not give a shit if her feelings got hurt or whether her pride got ruffled because her partner demanded she stand down.
Finally, her eyes flickered to his, the prolonged silence obviously making her uneasy. For that matter it was making him damn uneasy. He’d all but insulted the entire precious organization she worked for, and she’d usually defend them with her dying breath, and yet she’d acted as though she hadn’t even heard his scathing criticism. As the saying went, however, never look a gift horse in the mouth, so he took advantage and pounced, pinning her with his stare.
“Just how low are your reserves right now, Eliza? Fumes aren’t going to get you very far and that’s all you’re running on right now. I’d be surprised if you could make it down the block. If your goddamn agency is so sacred, then why the hell aren’t they taking better care of you?”
He almost wished she hadn’t looked at him. Almost. Because he was bombarded by so many conflicting emotions that it unsteadied him and he had to shift his weight to his other foot to cover his reaction.
Grief, fury, sorrow, guilt and . . . What the fuck? He wanted to roar it! What the ever loving fuck?
He swore long, hard and viciously in his mind. Rage hurtled through his veins and this time, he couldn’t control the flex of his fingers into tight fists, knotted over his chest. Red. He could swear he was seeing red. His jaw clenched, and he wanted nothing more than to go knock Dane on his fucking ass. And the rest of his pissant agency as well.
Fear. He saw fucking fear in this female warrior’s eyes. And a hell of a lot more. But fear was the one that clenched his gut and squeezed mercilessly. Fucking fear in Eliza’s eyes.
That more than anything decided the matter for him. He had come out of curiosity after Dane’s unexpected request and, well, because he’d been determined to follow up on the bullshit story she’d given him about Gracie’s supposed surprise—both excuses. He damn well knew it because he hated admitting how much he thought about her and he really hated the fact he’d grasp any excuse to see her . . . but Dane’s bizarre request gave Wade a solid excuse to run Eliza to ground. Since he hadn’t expected any of what he’d witnessed tonight, he’d firmly planned to call Dane the next morning and tell him to go to hell. Now? Oh hell no.
Fuck Dane. Fuck DSS. Fuck playing babysitter and shadowing Eliza only to report in to Dane because Dane was “worried.” This was his situation now because he was making it his. Eliza’s protection, needs and especially making goddamn sure she had nothing to be afraid of was, as of now, his sole objective. And Dane and his requests for check-ins could go to hell.
She was his. Not Dane’s. Not DSS’s and damn sure not someone’s teammate. Had no one been able to see, cared enough to see what this fierce survivor had suffered—was still suffering? And did they not realize that if Eliza was fucking scared, then it was bad? Not just bad. The worst.
He was so goddamn mad that he was precariously close to losing his shit right in the middle of her driveway. He wanted every last one of those bastards’ blood, especially Dane’s. Dane, her partner—no, family—according to Eliza’s words. Words still ringing in his ears. Dane had wimped out and sent Wade like an errand boy knowing how she looked and admitting he was “worried.” For something this precious and important, Dane was too worried over making his “friend” mad when he should have been more worried about having her at all.
The entire episode, his sudden insight and decision had taken no more than a tenth of a second. A hell of a short time for the course of his life to alter. And in just that nanosecond, Eliza recovered and her face became icy, chill radiating from her eyes.
She looked cool, unflappable, like the Eliza he thought he’d known. The one everyone else was supposed to know. But in the time a blink of an eye took, Wade saw something he was certain no one had ever seen or bothered to notice.
She holstered her gun and took a step forward until she was a mere twelve inches from him. She notched her chin up, defiance and fire glinting in her eyes. Too bad for her.