Page 20 of Code Name: Reaper
“Stop.” The word came out sharp enough to cut.
“Stop what? Pointing out that there’s a reason you reached out to me?”
“We don’t fit. We argue about everything.”
“We argue because we’re both stubborn, not because we’re incompatible.”
His phone vibrated again. Most likely with another update I didn’t want to acknowledge.
“There has to be another way,” I muttered under my breath.
“There isn’t. Believe me, I tried.”
“What do you mean?”
“It took three days for me to realize that if I searched on my own, I’d never find you. Three days. Not seven months.”
His words hit hard, and they hurt. “That wasn’t fair.”
He shook his head. “Fair or not, it’s the truth.”
I wanted to disagree. Tell him to fuck off. To find some other solution that didn’t involve swallowing my pride.
“They’ll want explanations,” I finally said.
“So we’ll give them.”
“They’ll want to know why you came after me.”
“They already know.”
I raised my chin. “No man left behind?”
“You know that wasn’t it.”
A response stuck in my throat, and the silence stretched between us until the phone buzzed again.
“No more time for debate.” Reaper’s voice returned to its usual controlled tone. “We’re leaving.”
“Okay. But I’m in charge of the search for Mercury. It’ll be my call on what intel gets shared and what stays classified.”
“Agreed.”
“And no personal questions.”
“Definitely agreed.”
“And if this goes sideways, if the coalition tries to bench me or shut me out of my own investigation, I’ll leave and make sure youneverfind me.”
I hated the way he looked at me, how his hands twitched when he took a step closer, as if he wanted to pull me into his arms and tell me it would all work out okay. “All right, then. Those are your stipulations. I’ll respect them.”
The car rideto the airfield in Dresden stretched out in silence. Both of us were lost in our own thoughts about what came next. I stole glances at his profile as he drove—the strong line of his jaw, the way his hands looked on the steering wheel,the sharp intelligence in his expression when he checked the mirrors.
He wasn’t merely handsome. He was hot as fuck in a way that made my mouth go dry and my pulse quicken. I should’ve heeded it as a warning to get as far away from him as fast as I could. Instead, I accepted that, for now, I had no choice but to travel with him.
He pulled the car onto the tarmac near where a private plane waited.
“Ready?” he asked.
