AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s not what I meant. You aren’t coming.”
There was a long, pregnant pause before Nate spoke again. “Thought you said you trusted me.”
The disappointment in his words—and the edge of what I thought could be hurt—almost made me change my mind. I’d read his file. We really could use someone with his skills on our team, but I hadn’t seen them firsthand and I wasn’t stupid enough to trust a piece of paper—or a man who seemed easily swayed—with my life.
“I said I was thinking about it,” I corrected. “This has nothing to do with trust and everything to do with not knowing your capabilities.”
“I was in the Army for almost ten years, angel. I think I know what I’m doing.”
I blatantly ignored the nickname.
His dry humor made me smile, knowing he was getting comfortable enough around me to voice it, but I didn’t budge. “Congratulations, but an ambush isn’t the best place to figure that out for myself. When we get back, you can show us all how awesome you are. After that, we’ll talk about adding you to the roster. Until then, you stay home.”
Another long pause stretched between us, this time long enough that I thought he’d hung up on me. I decided to offer him a truth he hadn’t asked for. “I didn’t call to upset you. I just wanted to talk before we left.”
Because if anything happened, I wanted his voice to be one of the last I heard.
He let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I,” I confessed.
“I should be there.”
“Next time.” I shouldn’t have said it, but it felt right, so I didn’t take it back.
I wanted him with us, with me…and I was starting to believe that was what he wanted too. But hope was a fragile thing, so I didn’t voice it. I didn’t want to feel the destruction it would bring if I was wrong.
“Be safe.” Like before, there was a world of weight in his words, things he couldn’t or wouldn’t say. The small seedling of something gave me hope that eventually I’d find out what they were.
One day.
“I’ll try.” It was the best I could offer, and we both knew it. “Bye, Nate.”
“See you soon, angel.”
Hanging up before I thought better of it, I found Dominic not far off, staring at me again. “Any luck?”
“O’Bannon said he’d try to make it. The others refused as expected.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, and I guessed it wasn’t. They had no reason to help us. The Irish were only doing it because they wanted the marriage alliance that still sat in my inbox waiting for review.
“Was that Nate?”
Dominic tried to act uninterested, but the way he asked had my hackles rising. “Yeah. I wanted to give him an update.”
Dominic ran a hand through his hair. “Look, he seems like a good guy, but?—”
“You don’t trust him.” That much was obvious. Hell, even Grey didn’t trust Nate. I didn’t trust Nate, but hearing it from Dominic pissed me off.
“You know nothing about him.”
He wasn’t wrong. I knew Nate’s history and very little else. But hopefully, that would come with time. Something inside me was screaming that he was on my side, and for once, I wanted to listen to it.
“Knowing someone doesn’t guarantee trust either,” I pointed out.
Dominic was always quick to frustrate, and his hair-trigger was even faster than usual. “I’m just trying to protect you. Is that so bad?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
