"Since you started thinking with your heart instead of your head." His mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. "Love makes a man soft, Roman. Makes him hesitate at the worst possible moment."
Love. The word hung between us like a loaded gun. Because that’s what this was, wasn’t it? What I felt for Cassie had moved beyond possession, beyond need, into something more dangerous. Something that could get us both killed if I wasn’t careful.
"I’m not soft," I whispered.
"No. But you’re distracted. And in our world, distraction is a terminal disease."
I wanted to argue, to tell him he was wrong. But as I checked my weapons one last time, I could feel the truth of his words settling in my chest like lead. Every choice I’d made in the last few weeks had been influenced by her—the need to protect her, to shield her from the worst of my world, to become the kind of man who deserved someone like her.
Maybe Declan was right. Maybe I was compromised.
But it didn’t matter. Not tonight. Tonight was about ending the threat that hung over both our heads.
"The mission stands," I said. "We go in, we identify the mole, and we eliminate the problem. Clean and simple."
Declan nodded, but something in his expression bothered me—a flicker of satisfaction that was gone too quickly to analyze. "Whatever you say, boss."
Half an hour later, we were positioned around Pier 19 like pieces on a chessboard. The warehouse loomed against the night sky, its broken windows staring down at the dark water like dead eyes. Everything was silent except for the gentle lap of waves against the dock and the distant hum of city traffic.
Too silent.
I crouched behind a shipping container, Declan beside me, both of us scanning the warehouse entrance through night vision scopes. According to our intelligence, the meeting was supposed to start in five minutes. But something felt wrong—a prickle of unease between my shoulder blades that I’d learned never to ignore.
"Movement," Connor’s voice crackled through my earpiece. "Two vehicles approaching from the east."
I watched through my scope as a black sedan and an SUV pulled into the warehouse parking area. Four men got out—three I didn’t recognize, one who made my blood run cold.
Marina. Anton’s sister, the ghost who’d been feeding information to our enemies. She moved with the same predatory grace as her brother, the same calculating intelligence that had nearly gotten me killed three years ago.
"There’s our traitor," I murmured into my comm.
"Copy that," Tommy’s voice responded. "Electronic surveillance is picking up multiple heat signatures inside the warehouse. Looks like they brought backup."
Of course, they had. This was never going to be simple.
I was about to give the order to move when Declan’s hand landed on my shoulder.
"Something’s wrong," he whispered.
I followed his gaze and felt my stomach drop. More vehicles were approaching from the south—at least six cars, moving fast and quietly. This wasn’t just a meeting between Marina and whatever family was backing her.
This was an army.
"All units, we’ve got company," I spoke into my comm. "Multiple vehicles inbound. This is about to get hot."
"Roman," Connor’s voice was tight with tension. "We should pull back. Regroup. This feels like?—"
The first shot shattered the night like breaking glass.
Then all hell broke loose.
Gunfire erupted from every direction—the warehouse, the approaching vehicles, positions I hadn’t even known were occupied. My carefully planned ambush had become a killing field, and we were caught in the crossfire.
"Move!" I shouted, grabbing Declan’s arm as bullets chewed up the shipping container we’d been hiding behind. "Get to the secondary position!"
We ran in a crouch, staying low as automatic weapons fire lit up the night like deadly fireworks. I could hear my men shouting into their comms, trying to coordinate a response to chaos that defied coordination.
A bullet caught me in the ribs, the impact spinning me around and sending me sprawling behind another container. The Kevlar had stopped it from penetrating, but the force still felt like getting hit with a sledgehammer. I tasted blood and copper, felt the warm wetness spreading across my side.
