i shrugged, "you fucked how many chicks on that yacht?"

his eyes burned.

i pointed at him, "i know what it's like to see you with your whores; you're a sex addict. what did you think? you think she was never gonna get tired of the constant, hardcore sexathons you had on board. she told me about them. women coming on board to cum. she hates you for never picking her, and your obsession with me has only provoked it. i guarantee james got to her, she's the weak link."

he looked sickened, "you are better at this, than i am giving you credit for."

i laughed at him, "no, you were blinded by the tight piece of ass, who you could pay to cook and clean and not have to spoon in the morning."

he didn't laugh. he looked like he might actually be sick.

chapter sixteen - blood debt

we boarded the plane and, instantly, i felt sick. roxy smiled and waved. luce, coop, and jack were in the dark, but they were still cautious.

"the pilot said he didn't know where we were going?" roxy said with a smile.

servario smiled at her softly, "no. i wanted to keep it our secret." he walked past her to the pilot, who i had yet to see.

a brief look of confusion crossed her face, as she went to the back of the plane. i liked her. i hated that she had betrayed a man she suspected of doing horrid things. she knew he was bad and, no doubt, feared quitting. then james had come along and threatened her, using his government ties to bribe her into working with him. i can only assume it was how it happened, but i was willing gamble on it.

technically, she had made the right choice, the just choice. but my kids were part of the things that prevented me from helping her.

i let her go to the back of the plane.

i took my seat, my usual seat, and waited for us to take off, and for the shit to hit the fan.

luce gave me a grave look.

i winked subtly.

steve hadn't come. servario had put him to work elsewhere.

it was just roxy, the mystery pilot, and us.

i stopped paying attention to anything and everything. i had a sickening guilt twisting inside of me.

i was sacrificing another person for my family.

coop was staring at me when i looked up. he mouthed, "you okay?"

i twitched a no.

i wasn't as good at mouthing things as he and servario were. i could still read lips as fast as ever.

coop mouthed again, "you want me to make you feel better?"

i laughed and nodded.

he came over and sat in the pod next to me, servario's usual spot. i wondered if servario would care if coop was sitting there?

coop leaned in, "you have to let it slide. just think, she made her bed."

i pressed my lips together and then whispered, "i can't. i have a terrible feeling."

he got up and went to the front of the plane. he came back a minute later with a tray.

i laughed when coop put it down.

i licked my wrist and held it out. he shook the salt on mine and then his and poured the shots. he poured four instead of two.

he nodded at jack and luce. they were sitting beside each other up front, but both got up and made their way to us.

"oh yeah." luce laughed and licked her wrist. jack shook his head, "i'm not good at this one. tequila makes me throw up."

luce shook her head, "what is your deal?"

jack hesitated and licked his wrist. coop salted and passed out the shots.

he held his up, "to our families, wherever they are. may they be safe, wherever they are."

jack added, "and may they never know about how close the world comes to ending or what we really do for a living."

i snorted, "cheers to that."

we clanked, licked, drank and sucked.

jack walked away, with his glass and a sour face. luce laughed, "i'll go make sure he's okay."

i looked at them walking back to their seats and gave coop a look.

he looked at me like i was insane, "duh."

"what? i didn't know."

coop shook his head, whispering, "that dress made everyone see her differently. jack may never be the same."

i laughed and whispered, "i seriously thought she was gay."

he gave me a look, "why?"

i shook my head, "she seems like one of the boys...."

servario interrupted my sentence, "you used to be like that." i glanced up at servario standing next to me. i hadn't even noticed him coming back.

i squinted, "i was not."

servario folded his arms across his chest, "you were. you were the sharpest shooter, and had to be the fastest runner, and could drink everyone under the table. you were."

coop laughed, "i heard the same reports."

i looked at him, blushing, "i must have forgotten."

coop smirked, "the best agents are 'one of the boys'. they fit in; first rule of being an agent, f.i.f.o. it means fit in or fuck off."

i put my hand out for another shot. i looked up at servario, "what if it isn't her?"

he gave me a look and walked to the back of the plane.

we took off but roxy never came back, neither did servario.

coop poured me a third shot. i couldn't stop my eyes from darting to the back.

i drank the shot smoothly, fighting the shudder i wanted to do.

my belly rumbled.

coop laughed, "i'm starving too."

i looked over at him, "how are we going to clean this all up?"

he shook his head, "this mess is huge. i don't even know. right now we're riding with enemy number one. me, luce and jack all went off the reservation, so we're as guilty as you now. they'll find a way to pin this on us too. being with servario is only making it easier for them to do it."

i closed my eyes and sighed, "i know, and yet, i have the feeling that he is the only person we can actually trust."

i opened one eye when he didn't say anything. he looked stricken, "i agree," he whispered.

for the strangest of reasons, coop's words didn't make me feel better.

i closed my eye again and let the comfy pod take me away.

i woke up with a start. i looked around the plane, luce and jack were leaned up against each other. coop was sound asleep next to me.

i heard a noise.

it must have been the thing that woke me up.

i unbuckled and walked to the back of the plane.

"stop, we shouldn't be doing this here," roxy said, in between ragged breaths.

my stomach clenched, "oh god," i whispered to myself.

he was fucking roxy.

he was betraying me.

i froze and prepared myself for what i was about to see.

did i want to see it?

i didn't, it didn't feel the same as before. the conversations we'd had since then, changed everything.

but had they? had i fallen for his smooth lines and sexy ways?

christ.

she moaned again, "oh my god, gustavo... please!"

i reached for the curtain to the dressing room and ripped it back fast.

her hands were tied to the roof with blood trails running down them. her face was beaten. servario's hands were cut from hitting her. he looked back with a savage expression, "get out."

i shook my head and fought the motherly urge to dive in front of the blow he gave her, with the back of his hand. she cried out again, shaking her head and sniffling. "please, evie, help me. please. i swear, whatever you think is missing or whatever, i didn't do it. i wouldn't do that to you, gustavo."

servario shoved me back and closed the curtain. the look on his face was scarier than anything i had ever seen. his eyes were completely black.

she cried out moments later.

i jumped, stepping away from it. my back pressed against the wall.

she was innocent. i was wrong. i had a terrible feeling.

i sunk to the floor, shaking and forcing myself to listen to each strike.

he could beat a woman that badly?

i didn't know him.

she screamed in a long series of shrieks and bleats like a sheep. whatever he was doing, was bad.

"fuck you!" she screamed.

i could hear him speaking in low, hushed tones.

"evieeeeeee! evie, save me!" she screamed and sobbed.

i didn't know i was shaking, until i felt the still of coop against me. he wrapped around me, holding me tight to him. instead of stopping the madness, he carried me to a row of seats and sat, holding me like a child. i was cradled against his chest. but even the distance couldn't stop the screams.

"we have to help her. i was wrong. i was wrong. please," i pleaded.

coop shook his head, "you didn't do this, evie. if he suspects her, then we have to let it play out. we need to know who we're against. without her, we've got nothing."

i felt tears streaming down my cheeks, "what if she's innocent?"

he shrugged, "there is no magic pill to determine that. torture is the best way. you've been trained, you know that."

i crawled off of him and sat in the chair next to him, "i haven't been part of this world for a long time. and technically, i was never part of anything like this."

the screaming never died down for a long time.

it started to dull in my mind though.

we flew for a long time before servario came out. he had blood spatter all over him. he sat next to coop and i.

"i have a list of names and a location for james." servario's voice was distant and disturbing.

i looked at him, "is she... dead?"

he shook his head, "no. i'm not done with her. he stared forward at the wall in front of us with the huge, blank, flat-screen tv on it.

coop was the one to talk first, "sorry man, that's rough having to do that to a girl."

servario clenched his jaw.

i looked down and waited to get off the plane.

we touched down in the dark again. it felt like we were always in the dark.