A Matter Of Justice (Grey Justice #4)(16)

Disappointment would be too strong of an emotion, but he was as close as he’d ever been to feeling it. He neither enjoyed nor hated his work. It was who he was, what he was created for. Nevertheless, as he headed toward the car he’d parked a half mile away, he acknowledged that the satisfaction of a job well done would not be his tonight.





Chapter Six





Milan, Italy





Irelyn let herself into her hotel room. Four cities in eight days. She had known the test would be grueling, but she had to give Dark credit for being both creative and relentless.

Obscure clues to solve intricate puzzles. Hiding in plain sight while dressed in various disguises—so far, the mime had been her favorite. She had tailed various targets. And she had been tailed herself. She hadn’t heard specific praise from Dark as of yet, but she felt quite pleased with her progress. Assassins had to be detail-oriented, masters of disguise, and skilled investigators. The slightest clue could ferret out the most elusive mark. She’d had no problem completing any of her assignments.

Placing her handbag on the dresser, she took careful note of the room. It was a typical hotel room, like so many she’d been in over the years. She was tired of them. Her soul longed to go home. She couldn’t. Leading them there would be a disaster.

She had bought the property and house in Ireland on a whim. Since she was the least-whimsical person she knew, purchasing it had been a surprise and one she had never regretted. It was a land of gently rolling hills covered in purple heather. A small stone walking bridge separated the house from the road. The locals even had a name for it. They called it the Place Beyond the Mist. She soon learned why. Mist from the river a half mile away often settled over the land, sometimes for days. The first time that happened, she had felt like a fairy sprite, hidden away from the world and all its woes.

The little house was nothing special. A two-bedroom, one-bath cottage made of stone, brick, and mortar, but it did have history. Over a hundred years ago, a young man and his bride had lived there, raised a family there, farming, living, and loving. Several families had lived in it since then. Sometimes, when she sat on the porch and the mist settled around her, she imagined she could hear their laughter.

There had been love in that house, and the moment she’d walked through that door, she had known she was home.

In that way, the place reminded her of Grey and their first meeting. She had been fascinated from afar, but when she’d finally gotten up the courage to arrange a meeting, there had been an instant connection. She had felt at home, at peace. She had never told him that. Their meeting hadn’t exactly been a storybook beginning. Besides, revealing something so deeply personal to a man who knew every weakness and vulnerability she possessed was not a good idea.

Grey had never been there, and she had never told him about it. The cottage was her one place of refuge and peace. When she’d purchased it, she had thought to bring him there someday. That was no longer a possibility, but her heart often dreamed of it anyway.

With a huff of disgust, Irelyn pushed aside the memories. She had long ago learned that living in the past solved nothing. The here and now was all that she had. And if she was to do all that she had set out for herself, focusing on her regrets would get her dead much sooner than she planned.

She’d had a long day, and tomorrow would not be any shorter. With that thought, she went about setting the safety measures that had kept her alive for this long. First, she thoroughly searched the hotel room. The number of people who wanted to be the one to take her down had increased dramatically in the last few months. As if she were some kind of trophy animal. That would likely happen one day, but not until she finished what she had started.

After checking for cameras, bugs, and explosives, she set up her safeguards. Grey had been the one to teach her these things. Before Grey, she had learned only how to pursue and capture her prey. Grey had trained her how to stay alive.

Traps and countermeasures in place, she allowed her muscles to ease a little. The last few days might have been tiresome, but soon that would be over. Once she was fully accepted by Dark, she would begin the real work.

She clicked on the television with the remote and scrolled through the channel guide without interest. Noise to fill the silence. Settling on a twenty-four-hour news station, she slipped her shoes off and did a series of yoga stretches to loosen her muscles even more. Her stomach growled, reminding her that her breakfast of banana, grapes, and energy bar was long gone. She had stopped at the market before checking in and had exactly what she needed to make a healthy and delicious meal. Problem was, she had no desire to do so.

Sighing, she plopped down onto the edge of the bed and faced the naked truth. She missed Grey. Oh, how she missed him. From the little quirk his mouth would give when he found something mildly amusing, to the slight growling sound he’d sometimes make right before he kissed her. She even missed his bad habit of leaving his damp towel in the middle of the floor after he showered.

Ending their relationship had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. It hadn’t been a mistake, though. She had made enough of them to know the difference. Mistakes were the things that filled you with massive guilt, darkening your mind until no light existed. She lived with those mistakes daily, and that darkness always hovered above her.

No, saying goodbye to Grey hadn’t been a mistake. Loving him wasn’t a mistake either. She just wished both of them didn’t hurt so very much.