Page 33 of Reverence

“Get it off.” I said calmly. “Get your hand off me.”

My voice was low, each word carrying a warning. Ares let out a quiet, almost maniacal laugh beneath his breath.

“It’s simple.” His eyes flickered over my face. “Show me that fire and tell me what you were going to say. Then I’ll let go.”

For a beat, neither of us moved but the air between us felt suffocating.

Then I yanked my arm from his grasp.

“If you weren’t such an impulsive, condescending, arrogant maniac, we wouldn’t be in this predicament in the first place.”

His eyes narrowed and instead of backing down, he stepped closer.

“Oh, I see.” He nodded slowly. “I’m the flawed agent, and you’re the perfect little teacher’s pet.”

His lips curled into a humorless smile. “Always striving to outshine everyone else just to prove that she actually belongs here.”

My blood boiled.

“At least I know my place.”

I stepped closer, refusing to let him tower over me. “I don’t walk around acting like I’m above the law.”

That wiped the smile from his face but I didn’t give him the opportunity to respond.

I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me hard enough to make the glass rattle in its frame.

“I don’t want to hear another word from either of you!” Asher bellowed.

Ares and I stood rigidly in front of his desk, our hands clasped behind our backs, spines straight and shoulders squared.

“The two of you constantly disappoint me. It’s making me question why you were chosen to be agents in the first place if you can’t—or should I say, won’t—act accordingly.”

The tension in the room was suffocating. Neither of us dared to speak.

“Clock out.”

I frowned.

“Sir?”

“Both of you. Clock out and report for duty at 07:30. You’ll finish every incomplete task then, including your coworkers’ assignments.”

My brows lifted.

“The time you leave tonight is entirely up to you. You’re dismissed.”

The clock struck nine when I finally completed the last of the incomplete work that had been piling up throughout the week.

I pushed myself away from my desk, gathered my things, and headed for the exit.

“Where are you going, Rivera?”

Ares followed behind me, his voice cutting through the bullpen.

The usual hum of conversation and activity had long since disappeared, leaving the office eerily quiet.

There were analysts stationed on the opposite end of the building, security personnel posted at various positions, and a handful of cleaning staff still working. But for the most part, the field office was empty.