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He laced his fingers together and put thely and I wished he were easier to read I felt like he was toying with e to squirm under his scrutiny

"Booker ran down the plan you had to bring Goddard down before the girl came forith her story I was already impressed with how quickly you stripped hihly you decimated his reputation You never exhibited that ruthless streak in any of the other endeavors you took on for me Frankly, I didn’t know you had it in you" I shouldn’t feel the shot of pride that zipped through me when he said he was impressed, but I did Nassir wasn’t i Goddard down mattered to me" Sometimes justice wasn’t blind Sometimes it could see crystal clear

"What if I told you that your skill set, the way you get toI could use? There are places I can’t reach, things I can’t control, but if you do for me what you intended for Goddard, well," he rocked back in his chair "I would be unstoppable I could take control of the Hill as well as the Point I could es to both"

I closed my eyes briefly and turned his words over in ital assassin, Nassir?"

He chuckled softly and leaned forward so he could put his hands on his desk "I a you to helpto deserve it I always knew there was more to you than your ability to hack into bank accounts and do background checks You are an asset, Stark Some men deserve to die and some men deserve to si lives without bloodshed It is a very ns when I close ine it"

I watched him carefully as I liftedto kill me if I turn you down?"

It was a fair question, but I was surprised at the way it made his eyes flicker in annoyance "No I still have use for you either way" And since I owed hiht He was a businessaze but shifted uneasily in my seat "Titus asked me to help him out at the station Now that most of the bad apples have been shaken fro the department forward into this century He needs my help with that It’s honest work, above board"

His dark head tilted to the side as he consideredas you believe in what you’re doing? There is no black or white in this scenario, Stark We are all ray that surrounds us"

I exhaled and put my hands on my knees as I leaned toward his desk "Look, Nassir" I rolledbehind his head "Poking around the Internet, looking at bank records, and digging into people’s backgrounds is nothing If I startyour ene life difficult for the to fool for years will co with the police, they can’t threatento hurt Noe They won’t have a reason to coot to his feet and unbuttoned his suit jacket He crossed his hands behind his back and started to pace back and forth on the other side of the desk that separated us He was looking at his feet instead of me when he quietly told me, "The feds don’t need a reason to come for you, Stark They think they own you, that you’re their property, and if they decide they want you back, they will co Wouldn’t you rather have both me and the cop at your back? Why not cover all your bases?"

I was so stunned that he knew aped at him wordlessly as he paused mid-step and turned on me He put his hands on the center of his desk and leaned forward, his body coiled and tense under his perfectly tailored suit

"I knohat it’s like to be ripped frouys I knohat it’s like to be turned into a weapon, into a cold-blooded killer I had et it back"

"Howwhat do you know?" I was still stunned and having a hard ti my words work