She covers her face with her hands.
I lean forward, resting my forearms on my knees. “Your light shone so brightly it lessened the darkness in my life. Your smile. Your bubbling laughter. It means everything to me. The flowers you brought me were the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.”
Hailey drops her hands to her lap and lifts her gaze to mine.
“I tried to stay away,” I continue. “Christ, I tried.”
She swallows hard. “Is any of what you told me the truth?”
“Everything but what I do for a living.”
“Why do you do it?”
I glance at Alexei, who lifts an eyebrow at me. Turning my attention back to Hailey, I say, “It’s all I’ve ever known.”
“What does that even mean?” she sighs, the fight tiring her out.
“I was raised to be an assassin.”
Her eyes dart to mine, then she glances at Alexei. “Really?”
He nods. “We come from a long line of assassins.”
She looks at me again. “Did you have a choice?”
Did I?
I shrug. “I never thought of it. I grew up in that way of life. It was normal.”
“It’s not,” she cries. “How can you think it’s normal to just go around killing people for money?”
“Hailey,” Alexei jumps in. “It’s our normal, but we have a code we live by. We don’t kill innocents.”
“Kill is kill,” she snaps at Alexei. My girl is growing braver.
“It’s not,” Alexei argues. “The people we kill are the same as the ones who tortured you. You don’t want them dead?”
When Hailey just looks at him, Alexei continues, “We kill drug dealers, flesh peddlers, arms dealers. We kill the scum. People like you pretend they don’t exist, but they do. They’re everywhere. In the war zones supplying arms to fucking kids. In your fucking schools, getting you addicted to heroin. That’s who Admir and his family are. Drug dealers. Albanian fucking cockroaches.” Alexei leans back in his chair, giving Hailey a look of warning. “I won’t lose a second’s sleep over killing any of them.”
She throws the covers back and climbs out of bed. “I want to leave. Now.”
Alexei gestures to the door.
My heart clenches with panic as Hailey walks to the bag I brought her and goes into the bathroom with it.
“She’s not ready to leave,” I say, the panic clear in my voice. “And you pissed her off more than I did.”
Alexei takes a deep breath then he pins me with a dark look. “Hailey will never understand what we do. You need to stop hoping you can change her mind. She’s going to leave at some point.”
Getting up, I throw the chair back in anger. “She won’t be safe out there!”
Alexei stands up. “You think I don’t know that?”
“Then why did you gesture at the fucking door?” I bark at him.
“She can leave St. Monarch’s, but it doesn’t mean we’re not going with her.”
My heart stutters with hope.
More time. I just need more time.
“Where are we going? Croatia?” I ask.
“Your place. It’s the safest right now.”
Home.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Hailey bites out from the doorway. “I’m going home to my parents.”
“We have to make sure the problem has been dealt with,” I say. “You’re not safe out there on your own. If you go to your parents, it will put them in danger as well.”
Her eyes dart between Alexei and me, fear making her pale. “How many of these guys are out there? Will I ever be safe again?”
“You will,” I say. “Let’s first clean up this mess. It will give you time to heal as well. You don’t want to travel with the bruises.”
I walk toward Hailey, but before I can reach her, she holds up her hand to stop me.
“Hailey,” Alexei says to get her attention. When she looks at him, he continues, “You’re free to go, but you won’t make it far. We only took out the two cousins. We need to make sure there’s no one left to come after you because they will use you to lure Carson out. It’s just how things work in our world.”
“I’m sick of your world,” she mutters, clearly not happy. “For how long?”
“A couple of weeks,” I answer. “I swear I’ll give you my private jet to take you anywhere in the world. Let me just ensure you’re safe.”
“Of course, you have a private jet.” Hailey rolls her eyes as she walks toward the door.
I dart forward and take the bag from her, and then we follow her down the hallway.
“I’ll get Demitri,” Alexei says. “Wait out front.”
When we step out of the front doors, I say, “Thank you.”
Hailey wraps her arms around her waist, glancing over the grounds. “I’m not doing this for you.” She hunches her shoulders as if she’s trying to make herself smaller. “I’m doing this so I don’t get killed by your enemies, and they don’t go after my parents.”