He chuckles. “You’re right. But I’m not talking about that.”
Rage crawls up my spine.
“The mission,” he grins. A twisted smirk that makes my fists curl.
Dante steps up beside me. Max and Ryker flank the other side, like muscle memory from the field.
“Why?” My chest tightens, my breath coming heavier now. I feel the tension rolling off the others. Our hands twitch. Waiting.
“You were easy, Reaper,” Roman spits, that old sneer stretching across his sick face. “Grateful little soldier. So fucking thankful to have a team of your own. Brothers in Arms.”
My jaw ticks hard enough I taste blood.
“They offered money. Enough to disappear, never work another goddamn day.” He shrugs like it’s nothing. “All I had to do was kill the man, the agent, and grab the files.”
I stare at him. “So, that’s it? All of that was for money?”
Roman shakes his head, grin still twisted. “I could’ve done it alone. I had the access. But you,” He nods at me. “You were rising. Getting stronger. I knew I was getting replaced.”
“Fuck.” Dante chuckles, but it’s bitter, sharp. “Knox.”
I glance at him. “What?”
Dante’s jaw clenches. “You were going to take Roman’s place.”
I turn to Roman again. “You betrayed us, risked our lives, destroyed our careers because I was going to lead the team?”
Roman laughs, but there’s nothing in it. “Not just the team. The whole damn project. They wanted you. Reaper, golden boy, field genius. And me?” He scoffs. “I was getting sent back to babysit recruits.”
It hits like a blade. Years of training. Lost. Years of loyalty. Burned.
I move before I think. My fist connects with his face, bone crunching beneath my knuckles.
“We lost everything! Our entire careers, our lives, our fucking names erased!” I grab his shirt and yank him forward, blood smearing my skin. “You motherfucker.”
He’s grinning through it. “You said you wouldn’t kill me,” he taunts. “Only when the big, bad Reaper is strong again.”
I smirk, stepping back. “Change of plans.”
The guys close in beside me, the weight of the years between us pressing like armor.
“You’re not dying today, Roman. You’re going to rot in this fucking hole, alone, until your diseased heart gives out.”
His eyes widen. “You can’t do that.”
“Oh, but I can,” I whisper. “And I will.”
We turn to leave.
Ryker pauses and turns back.
“You tried to destroy Knox. Tried to break us. And in the end, all you did was help form the BloodHawks. Our family.” He tilts his head. “And you still end up with nothing.”
Roman doesn’t reply.
Ryker walks out. We follow.
We leave him there, in the dark, chained. Forgotten.
