Page 30 of Protect Thy Enemy

Her eyes blaze, but her voice stays calm. “I understand that. But Park was responsible for the sweep, and he missed it. I didn’t.”

“That doesn’t matter,” I growl, the frustration bubbling over. “The moment you’re in the field, everything is yourresponsibility. No excuses. And we operate as ateam. Do better to remember that the next time you think about saving your own ass.”

The tension between us crackles. Her gaze locks on mine, fire meeting ice. For a split second, I’m not sure if I want to shake some sense into her or...

Goddammit.

My eyes flick to her lips, and the thought is there before I can stop it. What the hell is wrong with me? This isn’t the time or place. Or ever, for that matter.

But the heat in her gaze only fuels the storm building in my chest. She’s too bold for her own good, too stubborn. Yet something about that stubbornness makes my blood run hotter.

She takes a step back, her voice quiet but firm. “It won’t happen again.”

I don’t know what to expect, but her conviction catches me off guard. She leaves me standing there as she turns and walks away, her back straight, her head held high.

I watch her go, anger simmering beneath the surface. I tell myself it’s because she was careless. Because she could’ve gotten us all killed. But the truth digs deeper. Anyone could’ve missed the device. I know that.

So why am I so angry?

The answer flickers at the edge of my mind, but I shove it down, burying it beneath years of discipline and control.

Later, back at my desk, the memory of the detail crashes over me again, dragging me further back.

The glint of metal beneath the bench. The soft beep of the device.

“Move!” I’d barked, pulling her back just in time. The adrenaline had burned hot, my instincts on overdrive. But it wasn’t just that.

It was Leo.

The flashback is instant, unrelenting. The dark alley. The metallic tang of blood in the air. The weight of his lifeless, battered body as I dragged it from the explosion.

“We can’t save everyone, Holden. But someone has to try.”

I’d tried that night. Tried and failed. And now, watching Williams stand her ground, chin lifted despite the firestorm in her eyes, I feel the same weight creeping in.

She has the same potential to get herself killed if she doesn’t open her eyes.

Because caution may keep you alive, but the second you hesitate, you’ll realize a second too late that it’s already too late.

I lean back in my chair, pinching the bridge of my nose.

Tate’s words from earlier echo in my head.“Maybe what she needs is a leader who has her back.”

I need to focus. On the job. On making sure this team doesn’t fall apart.

But as I glance at her name on the roster, the frustration twists into something else. A much darker emotion I’m too ashamed to admit.

Chapter Eleven

Arden

The office after hours is unnerving. It’s like sitting in a haunted house, and I’m not entirely convinced this place isn’t full of ghosts. But I’m grateful for the occasional clatter of a distant keyboard or the faint drone of the copier, letting me know I’m not alone, no matter how scattered.

My desk lamp casts a dim pool of light over the report in front of me, but I’m not really reading it.

I should be focused. Harris’s debrief replaying in my head should’ve been enough to keep me occupied. Instead, my mind circles back to the detail, to the device, to Grant.

His voice had been sharp, cutting through the adrenaline like a blade:“Move!”The heat of his hand on my arm as he pulled me back is still imprinted on my skin.

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