Deadly Fear (Deadly #1)(99)

She gave a slow nod. “I’m fine.”

“He’s going with you.” An order from Hyde.

Luke tensed. “Going where? You already working another case? You need to—”

“It’s an old case,” she told him. “One that I should have closed a long time ago.” And she did want Luke with her.

Always.

“Davenport’s got it in her head that she needs to talk with Romeo. So she can—clear up your ‘suspicions’ about Kyle West.”

“Fuck no.” Luke kicked the door closed behind him.

Ah, the protector. There he was again.

Not that she needed protecting.

But still, it was nice that he cared.

That Hyde cared.

She wasn’t alone. Why hadn’t she realized that sooner? “I’m seeing Romeo.”

“I’ll see him,” Luke said, his voice dark. “It’ll be my damn pleasure—”

She shook her head. “I’ll be the one to talk to him.” She knew he wouldn’t talk to anyone else.

A muscle flexed along Luke’s clenched jaw and he gritted, “Then I’ll be right by your side.”

She liked that idea. Monica inclined her head toward Hyde. “Guess I’ll see you back in D.C.”

“Count on it, Davenport.” Fury there, and fear.

Not that Hyde would ever admit either, not to her. “Luke, can you, ah, give us just a minute?”

Luke’s gaze darted between them, but then he eased from the room and shut the door.

“Is this going to be a problem?” she asked Hyde bluntly.

His brows shot up. “You going to see a convicted killer who would like nothing more than to screw with your mind? Hey, how could that be a problem?”

“I meant me and Luke.”

He exhaled, and she knew his control was returning. Control. Hyde had taught her all about control and how to take it back. “You can’t work in the field with him anymore, not if the two of you are going to stay together.” A pause. “Are you… staying together?”

She hoped so. She wanted to be with him. “Yes.” Even if being with him cost her the job. Because there were some things more important than the job.

“You and me—we’ve bent or broken so many rules.” His teeth flashed in that tiger smile. “They didn’t want you at Quantico.”

She remembered. Because of her past. But Hyde had helped her.

The name change had been his idea, to give her a new start. And she’d been glad for it. Mary Jane had been through enough. She’d deserved some peace.

Monica—she deserved a future.

“You passed all those tests on your own,” he said, and the faint lines around his eyes tightened just a bit. “I knew you would.”

“Hyde…” She hadn’t been so sure of herself.

“You’ve walked a thin line.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. The air conditioner clicked on above them, and a soft hum filled the room. “I worried about you.…”

His words echoed her own thoughts and had her tensing.

“Sometimes, when you go so deep into a killer’s mind, it’s not easy to come back out.”

Monica swallowed. “I came back out.” Maybe she wasn’t perfect, and she knew, with brutal honesty, that she never would be. But she wasn’t a cold-blooded killer.

“Yes, you did.” He stood, shoving back his chair with a groan of sound. “Did I ever tell you that I used to go to Quantico to observe you?”

“What?” She rose, too, slowly. The chair rolled behind her.

“I took a risk, pushing you through the program. There were folks out there just waiting for you to crack.”

She hadn’t cracked.

“So I’d check in on you, every now and then. To see how you were handling the pressure.”

Just fine. Or not.

“Sometimes, when I’d see you, you seemed so alone.” The words were gruff. Hesitant. Hyde wasn’t the hesitant kind.

Monica didn’t know what to say. She cleared her throat. “I’ve never been big on socializing.” Friendships had made her nervous.

“No.” His lips rose just a bit. “But I saw you one night… at some dive… your group was having drinks. I saw you—and Dante.”

“But you never said—”

“You looked different with him. Your eyes.” His hand lifted, then fell. “Not so cold.”

Her breath choked out as she realized just what he’d done. “You set me up.”

“You think I saved you, don’t you?” he asked, confusing her. Because, yes, he’d saved her. If he hadn’t come in, she would have died in that cabin. It had only been a matter of time.

“I know you did,” she whispered.

“I’d been arriving too late for so long.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know what it was to hope anymore.” He turned away from her and strolled to the door. “Be happy, Monica. I think it’s finally time for you to just be happy.”

Her heart squeezed. “Thank you, Keith.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Right back at you.”

Her lips curved, and she had to blink, fast, because Hyde didn’t like tears.