Page 113 of Ricochet

“What kind?”

“And the only way to stop her from hurting others will hurt people I love.” Her face twistedwith unshared pain. “But I have to.”

“Have to what!”

“Stop her. She a monster.Themonster!”

“What the hell are you talking about, Adelia?”

“I never wanted to do this to any of you. It just kind of… ricocheted.”

“Me? Mayhem? You have to hurt us to stop Gloria Astor?” Colin asked dumbfounded. There was no way Gloria Astor could be connected to a motorcycle gang without Titan knowing aboutit.

Her lips sealed, the pink turning a fleshy white.

“Why do you care about Mayhem? They have a shoot-to-kill order on you!”

“There’s so much about that organization that you don’t—you’ll never—understand.”

“Apparently. Gloria’s a saint.” He’d known Gloria since one of the first UN fundraising events his parents hosted overseas when they’d first received their diplomatic orders. Gloria wasnearly family to many in the community of protectinghuman rights.

“You said you’d listen, and you’re not even trying.” Adelia pushed away the covers. He’d thought the dark circles under her exhausted eyes were bad, but they’d been nothing until coupled with disappointment. Now Adelia’s light dimmed, a mixture of giving up on him and the world. “You don’t want to listen.”

Fucking hell.Colinpushed onto his elbow, grinding his molars as he sat up. “Wait a minute.”

Disbelief flitted across her face before floating away. “Nothing is how it seems, and you know that.”

His head pounded along with the pulsing thump of blood along his surgical wound. Maybe it was the effects of anesthesia, but he wasn’t following.

“This… this, what do I call it?” She shrugged incredulously. “Pop-up operatingroom? A surgeon and medical team that can materialize out of thin air?”

“In a safe house.” It wasn’t unheard of.

“That’s not normal. We’re in a Baltimore suburb.”

To be fair, he figured a lot of mobsters had the same set up and wouldn’t be surprised if Mayhem had their own logistical system that they could rely on. “What’s your point?”

“It’s like the Santa Claus of black ops showed up withbullet-cauterizing doctors and his merry band of anesthesiologists and techs, gifting antibiotics. In what world does that happen? Yours.”

“Mine. So what?”

“Now why can’t you believe me about that Astor?”

“You want me to believe that a saint is the devil when you have no proof?”

“You drove to a house believing that a surgeon would stitch you up.”

“Glue. Because he would, because my boss decided,because it’s happened before and will happen again.”

Adelia’s nostrils flared when she blew out. “You went on faith.”

“It’s what we do.” Delta team was a ghost team. They showed up when called and did what they were told. By the end of the day, lives were better because of the orders they followed.End of story.

But she balked. “You have no idea what I do!”

He realized that she was trembling.“I know what Mayhem does.”

Adelia didn’t say anything. Hell, he maybeknew some of what Mayhem did. But he likely didn’t know all of it and would never want to know. She knew that. He needed that deniability.

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