Hero (18 page)

I blinked, surprised. “You must have been a very young agent to be an instructor.”

His bright green eyes hardened to jade. “I was.”

“Did you like teaching? Why did you leave Quantico to go into the field?”

His jaw firmed. “I thought you wanted to know about the Latin Kings,” he redirected me.

“I want to know about you,” I clarified smoothly. “Why did you leave Quantico?”

“Because they made me. The Bureau frowns on instructors having relationships with recruits.”

For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say. I’d obviously pried into deeply personal territory. Curiosity made me press on. “So they sent you to Chicago. Is that something they could have fired you for?”

He glowered at me. “They could have. They didn’t.”

“What happened to the recruit? The one you had a relationship with. Did they kick her out?”

His eyes flashed before going cold. “She died.”

Abruptly, he pushed back from the table and stood. “This interview is over. So is our arrangement. With the next agent you shadow, I suggest you stay focused on your Latin Kings story.”

“Jason, wait.” I stood as well, reaching for his hand. He jerked his arm back and fixed me with a warning scowl.

“We’re done,” he announced, his deep voice icy with contempt. “You can shadow Miller, and Dex can fucking deal with it. Or he can finally act on his long-harbored desire to kill him. Either way, I’m out.”

My brow furrowed. “Why would Dex want to kill Reed?” It had been obvious that Dex hadn’t liked him, but I couldn’t imagine Dex being capable of that level of hatred.

Jason barked out a cold, cruel laugh. “Maybe you should spend more time interviewing the man you’re fucking and leave the rest of us alone.”

I flinched at the crass way he described my relationship with Dex.

Regret flickered across his hard features for a fraction of a second. Then his jaw firmed, and he tore his gaze from mine with a sharp shake of his head. Without another word, he stormed out of the café.

I shifted on my feet, debating whether or not I should go after him and apologize. I didn’t like that I’d upset him.

After a few fretful seconds, I sat back down with a sigh, deciding to wait for Dex. I’d give Jason some space. And I’d figure out a tactful way to ask Dex about why he hated Reed Miller.

“
T
hanks
for the assist back there,” I told Sam with a smile as we walked back to her desk. “You just saved my ass. And Chloe’s. If Parkinson had kicked us out, she would have been devastated.”

She stumbled slightly, and I caught her upper arm automatically to help steady her. She tensed at the contact, and I quickly released her. Sometimes, I forgot that Sam wasn’t comfortable with me touching her. I allowed her to fall a step ahead of me, giving her some space. She blew out a sigh, and her shoulders relaxed.

When she sat down at her desk, her bright smile was firmly back in place. She gestured for me to sit as well. I pulled up a chair and straddled it, situating myself close enough to her that we could talk without being overheard.

“Glad I could help,” she said cheerily. “So, are you going to tell me why I haven’t seen you online on STEAM in weeks? I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“With Chloe Martin?” she asked in a stiff tone I didn’t quite understand.

“Well, yeah. I’ve been protecting her while she’s researching the Latin Kings for her story.”

“Jason could have done that,” she said, her voice still tight. “You’ve been in Chicago for over a week now. And I haven’t seen you at all.”

So that’s what this was about? I guess I had been a shitty friend to Sam.

I ran a hand over my hair, flustered.

“I should have asked if you wanted to hang out while I was in town. Sorry,” I apologized. “I’ve just been really worried about Chloe. The Kings are still widespread and dangerous in Chicago. I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

“Yes,” she commented. “I know.”

I took a moment to study my friend. Her smile was still fixed in place, but the corners of her lips twitched. Her light blue eyes were slightly stormier than usual.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Is there something going on with you that I should know about?”

She sighed and tossed her short orange hair. “It’s what’s going on with
you
that I’m worried about.” Her cheery pretense dropped, and suddenly she regarded me with uncharacteristic seriousness. “I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

I stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t give me that crap, Dex.”

I stared at her, shocked by her sudden ferocity. Sam never got aggressive with me. She was shy, introverted. She rarely said a harsh word to me in the heat of an online battle, much less in person.

“I saw how you were with Katie,” she pressed. “You’re the same way with Chloe. I saw you the day you followed her here. And just now in the surveillance feed in the elevator. It’s like she’s the only person in your world when you’re around her.”

“Sam,” I said her name in warning.

“You should be careful,” she rattled on over me. “You were so upset about losing Katie that you left me. You left us, I mean. The Chicago field office. Where are you going to run next time when some perfect pin-up breaks your heart again?”

“Sam,” I barked out.

Her mouth closed with an audible
snap
, her teeth clicking together. Her eyes widened with horror.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I got carried away. Of course I don’t… I’m just… I care about you, Dex.” She was stammering. While that wasn’t uncommon for Sam, her anguished expression wasn’t characteristic. “You deserve to be with someone who feels the same way about you as you do about them. You should be with someone who really cares about you.”

I sucked in a deep breath and did my best to give her a reassuring smile. The allusion to Katie might have rattled me, but I knew Chloe wasn’t like the woman who’d broken my heart.

“I am with someone who cares about me,” I said firmly. “Chloe is great. She’s sweet and giving, and we have a lot in common.”

Sam sighed. “I guess you do. She does have excellent taste in TV shows.”

I paused. “How would you know that?” To my knowledge, Sam hadn’t spent any time with Chloe. They’d barely even met.

Sam turned beet red beneath her freckles, and her eyes cut away from mine. “I might have hacked her Netflix account. And her social media.”

I stared at her. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I was worried about you,” she said in a rush, still not looking at me. “I knew you were spending a lot of time with her. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t shady. You know how reporters can be. They say one thing to your face to get you to open up, and then they blast you in print. And then there’s her fiction. She writes about BDSM, but she’s been candid in interviews about not being in the lifestyle. And I know that’s not what you want. You—”

She stopped abruptly.

She wasn’t the only one whose cheeks were red. I’d always been careful to keep my kinky lifestyle separate from work.

“Who told you?” I asked quietly, struggling to contain my anger and embarrassment. “Miller?” I knew he was open about his interest in BDSM. Had he told the whole field office about me after I left? Surely Jason hadn’t said anything.

“I, ah…” She shifted, glancing at me once before looking away. “I figured it out for myself.”

“You hacked into my life,” I realized, the words leaving me cold. She was the best hacker at the Bureau. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to track down my online activities, to check into my most frequented websites. “Why did you do that, Sam?”

“I’m sorry,” she said desperately. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I stood abruptly. I needed to get away from my friend before I said something I might regret.

“Where are you going?” she asked, alarmed.

I fixed her with a level stare. “To find Chloe. You’re wrong about her. She does care about me. She’s good for me. You will not cyberstalk her again. Or me, for that matter. Am I clear?”

“Dex, I—”

“Am. I. Clear?” I bit out each word.

She nodded mutely, her eyes huge, her freckles standing out in stark contrast to her pale face. Usually, the sight would have made me want to comfort her, but I was too fueled by righteous anger to be moved at the moment.

I turned and strode away from her, leaving the field office. As I rode the elevator down to ground level, I contemplated what had just passed between us.

Hearing Sam compare Chloe to Katie had been hard. Not only because the thought of Katie still held its own pain, but because the comparison made me realize just how much I had come to care for Chloe. Ever since I’d met her, she’d intrigued me. Yes, she was beautiful, but she was also intelligent and playful. I’d thought she was so like Katie, with her tough armor protecting her inner pain from the world.

But Chloe wasn’t simply a shadow of the woman I had loved. She was real: vital and witty and warm. She challenged me when I needed it and submitted to me so sweetly when I’d earned it.

As soon as elevator doors finally slid open, I hurried out into the sunlight and across the street, eager to get back to Chloe. I caught sight of her through the café window. Her delicate profile was tilted slightly as she thought, a pen caught between her teeth.

Jason wasn’t with her.

“Where’s Jason?” I asked when I reached her table. “Why did he leave you by yourself?”

Her chocolate eyes were sad when they focused on me. “I upset him, and he left. I didn’t mean to. I wanted to apologize, but I think he needs time to cool off. He said he doesn’t want me to shadow him anymore.”

“What?” I demanded, reaching into my pocket to pull out my phone. “Let me talk to him. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.”

“Wait.” Her small fingers closed around my hand, stopping me from finding Jason’s contact details. “Let’s give him a day, okay? I need to call Javier to interview him, anyway. I still haven’t done that.” Her eyes turned cautious. “If Jason really doesn’t want to work with me anymore, he said I can shadow Reed Miller. I know you… Well, I don’t want that to be a problem between us. I know you don’t like him.”

I sighed and pulled up a chair, sitting close enough that my thigh could brush up against hers.

“I don’t trust him,” I said after a moment. “I’d prefer for you to stay with Jason.”

“Then that’s what I want, too,” she said, her gaze searching mine. “I don’t want to be the reason you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset.”

“You would be if I were riding with Reed. I saw how angry you were when you first came after me in the Chicago field office. You must really hate him.”

I braced for the rush of white-hot rage that was always brought on by the mention of Reed Miller. It wasn’t as visceral as it once had been, but it wasn’t altogether absent, either. I didn’t want Miller anywhere near Chloe.

“I don’t want him to take you from me,” I said, surprising both of us. I hadn’t meant to say anything like that.

“What do you mean?” she asked, bewildered. “You think he won’t let you come along with us?”

I shook my head. “I mean, you’re a gorgeous woman and a submissive, and Miller might decide he wants you.”

Her full lips firmed. “Dex, be serious. Reed is with Katie. He has been ever since I met him two years ago. They’re engaged. He’s not going to come on to me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Of course that’s what I’m worried about,” I said, more loudly than I’d intended. “You don’t know Miller like I do. He’s an arrogant bastard, and he takes what he wants.”

She stared at me, incredulous. “So, what? You think Reed will just swoop in and
take
me? Don’t I get a say in this?”

I gritted my teeth against my mounting anger, none of which was directed at her. Most of it was for Miller, but a good portion was aimed back at myself. I hated how thinking about my loss could make me lose all composure.

I jolted at the touch of her soft fingertips on my clenched jaw.

“Hey,” she said gently, calling me back to her. “I
do
get a say in this. And I’m not interested in Reed Miller. I want to be with you, Dex. If continuing my research on the Latin Kings means I’ll have to shadow Reed, then I’ll stop right now and work with what I have. I would never do anything to hurt you.” She let out a little ragged laugh. “God, how many times have you promised me that? And I should have been saying it back to you all along.” She brought her other hand up to my face so she cupped my cheeks, commanding my full attention. “I’m not going to hurt you, Dex,” she said fervently before boldly pressing her lips to mine.

She poured her promise into the kiss, and I responded with equal intensity, silently swearing my devotion to her in return.

Chloe was my sub, and I would take care of her. But she was proving to me that she would take care of her Master, too.

* * *

C
hloe’s beauty
was impossibly enhanced under the deep golden light that illuminated Dusk. It shined down on her, teasing me with flashes of her tanned skin through her sheer black lace dress. The material was just thick enough around her breasts to conceal her nipples, and a scrap of a black thong covered her pussy. I wanted to rip it all off her. The thin garment would make a satisfying sound as it tore open, revealing her to me.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, suspicious. “You look… I don’t know.
Hungry.
”

I gave her a wolfish grin. “That’s an accurate description of what I’m feeling. I’m definitely hungry, with you on the menu.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s quite a line, Dex. Have you used it before?”

I hooked my thumb beneath her jaw, capturing her face so she had no choice but to look up at me. “Are you being impertinent with your Master? I should remind you that you’ve never been to a BDSM club with me. We play by stricter rules here, princess.”

“Of course we’ve been to a BDSM club together before. Do you not remember how we met?”

I traced my fingers over her perfect lips. “That was different. You weren’t mine then.”

Her breath caught. “Oh.”

A low laugh rumbled from my chest, and I brushed a quick, doting kiss across her lips. “You are very cute, sweet sub.”

“Dex?” a new, feminine voice called out to me. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re here!”

My stomach dropped.

Katie.

I removed my hand from Chloe’s face and did my best to arrange my mouth in a smile as I casually leaned on the high table where we were standing.

“Hi, Sparrow,” I greeted her, automatically using my pet name for her.

She was little more than a flash of copper hair before she launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she held me close. Her cleavage pressed against my chest, and her familiar scent assailed me. I stood stiffly in her hold, frozen by the shock of her sudden nearness after so many years at arm’s-length.

“Katie,” Reed’s voice came out in a deep, dominant tone. “You’re suffocating him. I know he’s big, and I know you’re excited to see him, but you’re going to crush him.”

She laughed, a melodic sound that stirred too many bittersweet memories. She pulled away, but she braced her hands on my forearms, maintaining physical contact.

“I’m just so excited to see you,” she gushed, oblivious to my discomfort. “I’ve missed you so much since you moved to New York. I haven’t even talked to you since the night Reed and I got engaged.”