Chapter 2
Rav
I kept my breathing even, but my posture was tight.
Relax. My insides churned like a steamer crossing the North Atlantic.
Brooke sat directly across from me, watching Will’s data presentation.
Her dark hair hung in waves to her shoulders, over a beautiful scarf that made her stunning green eyes practically glow.
I’d never seen pink on her—beige, camouflage, gray, black—but never pink.
It had been a lifetime since I’d seen her. When she showed up in Mnemis last week, it had thrown my world off kilter. And now? Now she was here, in my space, bringing with her all the ghosts I’d tried to outrun.
“These purchase patterns give us a few targets we can focus on,” Will was saying, his slight British accent more pronounced after his year away in London. “We’ll add the additional chemicals into—”
A vibration cut through the room. Scarlett glanced down at her phone on the table, and I caught the fleeting hint of a smile, so subtle I might have missed it if I hadn’t known her since we were kids. “Well, that’s interesting.”
Evelyn cocked her eyebrow at her daughter. “Something we should know?”
“A message from Noah.” Scarlett let everyone see her smile. “Apparently, we’ve ‘severely damaged Fenix’s digital communications network,’ and he’s not happy about it.”
Noah. The man who’d spent the last six months manipulating Scarlett, who’d orchestrated Emmett’s kidnapping, who’d put our entire team at risk repeatedly. The man who’d let everyone believe he was dead for two years before resurfacing as one of Fenix’s operatives.
And of course, Scarlett’s former fiancé.
Brie let out a long breath. “That confirms our virus worked. It must have infected their systems more deeply than I anticipated.”
After being forced at gunpoint to help Lark steal whatever parts of the Greek Fire formula Pendragon had left in place, Brie had been carrying the weight of that responsibility. This confirmation offered her some solace.
“Perfect,” Jayce said with a satisfied smirk. “About time we hit them where it hurts.”
“Noah?” Percival’s brows drew down. “Is he a source you have inside Fenix?”
“Not exactly,” Scarlett replied, reclaiming her normal guarded expression. “He’s been running operations for Fenix for years. We only discovered it recently.”
“You’re telling me you have direct communication with a high-level Fenix operative?” Percival’s voice carried a sharp edge of irritation. “Why didn’t he warn you about Lark?”
“It’s complicated.” Malcolm hated that his fiancée was still in touch with her ex almost as much as I did. “Noah has a history with our team, but he doesn’t feed us intel.”
Noah had spent the better part of the past year retrieving artifacts for Fenix’s mysterious project while systematically running circles around us. He’d used the exact tools Evelyn taught him against our team.
“What exactly does his message say?” Evelyn asked.
“The usual charming Noah blend of threats and condescension.” Scarlett’s thumbs moved across her phone screen. “Essentially accusing us of sabotaging their operations and demanding to know what we did.”
“Are you responding?” Brie asked.
Scarlett shrugged one shoulder. “I thought I’d tell him that he shouldn’t have messed with my team.”
“Let’s focus on what this confirms,” Will interjected, bringing us back to the operational details. “If Noah’s texting you about the damage, it means Brie’s virus significantly impacted their communications. We have an advantage.”
“A short one,” Brooke said, each syllable dragging my attention back to her despite my determination not to look at her. Looking at her would be dangerous. “Organizations like Fenix always have contingency protocols, though, so we need to act fast.”
“Agreed,” Percival said. “We need to capitalize on this window while their communications are compromised.”
The meeting continued, with Brie breaking down Fenix’s command structure based on what we’d uncovered from Mnemis.
“Noah and Enzo seem to operate as co-captains. They report to someone higher, but we’ve yet to identify their boss.
Massimo de Rosa was bankrolling a significant portion of their operations, but his recent arrest has presumably impacted their funding. ”
The conversation flowed around me, familiar operational details that normally would have grounded me.
But today, each word felt distant, muffled by the roaring in my ears.
Brooke consumed too much of my attention—the way she fussed with her hair and her scarf, the way she typed on her laptop, the simple fact that she existed in the same room as me.
I shifted my gaze from Will to Brie. She was safe and whole despite everything that had happened at Mnemis. At least I’d managed to protect her.
“Rav?” Scarlett’s voice snapped me out of whatever daze I was in. “You have sources in Naples, right?”
All eyes turned to me, except Brooke’s.
“A few,” I said. “Former contractors working in and around Naples who might have heard rumors.”
Brooke’s eyes remained glued to her laptop instead of me. “Anything to help us narrow our search parameters would be appreciated.”
Memories collided with my reality—Brooke’s laugh echoing across the forward operating base, scorpions in the sand, the horrible decisions made in split seconds that changed lives forever.
“I’ll make those calls now.” I pushed back from the table, doing my best to remain controlled and deliberate despite the chaos inside me. I looked pointedly at Percival. “I’m sure you don’t want to be stationary any longer than necessary.”
A professional excuse. A necessary retreat. It worked.
Evelyn nodded, and Will continued outlining what they knew about Fenix’s operations to the Pendragon team as I left.
I moved through the open workspace with measured steps, barely breathing. The route to my office had never been longer, each step an exercise in maintaining composure instead of speeding up to a run.
When I reached my office, I closed the door behind me with a soft click and melted against it. Shut my eyes.
Breathe in for four.
Hold.
Out for four.
Find your center, Rav.
After five cycles, I opened my eyes again.
The room was sparse, functional—a desk, computer, bookshelf with a few photos instead of books.
Noah’s message confirmed that we’d struck a blow against Fenix, which I should have been celebrating.
Instead, it just pulled me back to that night two years ago—the extraction gone wrong, comms failing at the crucial moment.
I’d been behind the wheel of the secondary escape vehicle, waiting for Noah and Scarlett to emerge from the target building with the recovered diamonds.
When Scarlett burst through the doors alone, armed men in pursuit, I’d abandoned my post to protect her, getting her safely to Zac’s car instead.
Noah had emerged seconds later, making it to the vehicle I was supposed to be driving, which plunged off a bridge ten minutes later.
I could still feel Scarlett’s body thrashing against my restraining arms as she witnessed what she believed was her fiancé’s death. Her screams had carved themselves into my memory, along with the guilt of knowing I’d left my post.
The decision we’d all believed had cost Noah his life.
For two years, I’d carried that weight, watching her grief transform her. Only to discover he’d been alive the entire time, deliberately causing her pain, exploiting our team from the shadows.
I moved to my desk, pulling up the contact information for my Naples sources. This was what I was good at—gathering intelligence, assessing threats, protecting my team.
But Brooke…
I could barely breathe with her in the same room.
When I’d seen her at Mnemis, there had been an operation to focus on, an immediate threat to navigate. Now, with only planning and coordination ahead, there was nothing to distract me from the reality of having her so close again.
Six years.
Six years of hearing her screams every night, even though my waking mind couldn’t find the memories of what happened.
Percival had told me about her injuries. He’d said I’d saved her.
All I could remember was the panic.
And making the wrong choice.
At Mnemis, I was my old self again for a few brief moments—moving through the server room with a team of operators, clearing corners, securing Brie, and getting her to safety. I’d been on the front line of eliminating the threat.
For the first time in years, I’d felt like the assaulter I used to be, capable and effective.
But a moment of competence couldn’t erase all my failures. Couldn’t change the fact that I’d been too much of a coward to face Brooke after I’d let her world crumble.