Page 49 of Rivals & Revenge

"Sorry. Fuck!" she yelled, folding her hands behind her head and pushing out heavy breaths as she worked to calm herself.

Her eyes met mine, raw beauty and barely contained fury, wrapped in fierce determination. And I almost felt pity for those who breathed life into this goddess of death and vengeance. Almost.

"The hole in the fence is—less than ideal. To be honest, bombs and long-range weapons hadn't occurred to me and I have no defenses against them." I said. My quiet words somehow echoing in the silent room.

She nodded, her eyes fixed on the debris field scattered to the west. "It was just a fence. The perimeter should still be secure, providing your cameras and other protections weren't damaged."

"Good point." I said, falling into the chair and picking up the photo. "We need a plan to get the order canceled."

"You're right. We can't afford to fight a war on two fronts." She agreed.

Her finger hooked through the finger ring of her Karambit and she began twirling the knife as she paced in front of the door.

Hypnotized by her graceful movements, my eyes clung to her soft curves, appreciating the sway of her hips and the pout that sat on her velvet lips.

Fuck, this isn't the time. I chastised myself, but my eyes remained glued to the lethal beauty.

"Do you think your Jax could break into the system and send out an alert canceling the order?" she wondered aloud.

"No." I shook my head. "Already tried that when you were attacked in the grove. He couldn't get past their layers of encryption. He got in—but he said it was a labyrinth. Multiple layers, each with different encryptions."

"And without knowing which door to open, it's a colossal waste of time." She agreed, continuing to pace the length of the kitchen.

"Pretty much."

"Fucking hell!" she groaned. "Why does this shit have to be impossible?"

I barked out a dry laugh, "because then life would be boring."

That earned me a half-smile.

Her eyes widened, and the smile slid from her lips. "I have an idea. A really bad idea, mind you, but I think it might be our best play."

"I'm listening."

"What if we go back to the broker's house—well, the new broker, that is? Maybe we could use his system to send an alert. Not canceling the job, but stating it's finished. Take it off completely."

It wasn't the worst idea. Risky. But it wasn't like we weren't already fending off every hitter in our region and beyond.

"One small problem. "

A smile played at the corner of her lip. "Just one?"

"Neither of us knows shit about how to hack their system, even from the inside. Hell, that's what I have Jax for."

Laughter bubbled up through her chest. "I thought you were going to say we didn't know how to find the new broker, but you've already found him. Haven't you?"

I shrugged, throwing her a satisfied smirk. "Her. And yes. I know where she is. We can be there in an hour."

"I have an idea about our tech weakness," she said, sheathing her knife against her thigh. "I'll tell you about it while we get packed and strapped."

She moved silently across the floors, not even the barest whisper as she climbed the stairs. A stark contrast to the heavy thudding of my boots marking my every step. I had learned to be silent and brutally efficient when I needed to be. She seemed to have adapted to operate that way all the time. Living in a constant state of stealth and survival mode.

No doubt that had sharpened her instincts and probably saved her life on more than one occasion, but it must be a miserable way to live. Whereas I crashed through the world, demanding to get my way—which, most of the time, I did. She seemed to slip through the world from shadow to shadow, not leaving a trace of her existence behind.

Flipping on the light, we made our way over to the armory. Both of us grabbed extra ammo, and I strapped on a couple of Bowie knives. They weren't the elegant weapons Tierney's Karambits were, but they had always served me well.

"Ready."

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