CHAPTER TEN

O omph.

“Christ, what have you been eating while you’ve been in Italy?” Oliver complained as Ben launched his foot into his friend’s stomach.

Ben flopped onto the padded mat of the workout room inside their apartment. Panting, he grinned. It felt good to train with someone at his level. He glanced at Oli, who was starfished on the mat beside him, and cringed. He’d taken out much of his frustration on his friend.

Now, it was time to confess.

Oliver jumped to his feet and grabbed a bottle of water from the small fridge. “Start talking.”

“What?”

“Don’t be an asshole. Something’s up, and you need to tell me now,” Oliver said, tipping the bottle and draining it.

Ben sat up and ran a hand through his dark brown hair about seven times.

“Jesus, is this about a female?”

Ben lifted his head and frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“I’ve seen this look.”

“I don’t have a look.”

“Yeah, you have the look.”

Ben jumped to his feet and pointed at Oli. “I have no fucking look. Anyway, we do need to talk, and I’m triggering the code of silence.”

He watched Oliver pale, the bottle at his lips lowering. “What?”

The Institute had all number of tools and processes they used as not just assassins but warriors. The code of silence was a protocol used only in extreme situations when information needed to be shared within field members or the Director and no wider.

“What the fuck has been going on here?” Oli demanded, throwing the bottle into the trash can.

“Accept the request, or I can’t say another word,” Ben instructed him.

Oliver stared at him for a long moment, then ran a hand over his face. “Fuck. Yeah, okay.”

Ben let out a breath.

There was no going back now.

“We’re going to need whisky for this.”

Oli followed him, muttering under his breath. Ben didn’t blame him. After pouring them both three fingers, they sat down in the living room, and Ben let out a long sigh.

“Talk.”

“I’m working for the Moretti’s.”

And cue the whisky sprayed all over the room.

“I’m sorry. What did you fucking say?” Oliver asked, slamming his glass down on the coffee table. “Because if I heard you right, I think—”

“You heard me. Now let me explain.”

Oliver was on his feet pacing the room in a second, running his hand through his hair, cursing, and letting out puffs of air. Something about code of silence and fuck you , and a few Ari is going to freeze-dry both our balls .

“Sit the fuck down, asshole,” Ben growled.

Crossed arms, along with a look that would bring most people to their knees, greeted him. Actually, most people would be in their graves a day after being subjected to the look in Oliver’s eyes.

Ben, though, he wanted to laugh. His friend didn’t scare him. He was well aware of the seriousness of the situation he’d put Oliver in.

“You’re a motherfucker; you know that, right?”

Ben nodded.

“Is she worth it?” Oliver asked. “I’m assuming she’s your mate.”

Ben blanched. “No. What?” he asked. “No, fuck. It’s nothing like that.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve just risked your life and career for a piece of ass.”

Hearing Anna referred to as a piece of ass made Ben want to fly across the room and shove his fist into Oliver’s nose. At his expression, Oli shook his head.

“Let me explain.”

Oliver poured himself two more fingers and sat back down, cursing to himself some more.

“When I arrived in Italy, the lab had already been dismantled, the vampires missing,” Ben began.

“I know all this—it was in your report,” Oliver said. “Is this female a human?”

Ben shook his head. “I went to see my sister after hearing she had been abducted by Russo. I wanted to see she was okay, and if there was any intel I could gain from her. Instead, I found her mated to a senior warrior in the king’s army: Lance De Luca.”

Oliver nodded, taking a drink. Right, he knew all this too.

“Lance disliked me on sight, and so did many of the others. When I learned my father had sold her to Russo, who abused her, I felt an obligation to see her again. I’m her only family now,” Ben admitted. “When the hit didn’t go ahead, I knew it would take time, so I didn’t see the harm in it.”

Oliver leaned forward. “That’s bullshit. You know the risks with getting close to the Moretti’s.”

His friend was right. Ben couldn’t explain the risks he was taking, but he’d been drawn to go see Sofia, and what was done, was done.

“I have it under control.”

“By working for them?” Oliver growled.

“I thought I might be able to access intel by getting closer to Sofia now that she is living in the castle,” Ben explained. “I still think there is something they’re hiding.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes.

“There’s a female...”

“Of course there is.” Oli laughed.

Ben shook his head. “She’s important. To them. To me. I can’t explain it,” he said. “Anna Vitale. She’s always surrounded by security, even inside the castle.”

Oliver blanched. “Okay, that’s odd.”

“Right?” Ben stood and began walking around the room. “She collapsed the first day I met her. No one seemed surprised, but they whisked her away as if she was the damn queen of England; a fragile antique. But she’s not.”

Anna wasn’t fragile. To him, she was just beautiful Anna. A regular vampire, with haunted eyes.

“So, you care because...?” Oliver asked.

Ben sat down opposite his friend and threw back his drink. “I don’t fucking know. But someone hurt her. A lot. I’m not leaving until I find out who did it and kill every single one of them.”

Oliver crossed his ankle over his knee. “Have you fucked her?”

“Not yet,” he answered honestly.

Oliver stared at him for a long while. “Do us both a favor, and don’t.”

Ben wasn’t going to respond to that. Who he fucked was nobody’s business. Not even his best friend’s. He doubted even Ari could order him to stay away from Anna. He had every intention of burying himself balls deep in that female if it was the last thing he did.

“Jesus,” Oliver cursed, taking in his expressionless response. “You sure she’s not your mate?”

“She needs our help— my help—and that’s all,” Ben said, shutting down any further discussion about it. “Now, to Xander fucking Tomassi. Let me pull out the plan, and I’ll update you on where I’m at with that.”

Oliver’s foot bounced up and down nervously as Ben opened the laptop.

“You expect me to keep this from Ari?” he asked.

“Code of silence, brother.” Ben knew he’d put Oli in an untenable situation, but he wasn’t sorry. “Listen, I still believe there is intel to be gained from the Moretti’s. You know as well as I do that Ari has blinkers on when it comes to the royal family. Now you’re here, I can focus more on integrating further and gaining their trust.”

“Fuck me, you’re going deeper.”

“Yes.”

“That was your plan all along. That’s why I’m here.”

Ben nodded.

He hadn’t been completely up-front with them all, but he also hadn’t lied about his need of another assassin on the ground. Ben couldn’t do it on his own.

“So, Tomassi?” Oliver prompted.

“We strategize a way in and get the information we need from him. Report back to Ari and receive further instruction. As planned,” Ben replied. “Meanwhile, anything I get from the Moretti’s can help us.”

“While you’re also helping the girl.”

“Correct,” Ben said. “Anna.”

“Anna,” Oli repeated, then let out a long groan. “Fine, you’re not completely fucking crazy. Your plan has merit. The Moretti’s could have information that could be useful if they were involved with busting open the laboratory. They’d likely keep something like this top secret, so it wouldn’t be floating around the corridors in the castle.”

Ben nodded, grateful Oli was beginning to align with his way of thinking.

“The girl complicates things. You need to compartmentalize the two,” Oliver told him pointedly. “You can lie to yourself, but not me. You’re emotionally invested, which dramatically increases the risks.”

Assassin rule #1.

Ben let out a long breath. He was putting them all in danger with his decisions.

“I know,” he said, nodding. “I need you to trust me, Oli. I’ve got this.”

The stared at each other for a long while; two sets of deadly dangerous eyes as familiar with each other as any two friends could be. More so, maybe. They had talked more with those eyes in situations that meant life or death than any set of lovers.

Oliver shook his head and wiped a hand over his face. “Yeah, okay. But if you get me killed, I will fucking haunt your ass for the rest of your life.”

Ben grinned. “Deal.”

“And Ari?” Oli asked.

“He never needs to know about this,” Ben replied without hesitation. “We both know how important it is to keep him and his existence out of this completely. It won’t come to that. I just want to help Anna and get this job done.”

“Then we go home,” Oliver said.

“Then we go home.”

A chill ran down Ben’s spine as they stared at each other. He had a feeling he’d just sealed his fate in a way he had yet to understand.