A Matter Of Justice (Grey Justice #4)(32)

This wasn’t the first time Dark had referred to Hill Reed as their father. The ploy was to remind her of their relationship. Their shared upbringing and just who had created them.

“Besides, you’d be surprised at how slow to change many of our members are. We remember and treasure the good old days.”

She didn’t mention the absence of those members. The house was virtually empty. Dark was having trouble gaining the following that Reed had enjoyed. What he lacked in assassins, he had made up for with guards. She had spotted at least six so far.

The emptiness of the house was actually a disappointment. She had wanted to talk with Hill House members, glean as much information as she could. The contract on Grey Justice would be an exciting bit of gossip. In a relaxed atmosphere, with a little alcohol, lips became looser, secrets were shared. The likelihood of someone revealing the person behind the hit was greater.

The fact that many in the community would want to kill her wasn’t a concern. Reed had employed a strict rule that an assassin could not kill another assassin within five kilometers of Hill House. This place was to be a safe haven, while the rest of the world was their killing field.

Had Dark adopted the same rules as well? From what she could tell, he was doing his best to maintain Reed’s traditions.

Aware that he was waiting for her to comment on what he called the good old days, she said, “Those were indeed good days. However, if you need decorating assistance, I can recommend several excellent interior designers.”

“Thank you, but I have everything under control.” He waved a hand. “Shall we proceed?”

She would call this conversation a draw. The moment she’d touched down at Leeds Bradford Airport, she’d been under scrutiny. She was one of the best trackers in the business, which meant she knew when she was being followed. She had taken a roundabout way here. Having flown to and from Dallas under an alias, she had gone to Paris to grab her official go bag from her new apartment. She hadn’t planned on seeing Grey. When she’d heard he was there, looking for her, she had been equal parts angry and excited. And the minute she’d seen him, she had wanted to throw away every bit of her resolve and return home with him. Thankfully, she had come to her senses before that had happened.

Only a few hours after seeing Grey, she had jumped onto another plane. This time as Irelyn Raine, resolved once more to see this through.

“Would you like to see where you’ll be staying?”

Excitement washed away the sadness. Finally. This was what she had been working on forever. She was going to be able to stay here, get what she needed.

When she had lived here with Reed, a few of the older, retired assassins had made Hill House their temporary residence. Active assassins stayed here for training and between assignments, but never for very long. It was just as she had hoped—Dark was maintaining Reed’s traditions.

They walked back down to the second floor, where he stopped at a door at the end of a corridor. “I thought you would enjoy staying in your old room.”

Smiling, he opened the door wide. “Welcome home.”

The room was just as she had left it. Reed’s idea of femininity had been traditional, too. Varying shades of pink covered both the walls and the floors. As a child, she had thought her room was the most beautiful place in the world. She had never dreamed of having anything so fine or lovely. Looking at it now, with an adult’s eyes and awful memories, she saw the room for what it was—a fa?ade covering a multitude of sickness.

Her smile felt stiff on her lips. “It’s just as I remember it. Thank you for allowing me to stay.”

“You won’t be here long.”

He left it at that. Though she longed to ask how long she would be allowed to stay, she wouldn’t. If Dark got the slightest impression of just how much she wanted to be here, she would be booted out immediately.

She would have to act fast. If she woke tomorrow morning and was told to leave, then all of her hard work would be for nothing. Once she had the information she’d come for, she would proceed with her second plan. It lifted her spirits a bit to think that, this time tomorrow, Hill House would no longer exist.



The hallways were pitch dark. No one should be about this time of night. If they were, they were in places they shouldn’t be. She would definitely fit that description. If caught, she would die. She didn’t plan on getting caught.

Odd, really, that darkness could still bother her. Even after all this time, it was the one thing that could remind her of the past. The sheer emptiness, the terror of being completely alone. She had overcome much of what had been done to her, but that one aspect could sometimes plunge her back into those hideous days.

Reed had used the absence of light as punishment. Nothing had worked quite so well. Even beatings were preferable to being left alone in the dark. Lights had been turned off, bulbs removed, and the door locked. Think about what you’ve done, he would growl softly. And then he would whisper those awful, terrible words—the ones that would strike terror in her childish mind. That one threat would make her do anything to keep it from coming true. Do it again and I’ll leave you alone forever.

In those first few years, she hadn’t done anything bad. Basic childhood mess-ups that any sane adult would either ignore or send a child to stand in the corner for a while. A broken dish, spilled juice, not eating her peas and carrots. Anything he deemed an infraction was punished in this manner. The punishment had been effective. Eventually, just the verbal threat of being left alone in the darkness was enough to correct her behavior. He knew exactly how to manipulate her for maximum benefit.