Chapter 50 Chapter 50
"I will do it." The words left my mouth before I could second-guess myself. "I will infiltrate The Syndicate."
Damien grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. "No. Lisa, we will find another way. We will protect Mia without you risking your life."
"How? He has people watching her right now. If we try to move her, they will know. If we try to hide her, they will find her." My voice cracked. "She is my best friend, Damien. The only person who stood by me when my whole world fell apart. I cannot let her die because of the choices I made."
"And I cannot let you walk into danger knowing I might never see you again." His hands moved to cup my face. "Please. There has to be another option."
Victor cleared his throat. "Time is running out. I need an answer."
"You have your answer," I said without breaking eye contact with Damien. "I already said yes."
Damien's jaw clenched and I saw the war happening behind his eyes. Every instinct told him to protect me. To lock me away somewhere safe. But he also knew that forcing my hand would break something between us that could never be fixed.
"If you do this you follow my rules," he said finally. "You wear a wire. You check in every six hours. And at the first sign of trouble you get out. I do not care about the mission or the information or anything else. You survive. That is all that matters."
"Agreed."
He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my forehead. "I love you. Remember that when things get dark. Remember that I am coming for you no matter what."
"I love you too."
Victor handed me a burner phone. "Memorize this number. You call it when you have information. Never use your real phone. Never mention names. Keep everything vague enough that if they catch you they cannot trace it back to us."
I took the phone and slipped it into my pocket. The weight of it felt like a death sentence. "When do I start?"
"Tomorrow. I already set up the meeting. You go to them. Tell them Damien betrayed you. Tell them you want revenge and you are willing to trade information for protection." Victor's face was emotionless. "They will test you. Push you. Try to break you to see if you are telling the truth. Do not flinch. Do not hesitate. Sell the lie."
We left the church separately. Damien and I walked back to the car in silence. The night air was cold and I wrapped my arms around myself. Everything felt surreal. Like I was watching someone else's life play out instead of living my own.
Back at the safe house Damien could not stop pacing. He moved through the small space like a caged animal and his hands kept clenching into fists.
"Talk to me," I said softly. "Tell me what you are thinking."
"I am thinking that I should kill Victor for threatening Mia. I am thinking that I should lock you in this apartment and never let you leave. I am thinking that every choice I have made since meeting you has put you in more danger." He stopped and looked at me. "I am thinking that loving you might be the most selfish thing I have ever done."
"Stop." I crossed the room and took his hands. "You did not force me into this. I chose to stay. I chose to help you. I chose to fall in love with you knowing exactly what world you lived in. Those were my decisions. Not yours."
"But if I had let you go that first night. If I had just paid you and sent you away. You would be safe. You would be living your normal life with your normal problems and none of this would be happening."
"And I would be miserable. Working a job I hate. Coming home to an empty apartment. Going through the motions without ever really living." I squeezed his hands. "You woke something up in me, Damien. Something I did not even know was sleeping. You made me feel alive for the first time in years."
He pulled me into his arms and held me so tight I could barely breathe. "Promise me you will come back. Promise me this is not the last time I hold you."
"I promise."
We spent the night tangled in each other. Making love like it was the last time. Memorizing every touch and kiss and whispered word. When dawn came I wanted to freeze time. To stay in that moment forever where it was just us and the rest of the world did not exist.
But time kept moving. The sun rose. And I had to go.
Damien drove me to the meeting point. An industrial district full of warehouses and empty lots. He parked two blocks away and pulled me in for one last kiss.
"Six hours," he said against my lips. "You check in every six hours or I am coming in."
"I will be careful."
"Be smart. Not careful. Careful gets you killed. Smart keeps you alive."
I got out of the car and walked toward the warehouse Victor had specified. My heart pounded with every step. Two men in suits waited outside the entrance. They patted me down and found the wire Damien had hidden in my bra. My blood went cold.
"Well, well," one of them said. "Looks like someone is not being honest."
They ripped it off and one of them crushed it under his boot. Then they grabbed my arms and dragged me inside. The warehouse was dark except for a single light in the center. A chair sat underneath it. Empty and waiting.
They shoved me into the chair and zip-tied my hands behind my back. Fear crawled up my spine but I forced my face to stay neutral. Show weakness now, and I was dead.
Footsteps echoed from the shadows. A figure emerged into the light. The man from the flash drive photo. Damien's father. He looked older in person. Gray hair. Lines around his eyes. But those eyes were the same as his son's. Cold and calculating and dangerous.
"Lisa Chen," he said. His voice was smooth like expensive whiskey. "Victor told me you wanted to make a deal. That you were angry at Damien Kane for dragging you into our world."
"He used me. Lied to me. Put me in danger." I kept my voice steady. "I want him to pay for what he did."
"Interesting." He circled the chair slowly. "Because my sources tell me you are in love with him. That you would do anything to protect him. So which is it, Lisa? Are you here for revenge? Or are you here to spy?"
My mouth went dry. He knew. Somehow, he knew. "I am here because Victor is holding my friend hostage. Because I do not have a choice."
"There is always a choice." He stopped in front of me and smiled. It was the same smile Damien had but twisted into something cruel. "And you just made the wrong one."