The air in the warehouse was thick with smoke and fear. The gunshots from below still echoed, making the metal walls shake. Aria froze in place. The man in black raised his weapon, and even though his face was covered, she knew.
Sebastian.
Her heart beat so loud she thought everyone in the room could hear it. She had imagined this moment a thousand times. Sometimes she dreamed of him on his knees, begging. Sometimes she saw herself killing him. But never like this, never with her hands shaking and her mind screaming for a way out.
The Broker's guards pointed their own guns. "Who are you?" one shouted.
The man pulled off his mask. His smile was sharp, cruel, the same smile she had loved and hated. "She already knows who I am."
Sebastian's eyes went straight to Aria. They were not soft. They were not the eyes of the man she had once called her husband. They were cold, calculating, like knives.
"Hello, Aria," he said, voice calm, almost casual. "Did you miss me?"
