An Explicit Secrecy

When you work for Mercer, survival isn't a right. It's a debt. Jordan Ellery has spent years buried inside the Mercer Division—an off-book identity-engineering machine that erases people for the highest bidder. Their job is simple: make problems disappear. Their life is not. One misrouted transfer, one forged signature, and suddenly Jordan is the problem. A client is in custody, Mercer is watching, and Harlow—the Division's quiet enforcer—gives Jordan twelve hours to fix the mistake or lose everything, including the niece they've sworn to protect. But danger doesn't always come from the shadows. Sometimes it walks straight up to you at a gala in Bel-Air. At the Veil Foundation's glittering fundraiser, Jordan plays the role Mercer assigned: polished, invisible, useful. Until a journalist with too many questions corners them—and a woman Jordan has never seen steps in with surgical precision, dismantling the threat before it detonates. She knows things she shouldn't. She sees things no one ever sees in Jordan. And she offers something Jordan hasn't felt in years: a way out. Diane is not a coincidence. She's a fracture in the system. A door Jordan didn't know existed. As Mercer's probe tightens and Harlow's surveillance closes in, Jordan is forced into a choice that terrifies them more than exposure: trust someone. Because Diane isn't just mapping the danger—they're mapping Jordan. And the closer the two of them move, the more the truth becomes unavoidable: Jordan isn't the only one Mercer wants to control. And Diane isn't here by accident. In a world built on leverage, secrets, and weaponized identities, Jordan must decide whether to keep surviving inside the machine—or burn it down with the one person who sees them clearly. A high-tension psychological thriller with a slow-burn, pulse-tightening romance, An Explicit Secrecy is perfect for fans of Killing Eve, Mr. Robot, and The Night Manager.