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He doesn’t join me in a giggle. In fact, Blake doesn’t move a muscle. “You’ve been gone for days, Aria.” His voice drops low. “No one knew where you were.”
“That’s because someone shot at me.” The memory has my chest heaving and the sweat going from a trickle to a waterfall at my armpits and down my spine. “I had to find a place to lay low for a while, and I got balls-deep in research while I was there. No way I’m sticking around when there are people with literal guns pointed between my eyes.” I press a finger to the area for emphasis.
Blake stares at me without blinking as I drop down behind my desk and root around in my drawer for something sweet to eat. “It’s not like you, Aria. You always check in.”
The hush in his tone is weighted and has goose bumps erupting on the bare skin at the back of my neck.
Purposely, I kick my shoeless feet onto the desktop, a piece of candy in hand. “What’s not like me? To go radio silent?” I shrug. “Maybe it’s good for you guys to miss me a little bit. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all. Seems I’m not as appreciated around here as I liked to believe.”
His brows V. “If this is some kind of game you’re playing because Broderick passed up promoting you, then think again. It’s not going to make him miss you. He’s just going to be pissed off,” Blake continues.
“Or maybe he’ll be happy I escaped the shootout in one piece,” I correct him with the same finger held in the air between us.
Act like nothing's wrong.
God, my pits are like swamps.
Even when Blake is there looking at me funny, his head tilted to the side while he studies me. “You’re going to have to talk to him. Explain yourself,” he continues. “He came back into town to find you gone, and I’m sure he’ll want to be updated.”
“Christ, will you at least let me sit down for a little bit? I literally just got here, Blake.” But I keep my smile good-natured. “A girl needs her rest. And her sugar high. Otherwise, I’m going to be ineffectual.”
“A girl needs to remember she can’t just come and go where she pleases.”
I slap my palms down on the top of the desk. “You can just say you missed me,” I tease, my voice only shaking a tiny baby bit.
Blake goes inexplicably quiet, and I settle behind my laptop like nothing is wrong. A glance at the clock shows I’ve wasted enough time being freaked out, hemming and hawing internally about how to play this. Part of me wants to call up to a meeting with Broderick even though that will severely hinder my chances of convincing him of my plan.
The chat room has been busy in my absence, even though I’d glanced in on it for a little bit the other day with Adam and Bill. My hackers have information about Everett, and for a moment, I blink, wondering how I’d gotten so far off the hunt for justice for my dead employees going after bigger prey.
Is this how cops feel all the time? When they have to juggle so many injustices at the same time? Or when they go deep undercover and have to forget their own convictions to be in the moment and get shit accomplished?
If it is, well, thanks.I hate it.
It doesn’t take long for the call to come in, and Broderick summons me up to his office. Fifteen minutes and counting, which is actually longer than I’d bargained for. I start to shake like a little chihuahua at the text message.
Gently closing the laptop lid, I smile at Blake and stand to my full height, my calves already aching at the thought of sliding my feet back into my heels.
“Try not to miss me too much this time.” I blow him a fake kiss. “I shouldn’t be long.”
He sighs and shakes his head like he’s expecting me to come back in multiple pieces instead of one. If he thinks this is my funeral, well, he can think again.
The nerves from earlier haven’t dissipated. They haven’t grown stronger, either, which is a mixed-bag blessing. I totter toward the elevator, up one floor, and down the hallway toward the meeting room, the door already open and the fire crackling merrily in the hearth.
“Close the door behind you,” Broderick bids. His voice echoes across the room, rich and deep.
I bow my head and do as he asks, holding on to the knob for dear life before I gather up what’s left of my courage and turn to face him, subdued.
“Where have you been?” He wastes no time in rounding on me, his hand around my neck. Moving faster than I thought, too.
His words came from near the fireplace, but the moment I turn to face the room, he’s in front of me, blocking me. Pushing me against the door and pinning me in place with his massive palm across my windpipe.
The blood rushes away from my face. “I’m alive. I’m safe.”
“So I see.” He growls, flashing teeth. Unlike usual, his hair stands on end around his ears rather than the carefully curated image I’m used to seeing. The only display of his lack of control. “What I fail to see is why you disappeared on me right when I was heading out of town. I needed youhere. Not god knows where doing whatever you please.”
“Then maybe your second in command should have done a better job of protecting me from our competitors,” I gasp out, his fingers pressing just so. The threat of him cutting off my air entirely is close enough for me to taste on my tongue, and it’s bitter as fuck. “Someone tried to shoot me when I went to the Galleria.”
Broderick’s eyes narrow. “You weren't alone.”
