I finally looked at Remy. He was looking at the table, which meant he had already argued something on my behalf that hadn't worked and had since made peace with that. I recognised that particular posture. I had seen it enough times to have memorised it.
"I'm not interested," I said coldly.
Callum didn't even blink. "The Librarian assumed you'd say that."
"Then the Librarian knows me well. Good. So we're done here."
Callum reached over and opened the dossier himself, turning it so the photograph inside faced me. I didn't want to look. I looked away for about five seconds. Then I let out a small groan and looked anyway.
Caius Vale is at some kind of industry event wearing a dark suit with no tie. He had a jaw sharp enough to file something with and those hazel eyes doing that thing where they seemed to be looking slightly past the camera, like whoever was taking the picture wasn't quite interesting enough to warrant full attention. He wasn't smiling, and somehow that made the photograph more arresting, not less. There was something very controlled about the way he held himself. Something that said every single thing about my posture is a decision.
I closed the dossier.
"Still not interested."
"The extraction is simple. It's a low-risk profile. You go in as an administrative employee and operational support. You've done deeper covers than this in your sleep."
"The risk level isn't the issue."
"Then what is?"
I didn't answer that, because the honest answer was something I don't really fully know and I don't want to start thinking about it in front of Callum Gray. There was just something about this job that felt different in a way I couldn't say, and years of surviving on instinct had taught me that when something felt like that, the correct response was to walk away before you figured out why.
"I just finished a job," I said instead. "I need two weeks minimum between assignments. That's my arrangement with the Librarian."
"The Librarian is amending the arrangement."
"The Librarian doesn't get to do that unilaterally. Not without my permission."
"The Librarian," Callum said, very calmly, "is offering you enough to disappear for five years. Not two anymore. Five."
The room went very quiet. I heard Remy shift in his chair. Just slightly. He didn't look up.
Five years.
I turned that over in my head carefully, the way you'd turn over something that looked harmless but might not be. Five years of clean air and no looking over my shoulder. Five years of not waking up at three in the morning and trying to finish up a job. Five years of not being Ava Steel or anyone else at all, just…whoever was left underneath all of this, if anyone was.
I'd been doing this job for four years. Every single paycheque had gone toward the same thing. Going into different places farther than my place of operation. Five years was enough to give me enough time to know what it would feel like to stop running and start living.
I usually had two years, and it was just enough for me to settle and stand up and be on the run immediately.
For five years? It would buy me a real life…and a little time to live.
"How much?" I asked. My voice was completely flat and professional. This was not me being interested. This was me doing due diligence. Callum told me the number. I kept my face entirely still, which took more effort than I was going to admit then or ever.
Remy made a very small sound that wasn't quite a cough and wasn't quite a laugh and was absolutely him reacting to the number on my behalf since I was refusing to.
"The event is in three days," Callum continued, pressing now, because he could see the arithmetic happening behind my eyes and he knew it. "An exclusive industry gala. ValeTech is finalising a major contract that night. It is a 1.2 billion dollar deal. The board, the investors, the legal team, everyone will be in that room. You won't be the only contracted staff present. You'll blend. You get in, you work the room quietly, and you identify where the legacy files are being held and who has access. That's the first stage. Nothing moves until we know the environment."
"And my cover? What would it be?"
"Waitstaff and event contractor. You've done it before."
I had done it before. Many times. Blending into the background of a room full of important people who have collectively decided that the people serving them are furniture. I was very good at it. I was, arguably, too good at it. There was something faintly depressing about how naturally it came to me.
I looked at the dossier one more time without opening it. Just the cover. My eyes shifted to the name printed at the top in clean black font.
Caius Vale. CEO, ValeTech.
"Fine," I said.
Callum nodded, already reaching for his tablet. "I'll send the full event brief to your secure line. You'll have credentials and a complete staff profile by tomorrow morning."
"If anything feels wrong on the night," I said, "I pull out. No questions, and there would not be penalties. That's non-negotiable."
"Agreed."
"And Remy runs my comms."
Callum glanced at Remy briefly. "That works." He said and left the room without leaving any footsteps behind. Everywhere became quiet after he left. Remy finally looked at me calmly.
"Five years," he said.
"Don't." I sighed, rubbing my temples.
"I'm not saying anything."
"It's painfully obvious what you want to say."
He leaned back in his chair, turning his glass slowly between his palms. "Just be careful with this one. Vale is not Volkov. Volkov was careless and loud and surrounded by men who use force to get what they want, thinking they're intelligent." He paused. "Vale is none of those things."