Victor found the scene tedious. He raised his gun and shot the man on top of her; the crack of the shot echoed through the room. Gunpowder lingered, sharp in the air.
“Let’s make a bet,” he said almost lightly, as if proposing a game.
But Scarlett’s gaze was hollow.
Victor crouched, his smile widening. “What’s wrong? Do you want your last breath to be on my bed?” He tilted his head, feigning thought. “Shall I call more in?” A flicker crossed her face—enough to amuse him. He chuckled.
“What’s the bet?” Her voice was flat.
“That if I let you go now, Ryan will keep you alive. A couple more days, at least.”
“He won’t.” Scarlett’s mouth curved faintly, bitter. “I failed my mission. He’ll kill me.”
Victor shook his head with quiet certainty. “Let’s not be sure about that. I say, you’ll last another seven days.”
“Why seven?”
Victor smiled, offering no answer. Then he let her go.
At the door, he leaned close, his breath brushing her ear. “I put poison in you. If you want to live, you’ll come back for the antidote.”
Then he added, almost tender, “Seven days. I hope you’ll return alive.”
Alive.
That word never registered right in Scarlett’s entire life. Before sixteen, she had grown up in a country torn apart by war, waking each day wondering if she would survive the next. After her parents died, Ryan had found her on the roadside and taken her in.
Life with him looked safe on the surface, but it was nothing more than walking on the edge of a blade. Still, she never resented it.
He had saved her. Without him, she would have been dead long ago. She was grateful enough to give him everything—even her body. Ryan had promised her once that after this mission was over, he would finally be with her.
Scarlett wasn’t just his sharpest blade. She was also his cherished lover. He always said a failed assassin deserved death, but Scarlett clung to a fragile hope in her heart.
What awaited her, however, wasn’t warm embrace. It was a cold, merciless interrogation room.
Ryan sat at the head of the table, his expression indescribable.
“How did you make it back alive?” his voice stripped of warmth.
Only then did she truly grasp Victor Kane’s cruelty.
How could Ryan believe Victor would simply let her walk away unharmed?
But he had. Against all logic, he had let her go.
Scarlett lifted her chin, desperation bleeding into her tone. “He made a bet with me. Then he let me walk.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “A bet?”