Page 139 of The Company

I’m debriefed, along with the rest of the remaining assassins—but told not to approach. No one is to approach her because she’s dangerous.

Yeah, Harper has some moves, but Harper is not dangerous. She’s like a little kitten with those little kitten claws. She can hurt you, but she’s a kitten.

So everyone gives her a wide berth. Meanwhile Tony’s number comes up and he’s next on my list. At the same time, Ford calls in a favor to Merc, who calls in a favor to me, requesting that my crazy brother also be eliminated.

So yeah, I did it.

Well—I take a deep breath and crack an eye to see if Sasha noticed, but she’s deep in thought too—I didn’t do it. Tet did it. Tet did it and then Tet didn’t move to the back of the bus, so to speak. Tet decided to take the front seat, in fact. And that made me fail the psych evaluation.

Which got me sent to the beach to unwind.

And then One appeared with a video of my sister, Nicola. And she had black eyes and she asked me to help her. And One told me to get that file because I had a debt to pay.

I sigh again.

They played me. They knew Harper was a weakness. I’d stayed clear of her except on her birthdays. Still, certain people knew I went to see her every Six Day. They knew she interacted with me the day we turned Six. They figured—correctly, I might add—that I could tame her.

But I love her. I want her. I know she’s not my promise. I understand this and it killed me to lie to her while we were together. But I want her now. She’s mine.

And no one is going to take her away.

No one.