Page 134 of What Remains

“This is absurd,” Dad hisses. “You really think I’m going to stand there and watch someone put cuffs on you? On live TV, no less?”

“Trust me, not my idea of a good time, either,” Easton grates out, then glances at me.

My brain betrays me, because maybe I wouldn’t mind him doing that to me in the bedroom.

The look he gives me says he went there, too.

Two seconds. That’s all it takes for us to derail in the middle of a life-or-death strategy session.

“We can negotiate that there’s no cuffing involved,” Carter tosses out like this is a done deal, and please let it be.

“Isn’t taking her to London exactly what they want?” Dad presses.

“That’s why we’re going to the British embassy closest to us. There’s one in Bern, Switzerland. It’s a short flight away,” I share, bringing up one of the only-ifs Easton and I already discussed. “But first, I’ll text Elaina that we’re flying from Switzerland to Heathrow.”

Dad starts to object again, but Easton takes point explaining what comes next. “It buys us time to get to Bern. If they think we’re going to London, hopefully they’ll hold off on a second attack.”

It’s a damn good feeling having him on my side. Truly.

Natasha releases my wrist, and I take that as permission to step back into the fire.

Easton reaches for my hand—a bold move, all things considered. He laces our fingers together, his skin warm against mine, and my pulse finally falls back into rhythm.

Dad notices straight away, and his gaze lingers.

“Once we land in Bern,” I pick up, “I’ll text Elaina there’s been a change in plans and we’re not going to London. And, of course, Liam will have a heads-up about this, and it’ll be him holding her mobile. Elaina won’t know about any of this.”

“Ideally we’ll confirm whether someone’s actually monitoring Elaina’s messages before we even get on that flight,” I say.

“And if you’re wrong?” Dad grunts. “What if they didn’t hack her mobile? Liam doesn’t think they did.” He motions to the hall as if Liam’s out there. “I just talked to him, and he⁠—”

“Then we adapt.” Like we’ve been doing since I was taken. “But I can’t sit here waiting for another attack to be pinned on me. What if the next one is real, and people die?”

“She’s not wrong.” Carter steps forward, entering the metaphorical fighting ring. The opponent? My father. “We can’t keep waiting, especially when all we still have is theories and no concrete evidence.”

“Once these assholes realize that we’ve outsmarted them,” Easton begins, voice wavering a touch because it’s still killing him to agree to this, I know, “they’ll realize we have their backs up against a wall.”

Wind whispers against the windows, the only sound in the room as I wait for Dad to respond. When he stays quiet too long, I decide to drop the final part of the plan. The part he’ll really hate. “My hope is they’ll risk holding off on another attack until they can get me out of there.”

Dad’s eyes widen as he stumbles closer. “Bait?”

Nerves trap my yes in my mouth.

“I thought you were insane before, but this is next level.” His eyes snap to Easton. “If you truly care about my daughter, how can you possibly let her do this?”

Easton looks over at me, and when our gazes collide, his lips part, but nothing comes out. Instead, his dark brows slant over his eyes as he wordlessly squeezes whatever he’s feeling into my hand.

“I don’t want her to be bait, trust me.” He slowly redirects to Dad. “But Gwen’s the most stubborn woman on the planet. Unless we hold her prisoner—which we can’t do—if she feels she can protect us, she will take the fall for the team. Whether we want her to or not.”

“I don’t understand why you’d⁠—”

“Because she’s your blood,” Easton cuts Dad off. “She’s just like you, dammit. If you didn’t want her to follow in your footsteps, you should have set a different example when you came into her life.”

Dad staggers back, cupping his mouth.

So many emotions are hitting me, and I’m doing my best to hold strong. Last thing I need is Dad, Carter, or the others to think I’m not tough enough to hang with them on the op—especially after what went down in Dubai.

“You and I will both be at her side the entire time,” Easton speaks up, his voice softening now. “And Falcon will be right outside, locked and loaded to move on target once they come for her.”