Page 17 of Braxton

Suddenly her eyes felt wet and she squeezed them shut, hating herself for showing emotion. She used to be so good at shutting it down. So good at convincing herself she didn’t need anyone, especially not the man who she thought betrayed her.

“Quinn.” His voice sounded as broken as she felt.

“But when I called you…you didn’t believe me,” she insisted.

“The CIA showed me supposed proof of your involvement, but I still had my doubts. Your running didn’t help, and I was suspended from active duty for three months.”

“What proof?” she demanded.

“Photos of you meeting with a known arms dealer and handing him the specs for the latest military drone. Specs only a handful of people had access to, me being one of them.”

“That’s fucking bullshit! I never did that! I swear to God, Brax, it wasn’t me.”

His steely gaze searched hers and she held it, not backing down.

“I wouldn’t do that to you,” she rasped. “Not knowing how much your military career meant to you.”

???

Braxton’s head spun at Quinn’s revelation. He’d always been a good judge of character and he’d never wanted to believe the evidence he’d seen. But he also wasn’t a gullible idiot. At the time, he’d been a newlywed, so head over heels for his new wife—a woman he’d only known for three months.

After she ran, he’d spent the next three months sitting at home and questioning everything. Had she used him to further her agenda? Had everything between them been a ruse? Was their marriage a total sham and he really meant nothing to her? Was he just a mark?

The humiliating answer he kept returning to had been yes.

But now he wasn’t so sure.

He looked deeply into her sage-colored eyes and her gaze didn’t waver.

She’s telling the truth,he realized. He was willing to bet his reputation as a CAG commander on it. His gut was screaming her innocence so loudly, and his head began to pound from the information and emotional overload.

“I believe you, Quinn,” he finally said.

Her eyes widened slightly then her entire body seemed to sag. “Thank you,” she whispered, and they continued to stare at each other. “So what does this mean?”

Potential plans rapid-fired through his brain, and he kept coming back to one. “Are you willing to play double-agent?”

“I used to be a CIA agent, Graves. I excel at spy games.” Her full lips tilted up in a smile. “What’re you proposing? I help you take down The Agency?”

“The final four players, yes.”

“And why would I do that?”

He smirked. His beloved ex-wife was too smart to agree to anything too quickly. Well, except when he’d asked her to marry him.

Yeah, and look how that turned out,he reminded himself.

“Because I’ll help clear your name with the CIA,” he told her. She only blinked. “Then you can come out of hiding, live a normal life.”

He had military connections in high places, people who owed him favors. Plus, he now had a team of hackers at his disposal. If they had to go in and make certain things disappearfrom official records, he’d do it. Brax might normally balk at something like that, but if it was all bullshit lies to begin with—and he believed it was—then he’d help Quinn clear her name once they’d toppled The Agency.

She nodded. “I’m in. What’s your plan?”

“First, I want full disclosure on what The Agency contracted you to do and I need to know exactly what you’ve told them about us.”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” she asked, and he frowned. “They hired me to eliminate your team. I’m the Cardinal.”

Brax sucked in a sharp breath. The pieces clicked together and he really wasn’t surprised. They’d always been so damn similar, on the same track, same wavelength, same everything. This was just another example.

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