Hero by Julia Sykes Page B

spook her further. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    She sucked in a breath and shoved up onto her feet. “I’m not scared of you,” she declared, her defiance resurfacing. Rather than irritating me, it made me sad. I understood now.
    “I don’t want you to be,” I said calmly, still soothing her. “I understand if you don’t want to shadow me. I’ll talk to Kennedy.”
    “It’s fine,” she said quickly. “I’m fine. I don’t want you to talk to Kennedy. He might kick me out if I keep pestering him. I can shadow you. It’s not a big deal.”
    Her hands trembled. She clenched them to fists.
    “I’m doing work at my desk for the rest of the day,” I said. “It’ll be pretty boring for you. I’ll make sure I clear some time tomorrow to answer any questions you might have.”
    She needed room to breathe. She didn’t want to admit that she was shaken, but I wouldn’t force her to stay near me when I’d upset her. This would give her time to think it over. Then she could decide whether or not she really wanted to shadow me.
    “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Not looking at me, she stepped back into her ballet flats and walked away, head held high.
    My chest squeezed. I hated that I’d reminded her of whatever trauma she’d suffered. Instinct told me to go after her and hold her close, to run my fingers through her silken hair and tell her she was safe.
    But she’d made it clear she didn’t want me to treat her like a sub. So I resolutely remained where I was, letting her leave. However, I wasn’t willing to allow her to deal with her pain by herself.
    I reached for my jacket and pulled my phone from the pocket, quickly finding the number I needed.
    “Carina,” I greeted when she answered. “I think Chloe needs you right now.”
    I might not be able to take care of her, but Chloe would lean on her friend. I hoped.

7
    Chloe
    I took a long sip of my pear cosmopolitan, savoring the sweet alcoholic drink. I wasn’t one to look for solace in a bottle, but this cocktail was hitting the spot. After my confusing afternoon with Dex, I was thrilled that Carina had called me to indulge in a girls’ night.
    “How are you?” my friend asked, her features drawn with concern. “Kennedy told me you got into some trouble in Brighton Beach today.”
    I let out an exasperated breath. “I didn’t get into trouble. Dex got me into trouble. Seriously, I was fine before he came in and pissed off the Bratva .”
    She fixed me with a no-nonsense look. “I know research is important, and it’s easy to get carried away. But you don’t know the things Dex has seen in his line of work. If he says you were in danger, you probably were. I can’t believe Sharon left you alone. I’m glad you’re going to be with Dex. He’ll take care of you.”
    My eyes narrowed. “You’re still trying to fix us up, aren’t you?”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Uh-huh. Well, I’ll go ahead and tell you that I don’t think he likes me very much, so you can just forget about it.”
    “If he doesn’t like you, why did he call me to ask me to make sure you’re okay?”
    My jaw dropped. “He did that? Why?”
    “He wouldn’t say. All he’d tell me is that you were upset when you left the field office, and he thought you could use a friend.”
    “Oh. That was… nice of him, I guess. But if I’m upset, it’s his fault.”
    “Are you really that mad at him for getting you out of Brighton Beach?” she pressed.
    I sighed. “It’s not that.”
    “Then what?”
    I took another long draw of my cosmo. The alcohol tingled through my system, easing my nerves and loosening my tongue.
    “He got a hard-on while we were sparring,” I told her. “It was… really unprofessional.” I couldn’t tell her why I’d panicked. Carina didn’t know about Neil. No one knew what had happened between us, not even my sister, Beth. I’d been too ashamed to share the details of that