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The SEALs glanced at

each other. Though they were trying to hide it, I could see the concern on the faces.

“Not you specifically,” I amended. “I’m still pretty sure they don’t know your names. But they’re looking for you here in Athens. And they definitely know her.”

The blonde stiffened a little, and my heart fluttered. It was almost uncanny.

She looks exactly like her.

I shook my head. No, not exactly, but certainly close. She had the same build, the same pouty lips and platinum blonde hair. All the same curves, too…

She looks just like Haley.

A different type of pain returned, boiling up from within me. It was a pain I was sure I’d buried. A wracking, debilitating pain that had almost killed me the first time around.

“So yes,” I continued, before I was consumed with looking at her again. “I know who you are. I know you’re about as ex-Navy as I’m ex-Army. I know you came here with the intentions of killing Kyrkos, and I even know why.”

Holden’s head tilted an almost imperceptible degree to one side. It was a gesture of warning. A little slice of body language that told me I needed to be careful with whatever I said next.

“But I still don’t know who she is…”

The blonde staring back at me shifted a little in her stance. She looked comfortable standing between these guys. A little too comfortable.

“Well that’s funny then,” said Holden. “Because she definitely seems to know you.”

“Oh we’ve met,” I admitted, biting back a smirk. My eyes found hers, and a look passed between us. “We uh… bumped into each other on Rhodes. Didn’t we?”

Still holding my gaze, she slowly nodded. Even the way she folded her arms reminded me of Haley.

“You’re after Kyrkos too,” she said eventually. “You were there with me, in the upper rooms of the palace. Hunting him, just like I was.”

The two SEALs seemed to be at a loss, at least for now. I could tell it wasn’t a position they were accustomed to.

“So you’re an assassin?” Randall guessed, raising an eyebrow. He expression had changed to an almost child-like intrigue.

“I’m independent,” I said, ducking the question.

“And who were you working for last night?”

I paused for a moment. The girl’s eyes were still on mine. It occurred to me that I didn’t even know her name.

“Last night was for myself,” I said. “No one else.”

“So you want Kyrkos dead. Is that it?”

I nodded again, this time choking back a rising anger. “I don’t just want it,” I growled. “I need it.”

The words came out laced with more emotion than I would’ve liked. Still they were raw. Undeniably truthful.

In the midst of their scrutiny, I closed my eyes to a fresh round of pain. My head was still ringing… still swimming with a thick fog that made thinking straight almost impossible. And although I couldn’t reach up to feel it, I could tell there was a peach-sized lump at the base of my skull.

It was the girl who finally moved. She drew a knife from somewhere near Randall’s belt, walked straight over to stand behind me…

… and sawed through my bonds.

“Andrea…” Holden protested. “What the hell?”

Andrea.