Page 117 of The Boss

I reach out and grab her hand. “I am not spitting at anything. I just don’t think it’s love. Lust, yes. Friendship, maybe. But now that I’m off the compound and have taken a step back, it seems a bit more like Stockholm syndrome.”

“Except Van is not your captor.”

“Isn’t he? Manipulated me into caring for him just in time for,” I make air quotes, “Commandto swoop in and recruit me.”

“Then why is he still here, now, moping around like a puppy waiting for his owner? If that was his goal, it’s over. He delivered you to O. Why is he sitting in the basement holding his breath until you ask to see him?”

I huff in frustration, “He should have gone home!”

“And if he wasn’t in love with you, he would have!”

“Why?” I push my friend, “Why are you campaigning so hard for him?”

She grabs both my hands in hers, “Because heseesyou. He’s not some boy who just thinks you’re hot. He’s not a man trying to shut you up or calm you down. He’s not holding you back and he doesn’t hold back with you.” She shudders as she continues, “I saw some video of you two in his gym, it was terrifying. He’s incredible and you’re incredible with him, Lu. Even more so than usual, I mean. He wants to do everything he can to give you your dream—leadership, power, the opportunity to lead, to make a difference.”

“If I want to make a difference, I should go with Allie,” I say, not wanting to think too long about all she just said.

“Wow,” Ellie throws me some very unusual sass, “so you won’t trust your husband but you’ll go off to who knows where with a woman you just met?”

“She’s not asking me to love her!” I sass right back, “And I want to solve this puzzle. I want to get to the bottom of who is really fucking with us, how and why.”

“So that’s it? You vanish and never see any of us again?” Her eyes fill with tears. Mine do too.

I sniff and give her a glare with no anger behind it, “You know I’ll find a way to see you.”

“You better.”

“So,” I straighten against her guest room bed’s luxurious tufted headboard, “You think I need to make some calls or are they listening in and already on their way?”

“Mark?” Ellie asks the room, not even raising her voice.

“Incoming in two hours!” He yells back from…somewhere.

“I have to say again, I really,reallyhate your husband,” I whisper to my friend.

Again, his voice booms from the hall, “You’re a real fucking delight, yourself.”

Rolling her eyes at both of us, Ellie just laughs.

Her laugh dies when Van shows up in the doorway looking like an angry bear. He’s sweaty and panting, just coming from a workout or a fight. Or both.

Damn it, he’s hot. And beautiful. Under the forehead scar that made him who he is, his black eyes see straight into my mind and his lip twitches. Irritating, sexy bastard.

Lust is not love, Luna.

I sigh, Ellie mumbles some awkward excuse and rushes out of the room. Coward.

“You’re leaving,” his voice is low and cutting.

“Wow, word travels fast around—.”

“Come down to the range with me,” he says suddenly.

I chuckle, “Um, I was shot?”

“You think you won’t have to defend yourself when injured? Won’t have to fire back after you’ve been hit? You’re smarter than that. And stronger. Come on.”

I inhale and will myself to refuse him. I’m leaving. This is over. No point hearing him out again. But training with him is my siren song and he knows it, the bastard. I twist to get out of bed and expect him to rush to help me. He doesn’t. I want to call him an asshole but instead I think of Ellie’s voice.He’s not holding you back and he doesn’t hold back with you.