Page 57 of Code Name: Reaper
“And did you believe him?”
“Yes,” I blurted. “But he doesn’t trust me.”
“Why not?”
I hated the question, but more, I hated having to admit the answers, even to myself.
I glanced across the street and gasped when I saw Reaper. He was talking to someone on his phone, but immediately lowered it and raced in our direction, almost getting run over by approaching cars that screeched to a stop, their drivers yelling curses and blowing their horns.
“Oh, dear.” Kyra noticed her son approaching. “I think I’ll excuse myself.” She disappeared out the rear entrance when he came in the front.
I expected him to follow her, but he stalked over to me instead and pulled out the chair she’d been sitting in. “Do you know how worried I was?”
“I think I have some idea.”
He sighed. “You’re right, and I’m sorry.”
My eyes bored into his. “For what?”
“Leaving last night. Not returning. I didn’t expect to be gone long. My mother…” His words trailed off as he looked in the direction of the door she’d left through. “Who you’ve obviously met.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, as if that would stop me from crying. “Wrong answer,” I whispered, attempting to blink them away.
“I know.” He leaned closer. “We need to talk, but not here.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Please.” He sounded like his mom, even the look on his face was the same.
I stood when he did. He motioned for me to go in front of him, then rested his hand on the small of my back. I hated how good it felt, how much I wanted to lean into him, and how cold I felt once we were outside and he walked beside me instead.
The town house was around the corner and halfway down the block, so it didn’t take us long to get there. He unlocked the front door, went inside first, and held it open for me. I brushed past him and over to the kitchen, where I leaned against the counter with my arms folded in front of me.
“I was wrong to accuse you.”
“You did more thanaccuseme. You were absolutely certain I’d compromised your asset.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry,” he repeated.
When tears fell down my cheeks faster than I could wipe them away, I turned from him, then stiffened when he approached and put his hands on my shoulders.
“I can’t—” I jerked away, then spun around. “Do you know what that did to me?”
He took a step closer.
“Don’t.” I remembered him saying how much he hated it when I said that, and why did I care, dammit? “I need space.”
“When I returned and you weren’t here, I thought I’d lost you.”
“The meeting with Briggs…”
“Is that the only reason you didn’t?”
How could I tell him that the real reason was because I was afraid he wouldn’t come after me again? And honestly, had he been entirely out of line with his accusation? If the situations were reversed, wouldn’t I have been equally suspicious? Wouldn’t I have immediately assumed he’d betrayed my confidence? Of course I would have.
While he’d shown me he trusted me by confiding in me about Dagger, I hadn’t shared any of my sources with him, hadn’t done anything at all to reinforce my own trustworthiness.
Both of our phones rang at the same time, preventing me from responding. I dug mine out, expecting to see an update about the meeting. Instead, the text from Wren was about Edmonds. He’d taken a turn for the worse and wasn’t expected to recover.
