“Could have fooled me these past two months.”
“Kate I… it’s… been difficult.”
“Remember when we came back from Miami and promised each other that we could still be partners and friends?That even if we never got a chance to be more than that, we could at least be partners and friends?”
“Yes.I’m sorry.I really am.”
She looked at him.He really did look sorry.He was staring at his feet, shuffling them like a kid apologizing for copying homework.At another time, his adorable face would be enough for her to forgive him, but the crap he’d just pulled in Winters’ office warranted a bit more of an explanation.“What’s been difficult?”
“Everything.”
“Such as?”
He took a breath, clearly reluctant to share details.“The divorce, the tension between us, the manhunt for Cox, the constant terror that you’re going to die, and I won’t find out about it until your mother identifies the body.”
“Lovely image.Thanks for that.”
“Well, it’s the image in my head.You won’t accept protection, you won’t letmeprotect you, you're still living alone at the same apartment you've always lived in, and now Winters is putting you back in a position where you could end up on his trail.After he's almost killed you twice, this is ludicrous.You should be nowhere near this."
“I’m the one who brought him into custody both times,” Kate reminded him.“I’m the one… Okay, strike that.Weare theoneswho have solved each Commandment Killing.Not me but also not you.We.The Bureau needs me on this case.Winters recognizes that.Why don’t you?”
“Because I don’t want you to die!Why… What is difficult about that?”
Frustration clawed its way up Kate’s spine, but she took a breath to slow its progress.They needed to have this talk, which meant she needed to get through it without losing her cool.“There’s always a risk with this job.”
Marcus scoffed.“Oh, don’t give me that crap.The risk is different when it’s coming from a guy who literally said that God’s plan for him was to kill you.”
“Cox’s plans won’t change just because I’m not hunting him,” Kate said softly.
“Yeah, but if you stayed off his trail and accepted protective custody, then his plans won’t matter.”
A stab of guilt ran through Kate’s midsection.Marcus held her eyes, which of course only made the guilt worse.“I…”
Her voice trailed off, and Marcus said, “No, you need to finish that sentence.If it’s so important that you’re willing to put your life at risk, then you need to talk to me about it.”
Kate’s lips thinned, but Marcus was right.She’d made him spill.She had to follow through.
Have I mentioned how much I freaking hate Tuesdays?“I… got rid of him.”
His brow furrowed.“What?”
“I got rid of him,” Kate repeated.“When I saved Emily Warren from hanging herself off the courthouse in Chicago, I got rid of Cox.I… I visualized the rope as his tether to me and my severing of the rope as my choice not to allow him to influence me.I got rid of him.Then a few months later, he blew up our relationship by having Christina Bennett send pictures of us to Cheryl.Cheryl blew up in your face, and as usual, you wilted.”
Marcus recoiled, and Kate sighed.“Shit.I’m sorry.I didn’t…”
But she did mean it, and there was no point in lying.
Marcus nodded.“Yeah, um… And now you’re upset because Cox is back, and he might personally be a threat again.”
“Right.And if I accept protective custody, Iwillbe off the case forever.And… if I live with you, then it’s an admission that I’m vulnerable.I just… I don’t want to feel vulnerable.I don’t want to feel like he’s got me wrapped up in his bullshit little plan again.”
She fell quiet.In a rom-com, this was where Marcus would have wrapped her up in his big, strong arms and held her.In a police drama, this was where he would have lectured her about making decisions based on logic instead of emotion.
Instead, he said, “All right.I get it.”
She was once again too surprised to react.
“I get it,butI disagree, and I’m going to fight a lot harder about it once we’re done looking at this case.”
