Page 193 of The ARC Unit: Breach

I wanted him.

“You done?” I asked.

Wolf stared at me.

“No.”

“Of course not.”

“Take the attitude down one more fucking notch.”

“Or what?”

Or what. The question I had been asking him in different forms since the day I arrived.

Wolf’s eyes narrowed inside the black mask.

“You really want the answer tonight?”

The office seemed warmer than it had when I walked in. I could hear the low hum of the lamp and somebody moving downstairs beneath us. My pulse sounded louder than both.

“Maybe I do.”

“Then stop saying maybe.”

I frowned.

Wolf reached down and touched his tactical belt. My eyes dropped before I could stop them.

“Eyes up.”

I looked back at him. His fingers remained at the belt.

“Again,” he said.

I realized he was not talking about the mission this time.

“What?”

“Look away again. See what happens.”

The muscles low in my abdomen drew tight. I kept my eyes on his.

Wolf unhooked the holster and removed the Glock, then opened the small lockbox beside his desk. He checked the weapon before securing it inside with the practiced efficiency of someone who had done it a thousand times. The black retention webbing stayed clipped near his hip. I saw it without looking directly at it.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making sure you don’t confuse what comes next with punishment.”

Wolf closed the lockbox and turned fully toward me.

“This argument is finished now. You broke protocol. You understand why it was a problem. You do it again, I pull you.”

I opened my mouth.

“Shut that mouth.”

I closed it immediately.