Eden stopped laughing, but she didn’t hide her amusement. “You think my mother would have anything to do with you? Not when she could have a man like my father.”
“She wanted his money. I didn’t have anything other than my regular pay. Your mother is a gold digger.”
“Funny that their marriage has lasted over thirty years.”
He blinked.
“Oh, you didn’t think about that, did you? Is that why you were killing agents? Because a woman hurt your little man feelings?”
“Shut it.” Spittle flew from his mouth. He was solely concentrating on her now, and that’s the way she wanted it. “I didn’t just kill for the fun of it.”
“No?”
“No.” His lips curved up into a smile that chilled her blood. “I got fucking rich doing it.”
The hits. He had sold out his fellow agents for the money. But there was something else in his voice. His need for power was dripping from every word, and she was betting on that to help her distract him until TFH could get here. Still, she read the implication in his eyes that now looked crazed. Was he really crazy, or was she imagining it?
“I get that. You’re a traitor and a whore for money.”
He moved closer to the window, closer to her and Ian. It also made it harder for him to see down the hallway.
“I guess it takes one to know one.”
She would have laughed at his idiotic taunt. Instead, she cocked her head as she studied him. “How so?”
“That NCIS agent, Hanson. You were crazy about him.”
“Oh, so you being paid to kill your fellow agents because some girl rejected you years ago is the same as a consensual relationship? You really have lost your mind.”
“He never told you he was an asset?”
They had managed to get inside the apartment with the help of the management. He heard someone talking in what he assumed was the bedroom. El was behind him, along with the rest of TFH. Somewhere, standing guard in the hallway outside and in the stairwell. They had all their bases covered.
He got close enough to hear a man talking.
“He never told you he was an asset?”
He was talking about Kap. He wasn’t sure how Marvin knew, but he could tell by the tone in his voice that he did. El tapped him on the shoulder. He glanced back, and El was holding up his phone. He had typed out Uncle Marv on a note app.
Kap nodded in acknowledgement.
“More lies,” Eden said, her voice strong. “I’m wondering now if you can even tell the truth.”
He fucking loved that woman. He knew she wasn’t stupid, so she had to be worried about what Marv was going to do to her. But she didn’t show it. Even though Kap couldn’t see her, he knew she was standing with her spine straight and her gaze direct.
“How do you think he got approval so fast?”
Approval? He would have to ask about that later.
“He was an NCIS agent with top security clearance and a proven track record.” There was a beat of silence. “I’m assuming you started to kill for the money, but we weren’t the only ones who had hits taken out on us. I’m also assuming it was our connection to the CIA. Being legacies?”
“Always getting ahead without much work.” Marv spat out the words, violence dripping from every syllable. This man had a grudge and a chip on his shoulder the size of the Diamond Head crater.
“There was one thing different about El and me. We were more assets, not agents. So our attempted murder was personal.”
Again, silence filled the room.
“Oh, come on, Uncle Marv. You wanted any reminder of our mother’s rejection to be extinguished.”
