Page 3 of Asphyxia
I should have done this months ago, but I wasn’t one to quit when the going got tough—to take the easy way out. I allowed her to take advantage of me for far too long.
“Dean, please. Don’t do this—”
I was done with her manipulation tactics. Accusing me of something one minute and then begging me to stay like she had forgiven me—for what? I didn’t fucking do anything wrong. “We can fix this.”And I sure as fuck didn’t need fixing…
Amber was so quick to change her mind from believing she had proof of me being unfaithful one moment to now being afraid of losing me—too bad she lost me weeks ago.
I huffed a laugh as I turned to leave her apartment; I wasn’t fucking doing this again for what felt like the hundredth time in the past three months.
Amber gripped my wrist and tugged at my arm as my hand touched the handle.
“Please!” She begged, pulling on me as hard as she could, and I chewed my cheek in agitation before shaking her off of me as if she were nothing more than some pest.
“That’s enough, Amber.” I scolded, glaring back at her from the corner of my eye. “I don’t need to spend the rest of my life being treated like a shelter dog that needs fixing… and Ireallydon’t need you.”
My words cut like a knife’s edge, and I didn’t give two shits.
I knew I deserved better.
Ripping open the door, I stormed out of her apartment and left for the CIA, knowing I was better off without her—telling myself I would get over the loss of someone I once thought I loved.
Fuck love…
AmberandIhadbeen together for almost a year and a half. I met her not too long after Marcus and I transferred from theLos Angeles unit, and we hit it off almost instantly. But as our relationship grew, so did my realization of just how toxic she was for me.
Marcus had commented on it a few times, and I always just assumed he was trying to convince me to play the field like he always did—screwing around with women as if they were individual scoops of Baskin-Robbins ice cream—a different flavor for every week of the year—
“Agent Holt. My office. Now.” Deputy Director Conrad’s voice boomed across the floor as he called from his office.
I had only just stepped off the elevator, and instead of being able to vent my rage and frustration from this morning to Marcus, I dragged my feet toward Conrad’s room.
What a fucking morning this was turning out to be.
“Close the door.” He clipped as I entered. Without pause, I shut the door behind me and approached his desk. “I’ll make this quick, but what I discuss with you here doesn’t leave this room, understood?”
I nodded in silent response as Conrad tossed a black folder across his desk towards me. I picked it up, immediately opening it to see what kind of case I was being assigned. I’ve never had one issued in a black folder until now, and he had my full attention from that alone.
“What do you know about agent classified assignments?” Conrad asked, resting his forearms on the table and lacing his fingers together as I lifted my eyes from the documents.
I chewed on my cheek, recalling my previous training on assignment levels and their restrictions.
I answered him with a soft shrug, “Just that they are high profile and are considered top secret to all agents regardless of security clearance. A classified case is to be discussed with no one other than those involved in the initial assignment.” A Wikipedia definition at best, but I knew that was the answer he was looking for.
“Good, because you will work on that with Agent Avery.” He gestured his chin to the folder.Derek?
“A senior Agent? Why not Marcus?”
I shouldn’t have questioned his decision, but the words rushed out of my mouth before I could stop them. Conrad had always paired Marcus and me together for assignments, knowing we were a solid team.
“Marcus won’t have the experience you need for a case like this. Anathema is out of both of your leagues and with Agent Jensen…” He grumbled the name as if it left a sour taste in his mouth. “currently unavailable; I need you to assist Agent Avery in his stead.”
I didn’t bother arguing any further. Everyone knew Conrad’s decisions were final, and you didn’t argue with him unless you wanted to be chained to a desk for a month doing administrative work.Fuck that.The CIA was boring on a good day, and I wasn’t about to make that even worse for myself.
“You’re dismissed, Agent Holt.”
Nodding, I exited the room without another word, skirting around the floor of cubicles to Atlas’s office that Marcus and I had hijacked in his absence.
I found Marcus already inside, lounging comfortably on the couch in the corner. I rolled my eyes at him as I fell into the chair behind the desk, dropping the black folder on top of it.
