Page 123 of Illicit

Great. Now Brax is a suck ass.

Teagan motions around the room. “Obviously, I didn’t think it would turn into this. I didn’t expect it to be tied to the DEA let alone the CIA. I planned to find out where Heath Hayes was and tell his family. That’s it.”

Tim drags a hand down his face and finally looks like he’s had two sleepless nights. “Teagan, you have no idea what the hell you’re doing.”

“I’d beg to differ,” Cole spouts. “We all had to start somewhere.”

Tim narrows his eyes at Cole. “Shut the fuck up. She’s not a secret agent. She’s a journalist—not to mention she’s my baby. She is not doing this shit.”

“Dad—”

There’s no way I can sit here and let Teagan sit through this—not when she’s worked as hard as she has. I step in and position myself at her back. I’m not touching her, but I am close. “Calm down. Teagan has been working with the Heath family for months. It would’ve taken multiple wires and countless affidavits to get where she got. She was never in any danger, even when I found her working on her own. She’s smart.”

Tim doesn’t have a chance to respond, because Teagan beats him to it. She twists and nudges my chest. “After all this time, now you’ll admit I was never in danger?”

I try to bite back my smirk. “For the most part.”

She shakes her head and smiles. “You’re a piece of work.”

I shrug. “Can you blame me?”

“Well, not now. But then, yes. I totally blamed you. You were such an ass.”

“It always starts out with an asshole, doesn’t it?”

We all look at Cole. He’s wearing a wolfish grin.

“What?” he acts affronted. “I’m just saying, I think we’ve all been the asshole at one point. And look at us now … every single one of us is living the dream. Welcome to the club, Roc.”

“What club?” Tim exclaims before he turns his attention to his daughter. “What the hell is he talking about?”

Teagan takes a step back. Whether she means to or not, her back collides with my chest.

And whether I mean to or not, my hand wraps around her hip.

It’s instinctual and deliberate.

Tim’s gaze turns to a glare when it shifts from his daughter to me. “What the fuck.”

Well then.

Not a question.

A statement.

Teagan leans into me farther, and her hand wraps around mine where I hold her tight.

“Dad—” she tries again, but this time he interrupts her.

“No.” He shakes his head. “No fucking way. When did this happen?”

Teagan tenses against me.

Tim’s glare shoots daggers at me and raises his voice. “Answer me, dammit.”

“Dad, stop it. It hasn’t been that long—” Teagan starts.

“It’s been building,” I interrupt. “Trust me, I did everything I could to ignore it. I even tried being the asshole Cole described. That was almost two years ago.”

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