Chapter 20 Ethan
Ethan
Betrayal doesn’t hit like a bullet.
It seeps in.
Slow.
Heavy.
It settles somewhere behind your ribs and stays there—pressing harder with every second you have to look at it.
Hayes steps forward out of the shadows.
Unhurried.
Composed.
Rain beads on his coat like he’s been standing there awhile, waiting for us to catch up.
Like this is just another operation.
Like he didn’t just burn everything I thought I knew.
“You always were predictable, Cross.”
His voice carries easy across the distance.
Familiar.
That’s what makes it worse.
My grip tightens around my weapon.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
He smiles.
Not wide.
Just enough.
“That was the idea.”
Of course it was.
Of course he planned it.
Ava shifts beside me, just slightly.
“You know him,” she murmurs.
“Yeah.”
Her gaze sharpens on him.
“And he’s dirty.”
“Yeah.”
That doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Ronan’s voice cuts low through the comms.
“Say the word.”
I don’t answer.
Not yet.
Because this just stopped being tactical.
This is personal now.
Hayes tilts his head, studying me like he used to—like he’s measuring something, waiting to see if I still meet his expectations.
“You really thought you could stop this?”
I step forward just enough to break cover.
Enough for him to see me clearly.
“You really thought I wouldn’t find you?”
That gets a reaction.
His smile widens—just a fraction.
“There it is.”
That edge.
That recognition.
Like nothing changed.
Like he didn’t just turn into the enemy.
“You trained me,” I say.
“And you learned well,” he replies smoothly.
A beat.
Then—
“You just never understood the bigger picture.”
I almost laugh.
Almost.
Yeah.
I’ve heard that before.
From every man who thinks he’s justified.
“You’re replacing governments,” I say.
“Stabilizing them,” he corrects.
Ava lets out a quiet scoff beside me.
“By killing people?”
Hayes’ gaze flicks to her.
Sharp now.
Interested.
“By removing weakness.”
His eyes don’t leave her.
Not even for a second.
“Hello, Ava.”
Everything in me goes still.
That wasn’t curiosity.
That was recognition.
And that?
That’s a problem.