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“Order anything you want,” Aaron said as they sat down at a table in the corner. He made note of everyone in the room.
“Do you always sit with your back to the wall?”
“That’s one thing they get right in the movies. Even when I’m not working, I do it. I don’t relax otherwise.”
Sydney opened her menu. “So anything I want, huh?”
“Yup. It’s going on the FBI’s tab.” Aaron studied her face for a moment as she looked at the menu. She looked more comfortable than she had since they met at the café. For a split second, it felt like they were just two people having dinner. But then the moment was gone.
“I didn’t know they paid for dinners,” she said, looking up.
“This is work time.”
“I thought we were taking a break.”
He put a finger up to his mouth. “Shh. I won’t tell if you won’t.”
She grinned. “In that case … ”
“Besides, you’re the one taking a break. I’m still working.” He jerked his thumb at the wall behind him. “Corner, remember?”
“Do you ever stop working?”
“Hmm. That’s an interesting question. I could ask you the same thing.”
“We really are two peas in a pod.” She looked back at her menu.
He wondered what Leo Pasternak would think if he saw her sitting with him right now. The Russian Mafia weren’t known for their tender hearts. How Sydney could trust herself to a man like that after the way her father treated her was beyond him.
She should have found a man who would love her the way she deserved to be. Or the way he always thought she deserved to be.
“Will you excuse me for a second?” he said, as his anger rose unexpectedly.
“Are you allowed to leave me?”
“You’ll be fine. I’ll only be a second.”
He hid inside a cubicle, swallowing back his outrage. He should have taken himself off the case. He didn’t want to admit it, but this job was personal now. He must have let himself care more for Sydney than he registered because he was more concerned with confronting Leo than he was making sure Sydney didn’t get away with whatever she was planning.
But he’d shut off his emotions before. When he came across that girl broken and hurting while he was undercover, he’d done it. He manipulated her and used her to get what he wanted. And it worked. He brought that organization down from the inside out. It didn’t matter that everything inside him shouted no. He did what he needed to do and now he’d do it again.
He stared himself down in the reflection of the metal door. His face hardened and he took a deep breath, pressing away all emotion. Then he smiled and pushed open the door. He had a job to get across the line.
Sydney was sitting in his seat when he returned.
“Sorry,” she said, looking up at him. “I was insecure with my back to the door.”
“See, I told you. I’ve ruined you for life.”
“Except I’ve got to move for you.”
She stood and he offered her a flat smile. Her own smile was sheepish as she slipped into her chair.
“That’s because I’m the expert,” he said. “You can force any boyfriends to sit facing the door and take the corner seat for yourself in the future. You probably know more than them now.”
“Unless I dated an FBI agent — I mean, I don’t mean you.”
“I didn’t think you did.” His smile made her face brighten further.
