Page 5

Kabir

This was it.

Back to being the miserable, celibate moron who couldn’t get the woman he wanted.

Again.

Not that I’d ever felt this way before. Not really.

Everything dimmed when it came to Amelia.

My Lia.

And I had to fix this somehow. But I didn’t know what I’d done wrong. I’d given her every chance—every moment—to challenge me, to tell me she wanted more.

But she hadn’t.

Her words had drifted to Sebastian. And now… even her eyes were.

Maybe they always had been.

Who was to say she was always sitting next to me so she could watch him?

Maybe I really was just the best friend she kissed out of curiosity.

A moment of weakness. An option she’d wanted to explore.

Before heading to the Command Center, I stopped by my room, needing to wash the grime and sweat—and the humiliation—off my skin.

Zane had picked up on my agitation. He always did.

“Need a breather before we dive into the White House Crazon?” he’d asked after breakfast.

I hadn’t answered. Just nodded.

The tension in my chest needed a release, and Zane—ever the tactful bastard—gave me one.

We sparred for an hour.

I threw every ounce of confusion and rage into him.

He didn’t flinch. Just took it.

But now?

Now I needed a breather from the breather.

The memory of Amelia’s lips was still so fucking fresh it hurt.

Like it had just happened. Like she’d branded me.

Her trembling lips brushing against mine. My dumbass sitting there stiff—afraid if I moved, the moment would end.

God, if I ever got another chance…

I wouldn’t waste it.

I turned the shower on. Let the hot spray pound against my back like it could burn the memory off me.

But it didn’t.

I closed my eyes and let my thoughts spiral.

Would she even care if she knew how deeply she lived inside me?

Would telling her everything even matter?

Because here I was—ready to take the scraps of her friendship, if it meant staying close to her.

Even if I never touched her again.

Even if that kiss was all I’d ever have.

Fuck .

That kiss was going to ruin me.

The water hit my back in heavy sheets, but it didn’t ease the pressure in my chest. Or lower.

I braced one hand against the tile wall, head bowed under the stream, hoping that maybe the heat could scald the memory of her away.

But it didn’t.

All I could see was her. Her lips—trembling and soft as they met mine that night.

My cock was so achingly hard—imagining things I could probably never have with her.

I gritted my teeth. My forehead dropped against the tile.

It wasn’t even a proper kiss. Not the one I wanted to give her.

Not the the one I’d imagined for years.

I should’ve traced the curve of her mouth until she shivered, kissed her until every doubt she ever had about us melted into nothing.

My hand slid down. Not to ease the ache, but to fuel the fire.

To imagine it was her hand.

Her soft gasp in my ear as I whispered her name like a prayer.

My grip tightened, my body moving in a slow, helpless rhythm.

Each breath a curse.

Because I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Not alone. I should be with her.

My name should be on her lips—like it meant something. Like I meant something.

My release hit harder than I expected, stealing my breath. I slumped forward, the spray of the water washing it all away.

But it couldn’t touch the hollow ache. This wasn’t pleasure anymore.

This was rage.

This was misery.

I stayed like that for a while—motionless, the steam rising like smoke around me. Praying for one more chance to tell her the whole truth.

???

All I had planned was to meet Logan and Kaylan in the evening. He’d asked me to help Kaylan with asset relocation for her parent’s house.

I wasn’t even supposed to be in this Blackthorn building.

But that really was Amelia sprinting out of Sebastian’s apartment, wasn’t it? And I wasn’t imagining the flush on her cheeks.

It was there.

It happened.

It did.

A dull, sinking weight settled deep in my gut.

Fuck.

My own hesitancy had made the decision for us.

Just as I lifted my fist to knock on Logan’s door, my phone vibrated with an alert sound I’d never heard before.

I froze.

I had learned every tone on our Sentrix app—each one engraved in my brain after months of working security here.

But this one?

This one was new.

I yanked my phone from my pocket, my breath catching as I took in the message. The moment I processed it, my stomach lurched.

My pulse roared in my ears.

I slammed my fist against Logan’s door.

Banged again.

And again.

I didn’t stop until I heard the click of the lock.

Logan yanked the door open, his face thunderous. “What the—Kabir?”

The anger melted from his expression as soon as he saw my face.

He knew. Knew something was very, very wrong.

“What is it?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and pinged the entire team, my fingers moving on instinct.

Emergency meeting. Command Center.

Then I barked, “Command Center. Get Kaylan. Now!” before bolting for the elevators.

I needed my laptop. I needed answers.

The elevator doors slid open, and I ran straight into Amelia. She saw my thunderous expression and immediately made the mistake of looking concerned.

Not your problem anymore now, is it, sweetheart ?

I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to control my rage, frustration—grief? It was too much. All of it. Seeing Amelia step out of Sebastian’s apartment had already thrown me off.

And now this.

“Kabir?” Her hand wrapped around my forearm, grounding, warm.

It took everything in me not to shrug it off. Violently.

“Command Center,” I bit out.

She hesitated. “Yeah. I saw your message.”

The moment the elevator dinged, I sprinted out, ignoring the way her voice followed behind me.

The Command Center was quiet. Too quiet. But I spotted Zane in my peripheral vision.

“You saw?” I demanded.

Zane frowned. “Saw what?”

I stilled.

“You didn’t see the Sentrix alert?”

Zane blinked before turning toward the empty conference room behind him.

“I was going to see it eventually. Calm down, Kabir.”

My jaw clenched.

“We don’t have time for eventually .”

I exhaled sharply, rubbing a hand over my face. “The team is coming in a few.”

I stormed toward my desk, grabbed my laptop, and shoved open the conference room doors.

And froze.

There, standing inside, was some nervous, wide-eyed analyst.

Michael? Mitchell? Something with an M.

I snapped. “Out.”

He scrambled and bolted out.

A few minutes later, the whole team was assembled.

Everyone except Ronan Hayden.

I stood at the head of the room, feeling every single eye on me.

“At approximately 1100 hours,” I began, steadying my voice, but my gaze lingered too long on Sebastian. Lingering on the way he was looking at Amelia.

Focus.

“We received a red alert.”

I swallowed. “We didn’t have a way to track Squad Two members. Pedro Becerra and Lancaster Brewer.”

The room went still.

“So…” I forced myself to look at Kaylan. “When I found them in Missouri, I had contacted them. Just a coded message. Gave them enough details to send us an SOS if… if things went bad. They never confirmed they received my message. But today’s alert means they did.”

Kaylan’s eyes glassed over before I even finished the sentence.

I saw Logan’s arms wrap around her.

I needed to get this out. Fast.

“The type of SOS they just sent means that we can assume they are both… deceased.”

Silence.

Nothing.

No one spoke.

No one breathed .

But I had one more thing to say.

“Their SOS was coded with an attached message. They probably used the Bridgewood library.” My voice was hoarse, but I forced the words out.

I turned to Zane and mumbled. “I need your help decoding it.”

He exhaled slowly. And nodded.

“The other reason I called everyone here,” I continued, “There’s an almost certain possibility that Squad Six members—the Alpha Team—are in fatal danger. I wanted to bring up an official Stage II lockdown on all members.”

Sebastian cleared his throat, immediately grabbing my attention. “I vote yes. You’re safe inside the compound, but I can’t guarantee anything outside these walls.”

Zarek nodded in agreement. “I second that. Stage II means free reign within the compound, and no electronic communication with anyone outside of us.”

Some of us who weren’t too numb, nodded. I felt Zarek’s sharp gaze as if the warning was for me. He knew I still kept in touch with Kavya, my sister, every now and then.

Then Logan stood, his hand finding Kaylan’s arm, guiding her out of the room. She looked lost, vacant.

Another family of hers was gone now. I winced.

Once Zane also left the room, I squeezed my eyes shut. I was dreading what message would be coded in that alert.

Zarek’s voice was quieter this time, directed at Leora. “I’m sorry, Mi Corazón . We’ll have to delay the wedding.”

Leora’s head snapped up at him. “You think I’m thinking about that right now?”

She shook her head, dropping her gaze to the floor, her voice barely above a whisper. “We can just… have it here. But it’s not important. Not now.”

A long pause. Then, she softly murmured, “I hope she’s okay.”

Fuck.

Amelia’s small gasp filled the room. “Their families…”

“For fuck’s sake, Falcon,” Delara snapped, cold. “I’m sorry about your colleagues. Truly. I am. But we can’t care about that right now.”

My jaw tightened. Rage coiled inside me, sharp and unexpected. I wanted to snap back and defend Amelia.

But I couldn’t. Because technically—fucking technically —Delara was right. We couldn’t be concerned about that.

“No contact,” she continued, voice final, hard as stone. “Am I clear?”

Sebastian’s voice cut through, sharp, biting.

“Alright, enough.”

Lia smirked and crossed her hands over her chest. “Actually, Shadow , my point about bringing up their families was to see if even our families could become targets.”

Oh shit. She’s right.

And I should have said something, should have stepped in.

Delara didn’t carry even an ounce of remorse over her outburst, but she did relent as she said, “I’ll put a security detail on all Alpha Team families.”

Sebastian lifted his chin in agreement.

And then—as if the knife in my gut wasn’t deep enough—he grabbed Amelia’s hand.

Held it.

And pulled her out of the conference room without looking back.

My throat had never felt tighter.

This was it.

The friendship.

The deluded possibility of a relationship.

Gone, before I could even scramble up.

“You’re gonna do something about that?”

Dylan’s amused voice snapped me out of my spiral.

“About what?” I feigned ignorance.

Leora rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. “First Logan, now him. When will you Squad Six men ever learn?”

I scoffed. “Hey! You’re engaged to a Squad Six man.”

“Yeah, because he finally dislodged his handsome head out of his tight little—”

Her words were muffled by Zarek’s massive hand over her mouth, his entire face beet red.

I laughed—briefly. A rumble in my chest that didn’t quite reach my heart.

Then it faded.

“There’s nothing to be done,” I muttered, shaking my head. “It’s her choice.”

Every word out of my mouth burned. Dylan watched me closely, his expression impassive. Unreadable.

Like he knew I was full of shit. Because I was.

I turned and walked out before anyone else could comment, making my way over to Zane, who was already deep in decoding mode.

I leaned in. “Why was Michael in the conference room?”

Zane sighed dramatically. “His name is Maverick. And nothing. He wants a promotion.”

I needed a distraction. A stupid, reckless distraction.

So, without thinking, I blurted, “And what did he have to do to get it?”

My own badly timed chuckle died the second Zane’s smirk turned victorious.

“I’m not into sexual favors for promoting people, Kabir. Why? Are you offering?”

A strangled cough escaped me. “No!” Behenchod . “I was just joking… fuck!”

Zane chuckled, eyes still glued to his screen, unbothered.

A beat of silence, and then, because I was a fucking idiot, I mumbled petulantly, “I don’t need a promotion, anyway.”

Zane’s head lifted, dramatically slow.

“You’re also straight, not my type, and in love with Amelia.”

I groaned. “Keep decoding, asshole.”

But even as I sat there, watching Zane work, I knew it. I was in love with Amelia and I’d probably already lost her.