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CHAPTER3
Leo had always beengood at concealment. Hiding. Disappearing into the background. He just faded away.
But he didn’t feel that way now.
No one had addressed his comments in the meeting.
Hank, Beck, and Roman were just moving along as if it hadn’t happened.
It made sense in a way.
They’d already addressed the elephant in the room.
He’d seen El-
He’d seen Cygny for the first time since she’d ghosted right out of his life. He’d heard what she had to say.
Backed up by Roman.
And he trusted Roman as much as he trusted anyone.
What else was there to say?
On a break the second day, he’d bypassed the meal and gone through another large cup of coffee and a protein bar he’d brought along with him, preferring to stick to things he was familiar with. And that’s when he’d seen Beck heading for the table where the women were seated.
It hadn’t been an intentional thing, but he’d moved along with her, his gaze unerringly coming to rest on… Cygny.
The name was unique.
He wasn’t sure he cared for it at all.
Elaine Miles had been the name she’d used when she’d moved into the apartment complex. Elaine Miles from St. Louis. An orphan from childhood. Ward of the state until she’d reached eighteen.
Whatever information he could glean about her from their quick conversations as they went to and from their apartments had been stored away into his memory.
He’d built onto the knowledge as quickly as he could.
Offered to take out her trash, which she’d politely and sternly refused.
Probably, he realized because that was the kind of thing she’d be wary of.
A person’s trash spoke volumes about the kind of person they were. What they bought. What they ate. Any kind of consumption could give someone working a covert op a new bit of information about their subject.
And yet, as his mind worked through the meetings they’d had early on, El- Cygny hadn’t asked many questions about him or entertained many from him either.
Had that been part of the ruse?
Was being quiet and aloof just one of the ways she’d reeled him in?
* * *
Cygny lookedup as Hank joined the women and caught sight of Leo standing off to the side.
The other men who’d come along with Roman McClain to the training were in a different area, but seeing Leo there felt… right.
She wanted to kick herself under the table as the other women made room for Hank. It was ridiculous for her to assume that just because Leo was spending any time in her vicinity meant that there was anything other than scorched earth between them.
Sure, he might be near, but with her luck he was likely planning the best way to throw her over a cliff.
Before she could manage to give more than a welcoming nod to Hank, he was up and placing a call on his phone.
They all followed the Brotherhood Protector’s leader, keeping their attention on him as he spoke into his phone. All of the women were experts in body language and could read the tension in Hank’s body easily.
Turning her attention to Leo, even just out of the corner of her eye, Cygny lamented the fact that she was hopeless when it came to doing the same with Leo.
It wasn’t that he was trying to hide anything from her.
In fact, he was straightforward and upfront with how much he hated her.
He held himself like an open book around her, or maybe that’s just what she was telling herself.
For most of her adult life she’d been able to read the body language of the people around her. It was almost as if she could look right into their minds.
That had ended when she’d been on her last assignment.
Not only had she been blind to the fact that her boss had played her like a damn violin, but he’d also used her to frame an innocent man.
She’d quit, not just because of the mistake she’d made, she just wasn’t sure she could trust herself to do the job anymore.
Finding out that she’d been so easily misled?
It wasn’t just a hit to her pride.
It went right down to her soul.
That was just as much of a reason to prove Leo’s innocence as it was because she’d inadvertently fallen in love with him.
Hank’s return pulled her attention away from her own thoughts and she turned to look at Beck the instant she mentioned her sister Leslie.
Leslie Morrisey was the kind of woman that Cygny would have wanted to grow up to be if her life had been different. Leslie was just a sweet and loving person. She didn’t have the jaded outlook that Cygny had. And Cygny had been eager to protect Leslie as much as she’d wanted to get to know Beck.
Beck understood the unsavory side of Cygny’s life. She’d likely ‘been there and done that’ with many of the things they’d had to do as part of their jobs.
Hearing that Leslie had gone off on her own put Cygny on edge.
