Page 44 of The Player

"Hope," he said quietly, his voice betraying none of the turmoil he felt inside.

She turned around slowly, her eyes locking onto his with an intensity that made his chest tighten. The others in the conference room shifted between them. There was no mistaking the fury in Hope’s gaze, but there was something else too—something that cut deeper than anger. Fear. It was there, lurking behind the steel in her eyes, and it twisted Seth’s gut in ways he hadn’t expected.

"Seth," she replied, her voice dangerously calm, like the eye of a storm. "I hope you have a damn good explanation for why you thought it was a good idea to go after Valente on your own."

“Now, lass, take a breath…” started Fitzwallace.

Hope whirled on him. “Shut up, Fitz, and don’t call me ‘lass.’” She turned back toward Seth. “What are you staring at? Answer my damn question.”

God, she was sexy. It wasn’t the first time she’d locked horns with Fitz, and it kind of turned Seth on.

He held her gaze, knowing that this was a conversation they had to have, knowing that nothing he could say would fully ease the sting of what he had done. "I did what I had to do, Hope. Valente needed to be taken down, and it was the only way. I’m sorry."

"The only way?" She took a step closer, her anger barely restrained. "You left me! You left us without a word, without backup. Do you have any idea what that felt like? Do you have any idea what it was like wondering if you were dead or alive?"

"I know you’re pissed," Seth said, his tone measured as if trying to defuse a bomb. "And you have every right to be. But I wasn’t going to let Valente slip through our fingers. We needed him, and I made the call to go after him. You were safe, the prisoner was safe?—"

"Safe?" Hope’s voice rose, the cracks in her composure widening. "You could have been killed, Seth! And for what? To play the hero?"

Seth took a breath, trying to keep his own frustration in check. "I wasn’t playing the hero, Hope. I was doing my job. You know what’s at stake here. We’re talking about lives—hundreds of thousands if not millions of them. I couldn’t risk letting Valente escape. You know that."

Her eyes flashed, and she shook her head, turning away from him. "But what about us, Seth? What about me? I’ve lost too much already. I can’t… I can’t lose you, too."

The raw emotion in her voice stopped him cold. This wasn’t just about the mission or the danger they faced—it was about the fear that had been gnawing at her, the fear of losing him. Sick as it was, he kind of liked knowing he meant that much to her—that she loved him with the same depth and intensity that he loved her. Seth moved closer, his heart aching at the sight of her shoulders trembling, her back to him as if she was trying to shield herself from the vulnerability she’d just exposed.

"Hope," he said softly, reaching out to gently turn her back to face him. "I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, and I’m not leaving you. Not now, not ever. You have to trust me on that."

She looked up at him, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "How can I trust that when you keep throwing yourself into danger? How can I trust that when you act like you have nothing to lose?"

Seth cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away the tears that had begun to fall. "I’m not trying to be reckless, Hope. I’m trying to do what needs to be done, for us, for everyone. But I swear to you, I’m not going to leave you. Even if I do something stupid and get myself killed, I won’t leave you—not really. I’ll haunt you forever. I’ll run off any other man, Dom or not, who tries to take my place. I’ll make sure you know you’re still mine and that I’m still around."

A soft, choked laugh escaped her, even as more tears slipped down her cheeks. "You’re such a bastard, Seth. You get that, don’t you?"

"Yeah," Seth agreed, a small smile tugging at his lips. "But I’m your bastard. And you know what? As sorry as I am that I frightened you, I wouldn’t do anything differently.”

Hope punched him—not overly hard, but hard enough that he felt it.

“Not the right answer, lad,” chuckled Fitzwallace.

As one, Hope and Seth turned on him and said in unison, “Shut up, Fitz.”

“Punching me notwithstanding, I’m sorry I scared you, but I’d do it again. You were safe, we saved the girl, and I knew we had to get Valente to pull down the cartel, find the mole, and stop the Cobra."

Hope sniffed, wiping at her eyes as she tried to regain her composure. "I hate that you make sense sometimes."

Seth grinned, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. "You’re going to have to get used to it. We’re in this together, and that means we have to trust each other, even when it’s hard."

She buried her face against his chest, the tension slowly melting away as she let herself relax into his embrace. "Just… don’t scare me like that again, okay? I can’t handle the thought of losing you."

"I’ll do my best," Seth promised, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "But you know me—I’m not exactly the cautious type."

Hope sighed, but there was a hint of a smile in her voice when she spoke again. "I know. And I guess that’s why I love you."

The words wrapped around Seth like a lifeline, grounding him in a way nothing else could. He tightened his hold on her, savoring the feel of her warmth against him, the steady beat of her heart. They had come so far, but they still had a ways to go. But in that moment, they were together, and that was all that mattered.

But the moment was short-lived, as moments like these often were. A knock on the door shattered the fragile peace they had found, and they reluctantly pulled apart as Nigel entered, his expression as serious as ever.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nigel said, his voice carrying the weight of urgency. "Did I miss something?”

---