Page 29 of Secret Mission

This time when she speaks, she’s spitting fire, and years of training tell me this is the beginning of a cathartic moment for her.

“I don’t freaking know what to do, or who to trust! Or where to go—I’m not even sure where to hide anymore.”

My protective instincts flame up, scorching through me, making my breath rasp, and my hands flex into tight fists.

“It’s okay Ally, I understand.”

“No. You don’t. How can you?”

What I feel for Allison is beyond duty. This feels innate. Primal. Locked in marrow, twisted within the coils of my DNA.

“You don’t have to make these decisions alone. I’m here.”

The promise hangs in the air. Hovering between us as she watches me, her expression morphing to wariness.

“Nice speech, Mortal Kombat.”

Fuck, me. I can hear the gray hair growing at my temples.

“I’ve been hired to keep you safe. You might not get the depth of what that means. But I will guard you with my life. Over and over again. With my knife. My gun. My bare hands. Whatever it takes. For however long it takes.”

Her lips part.

She glances at my fists, and the color on her high cheekbones deepens.

Silence lengthens between us before she swallows roughly.

“I would love to believe you. Honestly, I’ve never felt that kind of safety. But… but…” She shakes her head slowly. “I don’t know who to trust, especially given that my father hired a company—your employer—to find me. You could just be taking me to him.”

This guts me.

“Are you safe with him?”

“My father? No.” She grimaces for a split second before glancing down. “I mean really, I don’t know. But I’d never go to him willingly.”

“Then trustmeto help you get to the bottom of your problems. I only want to help you.”

When her arms wrap around her middle and the slope of her shoulders rounds, I feel her despair to the bottom of my gut.

“Allison.” I soften my tone. “You’re not alone now. You can count on me.”

Her hand returns to the hem of my shirt—the one she’s wearing—where she worries the tips of her fingers into the fabric. “Why aren’t you regrouping with your team?”

This, I don’t answer for the second time. Because I don’t fucking know.

I lean against the canopy’s pole and drop my attention to the floor.

Looking at her in my shirt is…

A very bad idea.

Then she rakes the coals simmering inside of me by using a soft, unsure voice and a question I’m not ready for.

“Am I safe here withyou?”

Rolling my neck, I answer honestly. “Depends on how safe you want to be.”

When I look up, she’s frozen, except for the way her tongue dances out, traces the corner of her lip and disappears.