Horribly abused by his mother, Van eventually goes in search of his father. When he finds him, his life is radically changed. His father works for the FBI, and has contacts to a covert group, run by the Old Man, that goes after the worst of the worst criminals. Van is recruited to join both -- and does. Van handles every job he's sent on with cold efficiency, letting nothing stand in his way of gaining the information he seeks and stopping his foes. Eventually, he's offered a team of his own within the Old Man's organization. He accepts, with one caveat -- none of them can be female. Because of his mother, the only woman he has ever trusted is his handler, Makie. His attitude takes a hit when he meets Ginna, a cop, while on a job for the Old Man. When it's over, much to the shock of everyone involved, he requests that she be added to his team if she's willing -- which she is, as long as the organization can promise to keep her young son safe while she's on assignments. Ginna fits in well with the team, and though she is appalled at some of the tactics Van uses to gain information, she finds herself attracted to him. Can she break through the walls he's erected around his emotions? If so, then what? Only time will tell.

A Shattered Life

Then an idea hit him on how to leave without them realizing he wasn’t still in the house. They were used to his passing out, he was certain. He just had to make it look as if he had drunk so much that he’d barely made it back into the house to crash.


He took his dishes back to the kitchen, and then dug the whiskey bottle out of the trash. What will pass for whiskey from a distance?Tea!If there’s still any of Ginna’s…The memory of them sitting in the living room, her drinking tea as they watched some show on TV, assailed him. He pressed his hands to the counter, head bowed as he waited for the ache of her loss to lessen. Then he forced himself to find the box of tea and took out four bags, which he put in a pan of water to steep as it boiled.


Chapter 122