Working for the Shadow Company has always been fraught with huge risks, even for someone who has never held a gun or killed. She is Graves' legal confidant. From the outside, she seemed to be smarter than him, or at least more reasonable. In the room where the other two guys were, they prefer to listen to her, her speech was intelligent, her thoughts constructive and objective, unlike Graves, who was always guided by emotions. That's probably what got Barrage hooked.

The always strict and distant mercenary who made ridiculous and vulgar jokes in her presence became more collected and it seemed that his attention always stopped at her words. Whether it was just a craving for her beautiful body or a slight crush is unknown. But Barrage didn't hesitate for a second when the order came to escort her to Washington.

It was a long road. For safety reasons, Barrage said, they traveled from Utah to Washington by car. Although deep down, he just wanted to spend a little more time alone with her, and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to see the man behind that mask without the mercenary heart. All the way, he sometimes started some kind of ridiculous conversation about the weather, cities, and plans for the future. He tried to figure out what exactly she liked, memorized every word she said. When they arrived late at night in Nashville, Tennessee, Barrage offered to rent a house for the night to relax after a long journey.

In a way, he did it on purpose. He could have rented a room in a hotel, hostel, or motel, but he chose a small house on the edge of town because they supposedly needed complete anonymity.

"There are two bedrooms here, as far as I remember," muttered Barrage, bringing her things into the house. "You can sit wherever you feel comfortable, I'm sure there are soft mattresses here."

When she left for one of the rooms, Barrage stayed in the living room, where he settled on the couch and spread his legs wide. Of course, he was a little tired after a hard journey, but the thought that she was somewhere nearby right now and it was just the two of them that undoubtedly gave him strength.

"By the way, I would like to give you something, if you don't mind," said Barrage, forgetting about boundaries as he pushed open the bedroom door. He automatically took off his glasses and set them aside before finally looking up, only to find her with frightened eyes, covering her naked body with a T-shirt.