choing in her mind with every step. Choose the FBI and die. Choose Dante and betray everythin

e'd made he

the morning paper while sipping espresso. He looked relaxed, almost boyish in his casual sweater and je

ed, folding the newspaper and giving her

his left eyebrow that he'd never explained. In another life, under different circumstanc

here's something I need to te

eks together, he'd learned to recognize when she was ge

choice that would define the rest of

n't Lucia C

s coffee cup frozen halfway to his lips. Sofia could see him processing the implications, his mind moving

inally, his voice

rganized Crime Task Force, and I've been undercover for the past thre

violence. Around them, the café continued its normal morning routine-businessmen reading newspapers, students typing on

dence?" Dante

and trace money laundering through seventeen offshore bank accounts." Sofia met his eyes directly, refu

ession unreadable. "And you'r

ng, and he gave me twenty-four hours to choose between my duty as an FBI

tionless. "You mean the feelings you were pretendi

d intended. "The feelings I was trying not to have be

same intensity he'd shown that first night at Marea. "You'r

o treats me like an equal instead of a possession." Sofia felt tears threaten and forced them back. "I'm saying the pas

t abou

of hunting monsters and becoming one myself. About meeting someone

estrians walk past the café window. When he spo

you a choice. Wha

e a compact mirror but was actually an encrypted FBI communication unit. S

ency extraction required. Cover is blown, operat

device, cutting off the transmiss

ia Martinez, FBI agent, instead of Lucia Castellan

dangerous edge. "Because that's what happens to federal ag

ything I've sworn to protect. And I couldn't betray you by pretending to choose you whil

sound completely without humor. "Honesty. From the wom

ow I felt. Every smile, every conversation, every moment of conne

o give up your

my life rather than de

on and disbelief. "You're either the most honest woman I'v

good at my job, Dante. But I'm apparently terrible at s

Agent Torres's voice crackled through the speaker: "Martinez, we have your location

u to know that everything I said about wanting to build something legitimate was true. You could transform your family's opera

ly I'm not strong enough to forgive the woman I

d said he loved her, past tense, in the same brea

e whispered.

m will take you to a safe house for debriefing. After that, you'll probably be relocated with

abou

s actually a federal agent sent to destroy us." Dante's voice was steady, but Sofia could see the pain in his eyes. "Then

again after today. The FBI would relocate her, give her a new name and a new life

remember that some of it was real? That despite eve

ez was brave enough to choose duty over love, even when it meant losing everythi

at the table waiting for the FBI extraction team that wou

six hours, he would be sitting across from his father, planning strategies to counter the evidence she'd gathered

ld cease to exist, replaced by whatever new identity the FBI created f

uched the engagement ring she was still wearing-a beautiful lie that re

o remember that love could exist even in impossible circumstances, eve

nez had mad

ve to live with