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He gave me an unsure smile. “My boss wants to assign me permanently to your brother’s case. Starting next week, I’ll be tracking Nicolo down, exclusively.”
My heart sunk. As much as I wanted Nicky to end his reign of crime, I didn’t want my boyfriend hunting him down. It seemed like a conflict of interest.
“Is that a good thing? Is it what you want?” I asked, staring into his hazel eyes. A tiny part of me hoped he’d turned it down.
“Yeah, it’s good. It’s a promotion, really.” Gideon blinked and frowned.
Who was I to dampen a good opportunity for him? I had to be happy for him, even if it meant celebrating the eventual doom of my brother.
“Okay, then,” I said, forcing a smile on my face. “Let’s celebrate your promotion. Screw pizza, I say we go out for something special.”
I jumped off the bed and strode toward the door. Gideon remained glued to his spot on the bed, watching me with distress written all over his face.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked.
“There’s one other thing.”
I cocked my head at him, waiting for him to continue. His tone of voice wasn’t very promising.
“Just know, that I tried my best to argue against it, but Agent Carson insisted.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Dread began to spread throughout my body. “It can’t be that bad. What did he say?”
He sucked in his cheeks again. “Agent Carson said that my partner, Rita, has been filling him in on the situation in Arcana. He says that with my new position, there are some things that have to change.”
I turned my head and stared at the bright red makeup case sitting on the floor next to my full-length mirror. Every morning, I sat cross-legged in that very spot, putting on my makeup. This morning, when I applied my MAC eyeliner, I had sensed that it was going to be a bad day. I didn’t know why, but the feeling had come on very strong. Standing here now, I felt the same chill wash over me.
“What things?” I asked in a whisper.
Gideon blew out a large breath. “He said that because you’re still a person of interest in the Nicolo Harris case, I’m forbidden to have a personal relationship with you. He said that we have to end it and keep our relationship professional.”
I nearly tripped over my own feet in shock. “Person of interest? How can I be a person of interest? I tried to help you catch him.”
“Rita filed her reports with the SI and named you a person of interest. I can’t change that.”
“Why would she do that?” I felt myself losing control. My talons were beginning to protract. I clasped my hands into tight fists. “That’s not right.”
“Well, you did lie to us at first about your connection to him.” He saw the look of fury flash over my face and scrambled to speak before I could argue. “Come on, you know that’s true. It would make anyone look suspicious. I know you’re not a part of Nicky’s crimes, but Rita was never convinced of your innocence. She only did what she thought was right.”
I didn’t know what made me angrier: having to break up or the fact that Gideon wasn’t upset at Rita for essentially ruining our relationship. If she were in this room, no one could’ve stopped me from having a go at her.
“So, you’re okay with this? With breaking up?”
We had hardly started dating. I wasn’t even sure we could call it breaking up.
“Of course I’m not.” He stood up and stepped closer to me. “I really like you, Aya. You’re beautiful and fierce and… you scare the crap out of me,” he added with a laugh. “I want to see where this goes.”
“But…?” I waited for the sentence that would seal our fate.
Gideon took his time, running his index finger up my jaw and tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind my ear. His touch left a burning sensation along my skin. I resisted the urge to lean into him.
“But, until I capture your brother, we have to end this.”
Closing my eyes, I welcomed the sudden darkness. Just when things were starting to come together, they fell apart again. It was a pattern in my pathetic life.
I could tell him about the Harpy Quorum and my vision. I could beg him to stay and ignore the SI’s orders. Who were they to tell us how to live our lives? But this was Gideon’s job. He talked about it all the time. He couldn’t envision himself without it.
I couldn’t take that from him. If that meant waiting until Nicky was caught, I’d have to be patient. My brother was too smart to get captured by just anyone. Gideon would have to pull out all the stops. In the meantime, I’ll handle the harpies myself. It was better that way.
