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Grey stared at the number again, and before he realised, he’d hit call.
“Agent Grey,” the smooth, rich voice said in his ear.
“Hawthorne.”
“Surprised to hear from you. How can Hawthorne’s help you?”
“You got room for an FBI-trained ex-agent?” Grey asked, and silence filtered down the phone. He could almost feel the shock and surprise coming from Hawthorne.
“Why?” he finally questioned.
Grey knew Hawthorne wasn’t asking why he had a space.
“Bureau policy. Willow is on the rise, and our relationship has come to light. I’d be holding her back if I didn’t change office, and worse, they’d force one of us to move.”
“Which would damage her career chances even more,” Hawthorne stated.
“Yeah. The only openings are over twenty hours away, which means our relationship would be a fly-in-the-night thing. I love her too much to lose her, but I love investigating. I have two choices, cop or you. If you ain’t got room, I’ll go the officer route,” Grey replied.
He hadn’t realised, not until it’d left his lips, that he’d already made his mind up to leave. Not seeing the woman he loved was not an option, and moving to a lesser role was also not his choice. But Hawthorne could offer Grey the job he wanted—if he had a space.
“Well, guess we wouldn’t need to interview you, but Davies will still run a background check. Part of our policies,” Hawthorne responded.
“Got nothing to hide.”
“You sure this is the right time? The war with Venomous Fangs is heating. Willow needs you at her back.”
“Yeah, she does. But it’s not going to happen. The boss said I’ve till the end of the week, Hawthorne. Now, I ain’t moving so fucking far away from Willow. We’re buying a house together, and we want kids, eventually.
“Luckily, we have a good team, so I know they’ll have Willow’s back. My skills and my love are in investigating shit. If I join Hawthorne’s PI, I can continue doing the job I want and stay in RC. Because no matter what, I ain’t moving twenty fucking hours away from Willow and losing the life we want,” Grey said adamantly.
“We aren’t clean, and I know you abide by the rules. We tend to bend them if needed,” Hawthorne replied bluntly.
“Think I didn’t already understand that? Even so, your business has enough challenges for me to retain the use of my skills,” Grey stated.
“Your skills would come in handy; you wouldn’t need training. If you want a job, you have one. Just keep me updated. Come to Hawthorne’s when you can, to discuss pay and benefits,” Hawthorne said after several moments of silence.
“Thanks,” Grey murmured with gratitude in his voice.
“Welcome. Give Willow my regards.” Hawthorne disconnected the call.
Grey stared down at the phone in his hand.
This was a huge decision. His entire career had been with the FBI. To leave like this left a bitter taste in his mouth. But even so, between the job and the woman he loved, Willow won out. The contest simply didn’t exist.
And while he understood the policies, he and Willow had been together since 2014. They had gone undercover back in 2012 to bust a virulent cartel ring. They’d used Willow’s brother Keith to get an in and spent four years trying to bring the cartel down.
Until Keith had outed them, and there’d been a gunfight on Rage. For eight years, they had kept their relationship secret and managed to do their job.
Grey wondered if Markin realised how long they’d been seeing each other. He doubted it. He and Willow had been incredibly discreet. Nobody had a clue they were together. While known as close partners due to the longevity of their professional partnership, there had never been gossip about them. Their team knew them both as intensely private people and respected that.
Life without the woman who fearlessly joined an undercover operation as a new FBI agent was unimaginable for Grey. Willow had solidified her reputation on that one bust and had only built on it since. Markin was correct; Willow would go far in the Bureau, and Grey wouldn’t hold her back.
He loved her too damn much.
He would do anything for her.
Mind made up, Grey walked to his desk with a nod at Willow. She sent him a concerned look, but Grey gave her a reassuring smile.
