"What's up?" I ask, trying to keep my voice casual.
She steps farther into the room, that smile—the one that always means trouble, spreads across her face. "Well," she says,uncrossing her arms, "your girl did some digging, and I found the mole. Declan's images of the guy who let in the bomber confirmed it, but still."
Your girl.
The words hit me harder than they should, and I force myself to stay still, to not react.
She's proud of herself. I can see it in the way she stands, the way her chin lifts just a little. She wants me to acknowledge it.
And I do. Because she deserves it.
"Congratulations," I say, and turn to pick up the dumbbells again. I need something to do with my hands before I do something stupid. "Did you tell your brothers?"
"Yep. And I'm going to go with them to get him." She pauses, then adds, "Well, we are. You have to come."
I set the weights down carefully, my back still to her. "No."
There's a beat of silence.
"Okay, you don't have to come, I guess, but?—"
"No." I turn to face her, and the look on her face shifts from confusion to irritation in half a second. "You're not going."
Her brows lift. "Like hell I'm not."
"You heard what I said," I tell her and turn back, looking at her in the mirror.
She crosses her arms again and steps closer. "You may be my bodyguard, Octavian, but you sure as hell don't control me."
"Well, maybe I should," I say, my voice hard.
"Oh, screw you."
"Dammit," I say, turning fully to face her. My pulse is pounding in my ears, and I can feel the control I've been clinging to starting to slip. "You don't get it. Out there, there are people who clearly want you dead. Nothing can save you from that if you keep running toward dangerous shit."
"Declan agreed to let me go," she snaps.
"I don't give a fuck about Declan." I take a step toward her, and she doesn't back down. "You're who I care about," I stop for a moment, realizing what I said, "protecting," I add quickly. "I care about protecting you."
She stares at me, and for a second I think she's on to me, but if she is, she only makes it worse by taking another step forward so I can catch her scent. It makes my body tense; my cock stirs.
I'm fucking losing it.
"Yeah, well," she says, looking up at me. "I'm going."
She turns to leave, and something in me snaps.
I reach out and grab her wrist.
She whirls around immediately, her free hand coming up to hit my arm. "Let fucking go."
But I don't.
I step into her, backing her up until she hits the wall, and I pin her there with my body, my hand still around her wrist.
"Stop running headfirst into fire," I say, my face inches from hers.
Her breath comes fast, her chest rising and falling against mine, and I can feel the heat radiating off her skin.
