"I wasn't asking to be completely taken out of the scene, really," I informed them in a firm voice. I could see that they were confused but eager to know what my curious little brain had cooked up. "I would like to pursue Luke Darcy while I am still undercover. Despite not partaking in extracting information from Anthony Murray's section, I will try to curb the armament dealing between the two. I can ensure you that the hit on Luke Darcy will be carried out and that he will be wiped off from the face of the earth."

"No!" I heard Jacob. His face was red and angry. He was standing upright, his shoulders curved forward, ready for confrontation.

"Agent Hunt, the question was directed towards the board members and not you," I stated rudely, before giving a meaningful look to said members.

"We will not pretend to understand your reasons, agent Vincent," one of them spoke. He cleared his throat and suck permission from his colleagues so that he could speak. "As reluctant as we are to remove you from the Murray case, we are delighted to see you take the initiative and actively participate in such a huge deal."

"Thank you," I said, relief flooding through me.

"Bringing down Luke Darcy is no easy task, agent. Let me remind you of the fact," another one spoke up.

"We all agree that you are perfect for the job, but we have a few demands that we will want to make. And we demand that you give us time to consider the pros and cons and decide if we will go with your plan or not."

"As you wish," I breathed and then stood up. "I will be waiting outside to receive the final verdict," I promised and turned to leave. I could hear Jacob's footsteps behind me. As the door hissed closed, I heard his breathing become harsher and his footsteps become lighter.

"How long are we going to ignore what is really happening over here, Mia?"

"Agent Hunt, shall I remind you that we are in our place of employment and speaking so informally to a fellow agent is frowned upon inside the premises. It shows weakness. The heir to the throne of this organization has no place for showing weakness. You must remember that in the future," I informed him. My words were scalding, but there was sarcasm there to soothe the heat.

"Fuck you, Mia Vincent. You talk about weakness!" he scoffed. I didn't stop, though. I kept walking. I had expected the outburst. "You are the one showing weakness. That evening when I saw you outside that seedy bar, I knew what was going to happen. Did you think that I couldn't see how you leaned into him as you spoke?" he spat out. "All this while you told tales of hatred and revenge, and now you are cowering in a corner, purring like a cat as he strokes your ego and bewitches you."

"He has not bewitched me," I growled as I walked faster.

"Oh, really? You are wearing his shirt, you look freshly fucked and you have mad eyes. He makes you have those eyes. You look so pathetic right now that I can't even remember the woman whose thirst for revenge drove her to practice day in and day out to shoot right between the eyes every fucking time."

"She's right here, but your over-imaginative mind has warped the image," I told him with all the spite I had in my body.

"I'm your friend, Mia. I can see that you are slipping. He has you. Don't you see it? He's taking you away from me—from who you are. He's doing this on purpose. You know it! You've always known it."

"This decision has nothing to do with it, Jake. I am preserving my life. I know what will happen in the end. I can see it flashing in front of my eyes every time I close my eyes. I can't sleep because of the fear of dying... the fear of turning into fodder for weeds to grow in scared me. I can kill an army and sleep without a wink of guilt, but I cannot do that with the fear that I now have embedded in my system. I need to get rid of it. I need to purify myself and burn all signs of weakness. This fear is my weakness. I must stop it from infesting all over me. I want to live."

"There are other ways."

"I don't think so. I don't want it any other way." I confessed.

"You're in love with him," his strangled whisper made me want to reach out and put my hands over his mouth to stop him from saying anything else.

I hissed as he removed my hand and then just stared at me.

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