Married to the enemies son

ion had sunk deep into Celeste's bone

he next room, still pouring through files, building a timeline, a strate

thout knowing it. Judges her mother had hosted for dinners. CEOs who'd smiled for cameras. A pol

e, pulling the thin b

, typing, the soft creak of a chair. And for reasons she couldn't explain, that so

fallen asleep until the

linking in the

w, just above a whisper.

p slowly, hair tousled

thing in his face-tension sit

it?" sh

the small space in three quiet steps and sat on the edge of the bed, facing

said. "Connected to th

s breath

omeone close. Very close. Someone

r voice was barel

k at her. "Di

ed. "The family'

nod

ut constant. The way he'd given her peppermint candy at Christmas when she was seven. The wa

he said, more to h

records, encrypted messages, timestamps th

curled into the blanket like she

o now?" she a

firelight from the other room fl

inked.

him the wrong information. Let him report it back.

e done with hi

steel-lined. "Then we bury

didn't

t it, then laced his fingers through her

as to be like thi

d just a little. "I hate tha

side by side on a bed too sma

thing unnamed. Something that had nothing to do with revenge and everything to

leave her ro

touch her. Didn

me in a very long time, she let hers

tripes across the wooden floor. Celeste stirred beneath the blanket,

asn't

the edge of the bed. Like he'd stayed there all night, just in case she woke up gasp

. She hadn't asked h

not from injury but from the emotional weight she'd been carryin

nked the sleep from his lashes and offered a small nod. It was the kind

sleep?" s

half shrug

bare feet. The house was quiet, but not in a way that felt threa

all kitchen table, sharing everything in near silence. There was something strangely intimate about it.

first. "Antonov leaves

heart already tighten

a routine drop. W

hewing slowly

d her. "Y

I don't want mercy, Jace. I want him to know

in the way Jace smiled th

ur father'

"I'm everything the

ed locations. Always moving.

m of the engine and the occasional soft brush of Jace's hand aga

nd them, so did the last rem

smiled politely beside her father, who never questioned the

irl wa

by loss. And a heart that, despite everything, still beat for

ext, she wasn't

ad a

wasn't

e secrets too stubborn to die. Celeste moved through the rooms quietly, memorizing the exits, the weak points, the shadows

encrypted calls. Every time Celeste uncovered a new thread, she followed it ruthlessly,

y f

y f

, and it both scar

brushing over the old photo she'd kept hidden in her notebook. Her father stood beside Antonov in it. Smiling. Relaxed. She

fireplace. No ceremony

orning, the p

detail, just enough to keep things quiet. Jace had pulled strings for local support. Ce

sw

reck

clean. Celeste tied her hair back tightly, dressed in black. No je

ence stretched unti

, I want to find t

t her. "You're alre

as just a hand.

ning on the wheel. "Th

window. "And when

softly-he said, "Then we see what's

dn't f

t the same. Vengeance had a way of changing people. But maybe that w

a fault-was the only person who could walk be

rees were skeletal. Celeste took her place behind the ridge, wa

ace whispered t

n't spike. Her ha

was

e would never

unded by frost-laced trees and sharp turns. It was the kind of place t

ked through the rifle's scope. Jace crouched a few feet aw

idn't

e first vehicle would hit the spike strip. The second-the one

e unless

y unles

kidded, swerved, hit the ditch hard. The second vehicle slammed the brakes. Men s

efore thought c

dge, silent

ver was shouting orders-too late. She smashed the butt of her pistol against the window. O

hed the d

de, dazed, a gun

hers at his

fro

came slowly.

d her that with warmth. Antonov's voice was dipped in mockery

t," she

to a smirk. "Didn't think yo

emerged from the shadows, weapon ready. "But then I remembered h

s smile

ad prepared. The team fell into motion, efficient and precise. No casualties. No me

n silence, Antonov bli

t. "What do you wa

eyes unreadable. "He

nd when he gives us wh

for a long mome

ready for what'

lood on her sleeves, the fire in her chest that hadn

e said h

e with something str

m going