killshot | simon riley ✓

• Chapter 17 •

After Alejandro stormed out, Rora felt like the room temperature got colder.

Ghost pushed himself off the wall, only leaning on it with his shoulder, eyes searching Valeria's emotionless face. Rora had stopped playing with her knife, the small now weapon hung from her fingers next to her hip, silence falling over them.

„Looks like it's your turn, to tell the truth," Soap took the questioner's place, standing in front of Valeria, her giving him an unimpressed look. If a very angry Alejandro with knowledge of her past couldn't achieve anything important, she doubted that the man with the softest eyes in the room could go somewhere.

Graves, who was still standing behind Valeria, now leaned in, his face barely inches away from hers. Something twisted in her stomach as she watched them, the incident when two men burst into her room in one of their temporary bases flashing in front of her eyes, taking everything from her.

Her grip tightened around the handle of her throwing knife, ready to step in. Valeria was there to deliver information, but she wouldn't let them touch a single hair on her head.

„I want the missiles, I want the target and I want Hassan. And you've got 10 seconds or I'm gonna show you the difference between military and me," Graves spoke from up close, her being barely able to understand his words. She sent a look to Ghost, him returning it with a side-eye, not really giving it too much attention.

But when he saw the slightly alarmed look in her eyes, he straightened his posture.

„I don't know the targets," Valeria said calmly, her tone bland, just like her expression.

Her gaze jumped to the knife held between Rora's fingers, an amused glint appearing in her dark eyes. Maybe she thought that the Sergeant tried to intimidate her, but in honesty, she was ready to chuck the knife across the room towards the Shadow Commander.

„I'm a courier. I move things." Valeria continued, running her gaze across the men. „I can tell you where to find the missiles. When you return, I'll tell you where Hassan is. In exchange, you will let me go. And get the fuck out of Las Almas. Now leave-„

Soap glanced above his shoulder, looking at Ghost with a questioning look, the lieutenant giving him an almost unnoticeable nod, but the two of them worked like a well-oiled machine, knowing exactly what the other meant by the smallest movements, their dynamic not needing unnecessary words.

His gaze flickered to Rora, the woman shrugging her shoulders, knowing damn well that her opinion didn't matter as much as Ghost's. She was just a Sergeant, knowing little about the group she joined to begin with, but she gathered that much that even if Ghost wasn't the lieutenant, most of them would still seek reassurance from him.

She didn't know him for long, but she was almost sure about the fact that she could rely on him, even if she caused the biggest havoc among men.

„Deal," Graves declared, straightening his back, distancing himself from Valeria. Some pressure got lifted off Rora's chest as she followed him with her eyes. „Until then... You're stayin' right here."

Rora pushed her knife back into its place, keeping her eyes on Valeria as Graves and Soap exited. The women's eyes met, both of them holding the gaze for a moment longer than needed, Valeria cocking her head at her, Rora drawing an eyebrow in return.

A moment later, she followed after Soap, Ghost following her behind, locking the door behind him. The door shutting behind her sounded like thunder slicing through the sky, making her suddenly more aware of her surroundings.

„Ghost," she turned around suddenly, not being able to contain her impulsive thoughts soon enough.

Catching him off-guard and her abruptly stopping in front of him, he took two steps back, creating more space between them. His immediate response to sudden movements towards him was to attack back, but looking at the smaller woman in front of him, staring up at him with those icy eyes, it somehow stopped his brain from triggering his PTSD.