Chapter 188: The Plan Must Go On

Each forceful jolt against the door stole a leap from my heart, and it pounded so fiercely, almost as if I was on the verge of collapsing, but I kept steady.

Cynthia might not have been the only hitman, and having that thought in mind, I steeled myself for whatever was about to walk through that door.

One powerful jolt was enough to knock the door out of place, and it curled to the side. I was stunned by how much force that took before setting my lethal gaze on the intruder.

My finger curled on the trigger but froze midway when my eyes connected with green eyes.

However, I didn’t put my gun down; I was still on high alert until he took off his mask and tucked it into his suit.

Zade.

My hand dropped to my side, and he came at me, but I stopped him with my words.

"There’s your hitman," I said, nudging my chin. "Surprise, sweetie."

Slowly, Zade moved his gaze to Cynthia on the ground, his gaze narrowing, and then familiarity settled over him, as though he remembered her.

"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

"Of all things possible." I didn’t hide the bitterness in my tone. "Even I didn’t see that coming. She was right there from the start."

And it still rattled me to the core, and even though I knew it shouldn’t get to me, it does.

Zade ran his hand through his hair and mumbled under his breath. "Right under my fucking nose."

"You couldn’t have known; none of us could. She was that good, and whatever the Syndicate paid her was enough to let her get the nerve to cross you."

Zade rubbed his jaw, the muscle tightening beneath his fingers.

"You shouldn’t be here..." I changed the topic. "Julius will be back, and when he does, our plan will be in ruins."

"Plan..." he chuckled, but it was lifeless. "Does any of this seem like the plan to you?"

"Zade—"

"You did good, baby." His praise was brief and firm. "You protected yourself against that."

I opened my mouth to speak, but he didn’t even let me.

"But of course that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t gone rogue." He came towards me, and each step of his put my heart in a difficult position.

"You were supposed to be within arm’s reach, where I can get to you without trouble. Where I can protect you. Yet you ditched the comm and followed Julius here. Why?"

I looked away.

"Look at me."

I didn’t.

"Look. At. Me."

I did. He was so close now, with only an inch of space between us.

"The only reason I agreed to any of this fucking plan was that I knew you trusted me. But you going off like this puts your life at risk."

I scoffed softly. "Can we not talk about this right now?"

"You’re right." He wiped the blood from my nose with his thumb. "We’ll talk about this at home."

"Wha—"

"We’re done here."

I held his wrist to stop him. "We’re so close to getting the Syndicate. This isn’t over yet."

"It is. And from this point on, I’m dealing with this without you."

"You can’t do that!"

"Yes, I can, and until I’m done, you’re not leaving the manor."

"No! You can’t keep me trapped like a fucking piece of furniture."

"Of course I can!" he hissed, his jaw clenching so tightly that I could see the veins standing out. "This can’t work anymore because you chose to walk through this alone."

"I had no choice."

He raised a finger to my face, pausing in his words as though he was holding onto his self-control as much as possible. And then I see it... Pure rage.

"But it was your choice to trust Julius," he said, still keeping calm.

"I don’t trust him."

"You trust him enough to follow him out here, and for what?"

I eyed the smashed laptop and then the flash drive between the pieces.

"This is the point where you answer me, Anastasia."

"It was nothing. Okay?"

I brushed past him, but he snatched my wrist and pulled me back to him, ready to throw words but then he blinked like he heard something through the micro earpiece.

"Julius is on his way back here. We’re leaving."

"No," I shook my head. "You’re the one who should leave."

I yanked my hand away from his hold.

"We won’t get this chance anymore, Zade and I don’t wanna be a target for the rest of my life, so please... just..."

"You expect me to leave you alone with him?"

"Yes. Because it won’t matter if you dragged me out of here."

His eyes darkened. "Believe me, I’m not objecting to throwing you over my shoulder and dragging your ass back with me. Again. Do you honestly expect me to leave you alone with him?"

"Yes."

"Wrong answer." He unbuttoned his suit, and I was confused at first, not until I saw the double shoulder holster holding his guns.

He pulled out one and cocked it, and I knew what he was gonna do.

"Zade. No!"

"You made your choice. Now, it’s time for me to make mine."

"Just how you chose to keep the truth about the accident from me?"

Zade froze and looked at me. For the first time in ever, he was completely speechless. I had no intention of bringing this up, especially when I don’t know what that truth was.

I only saw the footage, and I don’t have much to go on about it, but with Zade’s reaction, there really was something about the accident.

I had thought it was an unfortunate accident that caught up to me, but watching that footage made me think otherwise.

"We have to finish the plan, Zade, and then we talk about that." I finalized.

Zade remained still for a moment, so still I thought he was a statue, not until he moved and shoved his gun back into his holster.

"You’re wearing your anklet, yes?"

I nodded.

"Good. There’s a tracker hidden inside it. I’ll know where you are. If anything happens, press the small stone on the clasp. It’ll send me an alert."

"And you’re just telling me about this?" I gritted out.

This was unbelievable. So much for a romantic gift.

"What can I say, baby? You know how overprotective I can be."

"You mean possessive."

Without a word, he left. This night should end as quickly as possible because I don’t know how long before Zade explodes and does something drastic.

But the plan must go on.

I sat on the chair, waiting, long enough to see Julius rushing in.

"Anastasia... what...." He observed the door, then the body on the ground. "What happened?"

"The hitman found me, right after you left," I said.

He came close and crouched in front of me. "You alright?"

"I’m fine, just pissed."

He eyed the gun at my side. "I see you came prepared for any danger."

"Well, coming to this ball was one thing, but this party is hosted by the Syndicate. I had to have something to protect me. Do you disagree?"

"No, I don’t. I’m more than thankful you were able to protect yourself. This place is more vulnerable than ever. Only guests are permitted inside. No men. No bodyguards."

"Just the way the Syndicate loves it. They are a really tricky type, aren’t they? Putting all their guests in such a difficult position."

"I should have made more precautions to protect you," he said regrettably.

My eyebrow furrowed. "I don’t think you could have protected me from this."

He nodded as though making peace with his own failure.

"And where were you? Why was that call so important?"

Cynthia had mentioned that. She said he was distracted, and that she could easily take care of me before anyone noticed.

Cynthia must have been watching us the whole time and waiting for the right moment that I’d be alone, to finish her job.

"I got a call from one of my sources; they told me they were able to successfully gain entrance to the special circle of the Syndicate. We can attend under an alias as Mr. and Mrs. Stiles."

I cringed, but I did my best to contain it, focusing on the matter at hand. Something didn’t add up.

"That easy?"

He smiled. "As I said, I know my ways around the undercity. Money speaks in many ways."

And he just so happened to get it that easily. I mean, Zade was just as powerful on the financial level but only managed to get into this ball, undetected and any other info was hard to uncover.

However, Julius just had all the information, didn’t he? Had the connections, had the means, down to the last detail.

He knew about the secret group, my father’s associate that would approach me during the funeral, and the buried footage of my accident.

"Yeah, it does speak," I agreed with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.

I think I know who Julius really was.