Sinful Deception (Covert Affairs Book 3)
Page 13
But what had been stretching over his handsome face when he’d set down his weapon and opened himself to a bullet in the hopes of getting Cedro to let her go had been guilt. She hadn’t recognized it in the moment. Or when she’d told him to fuck himself. Or even when she’d demanded to get out of there without talking to him first. She only recognized it now, when she’d had time to decompress, and could replay it all in her mind. When it was too late to take the words back.
She dropped her forehead to her knees with a heavy exhale. It didn’t matter now. After this, he wouldn’t want her. What Cedro had done tainted everyone it touched, and now he’d touched Marcus. He’d touched the fragile beginnings of their relationship.
The door opened, and she looked up so fast—hoping to see Marcus—that her head swam. She winced and pressed her hand to her temple.
“Sorry.” The voice was male and deep, but not Marcus’s. Tova had already talked with several men tonight, including someone from the attorney general’s office. Now she gingerly lifted her lashes to see another man, Hispanic, strikingly handsome with dark skin, dark hair, and bright green eyes, standing near the door. He wore a gun and a badge on his belt, khakis, and a deep-blue polo shirt. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“That’s kind of easy to do lately.” She uncurled her legs and sat straight in the chair, taking his hand when he offered it.
“I’m Rio Cordova, chief of investigations.”
She barely managed to keep from blowing him off. How many times could she repeat the same information?
He pulled the only other chair in the room to her side, sitting next to her instead of across from her, and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I know this has been…traumatizing…for you, Tova. But I wanted you to know what kind of difference your help made here tonight.” He set several papers down on the table. “Today, we kept fifty-four criminals off American streets. These are the three most dangerous, all of whom are guilty of multiple murders, torture, kidnapping, rape, assault, drug and weapons trafficking, and a slew of other, smaller charges.”
He spread out the three images, and Tova glanced at their faces, but all she saw were average-looking, young Hispanic males. In a better frame of mind, she might have remembered seeing them at some point today.
“These two”—Rio split two fingers and tapped the last two images—“have been linked to the group that orchestrated 9/11.” He clasped his hands. “Not only are these guys off the streets, but they’ll eventually give us even more valuable intel on other bad guys still out there.”
Tova nodded, caught between relief and regret. “What will happen to Cedro?”
Rio sat back and crossed his arms. “A lot of that depends on Cedro. If he chooses to help us secure charges against the Zetas, we can help with his sentence, his prison placement. If not…”
Rio didn’t have to finish. Tova knew if Cedro didn’t help them, the cartel would eventually kill him. The thought wrenched her heart. “Can I go now?”
“Yes. I’ll have someone take you home,” he said, pushing to his feet. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and fished out a business card, offering it to her. “If there’s anything you need, if you have any questions, please call.”
She glanced blankly at the front of the white card with simple black lettering and the ICE emblem in the corner. Randomly, she wondered if Marcus had business cards, then pushed the odd thought away.
“For what it’s worth,” Rio said, drawing her blurry gaze from the card, “I’m the one who came up with the plan of having you come on the raids to identify Cedro, not Marcus. He went along with it because he believed, as I did and still do, that it was the only way to keep your brother out of cartel hands, which will ultimately save his life.”
“Thank you.” She managed a weak smile, more for Rio’s attempt to come to Marcus’s aid than because of what he said. “But…” Her gaze slid back to the card, but she was thinking about Marcus. “I’d pretty much already figured that out.”
* * * * *
Marcus stood at the door to her interview room an extra second, steeling himself for whatever came. He’d lied to her, used her, and put her in harm’s way. Her family had been shredded. And her brother… God only knew what would happen to him.
It was over between them. Over before it had even gotten a decent start. He had to face it.
“Just get it over with,” he told himself and opened the door.
She sat in the chair, legs pulled up, arms crossed on top of her knees, head down. She didn’t look up. He didn’t blame her; she had to be exhausted. But she wasn’t asleep, because her hands occasionally clenched, then released—as if she were getting ready to punch something.
Since he’d beat himself up enough for one day, he set the fresh bottle of water he’d brought on the table and stepped back. Out of range. When she still didn’t move, he cleared his throat. “I, um…brought you some pain meds—”
Her head darted up, but her gaze hadn’t even cleared before a grimace twisted her face. She groaned and put her hand over her forehead. “Fuck. Why do I keep doing that?”
Marcus had to fist his hands to keep from reaching out to soothe her. “Want some Advil? Tylenol? I’ve got both.”
“Yes and yes.” She held out her hand, and Marcus dropped the pills into her palm. After she popped them into her mouth, he handed her the water. Then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stood there…like a teenaged boy sent to apologize to a shopkeeper he’d stolen from. Only…this time, no apology would do.
“Tova—” he started, then closed his eyes a split second before meeting her gaze again. And opened his mouth to speak.
“I know,” she said, voice rough but soft.
“Know what?”
“You had to lie because I wouldn’t have believed Cedro was involved if you’d told me. And I wouldn’t have gone to identify him.” She glanced down at the table, her voice growing even softer. “I would have felt like I was betraying him.”
All the air left Marcus’s chest. Every defense disappeared. “I’m…so sorry.”
She laughed, the sound sad, licked her lips, and lifted her gaze back to his. “Yeah, I know that too. It’s been written all over you all damn day. I didn’t realize what it was until after everything had happened.” She nodded. “It’s your job. And you love your job.”
His jaw clenched. “This isn’t the part I love.”
She sat straighter, hands in her lap, and took a deep breath. Her face was ravaged with tears. “You know what part I don’t love? The part where you put your gun down when someone still had one pointed at you.” Her voice grew stronger. Her expression angrier. Her gaze glassed over with more tears. “He was totally freaked-out. In over his head. He could have shot you. Right in front of my damn eyes, Marcus.”
“Tova—”
“I know why you did it, I understand, but that doesn’t make it right. You shouldn’t have risked yourself that way.”
She turned her hand over on the table and reached toward him. His throat squeezed, his mind twisted, unsure he was seeing right, interpreting correctly. When it remained, he took a chance and slid his hand into hers. And when she didn’t jerk away, hope rushed through him like light, and he crouched in front of her.
“Cedro was wrong.” She pulled his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to the backs of his fingers, and the sight sucker punched him. “In a hundred ways, he was wrong. I know you weren’t trying to hurt me. Or Cedro. You were doing what was right.”
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. Then reached up and slid his hand over her soft hair as relief unfurled in his heart. He’d never been with a woman who understood him without ever having to explain himself.
She sighed heavily, and her shoulders lowered as if her stress were draining in front of his eyes. Lifting their joined hands, she turned them to press his against her cheek. “Someone once told me there are three ways to get to know a person.” She took a breath a
nd lifted her head so their gazes met. “Sex, stress, and time.”
Something burned uncomfortably beneath his ribs. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She moved close and kissed him softly. The touch of her lips felt electric. And the soft little turn of her mouth eased his heart for the first time since he’d spoken to Rio that morning. “I really like what I know of you from the first two. And I’d like to see what the third one brings.”
He lowered to his knees and took her face between his hands, disbelief dropping his mouth open. “Really?”
“Really.” Her tired grin deepened. “If…you want that too.”
He nodded and kissed her. “Yeah,” he said softly, kissing her again. “I definitely want that too.”
She slid forward on the chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Really?”
His arms closed around her and he pulled her into him until their chests were flush. “Really.”
“Can we start the timer on that clock now?” she asked.
He pushed her hair back, and ran his thumbs over her damp cheeks, kissing her gently. “Baby,” he whispered, “as far as I’m concerned, the sooner the better.”