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I narrow my eyes at him, ignore the pounding in my ears and push myself up to my feet. “You know better to be more careful. You could’ve been followed.”
“You still don’t think I’m good at my job, huh?”
I twist to face him and raise an eyebrow. “I was able to get the drop on you first although I’ve been out of the game for two years. I shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
He shrugs and shoves both hands into his pockets. “Maybe I let you have the upper hand first to try and win you over.”
I snort. “Yeah, right.”
“My offer for you to come back as an undercover agent still stands.”
My heel falls to the floor with a clatter. I don’t look at him as I step back into my heels and straighten my back. “I already gave you my answer, Agent.”
“Two weeks ago.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “What makes you think I’ve changed my mind?”
“Because you’re a smart and reasonable woman.”
“I’m finally living a ‘normal’ life, Matthew. I don’t want my friends getting hurt. Why would I risk all of that for the FBI?”
“Because you’re the real deal,” Matthew says firmly. “There is something else you should know, Jen.” For a second, worry flashes across his face.
“What is it?”
“Alison Hastings was undercover, and they murdered her.”
I let my hands fall to my sides, and I frown. “Are you serious? What happened?”
Alison was a highly talented agent. We graduated from the same class at Quantico, and I always looked up to her throughout her career.
Agent McCray’s expression turns solemn. “She was made, and she couldn’t get out in time. We’ve launched a top priority investigation to figure outhowit happened. However, we realized that without someone on the inside, it’s going to be nearly impossible.”
This is bad, really bad.
Alison had been at the top of our class.
And now she’s dead.
How the hell is he expecting more out of me?
“Look, Agent, I want to help, but the FBI should find someone else. I’m not doing them any favors when they were the ones who hung me out to dry. I’m trying to put as much distance between myself and my old life as possible.”
Matthew takes a few steps forward and bridges the distance between us. My skin tingles at the proximity especially when his eyes darken. “They haven’t hung you out to dry. They just don’t have enough resources to look into everyone you think might have sold you out, but they are looking into it. Without clear-cut evidence, you know how these things go.”
I search his face, maybe for a second too long. “Didyoueven try to look into what I told you? About the mole?”
“I haven’t found anything,” Matthew replies after a brief pause. “If there is a mole in the FBI, they know how to cover their tracks well.”
“And yet you still expect me to come back. You know the second they figure out who I am, they’ll send another hitman after me? And they won’t stop. The mafia isn’t just going to forget I was leaking information to the FBI. Revealing myself to them will make me a sitting duck, and forgive me if I don’t trust you to have my back.”
“It’ll be different this time,” Matthew assures me, after a swift look over his shoulders. “I’ll be leading the operation myself.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? You just admitted you can’t find the mole in the FBI!”
Agent Matthew had done us a favor by looking into Travis using the Slades’ resources, but it isn’t a good idea for the attraction to develop any further. I’m not sure I want to put my life in his hands when I can’t focus every time I’m around him. Not only would I be risking everything I’ve worked hard to build over the past year, I would also be putting the Slades in danger.
After everything they’ve done for me, the Slades deserve better.
