Didn’t need to.
Her eyes filled anyway.
“He pushed me away to keep me hidden,” she whispered shakily. “All those years I thought he stopped loving me…”
Ah hell.
I moved closer instantly despite the fire tearing through my ribs.
“He loved you enough to die protecting you.”
Her face crumpled slightly.
The kind of pain that came from finally understanding someone too late.
I knew that feeling.
Too damn well.
Rook quietly closed the file.
“Mercer and Shepherd won’t stop now. Not after tonight.”
Wolf folded his arms.
“Then we end it.”
Rook’s eyes shifted toward me.
Long pause.
Then—
“This is where Shadow Division steps back.”
Theroom went still.
Trigger looked over immediately.
Wolf frowned slightly.
But I understood instantly.
Rook wasn’t abandoning us.
He was drawing a line.
Making this ours.
“Shepherd’s tied to our world,” Rook continued calmly. “We’ll continue hunting his larger network.”
Then he looked directly at me.
“But Flick?”
His gaze hardened.
“That’s personal now.”
