Salt Kiss – Episode 44
The photographs reached two reporters despite Mark’s refusal to yield. His legal team contained the story temporarily, but anonymous rumors spread through Washington before breakfast.
Isolde’s father called her disgraceful and demanded her immediate return. She listened without interruption, then ended the call herself.
“You are not going back,” Tristan said.
“That sounded almost like an order.”
“It was a professional recommendation.”
Her smile eased the tension between them. For a moment, the guarded heiress looked like a woman discovering that refusal could carry pleasure.
Mark entered with news that the poisoned attacker had agreed to speak in exchange for protection. The meeting would take place at a federal facility that afternoon.
Tristan objected to Mark attending. Isolde objected to being excluded. Their competing demands quickly became an argument about who had authority over whom.
“Enough,” Mark said. “We go together.”
The decision acknowledged their shared risk, though Tristan disliked concentrating all three targets in one place.
At the facility, the attacker identified a broker who arranged violence for political clients. He did not know the ultimate employer but had heard the operation called the Bride’s Gambit.
Isolde went pale. The name suggested she had always been the central piece.
Before the attacker could explain further, alarms sounded and the interview room lost power.
Tristan moved Isolde behind cover while Mark secured the door. Emergency lights revealed smoke entering through the ventilation system.
The attacker began convulsing. Someone had reached him again, even inside federal protection.
“They are erasing every witness,” Tristan said.
Mark found the emergency release, but the corridor beyond was already compromised. Their enemy had not lured them there for information. The meeting was designed to place Mark, Tristan, and Isolde inside the same trap.
A voice sounded through the disabled intercom: “Choose which one you save, Mr. Trevena.”