I don’t know what’s frustrating me more, the idea of him seeing Regan like that, or that he’s the reason we’re apart. For how hard my heart is thumping, I’d say it is a combination of them both.
“I brought you onto my team because I thought you were one of us—one of the good guys.”
“I am!” Brandon defends.
“No you’re fuckin’ not. You’re just as rogue and corrupt as Theresa.”
Brandon’s back gets up. “Who are you to talk? You slept with a target while undercover!”
“Regan wasn’t a target!” I scream into his face, my anger overtaking every fiber of my being. “She should have never been dragged into this fight. She’s an innocent—”
“Just like Izzy?” Brandon’s wild eyes dart between mine. “Yet here she is, at your request, being pranced in front of Isaac like a little plaything—just like Theresa forced you to do with Regan. There is only one difference: you stupidly fell in love.”
My fist pops into Brandon’s eye without a thought crossing my mind. He should thank his lucky stars Reid drove me here, or a black eye would be the least of his problems.
“Step back, Alex,” Reid demands, darting between Brandon and me before my fist adds a black rim to his right eye to match his left. “Step back!” he requests again, more sternly this time. “He’s not worth it.” He looks five seconds from decking Brandon for me before he shifts his dark eyes my way. “And you’re not here for him, remember?”
The confirmation in his deep timbre reminds me of the real reason we’ve arrived at the courthouse a little after 9 AM. Although Isabelle’s arrest is out of my jurisdiction, and she is currently on unpaid leave, she is still my agent, which means she’s still my responsibility.
Catching my murderous glare as I step back to right my clothing, Brandon musters up a pathetic excuse. “Nothing I did was outside of my role.”
Even with his face sporting a new bruise, my glare ramps up. “A role you no longer hold.”
His lips firm, but he dips his chin, acknowledging he understands my request. If his resignation isn’t on my desk by close of business today, I’ll start proceedings to have him removed from his position with a few charges added.
“And don’t think this is the end, Brandon. Your resignation from my team is only the beginning of your sentence.”
With that, I shrug out of Reid’s hold and finalize the last stairs between him and the entrance of the courthouse. I’m here to show my support to Isabelle, but she isn’t the sole reason my steps are double their natural stride.
I’ve come for Regan as well.
Twenty-Four
Regan
I silence my phone when Alex’s fifth call the past fifteen minutes vibrates the desk I am sitting behind. He’s been calling non-stop since he left my apartment with nothing but the scent of his expensive cologne lingering in his wake. Although I’ve been extremely busy representing Isabelle as per Isaac’s request, I can’t use it as an excuse as to why I’m not answering Alex’s calls.
I’m frustrated he dissed me—again. And for what? Because a conversation I had with my employer may have involved some words that stung him? I didn’t mention the “batter” part of my conversation to hurt him. I was trying to ease Isaac’s tension. He cares for Isabelle so much; ten miles didn’t diminish my ability to feel his emotions.
If only I could read Alex as intensely.
Although our conversation was interrupted, I thought we had a breakthrough last night. Clearly, twelve months hasn’t made me any smarter.
My confusion is pushed to the side for another day when my phone rings again, this time from a number I recognize. After excusing myself from the room, I accept Isaac’s call.
“She’ll be free to go any minute now,” I say down the line while stepping out of the interrogation room Isabelle is being held in. “The bail terms have been signed; we’re just waiting for Hugo to make payment.”
Isaac sighs in relief. “He should be there any moment now.”
Just as his sentence ends, Hugo blasts through the doors I’m standing next to. “He’s here now.”
I swear I can hear Isaac’s pulse raging down the line. “Good. Meet me outside; you can travel with me to Hunter’s.”
Before I can advise him that it is best for all involved for him to maintain distance from Isabelle until her court case is over, Isaac disconnects our call.
“Was that Isaac?”
Hugo presses a kiss on my cheek. His friendliness makes me happy more than worried. With all the craziness the past few weeks, this is the first time I’ve seen him in person in nearly a year. I’ve missed him and his woodsy smell. . . not that he’ll ever know that.
