Page 232

Hated the truth.

Hated myself even fucking more.

One slow nod. I barely felt the movement. It was like control was slipping through my fingers. Not over the estate. Not over my men.

Over me.

My fucking heart.

I turned and headed back inside. Blackthorn had changed while darkness fell. Men occupied the shadows now. Not strangers. Mine. Ghost stood motionless at the far end of the hallway, half swallowed by darkness. A radio murmured somewhere behind me. Low voices answered. Short. Precise.

Falcon remained outside. I caught the faint movement of his silhouette beyond the glass as I passed. Another man stepped from an adjoining room. One of Knox’s men. He straightened when he saw me. A nod. I returned it. Kept walking.

This was familiar.

Too fucking familiar.

Men positioned at exits. Weapons hidden beneath jackets. Quiet voices passing information through the dark. Every entrance watched. Every weakness accounted for.

The Revenant knew this world. He knew exactly what to do with it. Find the threat. Close the perimeter. Protect what mattered. Simple. Except nothing about the woman upstairs was simple.

I walked. One step, then another. The operational noise faded behind me. By the time I reached the upper hallway, there was only silence. And Ghost.

He stood several feet from her bedroom door. Far enough to give her privacy. Close enough to reach her in seconds. His eyes found mine.

“Anything?”

“Nothing.”

A pause.

“She hasn’t come out.”

My gaze moved to the door.

Closed.

Of course it was.

“Give us the hall.”

Ghost didn’t hesitate. He moved past me and disappeared down the hall.

Then I was alone.

I stared at the door.

Fuck.

I’d walked into buildings filled with men waiting to kill me. Walked back into one when every instinct told me I wouldn’t walk out again. None of that had felt like this.

I lifted my hand. Stopped before my knuckles touched the wood. Because I could order every man in this house to move. I could lock every gate. Cover every window. Put a weapon at every entrance. But this door… this one had to open for me.

I knocked.

Once.

No answer.