No wonder she looked shaken.
I moved closer automatically.
My hand finding the small of her back.
Grounding her.
Grounding me too.
Rook noticed.
Of course he noticed.
Men like him noticed everything.
“You care about her,” he said to me quietly.
Not teasing.
Not mocking.
Just observation.
I looked straight at him.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
None.
Beside me, Flick’s breath caught softly.
Rook studied both of us for one long second.
Then nodded once like something suddenly made sense.
“That explains Mercer.”
Silence hit the room instantly.
Wolf frowned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Rook opened the folder slowly.
Photographs.
Documents.
Names.
Bank records.
Surveillance stills.
The senator’s face appeared over and over across classified pages.
