Page 41 of Brutal Reign

That thought makes something dangerous stir beneath my ribs.

“Or Hope joined up with Simon and is following in her father’s footsteps,” Romans spits out.

“Maybe they fell in love?” Nikolai adds with a shrug. “Stranger things have happened.”

My hands ball into fists, and I feel a dull throb take hold at the base of my neck.

Anything is possible. Hope could be a victim, or she could be the instigator. I don’t know which truth is worse, but I’m going to find out.

“We’re wasting time debating,” Vadim says, pulling out his phone. “I still have intelligence contacts in Hong Kong from my Special Forces days. Give me a few hours, and I’ll sniff out where the wedding’s taking place.”

Some of the tension eases, but Roman’s disappointment radiates from across the room. I raise an eyebrow and stare him down. If he has a problem, he can say it to my face.

Nikolai rises from his seat, stretching out tired muscles. “Assuming Vadim gets us a location for the wedding, what’s the plan?”

“Break up the wedding and take the happy couple as prisoners. I’d like to have a thorough chat with both of them,” Maxim says, his tone cold.

I don’t fucking like the thought of taking Hope as a prisoner, but at least it means keeping her alive until I can figure out what’s actually going on.

Niko nods grimly. “Vadim, Eva, and I will pull together everything we need to fly out to HK tomorrow.”

Once the room clears out, we say goodbye to Maxim. I know he’s pissed, but he’s not the type to dwell on past mistakes when there’s work to be done.

Roman, on the other hand, is my partner, and I put him in a shitty position. It’s why I’m not shocked when he turns to me and drives his fist into my face. The impact sends me staggering backward, my vision swimming.

I work my jaw, testing for damage. “I deserved that,” I admit. “And for the record, I didn’t exactly lie to you. I was going to insert the tracker, but in the moment, I couldn’t do it. I just never updated you on that fact.”

“That’s a lie by omission.” Roman’s eyes narrow, and his stance goes rigid. “What happened with you and Hope in London? You weren’t the same person when you came home.”

I scrub a hand over my jaw, feeling the stubble rasp against my palm. We’ve bled together, killed together, and built our lives from nothing. I owe him the truth.

“I slept with her.”

“You did what?”

“Save the lecture,” I say, pressing my thumb to the bridge of my nose. “It wasn’t supposed to happen. I got close to her for the job, but then… something about her messed with my head.”

Roman’s face darkens like a storm rolling in. “Tell me you didn’t compromise the mission so you could fuck some triad princess.”

“I didn’t compromise anything,” I say through gritted teeth. “She doesn’t know who I really am.”

“It was still reckless.”

I won’t argue with him there, but what’s done is done.

Roman shakes his head, watching me closely. “Is she why you haven’t fucked anyone else in five years?”

I shrug defensively. “Didn’t realize you were keeping count.”

“It was pretty hard not to notice that you’ve turned down every invitation to fuck in the last five years. And I’ll hand it to you, man, you’ve had plenty of opportunities.”

“No one seemed all that interesting.” After Hope, that is.

Roman runs a hand down the back of his neck. “I know you’ve been dealing with a lot after finding out how Kamilla really died and everything. I get it. We all go through shit, but you have to get your head in the game. If we’re going to fight the Black Company, you have to be willing to do what needs to be done.”

“I’m good,” I assure him, straightening to my full height. “I know what needs to be done.”

He stares at me for a few beats longer. “I sure as hell hope so.”