Page 91 of Cold Mercy

“She’s innocent, Grace.”

I say it out loud, if that fact could somehow justify anything. Grace knows she's innocent; she has seen the same files.

“Innocent?” Her control snaps as she slams her hand against the dashboard.

“Innocent? Innocent?! You’re a goddamn detective, Thomas, act like one. I don’t care if she’s innocent. I care that you torched your cover like an amateur.”

My patience shatters with a surge of heat that rises through my chest, instantly burning out every excuse I had rehearsed.

“I never lied to you.” I force the words out, slow and steady.

“But I’m not lying to myself anymore either, she’s not a threat.”

She stops only long enough to look at me, really look, and I know the answer lands the second she sees my face.

“Oh my God.” A bitter laugh escapes her. “You’re in love with her.”

I don’t confirm it; I don’t deny it.

Grace sinks back, staring at me like she doesn’t recognize the man beside her. Like I’m a stranger wearing the badge she trusted for almost a decade.

Her jaw clenches so tight it trembles.

“Then here’s what’s going to happen.” She says it too calmly.

“You’re going to cut her out. Completely. Today. No calls, no explanations, and no goodbyes. Nothing. You disappear, do you fucking understand?”

It hits like a bullet. I shake my head because the alternative is screaming.

“Grace…”

She cuts me off with a raised hand.

“If you don’t, I swear to God, I will go to her myself. I will tell her every detail of why you approached her. Every suspicion, every surveillance note, every fucking line you ever wrote about her.”

My blood runs cold.

“You wouldn’t.”

She leans forward, eyes wild and unblinking.

“Try me.”

Something inside me breaks. Not violently, but with a quiet finality that feels worse, the kind of break that doesn’t heal.

“Don’t threaten her. Don't you fucking dare, Grace.” My voice comes out lower, rougher. “Don’t you dare drag her into this.”

She doesn’t back down.

“Then end it. Your work at the James Calloway company is over. Your cover for Thomas Reed is over. Tomorrow morning, if I don’t get confirmation, I go straight to her door.”

I inhale slowly, because I know what comes next. I know the line I’m about to cross, and that once I do, there’s no going back. My voice shakes, but not from fear.

“Don’t you see it? I would go to war for her. With you, against you, against fucking everybody. It doesn’t matter to me. If you threaten her again, if you even breathe in her direction with intent to hurt her…I will use every single thing I’ve learned in ten fucking years of service to protect her.”

Her eyes widen. She's not scared or impressed, just disappointed.

“Jesus Christ, Thomas.”