The Million-Dollar Heart by Rebecca Ryan

Noah joined the ranks of RST at seventeen, but by nineteen, the organization had splintered into GTO and CK after Jasper’s devastating raid.

Assigned by F-Poison to infiltrate the Vanguard Agency as a mole at twenty, Noah figured he would bide his time, draw Vanguard’s attention with GTO activities, and then slip back into the shadows of his true allegiance. But what he thought would be a brief chapter turned into nearly six decades—a lifetime invested and now, seemingly, lost.

“Tell me, Noah, in all the years you’ve been undercover in Vanguard Agency, what’s GTO given you for your troubles? I’m genuinely curious. Heck, I haven’t even caught a glimpse of the big boss’s face. Have you?” Quincy asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Noah’s frown was subtle but present. “You talk too much. When’s my ride getting here?”

Quincy stepped back, a hint of apology in her voice. “Sorry, Noah, your ship isn’t coming.”

Noah turned, startled, only to be greeted by the dark mouth of a gun barrel.

“Master, there’s no escape now,” Vance said solemnly, gun in hand, a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

Instinctively, Noah stepped back, but another gun pressed against the back of his head.

“You know I don’t move so fast anymore, Master,” a familiar voice stated from behind him.

Noah exhaled heavily. “Let me guess, there’s one more?”

As if on cue, Karen stepped out from Noah’s side, her gun aimed at the man she once revered like a father.

“It’s been a long time, Master.”

Noah’s gaze met Karen’s. Her face, one he had not seen for years, suddenly before him, gave him a moment of stunned pause.

“All these years, and you haven’t changed a bit, my little apprentice,” he reminisced. “Back then, you and Daphne were the only girls among a sea of rowdy boys. Those were the days…”

A cold voice interrupted from behind. “My mother couldn’t make it. I’m here in her stead,” Anna said, her tone as icy as her words.

else you

on her gun tightened, her breath

own hands, did you ever think of the bond we

a brief pause,

of you my own. You were merely stepping stones on my path to

eye as he observed Noah’s profile. Even after all these years, he had clung to the hope that his master was not a traitor. Noah

it was Micah who first sought out Noah, sharing his suspicions of a mole within the

wonder that his investigation had met a dead end for

had never suspected Noah. Everyone else, but

etched Vance’s features. An orphan with no friends, his aloof nature meant he would do almost anything to achieve his goals, even if it meant hurting those

had his doubts about Noah. However, that was soon dismissed after investigations. In fact, he even

the very reason for Noah’s manipulation

breeze that ruffled their clothes, Karen

to her. She respected Yorick, found a kindred spirit

Noah who helped her out of that darkness, giving her the strength of a father’s support, enabling her to start

was,

sat down, checking

disappoint, but even if

taught us to hit

you opened it, your phone was compromised. Every device near you now pings back to Karen’s computer, all your calls, all your

as expected of my apprentices. And Micah, what role did you play

eyes with Noah. “The Martinez family’s detectors that you’ve been waiting on? They have trackers in

was wondering why those Martinez detectors got approved so

firmly, her gun steady. “The bomb