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“Or maybe—just maybe, and go with me on this…I’m not guilty of murder!Maybe Eb is considering that truth.Maybe the fact that some psycho set my house on fire, stole my bat, and used it to beat a Russian gang member to death makes Eb feel like he could have been wrong about me.”All of those factors had better make the man reconsider.“As far as the safe house is concerned…” She honestly did not hate the idea.Because staying in the guesthouse again?Yeah, no.She’d prefer the safe house, thanks so much.“I’m in.”He could give her the address, and she’d find a way to get to the location.
“I expected more of an argument,” Eb muttered.
“Then you expected the wrong thing.Tell me the house is ready right now.”The sooner she got there, the better.Though Eb could find his own place to stay.Either he was on her side or he needed to get the hell away.
He nodded.“I have a friend who has already arranged things for us.”He took her hand.
Very deliberately, she tugged her hand away from him.A friend, huh?Wasn’t she staring at hisfriend?“I think your friend is here.She’s standing a few feet away from you.”
“Let’s cut through the BS.”
“I would love to do that.Grand idea.”
He swallowed.“You heard everything I said, didn’t you?”
“I heard.I saw.Pretty sure that was her plan.”Do not dare shatter in front of him.“And your plan—just so we are all on the same page—was to get my big, bad confession.You were even willing to seduce it out of me, hmm?Talk about taking one for the team.”
“Eb!”Madeline’s sharp voice.
His expression turned stark.No, wrong word.Savage.“You think that’s what I did?”
“I know it.I know?—”
“Yes, there’s a hit on you.”Madeline pushed between them.Faced Naomi with blazing green eyes.“And I’m the hitman.”She yanked out her gun.Aimed it right at Naomi.“Guess what?Bang.You’re dead.”
ChapterFourteen
Eb grabbedthe gun in a blink and snatched it right from Madeline’s fingers.“What in the hell are you doing?”He quickly positioned his body right in front of Naomi’s.“That isn’t funny.”
“Good.Because I’m not laughing.Stop this bullshit lover’s quarrel and focus.”Madeline grabbed for her gun.
He didn’t let it go.
Her brows shot up.“Eb?”She tugged on the weapon.“I’m giving you an order.Release the gun.”
“Did you forget?”A silky reply.“I don’t take orders from you or from anyone else at the Agency.Not any longer.And you don’t ever fucking aim a gun at her.” That shit had not been funny.Bang.You’re dead.What.The.Fuck?
Half of Madeline’s mouth kicked into a smile.“Ah.I see that you’ve fallen to the same affliction that took Hudson.Be careful.You might wake up with a knife in your chest.”
Okay, now he was really pissed the hell off.Naomi knows that I lied to her.She knows that I came here to get her locked away.Shit, shit.Talk about a clusterfuck.He should have remembered just how good Madeline was at manipulation.His old boss probably thought that seeing a fresh betrayal might lead Naomi to crack.
Only…
Eb glanced over his shoulder.
Naomi stared back at him with dry eyes and a lifted chin.Grim determination—and a quiet fury—cloaked her.She was not a woman about to crack.Not even close.
A rumble came from Henry.
His gaze dropped to the dog.Those golden eyes of Henry’s didn’t seem particularly warm in that moment.
“He doesn’t like you anymore,” Naomi informed him way too enthusiastically.“It’s a feeling he and I both share.”
Sonofabitch.The dog was mad at him, too?But he liked that dog!“Let me explain.”
“Give me back my damn gun!”Madeline tugged harder.“It’s not loaded!I took the bullets out before I came into interrogation.After that agent got his ass shot that time in Boston, with his own weapon, you know the rule is to keep bulletsoutof our sessions!”
He was well acquainted with the rule.