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He got to his feet and stood there for a heartbeat, staring at the woman he knew he would never work out of his system.
“I’ll reach out later, see what you’ve found,” he said.
“I don’t want you to.”
Slam. There went that door.
She pointed to the exit. “Someone will be in touch.”
With his heart cracking in two, he swung to the door and walked away, feeling more alone than when he was out in the world on his own, hunting down Abubakar because the only way he could make the world safer for Indika and everyone else was to end his reign.
But he’d made the wrong decision. In the name of duty, he’d lost her forever.
* * * * *
Indika leaned heavily on the desk, fighting to keep from bursting into noisy sobs. Why couldn’t he just let her move on with her life?
When her door opened again, she jolted. Snatching up the photo frame on her desk, she jerked her arm back, prepared to hurl it at Apollo’s head.
Only it wasn’t Apollo.
Her partner threw his hands up as a shield. “Don’t shoot! I come in peace.”
Gulping back a cry, she worked for composure. She set the frame on her desk and looked at Bryce Brown, her partner.
He closed the door and took the seat Apollo had just vacated. She couldn’t help but take note of how Brown didn’t fill the frame the way her SEAL had.
NOT my SEAL.
She lowered herself to her own chair and eyed him, hoping he didn’t see how frazzled she was. That infuriating man had taken her from hot and bothered to seething with anger to battling tears in minutes.
Silence ticked by while she collected herself and as attuned to her moods as ever, Brown gave her the time she needed.
“Bad day?” he asked after a minute.
She stared at him.
“Weird. I’d think you’d be happier given the eye candy that just left your office.”
She nearly swallowed her tongue. “What do you know about eye candy?”
“I have been called eye candy.”
Okay, he was. Brown possessed a dark, dangerous appeal that had women begging for his attention even more than Robert did. Even his black pants looked about to rip down the seams from the stretch of his muscles in the fabric. And his white shirt and tie only added to the allure.
Not that she’d ever go for her partner. They were friends—something she appreciated so much she’dneverjeopardize it.
As Brown studied her, she squirmed, feeling like a trapped bug under a glass. “Whatever went down with the guy who just left your office wasn’t only professional. It feels personal.”
She couldn’t go on pretending she was okay. Setting her elbows on the desk, she dropped her face into her hands. “It was the guy I used to see.”
When he didn’t respond, she lifted her head and stole a peek at his face. Shock spread across his features and widened his eyes. “The only guy I know you used to see is dead.”
“Well, he’s not.”
“Holy shit. Okay… He’s the SEAL? From Team 6?”
She didn’t correct him because he couldn’t know about Blackout.
