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This woman was going to kill me. Period.
Her bluebell eyes were still a little shiny from her confession. Everything inside of me wanted to haul her out of her chair and hold her close. Bad ideas were just multiplying like gremlins after midnight in a rainstorm.
Jesus.
My chest still hurt that she could think I would be anything like that jackass Pat. I’d literally die before hurting her.
And yet part of me wanted to shake her right now. To shake sense into her that she was important to every single one of us.
Maybe that made me a monster.
I broke eye contact with her and stood. “We good? I need some air.”
Lila looked up from her iPad. “Yes, check in with your security, please. Cole Riggs is out there waiting for you.” She swiped through something and my phone buzzed in my pocket. “I sent you his details.”
“Thanks.” I knew my voice was far more curt than it should be, but I needed to get out of the room and away from Teagan for a few minutes.
I hated that I needed to keep her safe. Hated that she was afraid of me. Hated that she went through that bullshit with Pat. Hated that she didn’t think she could tell me—tell us.
Fuck.
I swung through the door and found a few similarly dressed security people. A little less camo than Noah, but then again, Noah didn’t bother trying to blend in. Even when we’d been in the same unit, he’d been more interested in getting the job done than interacting with the guys.
He’d been a senior officer, but not in my direct chain of command. He’d always been the one to do the most dangerous ops with very little downtime between jumps. Hell, most of the stuff Noah had been involved in was so classified, he couldn’t talk to us about it anyway.
The Rangers was already an elite force, but sharpshooters like Noah and Quinn Alexander were often used for ops I hadn’t been privy to. Then I’d left.
Noah hadn’t left by choice. Unlike me.
That oil sludge slice of memory didn’t need to come out today. I threw it back in the box it belonged in and headed for the side entrance.
“Dallas.”
I turned and swore. “Right. Sorry.” I held out my hand. “Riggs, right?”
He nodded. His gaze was as direct and reserved as the smoke gray color of his eyes. He had the rigid bearing of the military. The way he sized up the space and our location to others in the room told me he wasn’t just hired muscle.
“Navy?”
He nodded. “Good guess. Noah mentioned you were a Ranger.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, don’t hold it against me.” He didn’t get much more approachable so I tried a different tact. “I’ll try not to be an asshole about this shit. I know you’re only doing your job.”
“Appreciate it.”
“Emphasis on try.”
“Understood.” His lips twitched, but humor didn’t soften his face. Guess I’d have to work on that.
“I need some air. Is that cool?”
“As long as I go with you.”
I sighed. “Well, come on. They’ll be looking for me any minute.”
“Mr. Dallas.”
Lila’s chilly, even voice had me swallowing the growl threatening. Couldn’t people leave me alone for one goddamn minute? I didn’t turn around, but I did pause before pushing my way through the side door.
