them to the monsters. Making
his way in and through the first and second levels,
he entered his codes for access into the third, the
monster level.

Each level of the security system had three fail

safes. When one level’s security was breached or
compromised, the second layer went up, and then
the third.

Graydon had designed the security system to be

triple guarded that way. There were few hackers
who could make it past one of their security walls.
That number decreased even greater with making it
past a second.

Even if a genius hacker could get past the first

and second, the odds they got past a third before
Harvell Tech could respond were almost nothing.

Graydon keyed in the sequence codes, and

waited  for  the  access  to  boot  up.  He  noticed  the
server  was  taking  more  time  than  necessary.
Graydon  leaned  forward  to  check  on  the  progress
and a message came up on the screen notifying him
he did not have access. Graydon’s brows furrowed
in confusion.

He himself had oversaw and built this security

system. He knew the ins and outs of every piece of
security enforcement they were running. Graydon’s
hand drummed on his knee in thought before he
keyed in his access code again. He tried not to
show much emotion, past obvious confusion at not
being able to access the security system he built.

As the system began the slow process of

checking his credentials again he ran through all the
scenarios that might have caused this. He didn’t
think he was compromised. He had done nothing
out of the ordinary to raise suspicion, at least not in
his mind.

There was a chance Hart bumped the security

up a notch for the incoming parties he invited to the

bidding war, but even then his access codes should
have automatically been cleared by the system.

The same error code came back to him and he

sighed in annoyance before deciding to take a new
approach to the security measures.

Graydon tried remembering Hart’s code. It was

one that changed all the time, but they mainly used
the same numbers and letters just in a rotating
pattern each time they made a switch.

Graydon keyed in a code and held his breath as

it came back informing him those credentials were
denied. Sighing in frustration he tried another that
came back flashing that it too was denied.

He knew if he keyed another wrong code into

the system the first level of security would pick it
up as being compromised. It would then prompt the
second level to lock down the mainframe, and alert
their tech and security team.

Graydon worked his way out of the system,

manually turning levels of security off starting with
the first softball level.

He planned on attacking the system from the

outside  in.  In  theory,  no  matter  what  Hart  did
Graydon  would  still  have  access  to  the  main
servers.  With  using  them,    he  could  access  the
levels  he  knew  were  hiding  the  bad  projects  like
Gordion.

He sent up a silent prayer before he began the

process of shutting them down one by one.

Graydon never thought he would see a day when
the tech company would have a total security shut
down. He also hadn’t thought he’d see the day
where he’d be the one destroying projects either.

Graydon put his hand on his knee, willing

himself to relax and breathe deeply. The plan was
slowly coming together when the system paused,
and he got an alert on his screen.

Automated Response//Forced Shut-Down Of

Security Level Alpha Detected//FS2 Enacted//
Base Level Driven //Press 1 If Shut-Down
Prepensely//Press 2 To Activate Manual Strike//

The alert was system-generated and would be

sent to his phone, and Hart’s, then lastly to his
computer. He didn’t have his cell so he wouldn’t be
able to respond, nor would he know if Hart had
seen the message.

In the past whenever a security breach was

tripped, and a message went out, Hart never
replied.

Graydon

had

always

responded

immediately, sending Hart a quick message
informing him that he would handle the issue.

There had been no need for his boss to lift a

finger, nor reply. However, as he stared at the
message on his screen, he knew his time was
running out.

Thinking quickly, he pulled up his email and

sent out a message to Hart. Graydon assured him
that he had purposefully triggered the code, and all

was well with the system.

He apologized for the missing cell phone, and

informed his boss he would be at the telecom store
tomorrow  for  a  new  one.  He  also  mentioned  the
system  had  a  bug  he  was  trying  to  work  on,  and
that  he  would  put  a  full  report  on  his  desk  in  the
morning.  Graydon  didn’t  spend  too  much  time
thinking about the scenarios that could unfold.

Either Hart was onto him and had purposely

locked him out, in which case he’d be arrested
soon; or the system was upgraded, which could
have triggered a bug locking him out, in which case
he could proceed according to plan.

He moved his attention back to the system,

pushing  the  servers  to  shut  down  the  second  level
of  security.  Graydon  didn’t  pay  attention  to  the
system  generated  response  that  showed  up  on  his
screen alerting him of the shut-down.

Graydon could leave and head to Hart’s office,

he  could  destroy  the  project  and  trust  this  group,
but  he  wouldn’t  allow  himself  to.  He  needed  to
know  what  was  on  those  chips.  He  knew  this  was
risky;  he  knew  he  might  be  putting  the  whole
mission  at  stake,  but  he  needed  to  know  he  was
doing the right thing.

The soldier in him was rebelling against

questioning orders. He wanted to believe this group
was telling the truth, and the Gordion project was
every bit as awful as they had said. Graydon

wanted to trust them and put his faith in Alena, but
the side of him that had been lied to for over a year
demanded otherwise.

He needed to put faith in himself for once. He

pushed the servers into the last shut-down and
turned off the final level of security. Accessing the
hidden files easily now, Graydon began reading.

His eyes started scanning the documents and

plans, scrolling past one screen onto another. The
Gordion project laid in front of him in all of its
glory.

The project was every bit as bad as Alena’s

group had told him. A small part of his chest felt
lighter at the knowledge that she had been truthful
with him, at least in that aspect.

That lightness, however, was slowly replaced

with a quiet rage. As Graydon continued reading he
realized that he had been helping a monster this
whole time. His heart beat quicker in his chest as he
read the estimated capacity of the small device.

It would be like unleashing a virtual plague on

the  world.  As  his  eyes  scanned  the  screen,  he  felt
his  stomach  clench,  Harvell  Tech  was  already
drafting  codes  to  create  something  more  lethal.
Graydon wasn’t even sure the technology was there
for the program they had entitled DYMC.

Quickly, he finished reading over every product

they were working on, checking every so often that
the system was still down. He felt like he was in the

dinosaur movie, and he was the guy who just shut
security off to the whole park.

Glancing at his watch he noticed it was almost

10:30, the time he needed to meet Rolav outside of
his office. They would need to move quick, no
longer having the luxury of the system being in the
dark about their entry.

He didn’t know if his boss was up this late, or if

he would even bother checking the system, but if
he did, their game would be up. There was no
reason in the world the system would be down this
long.

Nothing

other

than

something

being

catastrophically wrong - like someone stealing
every bit of the technology plans they had in their
arsenal.

Graydon slipped the flash drive into his pocket

and grabbed the report he had done earlier off his
desk. He walked out of his office door at the exact
moment Rolav, better known to him as Mark
Brown, stepped into the hallway.

Rolav walked to him and spoke up. “Hello Mr.

King. I’m sorry to bother you, but we received a
message from a Miss Brenna Klein. She said to tell
you that next time, she wants dinner at the
Moroccan place on 4th street.”

Graydon stared at him a moment, the message

not making any sense.

He assumed they would generate a bogus

message  as  an  excuse  to  have  Rolav  meet  him.
However,  as  his  mind  turned  the  words  over  he
couldn’t  help  but  feel  like  Alena  was  trying  to  tell
him something.

Graydon wasn’t even sure he had seen a

Moroccan  restaurant  in  this  city  before,  at  least
none  he  could  remember.  For  the  life  of  him,  he
couldn’t  figure  out  what  she  was  trying  to  say.  He
forced  a  grin  in  case  the  cameras  were  still
recording, and nodded to the blonde man.

“Ah, thank you. While you’re here, would you

mind helping me with something? The systems are
being odd tonight.”

Rolav nodded and the two of them made their

way to Hart’s office. He thought again to Alena’s
message. She used Brenna Klein, which could have
been a hint that the message had a secret meaning.

She could also have used it because any other

name might not have gotten his attention. Graydon
shook it off, there was no point in dwelling on it
anymore when there was a job to be done.

The code box outside Hart’s office was turned

off. It, along with the rest of the system, remained
shut  down  so  Graydon  slid  his  key  in  and  opened
the door. The two of them walked inside, and Rolav
pulled  his  flashlight  out,  illuminating  the  large
office.  Graydon  moved  to  Hart’s  desk  and  set  the
report on top before turning back to Rolav.

He nodded towards the wall where the secured

door  was  hidden  that  stored  the  deadly  stuff.  The
two  of  them  walked  together,  Rolav’s  flashlight
lighting  the  way.  Graydon  was  silent  as  he  and
Rolav moved to the hidden door, sliding a small key
into a place in the wall that opened for a traditional
lock.  He  put  the  key  into  the  compartment  and
turned, watching as the door opened from the wall.

Graydon and Rolav walked into the hidden

chamber, moving to the first small compartment. It
was funny how much things could change in so
little time. He had been standing in front of some of
the worst creations to have ever been made, and he
had been oblivious. He was not only oblivious, but
he had been the one responsible for ensuring their
safety. Now he would be the one to destroy them.

He opened the first compartment and grabbed

the small chip inside. It was no bigger than a
postage stamp, but it had the potential to bring the
free world to its knees.

Graydon slipped the project into his pocket. He

shut the door and moved to the second
compartment, sliding his key in before reaching in.

Graydon grabbed the large chip it held and

handed  it  to  Rolav.  The  young  man  slipped  it  into
his  uniform  pocket  and  followed  him  as  he  moved
to the third. There were rows of compartments, but
Graydon  knew  there  were  only  seven  that  held
anything important.

The other compartments stored everything from

jewelry to bonds. Hart liked to keep a few of his
personal valuables where he could see them.
Graydon had never thought anything about it.

Now, as he was moving through the small area,

collecting chip after chip, he wondered if Hart kept
a few things here in case things went south. Alena’s
group couldn’t be the only ones who knew about all
of the projects the lab was cooking up.

He and Rolav grabbed the last of the chips and

headed  towards  the  door.  The  pair  walked  out,
Graydon  turning  quickly  to  the  panel  on  the  wall
and  putting  in  his  key  to  seal  the  door  closed.
Graydon heard the door’s parts begin to move and
he watched only a second as the door began sliding
shut.

They needed to make it back to his office and

delete all of the plans and files to be done with the
whole ordeal. Turning, he and Rolav began walking
towards Hart’s office door. The pair made it
halfway across the dark room when the lights
turned on. Freezing in place, he and Rolav glanced
at each other.

The blonde man looked every bit as confused as

he  was,  and  Graydon’s  eyes  darted  around  the
room  to  find  who  had  tripped  the  light  switch.
Confusion  read  on  his  face  as  he  glanced  around
the room, noting there was no one in sight.

“Hand me your gun,” Graydon said to Rolav,

the blonde man hesitating for a moment before

moving to the holstered weapon.

“I wouldn’t do that Graydon,” the voice spoke

from the wall adjacent to them, clear as day.

Graydon didn’t move a muscle as the wall

opposite of he and Rolav slid open, revealing Hart
Druvell and two men. One who he had never seen
before, and the other being Jonah, his driver. Jonah
gave him a mock salute with a grin on his face.

Graydon tried not to show surprise as the young

man regarded him with amusement. The group
walked over and he watched as the other man he
didn’t know turned, grabbing someone from where
they had been standing.

The man pulled the figure from the shadows, a

woman now gripped in his arms. A woman with
dark black hair and piercing green eyes

Chapter 11

raydon felt as if his blood would boil as he

watched the large man handle Alena, her hands
clasped sharply behind her back. Hart Druvell and
Jonah walked towards them leisurely, the other man
following, shoving Alena along.

“Let her go Hart,” Graydon growled.
His former boss laughed in return. With the

office wrapped in silence, the booming laugh of
Hart Druvell was like a gunshot in the night.

Hart stopped a few feet short of where he and

Rolav were, replying in a bored tone.

"Why would I ever do that? We found her

crawling around the building’s air ducts. Finders
keepers, isn’t that what the kids say?”

Graydon didn’t reply.
“I’ve got to say I’m disappointed in you

Graydon.  Here  I  was  paying  you  a  very  generous
amount  to  keep  my  projects  safe.  I’ve  kept  you
comfortable, and well taken care of, and in return,
you  sell  me  out  at  the  first  chance  you  get.”  Hart

said as he shook his head in disappointment.

“I wouldn’t call it selling out if I’m protecting

the American people.” Graydon replied, his voice
venomous.

Hart rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Most

Americans are being spied on anyway, what do the
rest of them matter? What do you care if it means
keeping this country safe? You didn’t think of that
possibility did you? The Government using this to
keep the borders safe?”

“That’s not how freedom works Hart.” Graydon

replied.

“That’s how it’s going to work, that is if the

American  government  wins  the  bid.  I  personally
don’t  care  either  way.  I  think  I’ve  had  enough  of
the  tech  world.  It’s  a  young  man’s  game.”  Hart
replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Graydon didn’t move his eyes from the older

man’s face. He said nothing as he listened to Hart
drivel on about his plans for world domination. He
knew if he could get Hart to keep talking, he could
come up with a plan to get them out of there.

This wasn’t the first time he was caught off

guard, he could still get the group out, he just
needed a little more time. Hart sighed. “Speaking of
young men, Jonah, would you dispose of Rolav
please, his presence is annoying me.”

Graydon yelled out "No!" as Jonah raised his

gun and fired. Jonah moved quick, with zero

hesitation, and before Rolav had the chance to
move to his weapon he was struck by the bullet.

Graydon caught Rolav in his arms, and he

applied pressure to the wound, knowing it wouldn’t
help.

He could hear Alena saying something in

Russian  as  the  ringing  in  his  ears  slowly  subsided.
The  young  man  nudged  Graydon’s  hands  with  his
own,  and  Graydon  felt  the  three  chips  he  had
grabbed earlier now in his palm.

Rolav tried to speak, but as his mouth opened

his eyes closed, and they didn’t open again.
Graydon’s heart was racing with anger and
adrenaline.

He grabbed the weapon that Rolav had,

pointing it at Hart.

“You get attached so quickly Graydon, it really

is a terrible trait for someone in your field,” Hart
replied leisurely.

“Why? Tell me why I shouldn’t put a bullet in

you and end this,” he seethed.

“You know why, if you didn’t you would have

shot  me  by  now.  You  won’t  though,  because  you
know  Mr.  Compton  will  put  a  bullet  in  your  sweet
Alena.  I  think  we  all  know  you  won’t  let  that
happen. You’ll lower your weapon now and slide it
over this way please," Hart replied.

Graydon stood slowly, his hand still raised at

Hart, the gun pointing at the older man’s chest. He

calculated  the  odds  of  being  able  to  fire  before
Compton  or  Jonah  could  shoot  Alena,  but  as  his
eyes moved to her he noticed the other man had a
gun  jammed  directly  in  her  side.  Jonah’s  weapon
was now pointed at him.

He could perhaps shoot Compton before he

could  fire  anything,  but  Jonah  would  have  more
time  than  he  was  comfortable  with  in  shooting
either  Alena  or  Himself.  Graydon  lowered  his
weapon and kicked it across the floor. Hart smiled,
“That’s a good soldier.”

“Why kill him Hart?” he asked.
Hart’s eye narrowed, an edge of anger seeping

into his words.

“Do you think I was so careless as to not know

about  this  failed  infiltration?  Do  you  really  think
you  were  my  only  security  detail?  I’ve  been
watching  you  and  this  ridiculous  group  for  years
Graydon. You’re good at what you do, I’ll give you
that,  but  you’re  so  naive;  it’s  a  wonder  you’ve
made it this long.”

Graydon studied Hart as he continued to rant.
“I know all about Mr. Rolav and Miss Vasiliev. I

know all about the team they think gets away with
so much. I know you spent the night in the hovel
they call headquarters, and I know you have my
property in your possession as we speak.”

Graydon shrugged, “So why let it go on? Why

let all of this happen then?”

Hart chuckled. “I honestly hoped you weren’t

so stupid. I had believed that when you discovered
who Miss Vasiliev was you would have taken care
of this little problem without me having to lift a
finger. I should have known you would have fallen
for her tricks.”

Graydon humorlessly laughed. “You act like

you haven’t been lying to me this whole time. I
suppose you’re the innocent one in all of this?”

"I haven’t lied to you once, Graydon. You were

the one who never asked what we were keeping so
hidden.  You  were  the  one  who  never  bothered
looking  for  the  security  detail  who  tailed  you.  You
were  happy  to  live  in  your  sheltered  bubble,  so
that’s where you stayed,” Hart replied.

Graydon clenched his fists. Hart was right, he

had been the one to overlook it all. He hadn’t
pushed back and acted like the soldier he had been
trained to be his whole life.

He had jumped into the civilian world and

forgotten who he was. Now he prayed that mistake
wouldn’t get them all killed.

“How stupid of me to think you were anything

better than any of those terrorist groups out there;
willing to burn the world to the ground if it means
you get to make a quick buck,” he fumed.

“You want to blame me? Fine, blame me, but

that won’t take responsibility off of you. Now hand
those chips over.”

Graydon took a chip from his pocket and

dropped it onto the ground, his foot hovering over
it. Hart watched him, his face tense with concealed
rage. “If you do, I will make sure they end her life
in the slowest way possible, while you watch.”

Graydon’s foot remained poised to come down

on the chip. That was the problem with technology.
The tiniest pieces of machinery could bring the
world down, but the slightest bit of pressure could
destroy those little pieces of technology.

It didn’t take much to wreak havoc on the tiny

instruments he had in his pocket. He imagined just
dropping it on the ground probably shifted or broke
something loose. When he visited the design labs it
was always an air-tight facility, the tiniest bit of
dust could sometimes ruin weeks of work.

“Let her go and we can negotiate.” Graydon

spoke, his eyes remaining on Hart. Alena hadn’t
said a word, and he hadn’t met her eyes. He didn’t
know what she could be thinking.

He didn’t know if she had ever been in this kind

of position before, or if she had been trained for
things like this. Graydon did know he couldn't take
her being at the mercy of a large, armed man much
longer. It was taking all the restraint in the world
not to charge the man himself.

Hart laughed then, and Graydon was certain

that if he had the gun back in his hands he would
have fired the shot; just to remove the smug look

on Hart’s face.

“Why would I ever do that? She’s my leverage

Graydon,” Hart replied.

“Your leverage for me? Are you forgetting I

discovered  who  she  was  24  hours  ago?  I  don’t
know  her  at  all,  and  I  certainly  don’t  care  enough
about  her  for  her  to  be  leveraged.  I  want  this
between  you  and  me.”  Graydon  answered,  hoping
Hart  would  believe  the  lie.  Hart’s  eyes  were  alight
with humor.

“You don’t know do you?” Hart asked.
Graydon betrayed nothing as Hart grinned

widely. “She’s not leverage for you, though it’s
humorous to listen to you pretend to not care about
her. No, she’s leverage to them. She’s not just a spy
Graydon, oh no, not our little Alena here.”

Hart walked over to where Alena and Compton

were, his hand moving to touch Alena’s hair.

Graydon took a step towards them, his anger

propelling him forward. Jonah raised his weapon to
Graydon and he froze, clenching and unclenching
his fist. “Don’t touch her,” he hissed. His anger
threatening to consume him.

Hart laughed. “There we go, there’s that

honesty,” he replied with a smile.

Graydon met Alena’s eyes for the first time and

was almost surprised at her calmness. She looked at
ease with the large man forcibly holding onto her.

He wanted to fight them all, he wanted to make

them pay for killing Rolav and putting their hands
on Alena. She, meanwhile, looked at peace with the
world.

Hart talked again, and he forced himself to take

deeper breaths, to calm down. There would be no
way he could help anyone if he couldn’t get his
mind focused and clear.

He watched as Hart ran his hand down Alena’s

cheek. He would have tried swinging at the man if
he would have been her, contained or not. Alena
had stood still, not acknowledging his presence in
the slightest.

“Alena here isn’t just a spy for their little group.

No,  in  fact,  if  my  intelligence  is  correct  this  is  the
first  time  she’s  taken  on  such  a  meek  role.  Alena
here is their assassin. Her code name is Aeron, their
Goddess of Death. If you think you’ve got blood on
your hands Graydon King, you’re a saint compared
to  her.  She’s  worth  quite  a  bit  to  those  who  would
like  to  return  the  favor  of  her  skills,  or  take
advantage of them.”

Graydon didn’t move, he willed his body not to

betray anything as he listened to Hart Druvell speak
about Alena.

He didn’t know if what the man was saying was

true or not. He didn’t allow himself to think about
what it meant if it was true, there wasn’t time for

that. He needed to think about what he needed to
do to get her out of here.

"Alena has been the one responsible for most of

the murders her little group deems necessary, and I
believe it’s time she paid for those murders.” Hart
replied.

Hart looked to Alena once more, his hand

moving a strand of her hair out of her face. Without
moving his face from hers Hart spoke to his men,
“Jonah please see if Mr. King stepped on the chip
in his attempt to play hero.”

Graydon had forgotten about the chip for a

moment, not moving a muscle as the younger man
came over and looked on the ground. The chip had
indeed been smashed underfoot, and as Jonah bent
to retrieve it Graydon lunged at the kid.

Jonah had fought to keep control of the

weapon,  but  Graydon  twisted  his  wrist,  hearing  a
satisfying  crunch  of  bone  as  the  hand  gave  way
dropping  the  gun.  The  two  of  them  were  on  the
ground as each struggled to get the upper hand.

Jonah was leaner than Graydon, but the broken

hand was making him slower than he might have
been. Graydon took a blow to the stomach as his

fists connected with the young man’s jaw.

Jonah stumbled back, and it was enough for

Graydon to lunge for the gun; grabbing the weapon
and firing it at him without letting himself think
about who he was firing it at.

The bullet struck his intended target and Jonah

stilled on the ground. Before Graydon could turn
the gun to Hart, Alena made her move.

She threw her head back, in an instant

shattering  the  nose  of  the  man  who  held  her.  He
turned  his  weapon  fully  on  her  and  she  struck  his
wrist;  twisting  it  sharply  to  the  side  in  the  blink  of
an eye.

Graydon watched in awe as she moved with

precision, each strike hitting her target like a viper.
Alena  kicked  him  squarely,  wrenching  the  weapon
free  and  firing  it.  The  man  was  gone  before  he  hit
the  floor.  She  trained  her  gun  on  Hart  and  looked
over at Graydon with a slight air of annoyance.

“How could you have missed the code?”
Graydon was embarrassed to admit he had been

dumbstruck. She moved with more accuracy and
deadly precision than anything he had seen in his
military career. She was confident and strong.

He wasn’t sure if Hart was lying or not about

her code name being the goddess of death.
However, as Graydon watched her, he didn’t doubt

it for a second. Graydon raised from the ground, his
weapon still trained on Hart Druvell who looked as
if he might be sick. “I’m sorry, just how exactly
was I supposed to figure that one out?” Graydon
asked her.

She tilted her head to the side. “The street

vendor from the story you told me about being
ambushed in Marrakesh.”

He thought back to the story. It had been one of

the first real things he ever shared with her, one of
the first real moments they had gone into from his
past.

There

had

been

mission

that

was

compromised  in  Morocco.  The  source  of  the  leak
had  turned  out  to  be  a  harcha  street  vendor  who
had  been  watching  their  every  move  right  in  front
of their eyes.

A smile tugged at his lips. “The harcha guy.

Four because that was the target who took me out
in Burundi,” he said with an appreciative grin
spreading across his face.

She looked at him in only a way two friends

who shared an inside joke could. Turning his
attention to Hart, he pulled the remaining chips out
of his pocket and tossed them onto the ground.
Alena walked over to where Graydon was, stepping
on the chips one by one.

“This is over Mr. Druvell. Your chips are gone,

your men are gone, and the plans will be gone as

well. No one will be watched and treated like
animals in a zoo,” she said, turning her attention
from the chips to the older man’s face.

Hart was silent, his face pale as the color

drained while watching Alena smash the chips into
the ground. He hadn’t said a word, and Graydon
wondered what he was thinking.

He wondered if he was imagining what would

happen when the dignitaries and government
officials showed up to bid on something that wasn’t
there anymore. He wondered if the jewelry and
cash he had locked in his secret wall would finally
see the light of day.

Graydon collected the pieces of ruined chips

and tossed them into the metal trash can Hart had
at his desk. Alena tossed him a lighter and Graydon
lit the pieces of paper in the can, igniting the bin.
The small metal pieces popping and whistling as the
fire destroyed them further.

Alena watched him only a moment before

training  her  eyes  back  on  Hart.  Graydon  then
moved  to  the  computer,  pulling  up  the  codes  and
designs for the projects. Deleting them all, he then
pulled  up  his  own  employee  file,  along  with
Rolav’s, and deleted everything off of the servers.

Graydon moved back to Alena. "It’s done. We

need to get out of here."

She shook her head. “Not yet, he’s our loose

end. I’m not leaving here until he’s gone.”

Graydon paused. He had no issue with

dispatching anyone who would have killed him or
someone he loved. That was the job, most people
didn’t go into it trying to make friends and creating
world peace.

He had killed, there was certainly blood on his

hands. However, killing an unarmed man wasn’t his
idea of right.

“Why? Every plan, code, and project he’s ever

thought about has been erased and destroyed. He’s
useless.  Whoever  he’s  promised  this  technology  to
is going to do worse than you or I ever could."
She  shook  her  head  again.  "I  can’t  let  him  go
Graydon.  He  created  something  evil  once  and  he
can do it again. You can’t let monsters run free just
because you clipped their claws.”

He met her eyes. “Alena I know this hits closer to
home, but you’ve got to let him go. He’s nothing.”
His voice was almost pleading.

They didn’t have time for arguing, He didn’t

know what her orders were. He didn’t know if this
was all a part of their plan for her to take Hart out,
but he wasn’t going to let it happen.

“He knows our faces, he knows our names, and he
has intelligence on us that goes back at least a year.
You know we can’t let him live. If he leaves this

room we compromise everything,” she said, her
voice showing no mercy.

Graydon opened his mouth to reply when Hart

moved, producing a pistol from the inside of his
suit’s jacket. Graydon fired the moment that Hart
did, his eyes searching furiously for Alena who had
stumbled back before falling.

He found her on the ground, clutching at her

shoulder. Graydon moved to her, Hart Druvell
laying still slumped against his desk.

Chapter 12

e was to her in a heartbeat, taking his shirt off

and holding it against the wound. Alena hissed in
pain, but hadn’t shouted out. She now spoke
through gritted teeth.

“Help me up, we need to -” He interrupted her.

“I know. Stop wasting energy. Focus on steadying
your breathing, deep, solid breaths.”

Graydon pocketed the gun. She hadn’t replied,

but he noticed her eyes closing, her hands
clenching and unclenching as she focused on her
breathing.

Graydon slid his arms underneath her and

picked her up. He carried her bridal style towards
Hart’s office door. The warmth of Alena’s blood
seeping onto his bare skin.

He paused at the door, putting her gently down

on  her  feet.  Graydon  ran  over  to  Hart’s  personal
stash of liquor and doused the room, pausing only a
moment  to  throw  the  bottle  and  light  the  liquid.
Graydon  ran  back  to  Alena,  carefully  lifting  her

into his arms again.

He opened the door and was only mildly

surprised that there were no guards. He had known
Hart’s office was soundproof, but he wasn’t sure
how many extra guards Hart had stationed
throughout the building.

Either Jonah and Compton had been his only

other agents, or the others hadn’t been alerted yet.
Graydon ran down the hallway, passing the elevator
and taking the stairs two at a time.

He felt Alena shift in his arms and he heard her

speak into a phone, her voice weak. He found
himself praying, hoping, pleading she would be all
right.

Graydon had found the one person in the world

who  he  felt  like  himself  with;  the  one  person  who
had  ever  understood  him,  and  here  she  was
bleeding  in  his  arms.  It  seemed  like  a  cruel  fate  to
have been given.

He made it to the car garage, his bloodied hands

smearing fingerprints on the lock. Graydon kicked
the door to the street open.

He glanced down only a moment to note in

horror that Alena had gone still. He scanned the
vacant alley as a large black SUV came tearing
towards them. He shifted Alena as his hands felt for
the gun in his back pocket.

The SUV stopped a foot from him and Masha

got out of the passenger side, opening the door for

him. Graydon lowered Alena to the seat and slid in
next to her, his hands searching for a pulse. The
shirt he pressed against her was soaked with her
blood, and he yelled at the driver to find a hospital.

Masha shut the door and jumped back into the

passenger seat. His mind registered that Masha was
speaking, but he found it hard to focus on her and
not Alena.

The SUV sped down the road, his heart racing

in his chest. Alena’s pulse was there, but much too
slow for his comfort. He talked to her, not caring
who was listening.

“Alena, I need you to hang on. I need you to

survive. Please, just hang on.”

The car pivoted before coming to a halt.

Graydon leaned forward to see what caused the
stop, noticing they parked in front of an ambulance.
The back doors of the large vehicle were opened
wide, waiting.

He got out of the car and lifted Alena, taking

the  few  feet  to  the  ambulance  doors  in  a  quick
stride.  The  EMT  was  in  plain  clothes  and  took
Alena  from  his  arms,  setting  her  inside  on  the
stretcher.

Graydon put his foot on the steps of the

ambulance, but the man who had taken Alena in
shook his head. “Not enough room,” he replied as
he began hooking things up to Alena.

Graydon stepped back down, glancing at Masha

who was standing at the passenger side door of the
SUV. The doors to the ambulance shut and without
hesitation the sirens wailed, the large vehicle taking
off with Alena inside. Graydon dashed to the SUV.
“What’s going on? Where are they taking her?”

He knew better than to think they were real

EMTs.  Wherever  they  were  taking  Alena,  it
wouldn’t  be  a  medical  facility  where  they  would
have to answer questions. Graydon got back inside
the SUV with Masha, his body tense. Graydon kept
the  other  vehicle  in  his  sight  as  the  SUV  took  off,
trailing the ambulance.

“The ambulance is ours, Benjit Haravam is the

best doctor we have. Alena will be fine. He'll get
her stable enough to fly and we will be on our way.
That is assuming you have decided to join us?”

Graydon shook his head. “She needs blood. She

needs a hospital.”

Masha waved her hand dismissively, “We have

blood, we each give blood semi-weekly for
instances such as this. We are prepared Mr. King,
are you?” she questioned.

Graydon didn’t reply as continued watching the

ambulance. His muscles were tense as he wondered
what was happening inside, how she was doing. He
hated being in the dark. He hated the idea that she
could be slipping away from him without him even
knowing it. It was enough to drive him mad.

Masha spoke again, and Graydon felt he might

punch the seat in front of him if he heard the
woman’s voice one more time.

“We need to know if you are joining us or not

Mr.King. You’ll find that your account has been
provided with the agreed upon amount, and if you
choose to go your own route we -“

Graydon cut her off, his words final. “I’m going

where she is. Take that however you want.”

Masha glanced at him from her seat before

turning back and speaking to the driver in Russian.

Graydon trained his eyes back on the

ambulance. The ride was uneasy. His stomach felt
like he might vomit, and his mind continued to race
through all of the scenarios that might play out.

He needed to see her, he needed to feel her in

his arms again. If only to imagine he could protect
her from what she was fighting right now.

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so

useless. Graydon didn’t have much in the world,
but he had a skill set that kept him always in use.
He did what needed to do, and did it well.

In life, he had been the one to save the day, the

one who they called in when everyone else had
failed. Now, he sat in the back of an SUV helpless
to save the woman he cared about, perhaps
possibly loved.

Graydon had never thought he was capable of

loving someone. That was something teenagers and
men who were certainly not him talked about. He

wasn’t even sure love was what he was feeling, he
didn’t know what being in love felt like.

What he knew was that his heart raced every

time  she  smiled  at  him.  When  she  touched  him,  it
was like she brought him to life; every muscle and
nerve  wanting  more  of  her.  Maybe  it  wasn't  love,
maybe  it  was  lust,  he  didn't  know  and  he  didn't
care.  Graydon  only  knew  that  whatever  this  was,
he wasn’t ready to let go of it.

The SUV followed the ambulance for fifteen

minutes before the lights and sirens shut off.
Graydon gripped the seat, leaning forward to ask
Masha what was going on, but she spoke up before
he got the chance.

“They’re shutting the lights off because we’re

only five minutes away from the plane. There’s no
need to direct excess attention our way.”

Graydon loosened a breath he hadn’t realized

he had been holding and sat back in the seat again.
The airport was private, and he watched as the
ambulance passed through the gate, then their SUV.
The two vehicles pulled up to a small aircraft and
he was out of the door before the vehicle came to a
proper stop.

The ambulance doors opened before he could

get  to  them.  Graydon  helped  the  man  in  the  back
lower  the  stretcher  out  onto  the  pavement.  Alena
was  unconscious,  the  wound  on  her  bare  shoulder
now  covered  and  bandaged.  Graydon  looked

expectantly at the man who he assumed to be
Benjit Haravam who, in turn, ignored him.

Instead, the man grabbed a few things from the

inside of the ambulance and shoved them into a
bag, jumping down from the ambulance door’s
steps.

Graydon gently touched Alena's cheek. She was

warm, but not feverish, which was enough to make
him breathe a little easier. Her face was so pale it
made something in his chest ache, but she was still
breathing, and that was what that mattered.

Graydon glanced at the plane, noting Malachai

and Leo were there. The two men loading things
onto the aircraft. He looked over at the doctor, his
voice uneasy.

“Is she going to make it?”
The man eyed him a moment before replying,

his voice indifferent.

“She should be fine. I’ve stabilized her, all we

can do is wait from here. The plane has a stretcher
inside if you want to carry her in. I think they’re
ready to take off.”

Graydon wavered between wanting to grasp the

man in a grateful hug, and wanting to punch him for
being so cavalier about her life. He slid his arms
underneath Alena and lifted her softly.

Her shirt had been removed, and a medical

gown had been haphazardly placed over her, baring
her bandaged shoulder. He had the urge to cover

her further, to wrap her in something warm and
comforting.

Graydon walked into the plane with Alena in

his  arms,  almost  bumping  into  two  men.  Leo  was
the  only  one  he  recognized.  Leo  nodded  briefly  to
him  as  he  pointed  to  the  space  in  the  back  where
Graydon assumed the stretcher was.

The plane was smaller than the military crafts

he normally rode on, but it would be more than
enough room for the small crew he assumed they
would be carrying.

He walked to the back and made it to the

stretcher,  sitting  Alena  down  on  it.  The  doctor
arrived  soon  after  and  strapped  her  in;  hooking  an
IV  into  her  arm  and  turning  a  monitor  on.  He
watched as the screen came to life, the line showing
her  heart  rate  steady  and  level,  allowing  him  to
relax.

Graydon took the seat across from Alena,

allowing him access to monitor her. He watched as
the  rest  of  the  group  filed  in  at  the  front  of  the
plane.  He  and  Alena  were  in  the  back,  a  full  isle
and section away from everyone else. He watched
as  one  by  one  they  each  came  in  and  took  a  seat,
buckling up and not saying a word.

Graydon counted twelve people in their party,

not counting the pilot and an assumed co-pilot. The
door shut, and the plane came to life, the familiar
hum of the engines resounding in the vessel.

Graydon glanced towards the front of the plane,
looking for any sign of danger.

As the plane rolled down the tarmac Graydon

leaned back in his seat, looking over at Alena as the
wheels left the ground. She looked as if she was
sleeping; her head gently laid to the side of the bed,
her black hair cascading down her shoulders.

He noted there was a smear of blood in her hair,

and he glanced down at himself, shirtless and
bloodied. Her blood was caked onto his chest, her
and Rolav’s blood staining his hands.

He couldn’t remember a time when it felt

wrong  to  have  someone  else’s  blood  on  himself.
When  he  was  a  kid  in  the  foster  system  he  would
get into trouble all the time for fighting. Sometimes,
the  fights  would  be  to  defend  someone,  and
sometimes they would be out of a need to prove he
wasn’t someone the older kids could target. He had
gotten  used  to  having  blood  on  him  then,  and  his
career hadn't changed that any.

The plane made it smoothly into the air, and at

that moment it was as if the cabin collectively
sighed. The group began smiling and conversing.
He noticed Masha was already leaning back in her
seat asleep. He supposed it was worth celebrating.

The crew had completed their mission, a

mission at least a year in the making. The plans,
chips, and codes were destroyed. They were, for
the most part, safely on their way.

To where he didn’t know. He wondered if they

were heading back to Russia for new orders, or if
they already had a new destination in mind.

He thought about getting up to ask, but he

didn’t want to leave Alena. He looked over at her,
allowing himself to take her features in. She looked
vulnerable laying on the stretcher.

He knew she would loathe him watching her

while she was like that, so utterly helpless. Her skin
was regaining its color, although, the paleness still
held firm. Her normally stunning red lips were now
a muted pink. He wondered what she would think
about him being here. If she would even want him
here.

She had seemed to care for him, but if this

whole  event  had  taught  him  anything,  it  was  that
his  instincts  couldn’t  be  trusted.  He  hoped  she
would be happy he had decided to come, although
he  didn’t  know  what  that  would  mean  for  them.
Graydon didn’t want to be a soldier anymore.

He didn’t want to take orders and put his life on

the line. More importantly than that, he didn’t want
to see her do it. He didn’t want to carry her,
bleeding out in his arms again. He wanted a life
with her; he wanted to see where this would go, but
he wasn’t sure he could do it while she put herself
in danger time and time again.

Graydon closed his eyes; listening to the steady

and comforting beep of Alena’s monitors mixing

with the drone of the aircraft's engines.

He allowed himself to relax, to breathe in

steady breaths. He wasn’t sure where he would end
up; he had no idea what was ahead of him or what
might be asked of him. However, he knew he would
wake up with Alena there and, for now, that was
good enough for him.

✽✽✽

Graydon woke up to Masha standing near them,

leaning against a nearby seat. She was watching
him, her expression unreadable before she spoke.

“I hope you slept well.”
He glanced at his watch and realized he had

been sleeping for eight hours. That put them in
international territory, which he had assumed as
much before getting onto the plane. There weren’t
many places they could go within the United States
who would be hospitable.

He looked over at Alena, the steady beeping of

the machine soothing him. She was still
unconscious, although he was pleased to note she
looked much better.

Her face was back to her normal coloring and

her cheeks had a slight rosiness to them. If it wasn’t
for the blood still caked onto places of her skin, she
might have looked like she was napping.

“Where are we landing?” Graydon asked as he

focused his attention back to Masha.

Masha had changed, and although he

remembered her falling asleep once the plane took
off she still had dark circles under her eyes. She
glanced over at Alena while she replied to him.

“Italy. Specifically, Bari.”
She focused back to him again, walking over to

where he was. She grabbed a small envelope from
the seat she had been leaning on, handing it out to
him.

“I assume you will wait for Alena to come

around  before  making  your  decision  to  join  us  or
not,  and  that  is  fine.  Bari  will  not  be  the  next
location  for  our  next  job.  We  will  only  be  there  a
few  days  until  we  move  out  again.  That  should  be
enough time for you to make up your mind. While
you  stay  with  us,  we  will  expect  you  to  pull  your
weight  of  course,  but  nothing  dangerous  I  assure
you.”

She waited until he gave a nod, taking the

envelope from her. She turned away from him,
calling out behind her as she walked back towards
her seat.

“We land in an hour, have everything

memorized before then.”

Graydon opened the envelope and pulled out a

small leather passport. The passport was from the
Netherlands, and he was surprised to note that it

had his picture in it.

The name was Rutger Kappel. Birthplace:

Eindhoven.  He  scanned  over  everything  in  the
passport  before  pulling  out  the  next  item.  It  was  a
typed  paper,  mostly  comprised  of  bullet  points.  As
he  read  over  it  he  tried  committing  the  words  to
memory.

He was expected to be Rutger, for how long he

wasn’t  sure.  He  wondered  if  Alena  had  sat  in  a
similar  plane  reading  over  a  document  that
described  Dr.  Brenna  Klein.  He  wondered  if  she
felt as wrong as he currently did.

Graydon had been undercover before. He had

assumed identities more than he’d like to admit, but
there was something more final about this one.

This time he knew he could never go back to

the United States. He had known in the back of his
mind he’d have to change his name, but seeing it in
writing was something different.

He wasn’t just being given a name, he was

being given a new life. There was something
unsettling about taking over a new identity with its
own history and layout of a future.

He didn’t know how Rutger would fit into their

plan if he joined them, but he was sure they had
something in mind already. Graydon continued
reading about his new life.

He had graduated from the University of

Amsterdam with a Master’s degree in Petroleum

Engineering. He met his wife Adelaide (Colditz)
Kappel while on vacation, and the two were
married within a year of dating.

He raised his eyebrow when he read the part

that  noted  Alena  would  assume  the  identity  of
Adelaide  Kappel.  They  had  been  married  for  four
years, no children, and happy, though Adelaide was
noted  to  have  an  alcohol  abuse  problem.  He
couldn’t  imagine  how  that  small  bit  of  information
made  any  difference,  but  he  didn’t  care  enough  to
question it.

The two were visiting Italy on vacation with

their family and friends, and would be staying at a
private villa. He wondered exactly who they would
pass off as family and friend. The idea of Leo,
Galina, or Masha pretending to be a relative of his
was almost enough to make him laugh.

Graydon read and re-read the paper again,

committing it all to memory. He then took out a
wallet from the envelope. It had a picture of Alena
inside, smiling back at him indulgently. It was
enough to make him pause a moment, staring at the
picture.

He didn’t know why, but the realization that he

would be playing her husband hit him hard.

In a different time, he would have killed for the

life he was pretending to have; the safe job with a
family. In another life he would have gladly cast
away every part of himself for this new life, but

now the act seemed wrong.

There was a difference in pretending to be

someone with others, and pretending to be
someone’s life partner, their husband, and lover. He
wanted to see where this relationship might go, but
pretending to be married made things much more
complicated.

How would he know any of it was real? How

would he know she wasn’t just playing her part
exceptionally well? His mind ran wild with
questions. Graydon thumbed through the rest of the
wallet before he pulled out the last item: a wedding
ring.

Sliding the gold band onto his finger he looked

over at the woman he was supposed to be married
to. He wondered what she would think about all of
this.

If she had known what role he would be playing

if he joined them. He imagined she’d tell him
something like, 'stop acting like a baby and get the
show on the road'.

Alena was tough, and he didn’t doubt for one

moment she’d give him grief for all of his hesitation
and second-guessing.

Graydon stood up and stretched, every muscle

in his body aching. It had been a long twenty-four
hours, and he was ready for a hot meal and soft
bed.

Masha’s sister Galina walked over to where he

was, her arms heavy with clothes. She moved past
him and sat some things down on Alena’s stretcher
before turning to him.

She held out a bundle of clothes without a

word, and he took them from her. Galina then
turned and grabbed a pair of shoes, putting them on
top of the clothes he was now holding. She gestured
to the front of the plane and turned back towards
Alena.

Graydon took her suggestion and walked to the

front of the plane; passing the rest of the crew who
were also in fresh clothes. He found the small
bathroom, and before he went inside Masha called
out from her seat.

“One more hour and you’ll get to rest Mr. King.

Once we touch the plane down you will carry
Alena to one of the waiting cars. They will take us
all to the estate.”

Graydon nodded briefly before walking into the

small room to change.

He walked inside and went to the sink, washing

off as much of the dried blood as he could. He got
dressed, noting sourly that the clothes weren’t his
style at all. Tugging them on he was at least grateful
that they fit. Graydon slipped the shoes on and
looked at himself in the mirror.

His face was worn, his stubble was growing

much longer than he preferred, and his clothes
looked like he had stolen them from a male model.

It would all have to do though. There wasn’t much
that could be done about any of it right now; and
from what he just escaped from he supposed he
was doing alright.

Graydon made his way down the aisle, walking

back to where Alena was. He noticed she had been
changed into fresh clothes as well.

He assumed Galina was the one who had

changed  her.  Graydon's  eyes  drifting  to  find  the
steady  pulse  rate  on  the  machine  that  assured  him
she was still fine.
She  had  been  changed  into  a  dress,  something
flowy  and  light.  The  dress  hid  her  bandages  and
wound.  Her  hair  was  put  into  a  loose  knot,  laying
against her shoulder. Sandals now adorned her feet,
the leather new and expensive. If anyone would see
him  carrying  her  out,  they  would  probably  assume
she was sleeping.

A shining diamond ring and a solid gold band

were now on her left hand, and he touched his own
wedding band self-consciously. Graydon sighed
before sitting back down in his seat, closing his
eyes and recalling his cover.

The  minutes  ticked  by,  and  he  soon  found  himself
taking  steadying  breaths  as  the  plane  began  its
descent.  There  were  no  windows  where  he  and
Alena were, and he wished he could see out.

He had never liked flying; it was something he

couldn’t control, and the whole situation made him
feel vulnerable. He enjoyed the view though, there
was  nothing  like  being  so  high  in  the  air.  It  had
always  served  as  a  good  reminder  that  he,  and  all
the  problems  he  had  going  on,  was  insignificant  in
the scope of things.

The plane touched down and the crew began

moving,  jumping  into  their  acts.  He  got  up  and
slipped  the  contents  of  the  envelope  Masha  had
given  him  into  his  jacket  pocket.  The  doctor  and
Masha  arrived,  Masha  holding  a  purse  and  light
blanket. Graydon watched as the doctor unhooked
Alena and took out her IV.

He then took out a syringe and spoke before

Graydon could question him.

“It’s just a sedative to ensure she sleeps the

duration of the car ride. Once she wakes up from it
we should all be in the clear, her vitals look great.”

Graydon nodded to the man and lifted Alena

into his arms again. Masha put a purse over
Graydon’s shoulder and slipped a light blanket over
them.

"From  here  on  out,  the  only  truth  you  know  is  the
information  on  that  paper.  We  do  not  break
protocol  unless  we  are  in  the  wine  cellar  at
Benedetto Villa. Are you clear?" Masha asked, her
words sharp.

Graydon nodded, and with that Masha and the

doctor turned, heading towards the exit. He sighed,
murmuring to an unconscious Alena.

“Until death do us part I suppose.”

Graydon walked towards the exit and stepped

outside, the warm Italian air greeting him.

Chapter 13

he ride to the Villa was beautiful. Graydon had

never  been  to  Italy,  and  found  himself  getting  lost
in  the  area  already.  The  city  was  washed  in  bright
white  stone;  with  the  occasional  pops  of  salmon
and golden-yellow colored buildings standing out in
stark contrast.

People milled about, women with shopping

bags, and families walking dogs. It was exactly as
he imagined when people talked of vacationing.
The city was alive with the melding of new life and
old history.

The ride had taken them through the city, and

before  long,  they  were  reaching  the  edges  of  the
countryside. The clustered city gave way to homes
and  buildings,  stone  white  and  peaked  like
cathedrals.  There  were  vineyards  along  the  road,
some going on as far as the eye could see.

He glanced over at Alena; wishing she could

see this, wondering if she had ever been here
before. She was leaning against him, her head

resting on his shoulder. If he closed his eyes, he
could imagine this happening in a different
lifetime.

He could imagine Alena asleep on his shoulder

after  a  long  plane  ride  from  a  vacation.  The  pair
coming  back  to  their  home  in  Italy.  He  could
imagine  a  life  here.  He  could  imagine  a  life  with
her, but that’s all it was; a dream.

In reality, she was still recovering from a

gunshot  wound,  and  they  were  both  fugitives.  She
was  an  assassin  in  a  secret  group,  content  with
being a killer all of her life, and he was a man done
with  fighting.  It  didn’t  seem  like  a  happy  ending
would be on the books for them.

Graydon tucked his arm around Alena, pulling

her closer. He didn’t know how much longer this
charade would go on, but he was at least going to
play the part while it lasted.

He knew when she woke up things would

change. They would have to decide what they each
wanted. In reality, he knew he would probably be
finding a plane ride for one when it was all said and
done. Still, it didn’t stop his mind from fantasizing.

The car pulled up to a gate. The driver pressed

in a code, and as they pulled through, he looked out
to  the  Villa.  It  was  gorgeous,  maybe  the  most
elegant  place  he  had  ever  seen.  The  building  was
stone,  traditional  arches  and  domes  were  the
highlight of the design.

There were marbled columns, and as they

pulled  up  to  the  home,  he  stared  a  moment  at  the
large  fountain  at  the  entrance.  Waiting  outside  the
Villa  to  greet  them  were  two  people.  They  were
standing in front of the large home with their hands
clasped behind their backs, smiling brightly.

Masha, Galina, and Leo all got out of their

vehicle, behind the one he and Alena had rode in.
The two women walked over, informing them they
were there to assist and help with anything the
group wanted, or needed.

Graydon moved out of the vehicle and picked

up Alena, a bright smile on his face. Masha walked
over to them, her voice airy with just a hint of an
accent.

“Has Adelaide still not woken up? The poor

dear. That plane ride was absolutely exhausting. ”

Graydon walked over to one of the women.

“Where will my darling wife and I be staying?” he
asked.

The woman smiled a moment before gesturing

towards the estate, and moving into the home.

The place was even more stunning inside. It

was decorated in warm tones of gold and red. The
whole place looked like it was from a movie set.
They passed by large windows that showed a
private backyard.

Through bay doors he spotted an infinity pool

outside before walking up the stairs. The woman

moved to the end of the hallway, gesturing to the
large wooden door that was open.

He smiled in thanks and walked through, sitting

Alena  on  the  bed.  The  room  was  massive,  larger
than  anything  he  had  ever  stayed  in  before.  The
floor  was  a  decorative  tile,  and  their  room  had  a
balcony  view,  the  curtains  blowing  gently  in  the
breeze.  He  couldn’t  help  but  wonder  how  much
they  were  paying  for  this  place,  and  who  was
footing  the  bill.  Graydon  tossed  the  five  small
pillows  that  had  been  resting  on  the  bed  to  the
ground so Alena would be more comfortable.

He slipped the covers over her as someone else

walked into the room. Turning his attention to the
door he nodded to the doctor who walked to where
Alena laid.

The man took item after item out of the small

bag he carried, and Graydon watched as he started
to check on Alena’s temperature and pulse. While
the doctor continued to check on her, Malachai
walked in, sitting two suitcases down before leaving
without a word.

Graydon watched the older man work, and as

the doctor began putting his tools back in the bag
he asked, “How is she?”

The man nodded and looked up at him, a small

smile on his face.

“She’s doing great. The sedative should wear

off soon. When she wakes up she’ll be in some

pain, but her vitals are all clear. She should be fine.
There are pain pills in the brown suitcase, make
sure she takes them, but keep them hidden.”

Graydon nodded and stood up, relief flooding

his features. “Thank you.”

The other man nodded before walking towards

the door.

Graydon left Alena, and walked with him out of

the  room,  pausing  in  the  hallway  to  see  if  anyone
else  had  been  planning  on  coming  in.  When  he
didn’t  see  any  of  his  travel  companions  he  went
back inside. He walked to the bathroom and turned
the  shower  on,  leaving  the  door  ajar  so  he  could
hear Alena if she happened to wake up and call for
someone.

Graydon took his clothes off, his hand hovering

at the ring a moment before leaving it on. He found
it was strange to wear.

First, because he wasn’t one for jewelry. He

loathed  the  dog  tags  he  had  been  required  to  wear
for  most  of  his  life.  The  idea  of  a  ring  being  worn
on his hand was enough to keep it annoyingly at the
forefront of his mind. Then, of course, it didn’t help
that  Alena  wasn’t  actually  married  to  him,  which
just  made  the  whole  situation  that  much  odder  for
him.

He stepped into the shower, letting the warm

water run over him. The last time he had showered
he had been Graydon, American, and about to

destroy a top-secret project from Harvell Tech.

Now he was Rutger, Dutch, married engineer

on  vacation.  Though  he  couldn’t  blame  Alena  for
any  of  it,  meeting  her  had  changed  his  world.  She
challenged  not  only  how  he  viewed  the  world,  but
also how he viewed himself.

She had been the cataclysmic event that turned

his world upside down. Alena had been the
darkening of skies before the storm.

Still, looking back, he couldn’t honestly say he

wouldn’t have sailed right back into the storm had
he known otherwise. If it meant finding her and
stopping Hart, he would have done it over and over
again.

He took his time in the shower; the water

washing  away  the  remnants  of  Alena's  blood.
Graydon  put  a  towel  around  his  waist  and  walked
out  of  the  bathroom.  His  eyes  going  to  the  bed
where he assumed he would find a still unconscious
Alena.

Instead, he found her sitting up in the bed;

leaning  against  the  pillows  and  inspecting  her
wound.  Graydon  spoke  up,  his  voice  a  mixture  of
reproach  and  amusement.  “You’re  supposed  to
leave that alone.”

Alena looked up, her eyes searching him over.

Her face was unreadable as she asked, “How long
have I been out? What happened?”

Graydon was about to give her the run-down of

the mission when he heard someone passing by the
door. The reminder that they were not alone here.

He laughed his fake laugh before speaking to

her. “Honey you passed out ten minutes after
takeoff, it’s fine though. I promise you haven’t
missed much.”

When she raised her eyebrow questioningly, he

held up his left hand and pointed at the ring. She
mouthed, “Me?”

Graydon nodded before holding his finger up in

a gesture for her to wait a moment. She nodded and
watched as he walked over to the suitcases,
opening the brown one and digging through its
contents until he found the small bottle of pills.

Graydon walked back over to Alena and poured

water from the pitcher sitting by the bed. He
handed her the water and one small white pill. She
took the medicine from him, popping it into her
mouth and sipping the water.

She gave him the glass back, and he spoke

quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“The mission was successful, we’re in Bari,

Italy. Masha said the next stop will be in a few-”

She nodded then, interrupting him as she

murmured, “Albania.”

He raised his eyebrow before continuing on,

unsure why Albania would be their next stop.

“I have a rundown of my history, and person

that goes with yours if you want to read. I’m sure

Masha will be by to give you yours once I tell her
you’re awake.”

Alena shook her head, “No. I won’t need one.

We reviewed this mission weeks before we took
you. It was our next stop no matter what happened
with Harvell Tech. She’s Delia now, and also my
mother.” Alena replied with a small smile.

Graydon smirked at that before getting up and

walking over to the other suitcase. It was black, and
had RKB monogrammed on the side. He shook his
head a second before looking through the contents.

The clothes were like the ones he had donned

when  they  first  arrived,  well-tailored.  He  assumed
they  cost  more  than  he  made  in  a  year  with  his
government  salary.  It  appeared  the  petroleum
engineering  field  was  doing  well,  he  thought  to
himself.

He grabbed a full set of clothes and went to the

bathroom to change. Stepping back into the room,
he stuffed his hands in his pockets, watching her.
She was moving the wedding ring around her finger,
gazing out the window.

He couldn’t tell what she was thinking which

drove him half crazy. Graydon could read people
like they were books, and yet here she was, a blank
page every time he wanted to know more. He
cleared his throat and walked over to her, his voice
low. “How are you feeling?”

“Perfectly fine, considering.” Alena replied. He

nodded, a soldier’s answer if there ever was one.

She laid back against the pillows on the bed. “I

assume it all went according to plan?”

Graydon shrugged. “I didn’t know the full plan,

but  we  destroyed  the  projects  and  made  it  out  of
the  US  safely.  We  landed  about  three  hours  ago,
and  now  we’re  here.  Does  that  sound  like  it  went
according to plan?”

She watched him a moment before answering.
“It does. Should I assume your presence here

means you’re staying with us?” her question blunt.

Graydon met her eyes before sitting down next

to her on the bed. “I’m here because I needed to
know you were ok. ”

Alena was silent as she waited for him to

continue.

“Alena, I’ve been on more missions than I can

count.  I've  never  felt  fear  with  them,  not  that
praying  to  God,  bargaining  with  the  Devil,  fear.
Including the last mission that left me bloodied and
broken.  I  had  made  peace  with  my  death,  I  was
ready to accept it. When you were shot, I’ve never
felt  more  helpless,  more  scared.  I’ve  never  felt  so
desperate to save anyone in my life. I didn’t know
if I would ever hear your voice again, and it drove
me  crazy.”  Graydon  replied,  the  memories  causing
his chest to ache.

She reached out, taking his hand. Graydon took

a steadying breath before adding, “I don’t know

what this is. I don’t know what this could be. All I
know is that I can’t lose you again.”

The two of them sat a moment in silence,

holding each other’s hand. He knew he couldn’t
ask her to walk away from the only family she had
ever known. He didn’t know if he could be what
she was asking him to be again either.

He spoke up, asking the question he almost

didn’t want to know the answer to. “What do you
do for this group? What’s your role?”

Alena sighed. Her face looking as if she knew

she was about to speak the words that might ruin
everything. Still, she met his eyes, her face
unflinching as she answered him.

“Hart was right. I am known to many of our

enemies as Aeron. I’m the one sent in to kill when
the mission needs a pretty face with quick reflexes.
When the tribe leaders and terrorist heads need to
be taken out by something more precise than a
warhead.”

Graydon’s mind ran wild with the images of

Alena, flirting and charming her way into her
target’s bed. He couldn’t help but imagine all the
men she had made it her job to seduce, all of those
powerful people who could have ended her life.

“Sounds dangerous,” he replied.
She shrugged, then hissed at the pain before

letting out a frustrated breath.

“Says the man who almost died doing the same

thing.”

He gave her a pointed look, trying not to grin

before reaching out and moving a strand of hair
that had fallen across her face.

His eyes staring into hers as his hand stayed a

moment on her cheek.

“ I can’t ask you to leave them for me, for us.

Especially when we don’t even know what we are.
I don't want to be a soldier, but I don't want to walk
away from you either. So whatever your call is, I’ll
back your play.”

She met his eyes before replying.
“Are you sure what you’re getting into? I’m not

going  to  stop  being  who  I  am,  what  I’m  good  at.
There’s  always  a  danger  in  this  work  Gray,  more
moments  of  being  in  the  line  of  fire.  Are  you  sure
you can handle that?”

He thought a moment. The idea of watching as

Alena put herself in danger made his stomach tight,
but he would do it. He would do whatever she
needed, whatever she wanted, if it meant he could
have the chance to be with her.

He didn’t know much about the group, but they

had stopped Hart. They had not only trusted him
already, but also provided him with a safe exit out
of the country. If Alena trusted them with her life,
then he would too.

“I can handle it, but you’ve got to be okay with

me not having a backseat in any of it. I get you’re

going to be doing dangerous things, but I won’t let
you do them alone,” he said.

A smile spread across her face.
“Are you saying we’re partners?” Alena asked.
“You did tell me to find one worth going to Hell

for," Graydon replied with a wry grin.

She grinned back at his reply and he felt a part

of  his  chest  burn  brighter.  He  would  do  anything
she asked. Anything it took to make her happy, if it
meant  she  smiled  that  smile  at  him.  He  leaned
forward  and  pressed  his  lips  to  hers,  making  sure
not to touch her shoulder.

Alena kissed him back, her soft lips a

heartbreakingly happy reminder she was alive and
everything would be all right. Their lips came
together again before she paused.

“I would love to continue, but I need a

shower,” she said.

He chuckled. “No problem, do you need help?”

Graydon asked with concern.

She shook her head no and moved off the bed.

He watched her tensely as she slowly made it from
the bed to the bathroom. Pausing a moment, he
listened as the shower was turned on.

She had been in the bathroom for almost five

minutes when she called out to him. Graydon
walked to the door, sticking his head into the small
room. Alena stood, still fully dressed, looking
irritated.

“I can’t do it. I need your help,” Alena uttered

in frustration.

He nodded before walking in, clearing his throat

before gently lifting the dress off of her. Graydon
felt the heat burn into his cheeks as he slipped his
hand around her and unclasped her bra.

He tried not to dwell on the fact that it was red

and lacy. He gently took it off of her, offering to cut
it off when her injured arm didn’t easily come free
from the straps.

Alena laughed and told him no before the bra

came  off,  falling  to  the  floor.  She  then  steadied
herself  against  him  as  she  began  taking  her
underwear  off,  trying  twice  and  failing  in  the
attempt. Graydon tried to keep his voice neutral as
he spoke up.

“Just let me.”
She nodded before he slipped his hand down,

the lacy fabric sliding down her legs and off of her
body. He looked back up at her, trying to keep his
eyes on her face, his body already reacting to her
naked form.

He moved to the shower, focusing on the water

temperature longer than he needed before turning
to her.

“All right, it’s good. Just use me however you

need.”

She laughed at that and he felt his cheeks

redden even further.

“You know what I mean. I’m trying to be a

gentleman here,” Graydon replied.

She smirked and he took his shirt off before it

could get wet, moving so she could brace on his
form as she stepped into the shower.

Alena sighed contently as the water hit her

body. He was careful not to let her wound get too
wet as he helped her balance.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head back,

her body reveling in the comfort of the water.

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” she said.
He nodded and looked at the far wall. Graydon

could feel her tense against him as she tried moving
with the soap, trying to clean herself and not fall
over. He heard her hiss under her breath in pain as
she tried washing the blood off of her shoulder.

Graydon interjected, “All right, this is

ridiculous, I’m getting in.”

She didn’t object as he took the rest of his

clothes off and shut the door to the bathroom.

Graydon stepped into the shower with Alena.

His body moving behind hers. The two didn’t speak
as he grabbed the shampoo and massaged it into her
hair. Graydon tried focusing on getting her clean,
and not the fact that they were in a warm shower
naked together.

He ran his hands through her hair, taking care to

make sure he didn’t bump her shoulder. Alena
leaned her hair back into the water and he rinsed

her hair out, grabbing the soap.

“Do you mind?” Graydon asked, holding out

the puffy loofah ball with soap. She shook her
head, and he rubbed the soap onto her body with it.

He knelt behind her, washing her legs, and

stood  up  to  get  the  front  of  her  body.  Graydon
pulled  her  gently  to  him,  and  she  leaned  back  into
him,  one  arm  braced  around  her  middle  and  the
other reaching forward to clean her. The only sound
was the water hitting the floor of the shower as he
rubbed over her porcelain skin.

Graydon’s breathing was tense as he tried not to

focus on how soft and warm her body was against
his. He put the loofah down and put soap on his
hands, carefully washing around the areas where
the bandages were.

He stepped back from Alena and she turned to

face him, a burning in her eyes that he wasn’t sure
he could ignore much longer.

She moved into the stream of water then,

closing her eyes as the water washed over her.
Graydon let his eyes follow the soap down, trailing
over the curves of her body as it fell to the floor.

She stepped back and watched him a second

before reaching out with her good arm and putting
her hand on his naked chest.

He took her hand and kissed it softly before

trailing kisses down the length of it, moving closer
so he could kiss her neck.

She tilted her head to the side as he sucked and

kissed his way up her neck to her mouth, pausing a
moment to speak.

“We don’t have to do this now, we can wait

until your shoulder heals.”

She shook her head. Alena's hand moving to his

fully erect member, running her hand the length of
him.

“I’ve never been good at waiting,” she replied.
He smirked as she continued working him over,

her hand driving him crazy. He lifted her up, and
her legs wrapped around his naked torso, her
wounded shoulder positioned away from his body.

The two of them were pressed against the

shower wall and Alena arched her back to him.
Graydon obliged, taking her breast into his mouth.
His tongue teased her nipple, her moans of pleasure
beckoning him further.

She was the fuel to his fire, the partner he had

always been looking for without even knowing it.
Alena was the missing piece of himself. She was the
part of him that was better, stronger, and wilder. If
the two of them were elements, she would be the
fire to his ice.

She would be the one to melt the parts of him

he had thought never existed. The one who could
make him better or end his life, and he was
consumed by her.

Graydon continued to nip and suck her soft

breasts. The water falling from his face to her form
as he continued to pleasure her.

Graydon’s heart was racing as he set her down

softly, her wet skin rubbing against his before her
feet landed on the shower floor. Turning her gently,
he slid his hands over her, indulging in every inch
of her that was his to taste and touch.

He moved his hand between her legs and slid

his fingers inside of her. A moan escaped her lips,
and she moved her back end towards him; pushing
against his solid form.

Graydon worked his fingers in and out of her,

each pump of his hands causing her body to tense
and writhe against his.

He felt her body react to his, the slick wetness

of her building. He felt her breathing quicken, her
body building to his touch.

Alena’s hand gripped his arm as she moved her

body against his hand, his speed quickening. She
murmured his name as she came, her body tensing
and releasing around his fingers.

She turned to him then, her mouth hungrily

finding his, the two kissing passionately. He rubbed
himself against her, wanting to feel her, needing to
have her.

She touched his chest, a wicked grin on her lips,

her fingers trailing a line down his chest to the part
of him that was throbbing in need. He watched her,
forcing himself not to take her against the shower

wall.

She slowly got down on her knees in front of

him,  and  gave  him  a  devilish  smirk  before  kissing
his  erect  shaft.  She  teased  him  another  moment
with  a  soft  kiss,  and  a  pleading  noise  came  out  of
his mouth before she took him fully in. Warmth and
pleasure took over as she took him in her mouth.

She began to work him, her head bobbing in a

rhythm  that  sent  waves  of  pleasure  coursing
through  him.  He  was  moaning  as  her  mouth  and
tongue  did  things  that  made  him  forget  the  rest  of
the world existed.

Graydon said her name as he came, his body

releasing  inside  of  her.  She  stood  up,  her  chest
rubbing  against  him  as  she  made  her  way  back  up
to  meet  his  eyes.  His  mouth  found  hers  and  they
began  passionately  kissing,  their  bodies  rubbing
fluidly together.

She was his, his Alena, and he was hers. He

knew the rings on their fingers meant nothing in
reality, but at that moment it didn't matter. He was
devoted to her, and he knew he would be until the
day he died.

Her touch, her smell, the way her voice said his

name called to him in some primal way he wasn’t
sure he would ever understand. He was hers, and it
was as simple as that.

The water was ice on his back, but he didn’t

mind. Alena’s body rubbed against his; her legs

wrapping around him.

Graydon continued kissing her, stopping only a

moment  to  lift  her  up  again  and  step  out  of  the
shower.  He  fumbled  with  the  bathroom  door  a
moment  as  he  walked  back  into  their  room  with
her.

He laid Alena on the bed, his eyes taking all of

her in. She was stunning, more gorgeous than
anything he would ever deserve.

A vision, a goddess on the bed waiting for him

to take her. Alena’s legs parted and Graydon
crawled on the bed towards her, his head lowering
between her thighs.

His hands felt and touch his way over her body.

Graydon's mouth teased her, nipping and sucking
before his tongue roamed her center.

Alena was moaning softly, her hips eagerly

tilting towards him. He continued to devour her as
he felt her hand in his hair, pulling him towards her.

Graydon stopped, tearing his attention away

from her wet body and moved to hover over her.

He was ready and pulsating. She kissed him, her

hands pulling him towards her and he slowly
slipped inside of her.

The two let out blissful moans as their bodies

joined. Their hands roaming over each other
hungrily, she was liquid fire in his arms.

Graydon moved in and out of her; the two

finding a rhythm as their bodies moved as one.

Graydon was careful to keep Alena’s wounded
shoulder away from the pushing of their two
bodies.

Soon their moans of pleasure became the only

sound filling the room. Alena spoke something in
Russian as her body tensed and her hands dug into
his back.

Graydon worked his body harder with hers, the

two  building  together.  He  gripped  her,  pulling  her
towards  him  in  a  need  he  couldn’t  put  into  words.
They  both  came  together  in  a  rapturous  exalt  of
pleasure;  their  bodies  releasing  and  melting  into
each other.

Graydon rested his head in the crook of her

neck, kissing her skin softly; saying her name like it
was a prayer. Alena had her hand in his hair, her
body holding him close as if he might disappear if
she didn’t.

The two laid like that for a few moments before

he  eased  off  of  her  and  held  her  in  his  arms.  He
always  felt  awkward  around  other  people  with  his
large  arms  and  frame.  He  was  usually  clumsy  and
awkward,  but  Alena’s  body  rested  against  his  with
ease.

Her small frame molded perfectly against his. It

was  as  if  she  was  the  literal  other  part  of  himself.
Only  the  act  of  having  her  close,  of  being  inside
and near her was what put his soul at ease. He was
the  most  content  and  happy  he  had  been  in  his

whole life; laying in the bed holding Alena after
making love.

Leaning over to kiss the top of her head he

wished he could freeze this moment and hold onto
it forever.

She spoke first, and he softly stroked his hands

down her side as she did.

“Are you sure you’re ok with joining us? I don’t

want to push you into something you don’t want.”

He continued stroking her soft skin, his voice

steady as he replied.

“I want you. If that means a life with this group

then, yes, I’m ok with joining.”

He shifted so he could look down at her.
“I never thought I would be that guy who loved

someone. I didn’t think there was anyone out there
who could understand me. Anyone who would
want to, and then I meet you, and you’re smart, and
sexy. You're quick as a whip and you get me. I can’t
let something like that go. If it means being a
soldier again, hell, if it means being a spy again I’d
do it in a heartbeat. Just say the words.”

She looked up at him, her eyes tearing before

she nodded. Alena laid her head down on his chest
and he spoke up, his voice softer.

“Maybe what you and I have will grow into

something big enough to be enough for you. Maybe
we'll come to a point where we can have our own
family without being a part of them. We can create

something that’s just ours and we can walk
away...together.”

She went rigid in his arms, her breath stilling

and he turned to meet her eyes again.

“But look, if you never get to that, that’s ok

too. I’m in this for the long haul. I told you, I’m
here to back your play.” Graydon said as she
moved closer to him.

He kissed the top of her head. The two of them

not  saying  another  word,  and  he  began  to  let  his
mind  wander  through  his  thoughts.  The  time
passing  on,  and  without  realizing  it  he  fell  asleep
holding her.

Chapter 14

raydon was awoken sometime in the night.

Alena  was  still  sleeping  in  his  arms,  the  moonlight
pouring  in  through  the  balcony  windows.  He
realized  with  small  surprise  that  he  had  woken  up
naturally, and not from a nightmare.

It was rare for him to wake up without one. He

wondered if it was due to being so exhausted or
from having Alena in his arms.

Graydon watched the moonlight throwing

shadows  in  the  room,  the  light  bouncing  off  of  the
shiny  floor.  The  voices  of  their  traveling
companions  laughing  downstairs  drifted  up  from
the floor below.

He swallowed, his mouth dry as he leaned over

quietly and took a sip of water from the glass sitting
by the bed. Alena’s dark hair was now dry and
formed into soft waves as she rested against him.

He ran his hands through her hair gently. He

wondered if the US had a bounty on him yet. Hart
Druvell had died which took away witnesses and

motive, but there was the chance security footage
had caught him entering and exiting the building.

If the fire had spread to the rest of the building,

they  might  not  have  that  footage  though.  With  his
security  guards  knowing  he  was  in  the  building,
they may have   assumed he perished in the blaze.

He didn’t dwell on it too much; he doubted the

groups that would want him dead in the US were
the least of his worries. He imagined this group had
more enemies after them than they could count.

He had thought when he joined the military he

was putting a big target on his back, but now he
knew with a certainty this would be worse.

Graydon laid in bed a moment, holding Alena.

He had slept more in the past twenty-four hours
than he had in the past week. It felt good to hold
her in his arms. He felt safe for once, and at peace;
though he had no idea what was in store for him.

There was no telling what the next mission

would hold or how he would play into it, but right
now at that moment, it didn’t matter to him.

All that mattered was that Alena was in his

arms and she was alive and safe. He could figure
everything else out later.

Alena tensed in her sleep, her body jerking as

he  kissed  the  top  of  her  head.  She  murmured
something  intelligible  before  suddenly  crying  out.
Alena's  body  trembled  as  she  began  sobbing.  He
spoke quietly, but urgently, holding her to him. “It’s

ok, Alena, it’s all right.”

She snapped out of her nightmare, her body still

shaking. He stroked her hair and spoke softly. “It’s
ok, you’re safe, I’ve got you.”

He continued to hold her in silence as she

stopped crying. He didn’t question or pry as her
body eventually relaxed into his, her hand holding
tightly to him.

Graydon knew nightmares. If you wanted to

talk  about  them,  you  did.  He  would  be  the  last
person  to  pry,  or  force  her  into  talking  about
anything  she  didn’t  want  to.  He  had  enough  of
them  to  know  that  when  you  had  them,  it  was
personal.

It was emotionally revealing and you were left

feeling  vulnerable,  and  open.  The  best  thing  you
could  ask  of  someone  was  to  hold  you  tight,  and
reassure  you  that  the  world  you  were  in  was  the
only one that was real.

He watched as she moved herself to lay against

his  chest,  over  his  heart.  He  closed  his  eyes  and
focused  on  listening  to  her  breathing.  His  mind
drifting into sleep with her warm body against his; a
gentle  and  constant  reminder  that  neither  was
alone.

✽✽✽

Morning came and went before Graydon woke

up, his mind realizing with a start that he was in an
empty bed. He sat up, his eyes searching the room
for Alena, his pulse quickening.

Movement caught his eye and he saw her on

the balcony, a simple robe covering her. Her dark
hair unruly and wild, cascading down her back. He
got up and walked to the suitcase, pulling out a pair
of pants. He slipped them on and walked over to
where she was outside.

The sun was well into the sky, the warmth

enveloping him as he stepped out onto the terrace.
He slipped his arms around her and she laid back
into him, a soft smile on her lips.

“Good Afternoon Rut,” Alena breathed.
Graydon chuckled before replying.
“Good Afternoon Adelaide.”
Graydon shook his head before adding, “No,

that’s much too formal, how about Adi?”

She turned to face him, shaking her head and

scrunching her nose. “No way. That sounds like a
dog's name.”

“So I’m stuck with Adelaide while you shorten

mine down to three letters?” Graydon asked with a
grin.

"Yes," she replied smartly, returning the smile.
“Fine,” he resolved.
He kissed her lips and she grinned in

satisfaction before kissing him back.

“How’s the shoulder feeling?” he asked.
She leaned against him, her head on his chest.
“Same as yesterday.”
He nodded before looking down at her. “Did

you take your pain meds?” he questioned as he
gave her a doubting look.

She shook her head no as if that would have

been a huge bother. “I don’t need pain meds, I’m
fine,” she said as she waved the idea off.

He gave her a pointed look before walking

away from her, searching the suitcase for the bottle.
Graydon grabbed a pill out and poured fresh water
from the pitcher, bringing it over to her.

“You were shot, you need pain medicine. No

one likes a martyr Adelaide.” Graydon replied as he
held the water and pill out to her.

She rolled her eyes before taking the small pill

from him and drinking it down. She held the glass in
her hands and looked back out over their balcony.

The view was spectacular, and Graydon again

wondered how they paid for something like this.
The Villa was an extension of a vineyard, and rows
upon rows of grapes stretched out as far as they
could see.

There were no other houses or buildings nearby.

It  was  secluded  enough  to  remain  secure,  but  also
near enough to the city for it to look like a vacation
property.  They  planned  their  travels  well,  he
thought  to  himself.  The  pool  was  below  them  to

their right and he wondered if there were bathing
suits in those suitcases.

The idea of seeing Alena wearing something

skimpy in the water was enough to cause his body
to react. His mind envisioning all of the things he
wanted to do to her.

Alena spoke up, disrupting him from the images

he had been thinking of. He could tell by her voice
that she was ready to get to business, and not the
fun kind he had been imagining.

“We need to go down there, you and I have to

do reconnaissance on the property before nightfall.
Remember...we’re on vacation. Delia is my mother,
and Edda is my Aunt. We also brought our friends
with us; though I doubt they’ll be here right now,”
Alena said, her no-nonsense voice taking over.

Graydon nodded and followed her as she made

her way back into the bedroom. He helped her get
dressed into something that would conceal her
bandages. He helped her brush her hair, and slide
on her shoes before he got dressed.

Alena whistled as he put on the dress shirt and

pants that altogether cost more than his first car.
“You’re missing the sunglasses Rut,” Alena said
with amusement.

He thought she had been kidding, but before he

could close the suitcase, she pointed to a smaller
bag inside.

Graydon opened the bag and sighed in

annoyance as he looked at all of the accessories it
contained.

He never wore accessories, unless you counted

holsters, which most women did not. Inside the
smaller bag, there was everything from leather belts
to watches that were impossibly bulky, and much
too shiny for his taste.

He grabbed a pair of sunglasses and put them

on before turning to her.

“Is this better?” he asked, mild annoyance clear

in his voice. She smiled before replying, “You look
like you should be on the cover of G.I. Joe weekly.”

“Oh ha ha,” he replied sarcastically before

slipping his hand around her waist and opening the
door. She leaned against him as the two went down
the stairs together.

The two Russian women who he now referred

to as Delia and Edda, were sitting in the large room
that  he  imagined  was  the  hub  of  the  house.  They
each  had  a  drink  in  their  hand,  laughing  loudly  as
Graydon  and  Alena  made  it  down  the  steps  to
them.

He supposed to anyone on the outside looking

in who didn’t know better, the two women looked
like they were day drinking, and catching up on
gossip.

To those who knew better, they were pretending

to drink while taking the seats that allowed them
the best views of the house for anyone coming and

going. Masha got up, making a show of wobbling as
Galina laughed out loud in response.

Masha made her way over with the drink in

hand. “Well, it’s about time you two showed up.
You’ve forced us to drink alone down here all day,”
she said, her voice wavering between irritation and
amusement.

Alena laughed. “Mother, it’s only slightly past

noon,” she replied with a loving smile.

Masha waved her off. “We’re on vacation

darling. The drinking time starts when your feet hit
the floor, let me get you something. The ladies in
the kitchen make an excellent bellini,” she offered,
sipping her drink.

Graydon spoke up, trying to inflict concern in

his voice. “Let’s save the bellinis for tonight.
Adelaide and I wanted to see the property.”

Masha’s face held the slightest note of approval

before frowning and waving them off. “Oh fine,
you ruin all the fun Rutger, go see your sights.
We’ll be here when you return.”

Graydon and Alena walked out of the house,

his arm still around her. They didn’t say a word; the
two grinning like a couple in love, without a care in
the world.

The woman who had shown him to his room

was nearby. She was speaking with a man who
wore the same colored shirt as she did, and they
both greeted he and Alena with a smile.

Alena spoke up.
“Hi, sorry to bother you, but we want to visit

the vineyard. Is there a cart we can use or a
walking trail of some sort?” she asked.

The woman nodded before replying, “Of course

Signora, I can have Ciro escort you. He knows
everything about the vineyards.”

“Thank you so much.” Alena smiled brightly in

return as she squeezed Graydon’s hand.

He took the hint and interjected, “That’s kind,

but we actually hoped to travel on our own. Maybe
something more private?”

He looked over at Alena and let his eyes travel

down the length of her body. It had taken little for
him to react suggestively to wanting her. There
wasn’t any acting involved in him having to lust for
her.

The woman blushed, a small grin appearing on

her  face  before  waving  the  man  off  as  she  said
something  in  Italian  to  him.  She  turned  to  address
them,  “Sì,  yes.  Ciro  will  bring  you  a  golf  cart.  All
you have to do is follow the trail at the side of the
Villa, it winds through the Vineyards.”

Graydon smiled in thanks at the woman and

indulgently  looked  back  at  his  pretend  wife.  The
man  returned  with  a  golf  cart,  though  it  wasn’t
what he was expecting. The car was bright red and
polished  like  a  diamond.  The  seat  was  a  rich
leather,  and  the  tire's  rims  were  shining  in  the

sunlight.

Graydon tried not to balk, and instead forced

himself to remember he was rich. He imagined a
rich guy would have expected nothing less.

He nodded his thanks to the man before getting

into the driver’s seat. Graydon held his breath as
Alena slid in next to him, wincing only slightly.

Graydon started up the cart and found the path

the woman had mentioned. He only spoke up when
he thought they were well enough out of view.

“How was that?” he asked Alena, his eyes

flickering to her a moment before going back to the
path.

She smiled before replying, “You did great.

Good job at remembering I have a drinking
problem.”

He chuckled. “So reconnaissance, and then

what?”

“Then we meet for lunch, and more than likely

the  group  will  split  up  before  having  an  actual
meeting  in  the  wine  cellar  later  tonight.  We’ll
discuss  the  plan  further,  and  talk  about  moving  on
from here. We should be here for a few more days,
though that can change in the blink of an eye.”

“What is the next mission?” he asked.
She pulled lipstick from her purse and applied it

in the cart’s mirror. He glanced over, with her black
hair blowing in the wind and her red lips she looked
dangerously sexy. She was making it increasingly

hard for him to concentrate on the path.

“I don’t know. I do know it’s something with

the  Albanian  Mafia.  I  know  my  role  will  be  of
support  this  time  around,  nothing  too  dangerous.
Leo,  or  as  you  should  call  him  now,  Pieter,  will
have the harder role.” Alena replied.

Graydon nodded before asking, “Do you think

they know I’m on board?”

Alena laughed, the sound causing a lightness to

spread through his chest.

"I don’t know, but I’m sure they bet on it. Our

group  is  quite  the  competitive  bunch  who  enjoys
gambling.  You  just  wait,  I’m  sure  when  you  let
them  know  someone  will  owe  someone  else  some
money."

Graydon smirked. “What about you? What was

the last thing you bet on?”

She paused a moment in thought before

replying, “If you would kill me or not.”

Graydon raised his eyebrow, slowing the cart to

a crawl and looking over at her. She smirked,
knowing it was killing him to not know what she
was talking about.

“It was before I told you everything, the night

of your capture. They bet on if you would kill me
before I took you out,” she explained.

“Which way did you bet?” he asked, curiosity

filling his voice.

Alena laughed. “I knew I could take you, you

don’t scare me Graydon King," she replied, her
voice seductive.

He gave her a roguish smile. “Is that so? You

wait until I don’t have to worry about hurting that
shoulder of yours. I may change your mind,” he
snickered.

She looked over at him, fire lighting her eyes

before she replied, “Challenge accepted.”

He stopped the cart and leaned into her, gently

kissing her lips. His hands ran through her hair. She
nipped at his bottom lip and he grinned; a guttural
sound coming from him a second before deepening
the kiss.

She obliged and her hand went around his neck,

urging him towards her. Graydon’s hand caressed
her breast, and he murmured in her ear, “You don’t
scare me either Aeron.”

The corners of her mouth pulled into a smile

and she replied softly, “I should.”

Her hand found a pressure point on his neck

and she pressed down, his body forcibly jerking
down under her will.

There was a fiery challenge in her eyes. A

wicked grin came upon her face as she inclined her
head to him as she spoke, “They don’t call me the
assassin for nothing Gray.”

She took her hand off of him and he matched

her grin, kissing his way up her body until he was
eye level with her again.

“When the time comes, we’ll just have to put

our skills toe to toe. See who can hold out the
longest before they beg for mercy.” Graydon said,
his voice confident.

She kissed his neck, her hand running down his

chest before replying, “Yes sir.“

Alena leaned back in the seat, a small satisfied

grin on her face. Graydon forced himself to sit back
in the seat as well, moving from her slowly.

How anyone as beautiful and devilishly

seductive as her could care for a guy like him, he
would never know.

However, he would be eternally grateful until

the day he died that she did. She was more than he
would ever deserve. Someone so much his equal
and partner that it was second nature to be with
her.

It was like his body knew her already, his soul

had been looking for that missing piece that she
inherently was.

Graydon started the golf cart up again, and they

made it out of the path and into the vineyard.

They rode along mostly in silence, though

occasionally  Alena  would  point  out  something
interesting  now  and  then.  He  discovered  she  knew
a  little  about  vineyards  from  a  previous  mission.
She  didn’t  go  into  further  detail,  and  he  didn’t
press.

When Graydon had gone on dates with women

before  it  had  always  seemed  like  he  was  being
interrogated.  Most  women  wanted  to  know  every
detail  about  what  he  did,  and  where  he  had  been,
and why.

He had never felt comfortable sharing, and

often when he refused they had turned defensive.
Things never lasted long after that. With Alena, she
understood his hesitation.

Even when she was a therapist, she would

never push him into explaining or divulging past
missions. There was something understood between
them that the past was the past.

If anything pertained to something in their

future  or  present,  they  would  share.  However,
neither  would  push  the  other  into  diving  back  into
things  that  were  painful  when  it  was  so
unnecessary.

They traveled around the vineyard, mostly

sticking to the path. They passed along rows of
grapes and trelesses. Graydon stopped the cart
when they were on the tallest hill on the property.

It was the best view of the vineyard and Villa,

and  a  prime  scouting  position.  The  two  of  them
scanned  the  area,  Graydon  noting  that  there  were
no  vehicles  or  smaller  buildings  that  would  raise
any red flags.

The property seemed to be relatively secure,

and he sat back. His mind switched from security to
simply enjoying his surroundings.

Alena got out and stretched before sitting down

on the grassy hill. Graydon followed and sat beside
her, looking out over the valley before them.

The vineyard stretched on, and it seemed

amazing to him that a place like this could exist in
the world. Everything moved with a quiet calm,
there was no anger, no violence. There was only the
sunshine, the warm breeze and the sound of birds.

He laid back, closing his eyes, and Alena

brushed her hand softly against his cheek. She
spoke up, her voice soothing a part of his soul.

“Do you really want a family? It surprised me

when you mentioned it before. In all of our
sessions, you were adamant about never having a
real relationship. Even in the studio you called it all
a weakness.”

Graydon’s eyes remained closed, reveling in her

hand on him in the warm sunshine as he replied.

“Yes, eventually. It is a weakness, but you’re a

weakness too. I guess sometimes you have to take
the chance of having that vulnerability. I think
vulnerability makes life worth living, because what
we have between us...”

Graydon paused before opening his eyes and

looking into hers. “What we have is something
incredible, Alena. If more people had what we did,
you and I would have to find new jobs. The world
would be a much better place.”

Alena's face clouded, her lips pulling together.

“You’ve only seen the highlight reel which, believe
me, isn’t all that spectacular. You haven’t seen the
bad parts, Gray. You don’t know what monsters I
have,” she said, her voice tense.

He sat up, pressing his forehead against hers.

“I’ve seen enough to know that whatever monsters
you  have,  we  can  fight  them  together.  I  know
you’re scared, I am too. I also know you’re strong,
and  you're  smart,  and  you  challenge  me,  make  me
better.  Whatever  comes,  we  can  face  it  together;
we don’t have to be alone in this anymore.”

Alena nodded as her eyes teared up. He kissed

her  forehead  and  moved  to  hold  her.  She  nestled
into  his  arms,  her  body  forming  to  his.  They
remained  there  a  moment,  each  lost  in  their  own
thoughts.

He would have stayed there for the rest of the

afternoon, the rest of the day, had she not suggested
that they return to meet with the group.

Graydon’s life hadn’t allowed him much

downtime. When he was in between missions, there
was always moments of peace, but nothing like this.

Usually, his moments of quiet time were spent

debriefing  or  getting  ready  for  the  next  mission.
When  he  wasn’t  doing  any  of  those  things  he  was
training or taking stock of his weapons. He couldn’t
remember  the  last  time  he  had  nothing  to  do  on  a
warm, safe, quiet afternoon.

He got up reluctantly and helped her to her feet.

He noticed she winced, and he silently kicked
himself for not bringing her pain medicine.

As they walked back to the golf cart he asked,

"So tell me Adelaide, who is who on this little
layover in paradise we have going on?”

She told him who everyone in their party now

was.  Masha  was  Delia,  assuming  the  part  of
Adelaide’s mother. Galina was Edda, her Aunt and
Leo  would  go  by  Pieter,  his  childhood  friend,  and
business  partner.  Malakai  would  be  Jaymes,  their
friend,  but  mostly  chief  of  security  detail.  Jaymes
would  be  in  charge  of  the  two  other  guards  they
had brought with them.

The two of them slid into the plush cart, and

Graydon began driving back.

“I would hate to be the person in charge of

managing your budget for this group,” he laughed
as he shook his head.

“It’s not always like this. We were in the old

sound studio before this one remember? Before that
was a dilapidated theater. It’s a lot of give and take.
The  mission  we  have  coming  requires  us  to  show
wealth,  so  it’s  necessary  to  be  flashy.”  Alena
replied,  looking  over  the  rows  of  grapes  as  they
headed back.

He nodded. “I get it and trust me, I’m not

complaining. I don’t think I’ve ever slept on
anything so comfortable in my life.”

She smiled back over at him.

"Are you sure you’re going to be ok with all of

this?"  she  asked  before  adding,  "Next  time  we
might  not  be  married,  they  could  have  you  as
security,  or  intelligence.  There’s  no  promise  of
anything with this job."

Graydon leaned over and put his arm around

her, her body curling to his.

“I’m in this, ok? I’m not going anywhere. If

you’re here, then so am I,” he replied firmly.

She looked up at him a moment before nodding

and moving her attention back to the road. He held
her in his arms, the cart winding through the
property.

Chapter 15

raydon and Alena arrived back at the property

just as lunch was being served. The other members
of their party were already sitting at the table when
they walked in. Leo, or rather Pieter, called out to
him.

“Rut, it’s about time. I was just telling Edda and

Delia that I chartered a local fishing crew at Port Di
Santo Spirito. It’s not far from here, about twenty
minutes. How about we leave these ladies to their
shopping and head out for a little deep sea fishing?”

Leo raised his eyebrows and tilted his head,

doing his best to entice him. Graydon laughed.
“Tempting, what does my darling wife have to say
about that?” he asked, looking over at Alena who
sat down across from Leo.

She gave him a sly smile. “As long as you leave

your wallet with me I don’t care what you do
sweetheart. I want an Italian purse so bad I can’t
stand it.”

Graydon laughed and sat down at the table next

to her. Alena and Masha began talking about
accessories which had amazed him because she had
never seemed like the type.

He wondered how many times they had each

played different roles. Alena had been his quiet
therapist, now listening to her gush about shoes
while laughing freely made his head hurt.

The lunch was delicious, and he held Alena’s

hand when it was finished, the group chatting lazily
about the vacation. Galina spoke up about wanting
to take a sightseeing tour, and Alena brought up the
local theaters and shows.

Graydon couldn’t tell what was acting and what

was the truth, but he supposed it didn’t matter.
They had downtime to prepare for the next mission,
so as long as everyone played their parts it,
theoretically, should all go smoothly.

Graydon and Alena left the lunch group and

went into their rooms to change. Graydon walked
in after her, shutting and locking the door. He
grabbed the pain pills and handed her one.

After she took it, he watched as she walked to

the bed, sitting down and beckoning him to her.
Graydon walked over and sat facing her, the two
speaking in hushed tones.

“Does he really have a chartered fishing boat

for us?” Graydon asked curiously.

Alena nodded, “Yep. Appearances remember?”

“Are you going to be all right? Masha and

Galina don’t look like they’d be much fun,” he
asked with a small smile.

“You would be surprised. I don’t know how

much  Masha  makes,  but  she  has  a  keen  eye  for
expensive  jewelry.  I  might  have  been  pretending
with all of the fashion talk down there, but she was
enjoying  every  minute  of  it.  You  should  see  those
two when we get to shop in stores,” she said with a
playful eye roll.

He grinned at the thought.
“What about you? Are you saying my wallet is

safe from diamonds and expensive clothes?” he
asked teasingly.

She raised her eyebrow, the humor falling from

her face.

“First of all, I’ve seen your bank account, and

let’s just say uncle Sam doesn’t pay well. I have my
own money for nice things thank-you-very-much.
Second of all-”

He interrupted her, his hand moving to caress

her cheek.

“Alena Vasiliev, I am well aware you are

capable, but let’s make things clear. If I want to buy
you  something  expensive,  I’m  going  to  buy  you
something  expensive.  You’re  going  to  have  to  get
over  your  independent  woman  bit  and  allow  it  to
happen.”

She tilted her head. “And what about you? Are

you comfortable with me buying you nice things?”
she challenged.

Graydon laughed. “Are you kidding? I’ll give

you a list. Like you said, you’ve seen my bank
account.”

She nudged him playfully, a smile breaking

across her face. He grinned at her a moment before
touching his forehead to hers.

"Partners. Remember that," he said. She

nodded and kissed his lips.

Partner was a word that meant more to

someone  in  their  field.  You  weren’t  above  your
partner,  you  didn’t  betray  your  partner.  You  laid
your  life  down  for  your  partner.  When  he  spoke  it
to her, it was as if he was agreeing to an unspoken
joining of the two of them.

Graydon leaned towards Alena and she laid

back on the bed, tugging him on top of her.

Her hand slid under his shirt, tracing the

muscles. He kissed her neck and murmured softly
that she was beautiful. His hands starting at the
curve of her body and roaming upwards.

He caressed her skin, savoring the softness

against his rough hands. He pulled at her dress and
she sat up to slip it off, throwing it carelessly to the
floor. He moved back to her, unhooking her bra,
carefully minding the shoulder.

Graydon tossed the bra to the floor with the

dress, his eyes basking in her stunning naked form

laid out before him. Graydon moved to her breasts,
his finger teasing her sensitive skin as his mouth
nipped and played.

His body pushed hard against her, every muscle

in him throbbing as she moved to him. Alena undid
his pants, sliding her hand inside as a knock on the
door sounded through the room.

The two of them paused in perfect stillness as

Leo called out, “Rut. What’s taking so long? I told
the boat we’d be there this afternoon.”

Graydon silently cursed the man before taking a

calming breath, willing his voice to still.

He called back out, “One minute. I’ll meet you

downstairs.”

They listened as a set of footsteps trailed

downstairs. Alena covered her mouth to stifle a
laugh, and he shook his head grinning, “Not funny.”

She watched as he kissed her forehead and

buttoned up his pants. He walked over to the
suitcase and retrieved a light shirt, a different pair
of sunglasses, and the wallet he was passing off as
his own.

Alena sat up, sighing airily as she spoke, “To

think what could have been.” She grabbed her
clothes and he helped her slip them back, the smile
still on her face.

Graydon chuckled. “You’re enjoying this a little

too much.”

“You know when we’re on missions together it

could be days, possibly weeks before we see each
other,” she said.

“That,” he began, “Is a problem I’ll worry

about when it comes. For now, you just behave
until I get back.”

“Never.” She replied with a grin, watching him

as  he  grabbed  his  things.  Graydon  stopped  at  the
door,  turning  to  face  her.  He  let  himself  enjoy  this
moment,  that  he  had  someone  waiting  for  him,
someone who cared about him.

He gave her a lopsided smile before walking out

of the door and moving down the steps.

Leo was waiting outside for him, just like he

had said and Graydon walked over to meet him.

“Let’s go catch some fish,” Graydon said with a

grin.

“You bet,” Leo replied, returning the smile.
Graydon opened the door to the blue SUV,

getting  in  the  back  of  the  vehicle.  Leo  walked
around and did the same. The passenger seat had a
man  Graydon  had  seen  in  the  plane  on  the  way  to
Italy,  but  he  didn’t  know  his  name.  The  driver
waited  until  everyone  was  situated  before  pulling
off.

It was odd for him to leave her. He didn’t like

the sinking feeling that lodged in his chest the
moment they pulled away from the Villa. It was like
he had left a part of himself there.

He wasn’t the kind of guy who would say his

heart was left behind; no to him it was more like a
part of his being was missing. There was a space
right in his chest that ached for her to return to him.

The ride to the port was quick and Graydon was

thankful  when  Leo  made  conversation,  asking
random  things  that  only  a  best  friend  would  ask.
Graydon  wasn’t  a  guy  who  had  lots  of  friends.  It
was  even  more  unnatural  when  he  was  pretending
this  was  his  best  friend,  a  man  he  had  never
actually met.

Leo had taken everything in stride, telling jokes

and  commenting  on  the  views  as  the  car  moved
along.  He  hoped  the  driver  would  assume  he  was
just  quiet.  The  group  made  it  to  the  port  and
Graydon tried not to look dumbfounded as he took
in his surroundings.

The boats were all gorgeous and shiny. The one

Leo pointed to was sleek and lithe. It looked like it
was built for cruising the water. It was smaller than
he would have guessed, but the boat looked ready
for the challenge with riggings and polls jutting out
into the sky.

Graydon followed Leo to the boat and shook

hands with the man who introduced himself as
Rocco, their fishing guide.

Rocco gave them basic instructions on what to

do in the event of an emergency. He then pointed
them in the direction of the restroom, kitchen, and
modest lounging areas below deck.

Graydon listened as the man told them they

would  reach  the  spot  they  needed  to  be  at  in  an
hour.  He  and  Leo  had  both  nodded  along  to  the
man’s  words  and  when  their  guide  left  them  Leo
turned to him, “Better make yourself comfy.”

Graydon watched as he walked past him, and

trudged  down  the  steps  to  where  Rocco  had
pointed  out  the  lounging  area.  Graydon  instead
walked  along  the  boat,  choosing  to  take  a  seat  at
the back.

He let his legs hang over the side as the captain

pulled away from the dock. It was beautiful, the air
was warm and the gentle spray of the water felt
heavenly.

Occasionally they passed other passenger boats,

but the closer they got to the open sea the more
secluded it became.

Graydon got up halfway through the ride and

made his way to where the kitchen quarters were.
He moved down the steps, careful to duck his head
and walked to the small refrigerator.

The captain of the vessel had ensured they

would  be  comfortable,  and  there  was  everything
from fresh fruit to wine aboard. Graydon grabbed a
bottle  of  water  and  looked  around  for  Leo.  He
walked  along  the  passageway  below  deck  until  he
came to the lounging area.

Leo was laying on his stomach on a couch, his

forehead resting against a water bottle.

“Are you all right? Do we need to turn back?”

Graydon asked, his voice filled with concern. Leo
didn’t bother opening his eyes.

"Seasick. I hate boats," he muttered before

turning away from Graydon.

Leo faced the wall, the water bottle rolling to

the  floor.  Graydon  wanted  to  ask  him  why  in  the
world  he  had  booked  a  fishing  charter  if  the  man
hated  boats,  but  Alena’s  words  about  appearances
flooded back to him.

He hadn’t thought playing the part of a rich guy

would have had to involve them deep sea fishing,
but he wasn’t one to question their plans either.

Graydon picked up the bottle from the floor and

put both bottles on the counter. He walked to the
bow of the ship and took a seat in one of the chairs.
The sky was washed in hues of pink and yellow as
the sun set over the Mediterranean sea. He had
never been night fishing before.

The only time he had ever gone fishing at all

was  when  he  was  a  kid.  The  man  who  was  in
charge  of  finding  him  a  suitable  place  had  offered
to  take  him.  The  man  had  arranged  the  trip  after
picking him up from a couple who hadn’t been the
best people.

It had been a small stock pond, and the fish

were catch and release only. Looking back now he
imagined it was second nature for them to be
caught, but he had loved every minute of it as a kid.

He had caught six fish that day, mostly crappie with
one catfish. The memory was one of those few,
good ones he liked to look back on.

This, however, was a completely different

animal than the stock pond was. The sky enveloped
them in a darkness that on the water was equal
parts serene and unsettling.

The boat had lights, but there was nothing

around them. Looking around it was easy to
imagine they were the only people in the world.

The stars shone down on them and Graydon let

the excitement of fishing for the things that made
their home in the dark water sink in.

The boat stilled and their guide came to meet

him.  Leo  walked  over  a  second  later,  a  bright  grin
on  his  face.  No  one  would  have  assumed  he  was
miserable.  Graydon  made  a  mental  note  that  the
man was one of the best actors he had ever seen.

Rocco and his crew passed out poles, and they

didn't wait long before the action appeared. The
first fish hit Leo’s line, and he called out from
across the boat, "Rut you owe me fifty bucks."

Leo began reeling and fighting his line. Graydon

turned to watch, a grin on his face as he called
back, "Doesn’t count until you get it on board
Pieter."

Leo laughed and before he could say anything

more, Graydon’s line snagged. The fish fought him
with such intensity Graydon felt his chest beating

with the thrill. His mind was racing as he wondered
what exactly had been caught on his line.

He didn’t pause in the fight a moment, even

when Leo hauled his fish on board. Graydon
continued reeling and fighting, tugging and holding
as the line pulled and tensed.

The fish he caught in that stock pond all those

years ago were minnows compared to the strength
that was fighting him now.

Graydon felt like a lifetime had passed before

he hauled the fish to the water's surface. Rocco and
another man dipping the catch nets to grab the fish
and bring it aboard.

Rocco moved to help Leo and Graydon pulled

his fish out of the net. Graydon’s face broke into a
smile he almost couldn’t contain when he saw the
fish. It was easily larger than anything he had ever
caught before; which hadn’t been too hard to
overpass when his record was previously a six-inch,
quarter-pound fish.

The monster they brought above deck was

easily 40 inches and he guessed around 50 lbs.
Graydon didn’t know much about fish, but to him,
the animal looked like a behemoth.

Graydon glanced over at Leo who was holding

up  a  shiny,  silver  fish.  It  was  large,  but  Graydon
noted  with  a  grin,  smaller  than  his.  Rocco  took  a
picture  of  Leo  holding  up  his  fish  before  heading
over to where Graydon was.

His accent was bright and thick as he spoke,

“Your  friend  caught  an  Albacore,  very  deliziosa.”
He  made  a  motion  with  his  hand  signaling  it  was
something  tasty  and  Graydon  felt  a  hand  clasp  on
his back as Leo made his way over. “What shrimp
did you pull on board Rut?” Leo asked.

Graydon held the fish up to the other man with

a grin. "I have no idea, sure was a fighter though."

Rocco examined his fish and looked up with a

wide smile. "Ah, a Greater Amberjack. Very
powerful fish," he said.

Graydon was beaming as he held up the fish for

the camera. Rocco asked him if he wanted to keep
it and Graydon shook his head.

The fish was beautiful, its body shaped and

designed for speed and power. This fish didn’t
belong on his plate, the animal belonged back in the
water.

Graydon leaned over the edge with the fish as

Rocco unhooked the metal hook and freed the
animal. Graydon leaned closer towards the water
and released the fish.

It moved from his hands with speed,

disappearing into the depths below. Rocco and Leo
could have ended the trip right there for all he
cared, his night had been made. The trip, however,
continued on.

Leo brought in the most fish at seven, and

Graydon brought in five.

None of them challenging and fighting him like

the Amberjack had. Rocco announced it was time
to head back, and Graydon found himself alone
with Leo at the back of the ship.

The night was silent, save for the boat’s motors,

trolling  along  through  the  stillness  of  the  night  as
they  made  their  way  back  to  the  shore.  Graydon
looked  over  at  the  other  man  before  speaking,  his
voice solemn. "I’m sorry about your brother."

Leo nodded in response, not saying another

word. Silence passed between the two and Graydon
wished Alena was there.

Making conversation was hard enough, but he

never had siblings. He didn’t know the first thing to
say to comfort someone who had just lost theirs.

When he lost men in missions, he was never the

one to address their family or loved ones. He had
never had to shoulder the burden of loss.
Loneliness had been a blessing and a curse.

Graydon spoke up again, glancing over at Leo,

"Hey, thanks for doing this. I know it had more to
do with the mission than anything with me, but I
appreciate it."

The other man nodded before replying, “You’re

welcome. Delia was the one who came up with the
idea. She asked me to speak to you,” he said as he
glanced around the ship.

Rocco had disappeared into the captain’s

quarters and there wasn’t any crew around that he

could detect. The ship moved along the water and
Graydon waited for Leo to speak as he watched
him in silence.

“Delia assumes you will stay with us. She thinks

you would have left already had you decided
otherwise,” Leo said, his voice questioning.

Graydon nodded almost imperceptibly, “I have

decided to stay. Does she regret the offer?”

"No, nothing like that. She wanted me to talk to

you about what we do."

Graydon nodded, "Adelaide told me a little

about your causes," he replied.

Graydon could remember her speaking with

such passion, such resolute determination. If she
trusted this group to make the right decision on
where to interject then he would too.

Leo shook his head, "I am sure she told you all

about our emotional side, the motives behind what
we do. That is good, very important, but you must
understand our mechanical side. The side that
allows the operations to happen."

Graydon looked out at the water as Leo spoke

up again.

"We’re a large group made up of many units.

Each  unit  has  soldiers  assigned  to  it,  each  soldier
specializing  in  a  skill  set.  Sometimes  we  adjust
people  in  units  based  on  a  particular  mission’s
needs, but on the whole, we stick with our unit."

"How long have you been with this group?"

Graydon asked quietly.

"A long time," Leo replied, sighing.
Graydon looked over at the other man. Leo was

older  than  him,  by  a  good  ten  years,  but  Graydon
would  in  no  way  call  him  old.  The  light-skinned
blonde  mirrored  his  younger  brother,  the  two  of
them sharing the same eye color.

Leo continued on and Graydon turned around,

leaning against the railing and looking towards the
path the boat was cutting through the water.

“Delia, Edda and I were the first to start this

group. We brought in the rest of the team that
you’ve met not long after getting our bearings. We
also have four more soldiers specializing in security
and weaponry, and a doctor that often tags along.”

Graydon nodded and Leo explained further,

“We’re in contact with the group heads, they’re the
ones we get our orders from, but mostly it’s team-
led missions.”

The moonlight shone on the deck of their boat,

a short silence taking up the space between them
before Leo spoke again.

“Teams have to run tightly, and everyone must

put their faith and trust in one another. If just one
member of the group failed to comply, the mission
would fail every time.”

Graydon didn’t glance at the other man as he

continued to speak. He could tell where this
conversation was going, he could see between the

lines of what the man wanted to say.

When Leo didn’t speak further Graydon asked,

“Are you saying I’m not going to be on this team?”

He glanced over at the other man as Leo shook

his head. “No, I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is
that to be a part of this, you must dedicate your life.
There can be no second-guessing, there can be no
hesitation. You were a soldier correct?”

Graydon nodded as the man continued, “You

must  be  that  and  more  here.  It’s  not  as  simple  as
just  taking  orders.  The  things  we  have  to  do
sometimes  require  things  you  would  have  never
been asked to do in the military. When you join this
group,  you  must  know  that  your  life  will  be  this
group.  In  the  military  you  can  clock  out,  you  can
have  a  different  life.  In  this  world,  our  world,  the
missions are the only life we have.”

Graydon looked back out into the water, his

mind taking in everything Leo was saying.

“I know you and Adelaide think you can make

this  work,  but  there’s  no  place  for  personal
relationships  here.  The  only  relationship  you  are
allowed  is  that  of  yourself  and  your  team.  Your
feelings  for  one  another  complicate  things.
Complications are how people die.”

Graydon looked over at him. “So I can join

your group, but she and I won’t be together? Is that
what you’re saying?” he asked. Leo nodded in
silence.

“What about you? Your own brother was in the

group and Delia and Edda are sisters. How can one
relationship complicate the mission, but those
relationships

get

looked

over?”

Graydon

challenged.

Leo braced his hand on the rail, his voice

steady, “It is different. You’ll notice that with
missions we do not allow a sibling set to work in the
line of fire together. They can be on the same team,
but they cannot work closely on the mission. It
would risk everyone involved.”

“So once I join, I’m allowed to stay in your

group. but Adelaide and I won’t work closely
together. Even if we end our relationship?”
Graydon asked.

“That is correct,” Leo said as Graydon crossed

his arms tightly. His mind began running wild with
thought. He wondered if Alena had known that.

She had asked him to join, begged him to stay,

but had she known that once he agreed they would
be separated? Had she been pulling him in only to
have him join this group, and not actually for her?

Graydon walked away from Leo and moved to

the front of the boat. He wanted off the water. He
wanted to be away from the other man so he could
think, and more than anything he needed to see
Alena.

The ride back to the shore felt as if it took

hours, and Graydon spent his time sitting in one of

the fishing chairs; his fingers tapping his leg as his
nervous energy took over.

The bright lights of the city came into view and

Graydon  jumped  up,  eager  to  see  her  again.  He
didn’t  know  what  to  think,  or  what  he  would  say.
He  couldn’t  imagine  she  had  pretended  any  of  it
with  him,  but  he  hadn’t  seen  her  therapist  side
being an act either.

Graydon forced himself to remain calm, to trust

his partner.

Graydon didn’t say a word as he and Leo

climbed  back  into  the  car.  Leo  chatted  with  the
driver, making small talk about the fishing trip, but
Graydon  couldn’t  muster  up  the  effort.  He  needed
to  know  what  was  going  on.  He  needed  to  know
what was real again.

The vehicle pulled back into the Villa; the

second car he assumed that was rented for the
women already parked in the driveway. Graydon
got out of the car and walked up the steps, saying a
silent prayer that his world wasn’t about to end.

Chapter 16

raydon stepped inside the Villa. The home

smelled spicy and fragrant. He watched as a woman
moved from the kitchen with a large tray of food to
the dining area they had all been in earlier. He
hadn’t known what time it was, but he didn’t think
he could stomach eating until he talked to Alena.

As if she sensed him her voice called out from the
room the woman had walked into. "Rut? Darling is
that you?"

He followed her voice, forcing a smile on his face.
“Sweetheart. How was shopping?” he asked as he
moved to her, kissing her on the cheek.

A moment of confusion crossed her face as she

took in his look before beaming. “Oh absolutely
perfect. I can’t wait to show you everything.”

Masha and Galina were watching him with slight
curiosity as well when another woman came in,

setting down a basket of bread. He looked down at
her with a smile. “I was hoping to change before
dinner darling, would you care to give me some
company?” he asked.

Alena looked over at Masha before replying,

“Of course, sweetheart.” Graydon held his hand
out to her, and she slipped her hand in his, standing
from the table.

Leo walked in and told them he would be right

down; that he needed to wash the smell of fish off
of him. Graydon walked with Alena’s hand in his to
the edge of the steps. Instead of walking up them
he paused, making sure no one was watching.

She followed him as they both made their way

through the hallway, and down a pair of steps to the
wine cellar. The cellar was the one place Masha
had mentioned to him that was secure. He imagined
it had something to do with them being
underground and having one entrance and exit, but
he hadn’t paid it much attention until tonight.

He didn’t want their conversation to be

overheard,  not  by  anyone  in  their  group  and
certainly  not  by  the  house  staff.  Alena  followed
him  down,  and  he  shut  the  door  behind  her.  She
looked over at him with concern filling her features.

“What’s going on? What happened?” she

asked, her voice apprehensive. She moved to put
her hand on his chest and he stepped away, his eyes
boring into hers.

“Were you aware that once I joined we

couldn’t be together?” he asked.

Alena took a breath in, and in that brief moment
that she didn’t speak, he knew the answer was yes.
His eyes closed, and he sighed, trying to keep calm.
His thoughts taking off on their own.

If she had known, did that mean that everything

was  a  lie?  Had  she  been  pretending  to  fall  in  love
with him? The realization that she may not feel for
him what he felt for her was a blow to his chest. He
would  have  chosen  to  face  what  he  faced  in
Morocco  a  hundred  times,  rather  than  feel  the
heartache that was slowly consuming him.

Graydon took a steadying breath as Alena

spoke up. Her voice soft and pleading, “Graydon
listen to me. I thought they would make an
exception.”

He laughed sarcastically. “Because they have been
nothing but flexible since I’ve met them,” he

replied, his anger seeping into his voice.

She glared at him, her good hand on her hip.

“Don’t act like a child, listen,” she demanded. He
raised his eyebrow and met her eyes, gesturing for
her to continue.

“I thought that given the level of your skills, and
experience in the field they would allow it. I didn’t
think for one moment they would have been rigid
on this small rule. It’s so rare that it’s even asked, I
thought they would see reason,” she explained.

Graydon paused. “What do you mean thought?
You’ve asked already?” he asked.

She nodded, her voice smaller, “I did, and they

said no. I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t
think they would force us to separate.”

Graydon watched as she held herself with her

good arm, biting her lip before she spoke again. “I
thought we could do this. I thought we could have a
chance at some semblance of a life without giving
up everything we knew.”

Tears were filling her eyes, and without thinking

another moment he grabbed her in his arms. She
laid her head on his chest and he could feel her

body shaking.

Graydon sat down on the cellar’s steps and

pulled  her  onto  his  lap,  holding  her  gently.  He
couldn’t  make  her  choose  between  him  or  them.
They  were  her  family,  they  were  all  she  had  ever
know. They had been the ones to save her when she
needed it the most, not him. He wouldn’t put her in
that  position.  He  had  made  her  a  promise,  and  he
intended to keep it.

He ran his hands through her hair. “It’s ok. I

told you we were partners and I meant it. Partners
don’t give up on each other when a problem comes
their way. We’ll figure this out, we’ll do what we
have to do,” he breathed.

She rested her head on his shoulder, her hand

grasping  his  shirt.  “I  didn't  think  I'd  ever  have  to
say  goodbye,”  she  said,  her  voice  breaking.  The
word  goodbye  hitting  him  like  a  ton  of  bricks,  but
he forced himself to focus.

She needed him right now, even if their time

together was rapidly vanishing he would be there
every second for her until it was gone. He held her
more tightly, forcing himself to memorize the way
her body fit his.

"It’s going to be ok. You can do it because

you’re  strong  and  you’re  a  fighter.  You  can  do
anything,  Alena.  If  you  remember  nothing  else
remember  that.  In  a  few  years  from  now,  when
you’re ready to walk away from this life, we’ll find
each other again."

Alena went silent, her body still in his arms

before she looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
she asked, confusion on her face.

Graydon’s eyes met hers, his voice quiet, “I

mean that when you’re done with this group,
however long that might take I’ll be waiting.”

A smile broke out across her face, laughter

filling the cellar as Graydon’s eyebrows knitted in
confusion. She kissed him before speaking. “I’m
not staying with them. I’m staying with you.”

Her forehead pressed against his and his face

was still filled with confusion as he asked, “What
do you mean? You were talking about goodbyes.”

She gazed at him with an adoration that

threatened  to  knock  him  over.    “You  would  really
walk  away?  You  weren’t  going  to  ask  me  to  leave
with  you?”  she  asked,  surprise  and  happiness
pouring from her voice.

He shook his head, “No, I know what they

mean to you. What’s going on? Are you saying
you’re staying with me?” he questioned, his mind
struggling to find the ground to stand on.

She nodded, “Yes. Yes, of course, I’m staying

with you. When Masha refused to let the rule slide
I  knew  right  then  we  would  leave  together.  I
wouldn’t,  I  couldn’t,  leave  you.”  Alena  said,
pressing her lips to his.

He kissed her back, relishing the feeling of her

lips to his, a happiness exploding in his chest. She
was staying with him.

She was taking the chance on a life together

instead of the life she had known. They would be
together, each dependent on each other and in debt
to no one. They could carve out something special
in this world just for the two of them.

She playfully hit his chest. "Were you not going

to  fight  for  me  at  all?”  she  asked,  humor  lighting
her  face.  Graydon  shook  his  head.  “I  wouldn’t
come  between  you  and  this  group.  You’re  my
partner,  my  best  friend.  I  wasn’t  about  to  take
something  you  loved  away  from  you,”  he  said,
holding her close.

Alena kissed his forehead. "I love you, Graydon

King." He let the words sink in, let them bury inside
his chest before meeting her eyes. “I love you,
Alena Vasiliev.”

Their lips met together and Graydon knew that

this was what those movies and books always
talked about. The feeling spreading through his
body, the elation that was coursing through him was
what all the big fuss was about.

He loved her. With every fiber of his being,

with every thought and movement, he loved her.
He had thought he wasn’t capable of something like
what they had. He had thought men like him, men
who lived the life that he lived didn’t get happy
endings, yet here she was.

He had met his match in her, he had met his

equal. The person who challenged him, made him
laugh, and smile. The person who had pulled him
out of his darkness.

He knew they were far from perfect. Graydon

was smart enough to know that their life wasn't
going to be a fairytale from here on out, but none of
that mattered. Nothing mattered but the fact that
they loved each other, and they were together.

The next few moments would be a blur as

Graydon thought back to them. Alena had gone
back upstairs, to the table and told Masha to gather
everyone. The group had arrived at the cellar as he
and Alena explained they would be leaving.

He noted that Masha slipped Leo money with a

sour  expression  on  her  face.  Alena  and  Masha
talked over details on how best to handle their split
from  the  group.  No  one  spoke  much  after
everything  was  decided.  The  two  soon  after  made
their way back to their room for the night.

The next morning they had woken up to Masha

at the foot of their bed, two envelopes in hand. She
explained they would hold the information they
needed for their new identities, including birth
certificates and bank cards.

She informed them that Graydon King was

pronounced dead after a body was recovered from
the fire at Harvell Tech along with Hart’s. Graydon
had said a silent prayer for Rolov when she had
said that.

Masha had hugged Alena, and Leo brought in

two different sets of luggage. She explained that the
group would leave that night, and it would be best

if he and Alena did the same.

Leo had taken the other suitcases and left the room
without a word. Graydon had looked through the
envelope to see who he would be.

Masha walked to the door and put her hand on

the knob, pausing before turning it. Her voice soft
as she spoke over her shoulder, “Keep the rings as
a present from us. If you need to reach us, you
know how.” Alena had nodded, and the woman was
gone.

He and Alena had left that night, taking a car
further into the Italian countryside before taking a
small, private plane owned by the group.

On the plane he had taken her hand in his,

asking if she regretted any of it. She had shaken her
head no before laying her head on his shoulder.

They had arrived in Trabzon, Turkey as the sun

was rising. It had seemed fitting to him, a new dawn
at the beginning of their new life. He had said as
much, and Alena had made fun of him for it,
nudging him for being a secret romantic.

Upon the recommendation of their pilot, the

two secured a place to stay at the Zorlu Grand

Hotel. They dropped their luggage off in their room
before setting out to find a place to eat.

He remembered the feeling of her hand in his as

they  walked  along  the  sidewalk.  The  feeling  of
freedom,  and  happiness,  such  that  he  hadn’t  felt
before.  He  had  looked  over,  marveling  at  how
beautiful  she  was,  how  lucky  he  was  as  they
walked along. He remembered feeling like anything
was possible that day.

Four Weeks Later

raydon slipped his room key into the secure box

on  the  door.  He  was  balancing  two  cups  of  coffee
and  a  bag  of  fresh  bread,  honey,  jam,  olives,  and
cheese.  The  code  box  beeped  a  moment  before
turning  green,  and  he  slipped  into  the  room.  The
bed was empty, and as he balanced the coffees and
the  full  bag  Alena  came  out  of  the  bathroom,
wrapped in a silk robe.

She helped him set the food down before he

handed her a cup of coffee, the warm vanilla aroma
enveloping the room. Alena took the coffee from
him with a grateful look before putting it to her lips.

She sighed happily after taking the first sip,

sitting down into one of the chairs. Graydon sat
down next to her and sipped his coffee, watching
her with a smile.

They had been living in the hotel for almost a

month as Kevin and Alex as they adjusted to their
new life and planned their future together. The
money Masha had left in their two accounts
providing enough for them to retire if they wanted
to.

They had been pondering how to best spend

their free time. Graydon joked that he would
become a professional fisher, though, in reality, he
didn’t care.

As long as they were together, as long as he

could feel her breathing next to him and know she
was safe, he was a happy man.

Alena hadn’t said what she wanted until they

had  been  walking  home  one  night.  They  were
walking  hand  in  hand,  each  eating  Turkish  ice
cream  as  they  passed  along  the  street  together,
under the moonlight.

It had been a quiet night, and they had walked

along in comfortable silence until she turned to him,
announcing that she wanted to work with kids. She
wanted to give back to the world.

Graydon had looked over at her thoughtfully

before they continued their walk, hand-in-hand in a
quiet rhythm with one another.

Graydon pulled their breakfast out onto the

table, putting the jam closer to her side knowing she
preferred it over the honey.

“What do you think about finding a place

here?”  he  asked.  She  paused  a  moment,  tilting  her
head to the side in thought before replying, “I like it
here.  I  think  it’s  a  good  idea.  Though,  you  know  I
don’t  like  cleaning  and  we  won't  have  access  to
room service, so consider yourself warned.”

She grinned, and he laughed softly. “I think

we’ll manage. I want a home with you.”

She watched him thoughtfully before spreading

jam over a piece of bread. She took a bite and met
his eyes.

"Are you sure you’re ready to settle? We have

more than enough money to travel, see the world,"
she asked.

He shook his head, "I’ve seen enough of the

world. I want you."

She blushed then, looking down at her plate half

a second before speaking up again. “What about
for fun? Have you thought about what you want to
do? You don’t have to be a soldier anymore Gray.”

He nodded as he tore a piece of the bread off.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.”

Alena leaned back in her chair waiting for him

to reply. “I was thinking about what you said the
other night, about wanting to give back,” he said.

She nodded, and he leaned across the table, his

hand holding hers. “I want to start an orphanage.”

Alena’s eyebrows raised. “What?” she asked,

her eyes wide. He nodded, continuing, “I know it
will take a lot of work, but we have the cash and I
think we have a real chance to help some kids. If
this is something you want to do of course.”

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded, “Are you

sure? It won’t be easy.”

Graydon chuckled. “What in our lives has ever

been easy?”

She laughed with him, wiping the tears from her

face as she got up and moved to his side of the
table. Graydon pulled her onto his lap as she put
her arms around him.

“Thank you,” she breathed. He shook his head.

“You have nothing to thank me for.”

Alena nodded, “I do. You’re willing to take on a

lot of work and stress just to make me happy.”

“You’re my partner remember? If you want to

change the world, I'll help you in every way I can. I
came from that world too though, remember? I
wish back then there had been someone who cared
half as much as you do,” Graydon said, looking into
her bright green eyes.

Alena smiled. “Thank you, Gray,” she said.

He shook his head before replying, “Stop

thanking me, it’s your idea. I just came up with the
plan.”

Alena kissed his neck softly, the small motion

sending a jolt of electricity down him.

“Maybe instead of saying, I can just show you

how thankful I am,” she murmured suggestively.

He looked down at her, a grin spreading across

her face. Graydon picked her up and carried her to
the bed. She leaned back on her elbows as she
watched him take his shirt off.

His muscles were tight and hard, and as he

tossed the shirt, his eyes leveled on her. She was his
Alena, his lover, his partner. Graydon moved to the

bed and leaned down, untying her robe, letting the
silk fabric fall around her.

She was bare underneath it, and he gave a moan

of appreciation at the sight. She grinned before
slipping out of the robe, getting onto her hands and
knees and crawling to him.

Alena slowly undid his pants. They fell to the

floor, and he ran his hands through her hair. Alena
moved her hands to his boxers, tugging them down.

The length of him was fully at attention as she

took him in her mouth. Alena slowly started
sucking on him, teasing and torturing him in a slow
rhythm.

Graydon’s head fell back, his eyes closed as she

pleasured  him.  Her  mouth  was  warm  and  her
tongue  was  racking  his  body  with  pleasure.  He
looked  down  at  her,  watching  her  head  move  in
tempo as he throbbed inside her.

Before he reached his breaking point she

stopped and laid back on the bed, motioning for
him to come and get her.

He was to her in a second, his body over hers,

his mouth taking in her breasts.

He took a moment kissing and flicking her

nipples with his tongue until they were stiff peaks
before moving down. Graydon trailed kisses along
her body until he made his way between her legs.

He licked her softly, barely. Teasing her with his

tongue before sliding it further into her body. He
worked her with his mouth a moment before sliding
his fingers in. She moaned, and he felt the wetness
of her center around his fingers as he moved them
in and out.

Graydon’s tongue moved in rhythm with his

fingers, feeling her body build against his. She was
saying his name, somewhere between a moan and a
plea, calling for him to let her break.

He built the speed up; feeling her hips bucking

against him, her body desperate for more. He
obliged, his body eager to please her, to push her
over the edge.

She cried out, her hand gripping his head as her

body racked with pleasure. He kissed her softly
until she had stopped moaning, her breathing
coming in quick breaths.

He looked up at her with a grin and she rolled

over from him, getting back onto her hands and
knees. She pushed her backside towards him, her

body angled and giving him a view that made him
groan with need.

He entered her, her gasp of pleasure only

pushing him to fill her deeper. He indulged in her
body, taking in her naked form eager to have him;
her body craving his.

She began to move and grind against him, their

bodies merging in a speed and language that was all
their own.

She was passion incarnate, a liquid fire in his

arms. He felt his body tensing and pulsing inside
hers, desperate to fill her, to make her his.

They had made love more times than he could

count, yet each time he felt a desperate need to
have her. There was a fervor that came from
exploding inside of her and joining the two of them
together.

Sometimes it was a culmination of passion and

fire, sometimes it was soft and sensual. No matter
how their bodies came together it always ended in a
way that made him feel connected and close, like
their carnal yearning had infused their souls.

Graydon was reaching his breaking point, his

body tensing and pulsing inside hers. He was

desperate to fill her, to make her his. She moved
from him then, breaking their motion and causing a
growl from him.

She turned to face him, a devilish smile on her

lips as she pushed his chest. Graydon fell back on
the bed, the frame groaning in protest. Alena hadn’t
cared as she climbed on top of him, Graydon
eagerly sliding into her.

They both murmured in pleasure as their bodies

came  together  again.  She  rocked  on  top  him  in  a
steady  rhythm  while  his  hands  moved  to  her  hips.
Graydon  pulled  her  hips  harder,  faster,  as  their
bodies found their pace.

Alena continued to ride him as the headboard

hit against the wall, a pounding as fierce as what
they were creating between each other. He felt his
body build, his muscles tightening, his thoughts
consumed only of her.

He said her name as they both came together.

Their chests breathing heavily, sweat coating their
bodies. His arms wrapped around her and Alena
collapsed onto his chest, her head over his heart.

Graydon stroked her soft, naked body. He

whispered that he loved her, and he felt her lips pull
into a smile on his chest. She closed her eyes and

he listened as her breathing slowed to a soft, steady
pace.

He never imagined he could have a life like this.

A  life  that  followed  a  path  he  decided,  plans  he
created.  He  couldn’t  have  imagined  anyone  out
there  in  the  world  like  Alena.  Anyone  who  could
take him toe-to-toe, who challenged and loved him
like she did.

His life hadn’t been easy, but it had been worth

it if he was allowed to have her. He had chosen her,
over a life he was comfortable with, over a choice
to be what he was ready to walk away from.

In return, she had chosen him. They had picked

each other, pushing away the uncertainty of what
might happen, and living in this new life that they
were carving out for each other.

Graydon closed his eyes, letting his imagination

take off and picture what their future might hold. A
smile crept across his face as he murmured a silent
prayer for her, for them, for their future.

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