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Her opinion of me had undoubtedly, irrevocably changed. Barbs prickled my throat, but it was too late to change course. I had to finish the story.

“I offered to join them if they left my brother alone. They agreed—ifI put up half a million dollars upfront as insurance. If I didn’t, the deal was off, and they’d kill both of us.”

Realization sparked in Ayana’s eyes. “That’s the money Jordan lent you.”

The mention of Jordan made my gut twist again. If it weren’t for me, he would’ve never been in danger. He would be conscious. Healthy.Safe.

“Yes,” I said. “I worked for the Brotherhood for two years. Most of their targets weren’t good people. They were corrupt politicians, drug lords, sex offenders—or so they told me. I didn’t question them too much. It was easier to do what I did if I thought the targets deserved it.”

In hindsight, I’d been naive to believe my poisons were only used on those who “deserved it.” The Brotherhood prayed at the altar of cold, hard cash. They would kill anyone if the price was high enough.

“But I couldn’t stay with them forever,” I said. “That wasn’t the life I wanted, and the more I learned about them, the less I wanted to be part of that world. I had to get out. There was only one problem: the only way anyone left the Brotherhood was through official retirement, which the leadership had to sign off on, or in a body bag. I was too valuable for them to willingly let me go, so I needed leverage toforcethem to release me.”

I could see the wheels turning in Ayana’s head. “That’s what they were looking for when they broke into your house.”

Beautiful and smart. A woman after my own heart.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “I got my hands on the leadership’s ledger. It included a full list of Brotherhood members, their hits, their aliases, and who hired them. It was fully encrypted, of course. It would’ve taken me years to crack the code, so I didn’t bother. I simply threatened to send it to rival organizations.”

Fortunately for me, the leadership at the time had been overly paranoid about their members’ loyalty (hence the ledger) and overly confident about their security measures.

I still had the ledger, but it was outdated and useless as leverage after so many years.

“Even if their rivals couldn’t hack into it, the existence and possible discovery of such an item would’ve been devastating,” I said. “In their field of work, discretion and word of mouth is paramount. If their clients found out their darkest secret was provenin writing, no one would ever hire them again. The organization would implode. With the threat of the ledger hanging over their head, they agreed to let me leave. But then…”

“They went back on their word and came after you,” Ayana finished.

I gave a short nod. I left out what I did to the Brothers after Lazar died. She didn’t ever need to see that side of me.

She blew out a huge breath. She appeared overwhelmed by the onslaught of information, which was understandable. It was a lot to take in, but it was better to rip the Band-Aids off all at once rather than drag it out.

Nevertheless, my skin drew tight over my bones. Every heartbeat felt like it might be my last.

I was used to being in control. Money and power meant authority was always at my fingertips, ready to be deployed. But I couldn’t control the way Ayana reacted to my confessions.

She had the power to kill me with a single word, and she didn’t even know it.

“That all happened so long ago,” she said. “Why are they coming after you now?”

My shoulders relaxed an inch. She wasn’t running screaming from the room—yet.

“Internal politics. Old leadership is gone, and people are fighting for the top spot.” My mouth twisted. “I’ve been the ultimate thorn in their side. Killing me would cement the new guard’s power.”

Except the new guard wasn’t as smart as the old one. They were sloppier, less disciplined. Yesterday’s mess proved it.

The old Brotherhood would’venevertried to pull off a hit or a fucking kidnapping at such a public, high-profile event. They were either desperate, or they were so caught up in beating the other side that they weren’t strategizing properly.

I could use both those things to my advantage.

I was meeting Roman soon to debrief. He’d gained a smidge of my trust after yesterday’s intel. If he hadn’t tipped me off, the wedding would’ve been a bigger disaster than it already was.

“I see,” Ayana said. It was impossible to gauge the feelings behind her neutral tone. “Thank you for telling me.”

I felt the need to clarify. “I haven’t been involved in that world for a long time. If they hadn’t come looking for me, I would’ve happily left them in the past.”

I wasn’t a good man, but I wasn’tthatman anymore. Not unless I had to be.

“You mean you don’t want to return to your life as a secret poison master for a deadly organization?” Ayana’s mouth quirked up a fraction at the corners, and a tingle of relief loosened the vise around my chest.