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They were men and women who would have died for him without a second thought—just as he would have for them. They had been as close as a family. Didn’t take a psychic to see that had changed. Everyone was looking at him with either animosity or distrust. He didn’t blame them. All of this was on him. He’d had his reasons, but that didn’t diminish the harm he’d caused.
There were a lot more details he needed to share, but that would have to wait. For now, he focused on one issue. “Olivia was attacked in her apartment last night.”
“Is she okay?” Ash asked.
Okay was a relative term, but he nodded. “Bruised up, but no major damage.”
“Who was it?” Ash asked.
“Don’t know that yet.” Although he had a pretty good idea, and it pissed him off that he hadn’t stopped it before it happened. He should’ve seen it coming. “There were four of them. We caught one, but he’s not giving us much.”
“We?” Gideon said.
“My people stopped them.”
A wry tone to his voice, Xavier said, “Not to sound too much like a jealous teenager, but weren’t we your ‘people’?”
Hawke had known there would be a rub there. The people who’d been helping him weren’t the same as his OZ brothers and sisters. They were good, but they weren’t these people.
“They weren’t ‘my people,’ per se. They were on loan.”
“From who?” Sean asked.
It was the first time he’d spoken, and Hawke knew that when this was over, there would be a reckoning. He understood why, but it didn’t make it any easier.
“Kate.”
“So Kate was in on this from the beginning?” Liam said.
“Yes.”
Sean’s chair squealed as he pushed it away from the conference table and stood. “Are we even a team anymore, Ash?”
“We are,” Ash said.
Hawke looked into the face of each OZ member and wondered if they could come back from this. He had caused this. He had known their anger and hurt would be there, and while he could tell himself all day long that he’d been justified in his actions, the consequences of those actions were difficult to bear.
“I know you have questions, and I want to address each one. I promise I will.”
A chime sounded, alerting the entire room that someone had driven into OZ territory. Hawke met Ash’s gaze, confirming what he already knew.
“But we’ll have to put off the rest of the explanation for a little longer,” Hawke said.
“Why?” Jazz asked. “Who’s here?”
Before Hawke could respond, Eve gave her the answer for him. “Olivia.”
CHAPTER SIX
Olivia walked into OZ headquarters as if she were still one of them. Not one person tried to stop her. In fact, she’d spotted zero people. Even when she’d been an OZ operative, she had never walked into headquarters without seeing someone. Even Rose Wilson, OZ’s general factotum, who’d always seemed to be everywhere at once, was noticeably absent.
She wondered if she could walk through the entire building without being confronted. The house, though large and quite lovely, was actually a front for an entire world below ground. A dozen or so people gathered intel, working in a maze of rooms beneath the house. As one of the most secretive spy and intel organizations, Option Zero moved silently throughout the world, solving problems most people never knew existed. It was one of her proudest moments when she’d been allowed to join Option Zero.
Most of the members had known each other for years, and it had warmed her heart that she had been so readily accepted. Of course, the fact that she was married to Hawke at the time had had a lot to do with it.
She shook her head quickly, forcing the memories down. She wasn’t here to relive the past. She was here for answers and would not be leaving until she had them.
She continued through the seemingly empty house. If she hadn’t known better, she’d say the place was empty, but she did know better. They were expecting her. They knew she was here.
