Page 35 of Steel Vengeance

He must have realized what he’d said because he turned away, running a hand through his wild hair, looking more agitated by the second.

Silence hung heavy in the air. Tension crackled between them. Her skin prickled, the hairs on her neck standing on end.

Did he just say his wife’s murderer?

“Omari killed my wife,” he rasped, his voice rough. She could see the veins in his neck. “He burned our village to the ground. He deserves to die.”

Sloane stared at him, horrified.

“I–I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

She’d guessed something bad had happened—maybe his unit was ambushed or his friends killed in some drug-related mess. But his wife?

That hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“Now he’s gonna tighten his security, be even more careful. Don’t you get it? You’ve ruined my one chance at avenging her.” He punched the wall, and she flinched. “You’ve blown it.”

The plaster cracked under the force, leaving a fist-sized hole in the wall.

“It’s not your only chance,” she whispered.

Don’t go there, Sloane, she told herself. But she couldn’t help it.

“It’s not your only chance to get him.”

He spun around, ignoring the hole he’d made, ignoring the pain that must be throbbing in his hand. “What?”

“There’s a better way.”

He stared at her, eyes narrowed.

She sighed. “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but every Thursday afternoon, Omari visits a graveyard on the western side of town. His driver drops him off at the entrance, and he goes in alone.”

Stitch blinked. “He goes alone?”

She nodded, eyes downcast. Well, now she’d done it. By giving him the perfect opportunity, she might have just tanked her career with the CIA.

No Omari meant no target, which probably meant no job.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

She raised an eyebrow. “So you could kill him?”

His voice dropped. “Then why are you telling me now?”

She huffed, sitting down at the table near the window. “Good question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing.”

“Seriously, Sloane.”

She looked up. “Because I know you. You’re stubborn. You’ll try to take him out anyway, and in the graveyard, there’s less chance of return fire.”

Their eyes locked.

God, when he looked at her like that… with those icy blue eyes. She’d slay dragons for him—if she knew how. Omari was the closest thing.

“I don’t want to watch you get shot to pieces in front of me,” she added, breaking the intensity of the moment.

He snorted. “I had an escape route, you know.”