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I take another sip of my beer. “You remember the undercover case I worked two years ago when I was still upstairs?”

Kane nods. “Of course. You nailed Rowan Vasilyev.”

Not quite, I think. “Things got messed up during the case. I—we, uh, we got together—like together.”

“Wasn’t that the point?”

I shake my head. “No, I mean, I fell for him.”

This time, Kane’s eyes all but bulge out. “What?”

“None of it was meant to happen, and I never told anyone except Halle, but I was in love with him. I thought about to abandoning the mission. I wanted to leave the OCU and stay with him but…” I trail, unable to admit the pathetic truth.

But I knew he’d discard me, eventually.

The words are like ash on my tongue. Admitting it out loud feels heavier than I ever thought it would. I haven’t allowed myself to acknowledge the weight of what I felt for Rowan to anyone. It’s been a little secret that I keep buried in a box somewhere deep inside me and pulling it open has me dizzy.

“Alex…” Kane says quietly. “Shit, I’m sorry. I had no idea. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been. But this shit happens all the time. Lines get crossed; feelings interfere, and you fall for people you shouldn’t fall for. It happens more often than you think. The important thing is you got the job done. You did the right thing.”

He looks at me like he truly understands.

“I know,” I say. I’ve told myself it was the right thing every day since. Iknowit was the right thing. But I’m telling you this for a reason. I needed to find out who is behind Haze, so I asked Rowan for help.”

This seems to shock him more than the idea of me falling for Rowan. “You’re working with The Snake?”

I shake my head. “Not The Snake. Rowan. I tried working with him but…” I trail. I don’t think there’s much of a point in telling him about last night. I know he’d only freak out more. “It didn’t work out,” I finish.

Kane is quiet for a long moment. I can tell he feels sorry for me and that only makes me feel worse. I clear my throat, eager to move on.

“I went to Summit the other night, hoping to find something to point me in the right direction.”

“And?”

Keller’s face and the way his friends looked at me flashes before my eyes. I shiver. “Nothing, but it seems Haze has another name—it’s a chemical name—Modafryline—which means it’s lab made. Maybe that can point me to who created it. Someone in The Snake.”

He nods slowly. “You’ve made good progress.”

Not enough, I think, and I’m running out of time.

“Well, whoever it is must be powerful enough to maintain this operation without showing their face, so that checks out.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. It can’t just be anyone. It has to be someone with power and enough money to keep this all under wrapsandinteract with sellers inside the Ravens.”

“Who do you think it is?” he asks, rubbing his beard. “You know how The Snake works better than most people.”

Although The Head of The Snake sits at the top, there is a council—The Keepers—that help to oversee its vast empire. Rowan, Hayden, and Xander are members, and the rest are all from wealthy families, members of political parties that are known to the OCU.

“It could be anyone,” I say honestly.

“One of the sons? The middle one has quite the file on him.”

The idea that one of Rowan’s brothers could be lying to him makes me uneasy, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Although they seem close, they are still children of The Snake. I’ve seen Rowan’s ambition at play firsthand, and I know that trait does not solely exist in him.

“It’s not Rowan,” I say. That’s the only thing I can be sure of.

Kane gives me a look. “You sure about that?” he asks. “You two clearly have a long history together, but right now, anything is possible.”

I shake my head, sipping my beer. It wouldn’t make sense for Rowan to be behind Haze. He wouldn’t have bothered to call meafter I asked him for help. He wouldn’t have been angry enough to break into my apartment and threaten to kill me.