Page 156 of Deadfall

“I want Albatron followed,” I growled.

“Already done,” Nyx said.

“West is working on it now,” Atlas replied.

I looked at both of them. These men who’d been there with me through every single tumultuous turn. I ran a hand over my mouth and nodded.

“We have it handled,” Nyx smirked. “Why don’t you chill out for a bit.”

“Yeah, Nyx will make dinner, and we can all just take a breath,” Atlas agreed.

I glanced over at the open doors of the war room where the idle monitors sat dark. Nyx frowned when he saw where I was looking. He shut the large french doors and turned with a shake of his head.

“Nope. That room is closed for at least twenty-four hours,” he said firmly.

I scowled, but it was weak. “You ordering me around again?”

Nyx flashed a cheeky smirk and didn’t even hesitate. “Yup—now get out of here before Atlas and I take more drastic measures.”

I sighed and relented because I suddenly felt the exhaustion of the last few days—fuck, no, more like the last decade—weigh down. I disappeared into my study and shut the door before I collapsed into a chair and buried my face in my hands.

My daughter was here. My daughter was home. I broke down—

Silent tears ran down my face as I lost the battle with holding everything back. I shed tears for the family I’d lost and everything I’d gone through the last sixteen years. It was so heavy, but I also had an immense sense of gratitude for the people I still had in my corner. I was going to protect that with everything I had. I’d fought tooth and nail to get here, and I wasn’t going to let it go.

After I composed myself, I poured a glass of whiskey and stood at the window. The view was of the back of the house where the lawn sloped away towards a small copse of trees that lined the far edge of the property. I let my mind wander and naturally it turned to the future—to thoughts of how I was going to make the remaining men on my list suffer.

There was a knock on my door.

“Enter,” I called.

Nyx and Atlas walked in, followed by Griffin.

“Deathwing needs to talk to you—I asked if it could wait—” Nyx cut off and shrugged.

I looked over at Griffin. He still looked exhausted, but he was freshly showered and looked better than when he’d stepped from the SUV.

“There are things you need to know.”

“Yeah, sit down.” I went and poured him a glass of whiskey as he sat down in an armchair by the window. He took it gratefully. Nyx shut the door and perched on the edge of my desk while Atlas hovered nearby.

“Mahoney had her,” he said, without preamble.

My lip curled in displeasure. “Did he now…” I growled.

“She was being held on his island. But, it gets worse.” Griffin said grimly. “I received information before we went in that I have a mole on my team—they were feeding information to Mahoney—”

The anger coiled as he continued to speak. I abruptly rose from my seat, unable to sit any longer. My suspicion that Mahoney had something to do with all of this had been correct. Nyx exchanged a look with Atlas.

“How long?” I demanded.

“Years,” Griffin stated.

I let that settle. The implications of it were far too dark and vast for me to do anything but feel the rage seep through my blood.

“Do you know who the mole is?” Atlas asked.

“No,” Griffin admitted.