every psychic tool in his arsenal.
She quickly yanked herself from the past, knowing Dane was studying her, growing more pissed and agitated and worried by the minute. It was the last she was most concerned about because if he got worried and then she fed him a line about needing vacation, heâd never believe her. Heâd put her under lock and key and suffer no remorse whatsoever until he found out exactly what was going on in her mind, and he wasnât above using Gracie or any of the other women to ferret out any information he felt would keep Eliza from harm.
And she knew the women would gladly offer their help because they felt they owed Eliza. Sheâd been there when each of them had needed help. Sheâd risked her life to save them and would do so again without a single hesitation. They didnât owe her a goddamn thing for doing her job even if they werenât a job to her, but people she loved.
Damn it. She had to talk her way out of this fast.
She sighed and gave him her best âbustedâ look.
âI just wish theyâd hurry the hell up,â she grumbled. âThereâs something I wanted to talk to you about after this come-to-Jesus meeting. Preferably in private.â
Left unsaid, but understood by Dane, judging by the softness that suddenly transformed his features from that piercing, concerned look to one more of simple question, he well knew that while Caleb and Beau owned and ran DSS and signed all their paychecks, Eliza was his. His team, his partner. The two were the closest of any two of the operatives who worked within the group, not as partners, though Beau and Zack shared a similar relationship, preferring to rely on each other rather than the larger group as a whole.
Which made what she had to do all the more painful because she was, in effect, betraying Dane. She was repaying all the faith heâd displayed in her, his respect of her, the fact that he treated her as an equal, a partnerâwith treachery and lying.
She tried to console herself with the fact that at the end of the day sheâd rather have him alive and well, pissed, angry and never able to trust her again and for her to be out of a job than to confide everything to him and have him end up dead.
Because Dane wouldnât back off. It wouldnât be a matter of trusting her, or trusting her to know what she was talking about and believing the very real danger they were all in. But he would never leave her to face a monster alone. Never in a million years. Even if it meant going against every single member of DSS and quitting so Eliza wouldnât face the danger alone. Dane would do it without a single regret.
Heâd be at her side, taking her back, just like so many times before, and theyâd either triumph together or die together. And Dane would die.
A wave of grief consumed Eliza. Because of a bullshit legal technicality and a smooth-talking lawyer, Thomasâs sentence had been reduced to ten fucking years.
Eliza wanted to scream until her voice simply broke. But she held it in stoically, knowing she was on borrowed time, and that when Thomas got out, and he would be getting out in a week, she wasnât going to bring him down like she had the first time, counting on the justice system to protect her, to protect those women and seek justice for those heâd destroyed.
No, she was going after him and fuck the legal system and doing it the right way. This mission wasnât righteous. It wasnât even revenge. It was cold-blooded murder.
And that was why she couldnât have DSS remotely involved. They couldnât know. They could never know until it was all over.
Because once her mission was done, she wouldnât resist. She wouldnât run. She wouldnât even hire a lawyer because she would be guilty.
She was going to kill Thomas Harrington and leave nothing to chance. Sheâd stand over his body until his body became cold and lifeless and
She quickly yanked herself from the past, knowing Dane was studying her, growing more pissed and agitated and worried by the minute. It was the last she was most concerned about because if he got worried and then she fed him a line about needing vacation, heâd never believe her. Heâd put her under lock and key and suffer no remorse whatsoever until he found out exactly what was going on in her mind, and he wasnât above using Gracie or any of the other women to ferret out any information he felt would keep Eliza from harm.
And she knew the women would gladly offer their help because they felt they owed Eliza. Sheâd been there when each of them had needed help. Sheâd risked her life to save them and would do so again without a single hesitation. They didnât owe her a goddamn thing for doing her job even if they werenât a job to her, but people she loved.
Damn it. She had to talk her way out of this fast.
She sighed and gave him her best âbustedâ look.
âI just wish theyâd hurry the hell up,â she grumbled. âThereâs something I wanted to talk to you about after this come-to-Jesus meeting. Preferably in private.â
Left unsaid, but understood by Dane, judging by the softness that suddenly transformed his features from that piercing, concerned look to one more of simple question, he well knew that while Caleb and Beau owned and ran DSS and signed all their paychecks, Eliza was his. His team, his partner. The two were the closest of any two of the operatives who worked within the group, not as partners, though Beau and Zack shared a similar relationship, preferring to rely on each other rather than the larger group as a whole.
Which made what she had to do all the more painful because she was, in effect, betraying Dane. She was repaying all the faith heâd displayed in her, his respect of her, the fact that he treated her as an equal, a partnerâwith treachery and lying.
She tried to console herself with the fact that at the end of the day sheâd rather have him alive and well, pissed, angry and never able to trust her again and for her to be out of a job than to confide everything to him and have him end up dead.
Because Dane wouldnât back off. It wouldnât be a matter of trusting her, or trusting her to know what she was talking about and believing the very real danger they were all in. But he would never leave her to face a monster alone. Never in a million years. Even if it meant going against every single member of DSS and quitting so Eliza wouldnât face the danger alone. Dane would do it without a single regret.
Heâd be at her side, taking her back, just like so many times before, and theyâd either triumph together or die together. And Dane would die.
A wave of grief consumed Eliza. Because of a bullshit legal technicality and a smooth-talking lawyer, Thomasâs sentence had been reduced to ten fucking years.
Eliza wanted to scream until her voice simply broke. But she held it in stoically, knowing she was on borrowed time, and that when Thomas got out, and he would be getting out in a week, she wasnât going to bring him down like she had the first time, counting on the justice system to protect her, to protect those women and seek justice for those heâd destroyed.
No, she was going after him and fuck the legal system and doing it the right way. This mission wasnât righteous. It wasnât even revenge. It was cold-blooded murder.
And that was why she couldnât have DSS remotely involved. They couldnât know. They could never know until it was all over.
Because once her mission was done, she wouldnât resist. She wouldnât run. She wouldnât even hire a lawyer because she would be guilty.
She was going to kill Thomas Harrington and leave nothing to chance. Sheâd stand over his body until his body became cold and lifeless and
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