Page 5 of Depraved

But she doesn’t seem to realize I’m Brandon.

That much, she can never know.

“You need a clean-up crew?” Ghost calls my attention back to the immediate problem to be dealt with.

“Yes,” I reply. “I don’t want to reach out to my old contacts. I can’t compromise this new identity.”

“Seems like you’re already compromised,” he remarks. “Who was it?”

“Viktor Ivanov.” I snarl my enemy’s name and glower down at his dead body.

“So, the Russians are still pissed at you for getting out of the game.”

“I think he was more pissed about what I did to his brother. And his face.”

Ivanov’s features are slack in death, but the wicked scar from the corner of his lip to his temple still bisects half his face.

“Oh, yeah.” Ghost seems to have forgotten my numerous kills.

Sometimes, I lose track too.

“Are more of them coming?” I demand. “I can’t risk her.”

“You put her at risk the moment you entered her life with your fancy new identity as Rand Hirst. You had to know that this might happen. Anyone who wants to hurt you will exploit her as your weakness.”

“I’m not leaving her, if that’s what you’re implying is best for her.”

He sighs. “I figured you wouldn’t. You’ve been too obsessed for too many years to let her go now. What’s your next move?”

“First, I have to get rid of Ivanov’s body. Then I’ll figure out how to make things right with Karolina.”

“She must be pretty freaked out if she saw you kill him. What if she goes to the cops?”

“She won’t.” I’m sure of that. She’s too scared of her own fake identity being compromised.

“That’s not the only thing that scared her,” I admit.

I chose to leave Ghost behind with the rest of my bloody past, but in this moment of weakness, I need a friend to confide in. He’s the closest thing I have.

“She saw the tattoos,” I confess. “She knows I’m the masked man she’s been talking to online for years.”

“I thought you were going to tell her about that as soon as you met up with her. How the fuck did you think you could explain the tattoos otherwise?”

My jaw works. “She wouldn’t let me tell her I’m Rand. She stopped me before I could take off my mask.”

“So, you lied to her all this time?”

I wince. “Yes.”

I’ll have to pay my penance for that.

“That’s fucked up. But I shouldn’t be surprised at this point. You’re fixated on her to an insane degree. You’ve never seen sense when it comes to her.”

“I don’t need your validation,” I shoot back.

“No, you seem to want my advice. Stop being an asshole and just ask.”

I blow out a long breath, and my shoulders sag. “I don’t know how I’m going to fix this. What do I say to her?”