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“He’s the reason Walker’s involved,” she reminds me.
“You’re the reason Walker’s involved,” I counter. “He’s the reason we almost walked away from their help.”
“You’re forgetting that he’s the reason I trusted them. Please remember that, Aaron. He’s a good man.”
“Beer is served,” Blake calls out.
I stroke her hair, her eyes etched with worry, with fear, too, damn it. I want that fear gone, and that’s exactly why I’m willing to work with Walker. “Anytime we let someone else in, it’s a risk. It opens the door to a leak, and the men who are after us will find that leak. But I opened that door with Walker and you know why?” I don’t wait for her reply. I cup her head, press my cheek to hers, and lean in close, my voice low at her ear. “Because I’m not torturing you with a life on the run one day longer than I have to. Because I fucking love you when I didn’t even think I could love.”
She sucks in a breath again and pulls back to look at me, her eyes glistening, as she mouths, “I love you, too.”
Warmth like I’ve never known outside my time with this woman expands inside me. She laces the fingers of one of her hands with mine, and that unity she’s offered me without words calms that storm inside me that I felt only minutes before to a manageable level.
We join Adam, Blake, and yes, Smith, in the living room, them on the couch with Blake at the center and Smith the farthest from us. Ashley and I share an oversized brown leather chair with her on my right and the Walker team on my left. In other words, I’m between her and them.
“You were working on a case when you met Ashley,” Blake states, setting a file on the coffee table. “That’s what I know about him.”
“Who’s the client?” Ashley asks. “And please just confirm for me that Cole isn’t in danger.”
Cole being her old boss, one of the owning partners of the firm that she worked for. “Cole is safe,” I say.
“The client in question left the firm three months ago,” Blake adds, “and I know details that I can’t share. I’ll just say that Cole and Reese, his partner, don’t align with criminals, and they recognized him as that and more.”
“Who is he?” Ashley presses.
“Desmond White,” I say. “The CEO of a defense company that sold arms to the wrong people, translated to mean our enemies. I believe there were higher-ups in our government involved.”
“As do I,” Blake replies. “I assume you got too close to those people, and you were dealt with.”
“Maybe,” I agree, “but for reasons I can’t name, that doesn’t feel right. That feels too cut and dry, too obvious.”
“I met Desmond White,” Ashley replies. “He wasn’t represented by Cole, but rather our corporate division we had just added to the firm. He seemed honorable, like a proud American.”
“They always do,” I say. “The really bad ones always seem good.”
“He took on a new head of security right before you went down,” Blake says. “I believe you know him.”
“Don’t dangle information,” I reply shortly. “Who the hell is it?”
“Mick Ross,” he says.
The name rips through me like an icy blade, carving out my spine. I know him. I know him all too fucking well, and his name explains why Ashley is being hunted. Why the woman I love is such a fucking target.
“You need to know that I know him,” Adam interjects. “I was on a CIA-managed task force with him overseas about seven years ago, but for the record, I hated that shady son-of-a-bitch. How much does he have to do with any of this or anything at all?”
“Everything,” I say. “He has everything to do with this.” I glance at Blake. “I need to know everything there is to know about him and what he’s doing now and in the past, including where to find him right now. And I don’t care what it costs me.”
“There’s no charge for our help,” Blake says as he taps the folder. “And everything you want is there, but there’s a condition. I want to know when you go after him.”
I study Blake, and in his eyes, I see me. He’s dark. He’s dangerous. He’s willing to go where he needs to go to protect and serve. He’ll cross lines, and yet, he’s a good man. “You,” I say. “Just you.”
He narrows his eyes on me and then gives a quick jut of his chin in agreement. Meanwhile, Smith’s eyes burn into me, and I turn to find his gaze locked down on my face. “What do you want to know?”
“I saw how you blinked with his name,” he says. “What is your past with him?”
“Ask your boss,” I reply. “He knows.” My eyes meet Blake’s, understanding in their depths. I don’t want this part of my past blasted out in front of Ashley. But I also see insistence that I tell her in his stare. That she has to know because her life is on the line.
I don’t agree or disagree with him, but in the back of my mind, I know this part of me, this dirty, dark part of me is not something I can hide from Ashley. She will find out one way or the other why Mick wants me dead, why he now wants her dead.
