cage I was about to escape. The remnants of the disastrous engagement party – a

bless her,

u done? The scanda

her, the legendary CIA Director, died in a tragic accident. She didn't know the "offic

lm, trying to soothe her. "It

e humiliated you!

d up

r. What matters i

g, looking at me,

cold. It's n

ke the old Ava.

, Mother.

o not worry. Her worry was a

. From a locked drawer, I retrieved a small, unassuming burn

I told her gently. "Pleas

e of the panic left her eyes. She trusted m

he number. It connected on the fir

I'm calling in the standing agr

amiliar voice. "Acknowle

ne wen

event known to only a handful of people. He owed me. More than that, he respected

my heart seemed to crack, not with warmth, but w

th Ethan. Or rat

, every trace of him. I packed them into expensive luggage, the kind he favored

d his a

re packed. Please arrange for

s, no explanation

indow, watching the sun rise over Washington D.C. My city. My battlegrou