Page 8 of Disavowed

“You really okay?” Gray shot him a concerned look as they headed to Gray’s department sedan.

“Yeah.” No. He leaned on his friend’s forearm as he dropped heavily into the passenger seat of the sedan.

Gray shut the door, then came around and got into the driver’s seat. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Dammit, Gray. For the last time, will ya let it go? This is the only way to get inside the Pyramid, and you know it.” He punched the door panel. He knew his partner wasn’t happy about what was going down. Hell, he wasn’t happy about it, either. But it was necessary. “Let’s get outta here. I need a Coke.”

“A Coke?” Gray’s tone was disbelieving. “You don’t drink soda.”

“I do now.”

Dom watched Gray push open the door to the little bodega they often stopped at for coffee. A few minutes later, he returned with a bottle of Coke in his hand. Back in the sedan, he handed it to Dom.

“Thanks.” He twisted off the metal cap, pocketed the cap, then held the icy cold bottle against his bruised jaw. He turned to see Gray frowning.

“What you’re doing is too fucking dangerous.” Gray eased the car into traffic and then headed toward Dom’s apartment on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. “You’ll be in way too deep, and you’ll be there alone. No backup.”

“I accepted the terms of this assignment.” As penance. For what happened in Afghanistan. If what he suspected was true, he was indirectly to blame for the Pyramid’s entire existence.

My mistake. My mess to clean up.

“Gray…” He hesitated. “No matter how this goes down, I’ll have no regrets.”

Regrets.

For some unknown reason, the image of Daisy Fowler’s beautiful face flickered to life and then vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Six months had passed since he’d last seen her—a year since they’d slept together—and he didn’t understand why he’d thought of her just then.

Yeah you do. You could have had something good, and you royally fucked it up.

When Gray stopped at the door to Dom’s building, Dom shrugged off the memory and unbuckled his seat belt. He stuck out his hand to the man who was not only his partner but the best friend a guy could ever have.

As Gray clasped his hand, their gazes met and held. In the ensuing silence, he felt the true depths of over a decade of friendship. When they released hands, he got out of the car and shut the door. As Gray drove off, he stood motionless, watching the sedan get smaller and smaller until the vehicle turned a corner and disappeared.

Though he’d see his partner again two days from now at Gray’s wedding, things would never be the same. Ironically enough, he’d undoubtedly run into Daisy. She and Gray’s fiancée were best friends. After what he’d done to her, Daisy might very well slap him. Again.

Dom grinned at the memory of how she’d slapped him when he’d made a courtesy call to notify her Alex had nearly been killed by the Pyramid and was in the hospital. He’d deserved it.

And then some.

Risking a woman’s wrath was something he accepted, a conscious decision made long ago to avoid getting close. He’d been perfecting it to an art form since that dark moment when he’d loved someone, then lost her. He’d learned that leaving a woman’s bed in the middle of the night while she was sleeping was the easiest way to avoid entanglements. And it had worked.

On the off chance they were tailing him already, Dom faked a limp all the way up the stairs to his building. Best-case scenario, this was his last day as an NYPD officer for a very long time. Worst-case scenario…

…he wouldn’t survive this assignment.

Chapter Two

Daisy tucked the last bud of pure white baby’s breath into Alex’s hair, then stood back to assess her handiwork. Everything had to be perfect for her best friend’s wedding.

Alexandra Romano, soon to be Alexandra Yates, was the most beautiful woman Daisy had ever seen. With blond hair, blue eyes, and a slim, graceful figure, she looked just like a modern-day Grace Kelly. The classic up-do that had taken over an hour to create framed her friend’s lovely face with cascading blond ringlets. She really did look like a Scandinavian princess, as her fiancé, Gray, liked to say.

I could only look this good in my dreams.

“My work here is done.” A lump formed in the back of her throat as her eyes met Alex’s smiling blue ones. “You look stunning.” She swiped at the unexpected tear rolling down her face.

“Don’t you dare cry on me.” Alex blinked rapidly. “It will only make me cry, and then you’ll have to do my makeup all over again.”

Alex reached for Daisy, and the two women hugged each other tightly, sniffling the entire time. Daisy took a deep breath, then stepped away before she really did smudge Alex’s makeup or muss up her hair.