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"It was worth it," I tell him.

He clocks me with the pair of brass knuckles he reserves for such occasions. Ray is weak in his older years. He relies on weapons because his muscles fail him.

Blood leaks from my mouth and I spit it onto the dirty floor. I can't help myself. I can't help but long for his suffering.

"She still wants for me," I say to him. "She will always want for me. I am inside of her. In her mind. In her heart. She will never be free of me, even in death. Your beloved daughter fell for the monster you created, Ray. How does that make you feel?"

He hits me again. Three times. Until it becomes too much for him. Until a coughing fit seizes him and spittle flies from his mouth.

"I will rid her of your poison, even if I have to cut it out myself."

The world around me falls silent, and River turns his gaze to the floor. My vision clouds and adrenaline floods every fiber of my muscles, straining against the chains that bind me.

I will slaughter him with my bare hands. I will drain the remaining light from his eyes, and I will not regret it. Not anymore.

"That's right," Ray taunts. "I will be the one to take that child and destroy it the moment it is born. Now tell me how that feels."

I struggle against the chains until I no longer can. Until I am out of breath myself. Until I am bloody and spent and completely at his mercy. Ray merely laughs at me.

River remains motionless by the door. And I cannot believe I have been so blind. I allowed my own love for Bella to influence this grand illusion. I mistakenly believed that as sick as Ray was, he still loved his own daughter.

Now I know that I was wrong.

I should have killed him when I had the chance. The moment I learned he was back, I should have shot him where he lay. And now, I must pay the consequences for my weakness. I told my Bella that I would protect her. I have failed her all over again.

"We should move now," River says. "There will be plenty of time to toy with him later."

Ray swivels his head around and scowls in his direction.

"It's time when I say it's time."

River is a traitor, of this I am certain. But it seems that we have a common enemy. I don't know how I could have missed it. I don't know how I didn't see it before. All those times he encouraged me. How he helped me plan out the systematic destruction of Ray through Isabella. The way he whispered in my ear and never let me forget my revenge. The way he told me over and over that Isabella could never care for me. That I must remember the plan.

It was in his mind all along.

And instead of Isabella, it was I who was the pawn in this game.

A knock sounds at the door and River looks to Ray for approval. Ray nods, and River opens it.

The heat is stifling. Sand blows in from above, indicating that we are in the desert somewhere.

"We have to move now, sir," the voice on the other side says.

Ray nods again and gestures the men inside. They surround me, and Ray makes a point to show me that they are all well-armed.

"Make one move, and die now," he tells me.

They haul me up from the floor and unchain me. Six of them drag me out into the blistering sun and shove me into the back of a suburban.

"Ten minutes," someone says.

And then, we leave.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

THEY TAKE me into the middle of the desert. If it weren't for the compound in the distance, I would assume this to be my final resting place.

Instead, they free my hands and shove me out of the truck. I don't need to ask where we are. I know this area well. This is the same compound where I lived for the remainder of my childhood. The one where Ray took me when I left the asylum.

Here, I was trained in computers. Math. Killing.

Ray searches my face for any sign of emotion. But there is none. I can only think of my Bella now. Of the child that she carries inside of her. I will do anything to protect them.I will do anything to get them back. And for now, that means playing by Ray's rules.

He recites a thirteen-digit number and tells me to repeat it back to him.

River’s eyes shift around anxiously, and I know this is for him. This is what he gets for betraying me and fulfilling his end of the bargain.

"Delete everything on file," Ray tells me. "Bring the girl to me when you are finished. And perhaps I can find it in my heart to be merciful. Perhaps the child my daughter births will be adopted into a nice family rather than a dumpster."

My fists curl at my sides, and the guards raise their weapons.

"I am giving you one last opportunity here, Javi," Ray says. "Do not underestimate my reach. There are many others who would gladly take this task and complete it much faster than you. And they have much less to lose."

I remain silent. Steadfast in my resolve. I am doing this for Bella. Even knowing that when I come back, there will likely be a bullet in my skull.

I can't trust Ray. But I know Ray. I don't doubt his words. He will destroy the child that he knows is mine. He will do it while he tells himself it is what is best for Isabella. I must find another way to end this.

I turn to head for the compound, but Ray's voice stops me.

“Enjoy your trip down memory lane.”

I curb the urge to kill him all over again by thinking of my Bella. I think of what I need to do, and I focus on that alone.

And I walk. Silently through the desert. Leaving Ray and River behind. There is a reason they chose me for this task. Despite what Ray says, this task could not be completed by anyone.

I am the only operative who ever managed to disable the entire compound security system. Not once, but twice. Today will make number three.

It has been many years since I have been at this particular compound, but much is still the same. Including the guards who watch over the control room. They are older now, but I remember them just fine. Fear reflects briefly in their eyes when they see me for the first time.

I kill them with their own weapons, and I take satisfaction in knowing that they no longer breathe the air of this scorched earth.

The security system has updated with the times too. It is much more sophisticated than when I was here. But like the system, I am adaptable.

It is not easy to navigate. It has already been thirty minutes. With each passing minute, I am more likely to get caught. It’s taking me too long. And Ray’s patience is not infinite.

Just as I find my way into the system, a shadow passes over the door frame. Another guard. He draws his weapon, and I fire first.

The body count is growing, and this is messier than I would have preferred. But with a few more clicks of the keyboard, I am finally in.

I find the file for the operative that Ray gave me, glancing briefly at her photo to identify her and her location, and then I delete.

I delete everything.

The process takes another five minutes. When it is complete, I hesit

ate before leaving. Ray would expect me to leave the system as it was. He wanted this done quietly.

I smile. Because I always did like irony. I unlock the cell doors. All but hers. And then I shut down the power to the entire building. It is up to them now to escape. To overpower the guards and take what is rightfully theirs.

Freedom.

I leave the control room and walk down the hall that I know by heart. It is the same hall where I was kept for so many years. I open her cell door manually and shine my flashlight inside. She is sitting on her bed. Small and fragile in appearance.

“Come,” I tell her. “We are leaving this place.”

She glances up at me and shakes her head.

“I don’t want to leave.”

Her voice is soft.

It’s obvious she has been broken, just as River said. It is also obvious why he cares for her. She does have a pretty face as he said. But there is nothing particularly special about her that I can see. She is not like my Bella. Then again, nobody really is.

“I don’t have time,” I say. “And I’d prefer not to hurt you.”

She rises from the bed and walks in my direction. I think that this is good. She is going to comply, and we can leave.Only this isn’t what happens. Because the girl punches me in the throat.

She snarls and tries to make her escape around me. I stop her with a hand around her throat. And then she socks me in the gut.

Of all the things I had to do in this compound, fighting a girl was my least favorite.

I release her, and we go hand to hand. Her shots are sharp and precise. I was wrong about her. She is not fragile at all. In body or mind. She lands many painful blows that would disable me had I been younger and less accustomed to the pain. But I am not.

And as well as she has been trained, I have many years of experience over her. I identify her weakness almost immediately and put her in a choke hold.

“I am sorry,” I tell her. “But for now you must sleep.”

And within a minute, she does.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR