Page 37 of Rebel Protector
“How could you have?” She sank into one of the patio chairs, shoulders slumped. “Alek didn’t want anyone to know. He said his enemies would use me to get to him.”
Ghost clenched his fists. He was right. Markov had plenty of enemies, and she’d be the perfect pawn. A prime target.
“I never would’ve asked you to help me if I’d known,” Ghost muttered. Guilt crashed over him like the waves in front of his cabin.
She glanced up, her eyes filled with questions he couldn’t answer. “And you wouldn’t have told me who you really were, either. Would you?”
He didn’t respond. They both knew the truth.
“And just now…” Her voice wavered, barely holding steady. “Was that all a part of your plan? Did you come here to seduce me into helping you spy on him?”
“Of course not.” He tried to meet her gaze but couldn’t. It was more complicated than that. He didn’t know how to explain it, how to separate his feelings from the mission.
She dropped her head, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. “I see.”
“Becca, it’s not like that. What happened… that was real. It meant something.”
“Please, Dom, don’t make this worse. I’d like to keep what’s left of my dignity.”
His throat tightened. What could he say? He had come here to ask her to help him, but he hadn’t expected the flood of emotions, the connection that had sparked between them. It had all gotten tangled up in a way he hadn’t seen coming.
“I’d like you to leave now.”
“Becca, please. We need to talk this through.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing else to say.”
He hesitated, rooted to the spot, unwilling to move.
Her face hardened, her voice sharp. “What did you expect, Dom? A happily ever after? You know there’s no such thing.”
Fuck, he felt like such a jerk.
“It was just sex.” She turned away from him and walked inside, her voice softening in resignation. “You know the way out.”
And just like that, she dismissed him.
He stood there like an idiot, staring after her.
Well done, Ghost. Way to screw everything up.
Eventually, he followed her inside, bending to grab his shirt from the lounge floor. He pulled it on, the scent of her stillclinging to the fabric like a cruel reminder of what they’d just shared.
She was in the kitchen, her back stiff, her hands gripping the counter. Her whole body was rigid, vibrating with tension.
“He’s a bad man, Becca,” he said softly. “There are things he’s done that shouldn’t go unpunished.”
“I know.” Her voice broke on a whisper. “But he’s still my dad. And I’ve only just gotten him back.”
Ghost clenched his jaw, frustration biting at him. “He doesn’t deserve your loyalty. If things go south, he’ll throw you to the wolves without a second thought.”
“You don’t know that.” She swung around to face him, her eyes blazing with anger and fear.
“Yeah, I do. He’s a psychopath, Becca. He only cares about one thing—himself.”
For a moment, her expression faltered. He could see the doubt, the fear of what she already knew but wouldn’t admit.
“If you want to take him down, fine,” she spat. “But don’t use me to do it.”