The Lies That Shatter by A.V. Asher

Chapter Thirty-Six

Mercedes rubbed the bridge of her nose, desperately wanting to go back to bed.

She and Noah had left Charlotte’s when he officially took charge of her security again and had returned to the same duplex they’d stayed in before. She honestly couldn’t say how safe it was, because nothing was safe. But at least it was familiar.

The benefits of the nap she’d taken with Alec had long since worn off. Checking her watch, she noted she only had five more minutes before the next video call with New York.

Everything was falling apart. Negotiating an indefinite sabbatical for a job she hadn’t even started was proving to be a challenge. There were red flags on Mercedes’s end as well. That they couldn’t even wait twenty-four hours to talk to her after a murder attempt was enough to make her question whether this job was worth it.

When the video call chimed through her computer, she inhaled deeply and answered it with a sunny smile on her face.

An hour later, Mercedes sat back in her chair, rolling her shoulders. That was the last call of the evening, and she was ready to have a cup of herbal tea and go to bed.

Then she remembered Ezra asking to see her, and she sighed. Noah had left a bit ago. She’d have to wait for him to come back before she could arrange to bring Ezra here.

She walked into the kitchen, grabbed the kettle, and took it to the sink.

“It really is a lovely flat,” a voice said behind her.

Mercedes yelped and turned.

Alec was casually leaning against the doorframe of the balcony, watching her with a soft smile. “I didn’t notice it the other day. Splendid view.”

“What did you do? Climb up the balcony?”

Alec’s smile curled up in amusement. “No. Noah let me in.”

“I didn’t even hear you.” That wasn’t good. Normally her senses were in overdrive, magnifying everything.

“Aye, you were on a call. And I can be quiet.” His eyes trailed up her body. “I’m surprised to see you changed into work clothes. I thought I’d find you sleeping.”

Mercedes sighed and went about filling the kettle with water. “Trust me, I want to. But I had to try and salvage what I could from the people in New York.”

Alec came toward her, and her breath stopped in her chest. “You should set some boundaries. Otherwise, they’ll keep taking your time from you.”

“It’s hard to set boundaries when I have zero control of my life.” She sent Alec a tight smile. “What are you doing here?”

The amusement on his face fell away. “We have a problem, darling.”

She scoffed. “Just one?”

Alec grimaced. “One that’s quite immediate.”

Mercedes knew that tone. She shut the water off and stared at him. “What’s happening?”

“You were compromised by one of Noah’s men.”

Cold tendrils of fear poured down her spine. “What?”

“Aye. He’s being questioned as we speak.”

“What did he give away?”

“So far, I know he gave them the location of the party and your plans to live with Ezra in New York. There may be more.”

Jesus, she’d unknowingly put Ezra at risk, just by making plans with him. The number of ways this could have gone down was staggering.

Fear piped through her body. “Am I safe right now?”

“Aye. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Alec said in a soothing tone. “And Dec and Mason are . . . nearby. But you won’t be staying here much longer.”

A knock came at the door, and Alec answered it. Noah was with him when he returned.

“I’m sorry Sadie. Things are moving quickly, and I didn’t have time to explain.” Noah crossed his arms in front of him. “Danny, the agent that’s been working with me since we arrived, gave information about you to an outside person. He’s in custody now and we’ll be transporting him soon.”

“Danny?”

Jesus, he’d been the one to stay in the safe house with her the few times Noah left her side. He’d always been so sweet to her. “How did you figure it out?”

“We found some evidence that could only come from the inside. Since I didn’t have a lot of time, I asked Alec to have his team check on the three agents under me. Things that would take me a little more time to do properly. They uncovered quite a few red flags, and it wasn’t hard to narrow it down.”

Mercedes frowned. “Well, the party wasn’t exactly a secret. What did he have that led you to believe it was an insider?”

Noah’s brow creased. “We found an envelope in the bartender’s car. It had a key to a hotel in Pacific Heights, with Holly Castillo, Room 405 written on the front.”

Mercedes barely made it to the chair at the table. Her knees gave, and she collapsed onto it.

Alec’s eyes narrowed in alarm. “Who’s Holly Castillo?”

Mercedes winced. “I am.”

“Shit.” Alec turned to Noah. “Is he still in the flat downstairs?”

Noah nodded. “My people are on their way. You can ask your questions until they get here. After that, no more.”

Alec strode to the door and jerked it open. He was down the stairs at a quick pace and into the downstairs unit.

Mercedes and Noah followed, her legs unsteady on the steps.

When they entered the apartment, Danny was sitting at the kitchen table, his hands cuffed in front of him. To her surprise, Declan and Mason were already there. She had arrived mid-interrogation.

Danny looked like he needed new pants. He clearly understood he was in deep shit, and there was no way out but to cooperate. When he caught sight of Alec striding toward him, his eyes widened, and he gulped in air. Mercedes could understand why. Alec appeared calm, but a deadly violence radiated beneath the surface.

“Do you know who I am?” Alec growled as he sat in front of Danny. The agent nodded. “Good, then you know what I did to your new friend last night.” The warning was clear in Alec’s voice.

“He wasn’t my friend.” Danny shifted between Alec and Noah. “I had never seen him before.”

“Then who was your contact? What did he look like?”

Danny trembled as he answered. “She . . . it was a woman.”

Alec’s tilted his head. “A woman? Not a big bloke with black hair and blue eyes. You never saw that guy anywhere?”

“No, just her.”

“How did she make contact with you?”

He shifted in his chair. “At a bar downtown. She offered to play a game of pool.” He looked up at Noah, his face flaming. “I ended up at her place. And we . . .” He bobbed his head to make his implication clear.

Mercedes made a sound of disgust. “Didn’t you tell me your wife just had a baby?”

Danny’s eyes widened, and he turned to Mercedes. “I didn’t know you were here. I’m so sorry, Ms. Elliott. I didn’t want—”

Alec slammed his hand on the table and Danny jumped. “What happened next?”

“The next day, I . . . received a text message,” Danny stammered, his gaze dropping to his lap. “It was a video of our night. The message said if I cooperated, they’d give me the only copy and a hundred thousand dollars. If I didn’t, they’d send it to my wife.”

“A hundred thousand dollars and a sex tape?” Mercedes broke in. Tightness in her throat made her words strained. “That’s all my life was worth? A hundred thousand dollars and a sex tape?”

“I swear I didn’t know what she was planning.”

“Bullshit!” Alec shouted, the anger radiating off him was terrifying.

Danny winced at Alec’s words and kept his gaze on the table.

Alec sat forward. “Do they know where she is now?”

“No, I swear. They think she’s at the hotel in Pacific Heights.”

“You mean, in the room you gave them the key to, you stupid little fuck?” Alec raged. “If we hadn’t changed where she was going to be, she’d have been there this morning. And she would have been completely alone.”

Danny looked at Mercedes. “I swear, I just thought they—”

“Don’t fucking look at her. Look at me.” Alec’s fists were clenched. Danny’s eyes jumped back to Alec. “What did this woman look like?”

“White, blonde hair, brown eyes, tall, long legs about thirty or thirty-five years old.”

Alec stopped short. “Does she have any distinguishing marks?”

Mercedes frowned. He said it like he knew she would.

“Yeah. She had a big red birthmark under her collarbone.”

“Fuck.” Alec looked to Declan. Something passed silently between them.

“Mason and I will stay with this. You go,” Declan said.

Alec took Mercedes’s hand. “Come on, we need to talk.”

He was taking deep, deliberate breaths as he led her upstairs, softening away the violence in his posture. Once they were in her room, he pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call.

“Artemis. Mariah’s in play,” he said when Cressida answered.

Oh, that bitch is back.

He paused, his blue stare piercing into Mercedes as he talked. “I’m working on it. We’ll keep you updated.”

When he hung up, he said, “When are you supposed to leave?”

“Leave?”

“To your next location. They haven’t shared that with me.” He looked at the carpet, and she knew he was uneasy with being out of the loop. “You’re not still trying to go to New York, are you?”

Mercedes gave a rueful laugh. “The New York deal fell through when my soon-to-be employers found out I’d have to go back into WITSEC for another twelve to eighteen months. It turns out being hunted by a billionaire doesn’t read well on a résumé.”

“I’m sorry, Sadie.”

“It’s all part of the game. Right?” She gave Alec a shaky smile. “It sounds like I should pack.”

Mercedes went to the bedroom and opened her suitcase.

Alec leaned against the doorframe. “It’s not a game, is it?”

“It is for them.”

“You didn’t say when you’re supposed to leave.”

“I don’t know. As soon as I get word from Noah’s bosses.”

This was an unexpected moment. After everything that had happened, she thought she wouldn’t have a chance to say goodbye to him.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I know this week’s been hard on us both, and I appreciate what you did, all of it.” It seemed ridiculously understated after the events of last night, but she wasn’t sure if there was a good way to thank your savior that didn’t sound underwhelming.

He didn’t respond and she hoped he didn’t think she was being disingenuous. But he only offered her a soft smile and a nod. Maybe there was no easy way to accept such a statement of gratitude.

She turned back to her packing. “Can I ask you for a favor?”

“You can ask me for anything.”

The tenderness in his tone made her falter. This goodbye was getting harder and harder.

“Would you check in on Charlie for me? Just a phone call here and there, especially when the baby gets close.” Mercedes’s voice broke, and she turned back to her packing to cover up the hurt swirling in her. It was so damn unfair. Marcus Cooper was a free man, doing whatever the hell he wanted, and she was being taken away from everyone she loved again.

“Aye, I can do that.”

“Thanks.” She could feel his gaze on her as she folded a shirt to put in her bag.

“Mercedes.” The warmth in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. Alec never used her whole name. “Come with me.”

She paused, taking in his words. He couldn’t be asking what she thought he was asking. A steady beat drummed in her ears. “What do you mean?”

His blue eyes held a storm in them. A storm she wanted to get lost in. “Go dark with me.”

It was a simple statement that had an entire world of implications to it.

“With you?”

“Aye.”

“I can’t go with you.”

“Why not?”

Mercedes’s fingers trembled as she went back to packing her clothes. “Well, you have a business to run and a life to live.”

His next words stopped her heart.

“I have this fear—that if you go with them—” Alec was struggling to speak. “You’ll be dead in weeks.”

The wall he was so good at building had fallen, hollowing out his expression with vulnerability. She wanted to wrap herself into him and make it go away. But she couldn’t let him give up his life for her.

“I know. That’s always been a risk.”

“It’s not just a risk to me, Sadie.” The quiver in Alec’s words sliced into her soul. “It’s been my reality for a year.”

Mercedes inhaled sharply. The pain radiating from him seeped into her bones, stealing her ability to think straight.

“Besides, it’s a greater risk to go with them.”

Mercedes swallowed. “Why is that?”

“Because I can’t be bought.”

She shuddered at his words, knowing it was true. Despite their fractured relationship, there was nothing Alec would take in place of her life. Even in their lowest moments, she could search for him and find safety.

“I have a solid plan in place. All you have to do is finish packing and get in the car.”

Some part of her wanted to go, but the other wanted to save him from the wasteland of hiding. “I can’t leave with you.”

“You’ve done it before.”

“That was different. We thought it was going to be for a week or two while I recovered. Who knows how long this will be.”

Alec was nearly to her now. “If I hadn’t been injured in London, would you have gone with me then?”

“Yes.” She would have walked off the end of the earth with him.

He tilted his head. “Why not now?”

“Because, how I feel about you is much more complicated.”

A sad smile played on his lips. “Nah, your feelings are the same. It’s the situation that’s changed.”

He wasn’t wrong. Her feelings for him were as strong as ever. But she couldn’t get past how hard losing him had hit her. Sometimes she still reeled from the fall.

Alec took her hand into his, the warmth in his palm soothing hers. “After we leave here, I won’t touch you unless you ask me to. I need you to be safe, and if I have to keep my bloody hands to myself to do it, I will.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. The simple gesture made her ache. “I’ll let you think about it. Finish packing and I’ll speak with Noah. Let me know what you decide when I get back.”

He was out the door before she could say anything else.

As if in a fog, Mercedes placed her makeup bag into her suitcase and zipped it up.

What on earth was she going to do?

If she stayed with the feds, there was no telling how many people Cooper could turn on her. It had been ridiculously easy to turn the young agent. Not only that, but Whitley was the catalyst for the shitstorm she was in. Their lies had shattered her and Alec both. Why would she ever trust them again?

Alec was always the safer bet.

With her life. Her heart was an entirely different matter.

When he returned, his brow was raised as if he was waiting for her response.

She took a cleansing breath. “I’ll go with you, but I have a few conditions.”

Hope filled Alec’s expression, but his tone was calm. “Alright.”

“First, no pretending that we’re a couple. I can’t do the kissing and the touching, and all of that. I . . . just no.”

There was a touch of reluctance in Alec’s eyes, but he nodded. “Aye, we won’t be a couple.”

Mercedes gave a curt nod. “And I want my own bed in my own bedroom. We aren’t going to share again either.”

“That’s already done.”

“Oh, you need to have your own bed and bedroom, too. None of this sleeping on the floor crap.”

Alec chuckled. “Aye. I have my own room.”

“And I’m gonna hold you to that no kissing or touching thing.”

Alec narrowed his eyes. “I believe what I said was, once we leave here, I won’t touch you unless you ask me to.”

“Right.” Mercedes nodded, proud that she had established a firm set of lines.

“Since I just agreed to that last one, I have a condition of my own,” Alec said, the huskiness in his tone making her cheeks flush. “Well, more of a request, actually. You’re free to say no.”

Mercedes lifted her brow.

Alec’s gaze darkened, turning positively sinful “May I kiss you now?”

The very center of her body clenched.

Tell him no.

But her brain short-circuited, and she nodded.

Alec crossed the room, his mouth crashing into hers before she could rethink it. If she’d thought he might offer up a soft, chaste kiss, she was very fucking wrong.

Alec toyed with her, stroked her, reminded her.

He tangled his fingers in her hair, angling her chin to fit her against his mouth.

And damn it, she was answering him. She should push him away, tell him this was too much. But she couldn’t. Instead, she was drawn into him, letting him play with her until he’d pulled every ounce of need up to the surface.

He felt too damn good.

Alec ended the kiss with a tender bite on her lip and Mercedes lost track of the world. Every sensation was him.

She opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

The corner of his mouth curled up. “No.”

Then he kissed the tip of her nose and stepped away. While she was still figuring out what the hell had just happened, he left the room with her suitcase.

She was in so much goddamn trouble.