Chapter 2

The new assignment came a week later, a protection detail.

Julian Thorne, tech billionaire' s son, face like a movie star, hands too clean.

He walked into the Sentinel briefing room like he owned it, all expensive suit and easy charm.

Lena, next to me, straightened up. I saw the shift in her eyes.

A flicker I hadn't seen before, or hadn't wanted to.

"Mr. Thorne, this is Alex Ryder and Lena Petrova," our handler said. "The best."

Julian' s smile was wide, aimed straight at Lena. "A pleasure. Viper, is it? Intriguing."

Lena actually blushed.

"Just Lena is fine, Mr. Thorne."

"Julian, please."

Throughout the briefing, his attention was on her.

Hers was on him.

She laughed at things that weren't funny, her professional edge gone soft.

Later, on site at Thorne' s penthouse, she started in on me.

"God, Alex, can't you at least try to look less like a thug?"

We were supposed to be invisible, blending in.

"This is blending in, Lena. For us."

"For you, maybe," she scoffed. "Julian appreciates a little more...polish."

She called him Julian now.

He' d give her these little smiles, touch her arm.

She' d lean into it.

I watched them, a knot tightening in my gut.

He was everything I wasn't, smooth, rich, no calluses on his hands.

She started sharing things with him, operational details, little pieces of intel she shouldn' t have.

"He needs to understand the risks, Alex. To trust us."

"He needs to trust you," I corrected.

She didn' t deny it.

That night, watching her watch him, something inside me snapped.

Twenty years of belief, gone.

This wasn't a partnership. It was a job to her, and Julian Thorne was a shiny new perk.

I pulled out my burner phone, the one I hadn't touched in years.

One call.

"Grandfather," I said, my voice rough. "It's Alex. About that arrangement... is it still on the table?"

Arthur Sterling' s voice was old, but still steel. "Alexander. It' s always there for you. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," I said, looking at Lena across the room, laughing with Julian. "It's time."