Page 123 of Devil's Azalea

“Aren’t you curious how we’re here?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Your loving wife gave us the tip. Want to guess where she is right now? She’s having a cozy dinner with Director Rodrigues, her mentor and mother figure.”

The world tilts on its axis, and for a moment, I feel like I’m falling through space. The edges of my vision go dark, and I have to fight to stay upright as the words sink in.

Did Emilia betray me again?I’m going to fucking throttle her.

42

EMILIA

I spin around, fully prepared to leave the restaurant, anger at Katie finally piercing through my fog of pain. How dare she try to ambush me like this? Itrustedher.

But as I move towards the entrance, my escape route is cut off. One of the other agents stands by the door, her hand hovering over her holster in silent threat.

Now, the empty restaurant makes sense.

They must have booked it out to perfect their ambush. The anger doesn’t just build—it erupts, volcanic and fierce, as I whirl back to face them. “What the actual fuck?” My words are aimed at the room, but my glare locks onto Katie’s guilty face.

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Stacey asks calmly. “We have a lot to discuss.”

For the first time since I walked into this nightmare, I look at her. And the ache in my heart becomes so sharp, so vicious, that I can’t breathe for a moment. All I can see is the cold, calculating look on her face as she shot my father.

Was she already planning her lies then? Already deciding to pin it on Rafael, knowing exactly how I felt about him?

Perhaps he deserved to die, some hateful, broken part of me whispers. My dad was part of a kids’ organ trafficking ring. Not the hero I’ve spent my entire life believing he was. I never really knew him at all.

The realization shatters something inside me, something I didn’t even know was still whole. And somehow, that makes me relent.

I’m still angry and hurt as hell at Stacey, my nerves stripped raw and screaming. But maybe hearing her out isn’t the worst idea. Maybe there’s an explanation. Maybe Stacey had reasons for what she did, reasons that could justify the lies and manipulation.

Not that I even have a choice right now.I glance at the agent guarding the door. I could probably take her, but if Katie joins her to fight me—and she absolutely will if Stacey gives the order—I’m dead meat.

Stacey must think I’m seriously considering making a run for it, because she says, “If you leave now, you’ll be arrested along with Rafael and the rest of the Nightshades.”

I snap my gaze back to her, ice threading through my veins. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“About an hour ago, the Russians detonated bombs at four warehouses across four boroughs of NYC, targeting the Nightshades' multimillion-dollar stash of illegal weapons.”

“What?” My brain struggles to process this information. “What does that have to do with them getting arrested? The Russians should be the ones behind bars for arson and destruction of property.” I take my phone out of my pocket, my hands shaking as I try to dial Rafael’s number, but Stacey isn’t finished destroying my world yet.

“And precisely thirty minutes after those explosions, while they were all distracted by the flames in their precious empire, I moved the final piece on my chessboard.” Her smile is razor-edged. “I sent agents to arrest them, and this time, I’m holding them in custody until I get solid evidence. I have warrants to search their houses.”

“Arrested on what grounds?” I take a step towards her, phone pressed to my ear as Rafael’s line rings. And rings. And rings…

“Do you hear that?” Stacey’s laugh is like nails on a chalkboard, and she directs her question to Katie, who keeps her head down in shame. “They’re the biggest criminals in New York. I can arrest them onanyground, and I know they’re probably guilty of it.”

Rafael doesn’t answer the call, and my stomach clenches, my heart sinking further. She can’t be telling the truth, right? She can’t be…

When I dial his number again, she gives my phone a dismissive glance. “He’s not going to answer. They’re all in our custody, and my agents are already turning their houses inside out for evidence—maybe even crimes we haven’t thought to indict them with yet.”

“You’re not going to find anything,” I spit. “I’m done here. Don’t ever contact me again. Either of you.” I turn around for the third time, fully committed to leave this time, no matter what bullshit she tries next.

“I hear you’ve been digging into the past, into what happened with your father, despite meexplicitlytelling you not to,” Stacey says.

My gaze snaps to Katie, shock rippling through me. She still won’t meet my eyes, face fixed firmly to the table. I don’t remember her exact words, but she did warn me about someone in the bureau spying on me, didn’t she? So it was her all along? My breath snags in my throat, and that unbearable piercing pain from earlier comes crashing back, feeling a hundred times worse this time.

The blows just keep coming.

Has she been a spy for Stacey since the beginning? Is that why she befriended me? Was our friendship ever sincere?