Nina
"What happened back there?" Chief keef asked, hands crossed over the table and his eyebrows pulled down. The look he kept on shooting me made my stomach feel queasy, but I kept my spine straight and refused to give him the satisfaction.
What happened was my fault, and I'd accept any consequences from my actions. "Chief, it was my_"
"Our fault." Paul suddenly cut in.
My head jerked around and I stared at him, eyes bugging out. "What are you doing?" I mouthed at him, but he merely shrugged.
"As soon as we left the party, we were quickly surrounded by assailants, most likely led by Rafael Santiago." He continued.
The chief jerked forward. "Santiago? You must be mistaken. He's been cleared from all Black smoke association."
"He was there, and I don't know about you, but I don't believe in coincidences." He replied. "It's a little too convenient that he showed up in Vegas, right in the same venue as the informant."
"What are you saying?" The older man asked slowly.
"There's no confirmed information of course." Paul sighed. "I'm speaking based off of my intuition, nothing more. We failed to save the informant, sir. It was an ambush and we couldn't fight all the attackers off."
Keef leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed on Paul. "Is that all agent Darren?"
"That's all sir."
"In that case, you're dismissed for the day. I'll take this to the higher ups and see what they decide." He said. "You'll fill in the necessary paper work detailing what went down. I want it on my desk by first light tomorrow. No delays."
"Yes Chief." Paul and I chorused, while my heart thundered in my chest.
What was he up to? Why had he protected me? We both knew that I was the reason we had failed earlier. If there was one thing I knew about my ex, it was that he was ambitious, and liked to win. It was one of the things that had attracted me to him back then.
I had recognized that hunger in him, and it had drawn me in.
Informing the chief that he had failed in his first mission here was a bad sign. So why the hell hadn't he thrown me under the bus?
I waited till we were in the garage of the building before I stepped in front of him, "what was that?"
"What was what?" He asked casually. "Get out of my way, Nina. I'm hungry and exhausted, and I feel like shit."
"You lied to the chief."
"You want to go in there and tell him that? Be my fucking guest." He tried to push past me, but even though he was seven inches taller and far more muscular, I was still a steel wall when I wanted to be. I stood my ground, holding firm.
"You're risking your position here, and I need to know why."
"Because we're partners, Torres. Throwing you under the bus wouldn't have done me any favours." He informed me.
"Is that all?"
He froze. "You think this has something to do with our history? You think I put my neck on the chopping block back there because of a woman who broke my damn heart?"
Heat rose up my face and I finally stepped away. "I didn't break your_"
"I don't want to hear it." He hissed, stomping away.
I hurried after him, trying to keep up with his long, angry strides. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened back then. I just- I had goals. I have goals and I can't let anything stand in the way of them. What we had was becoming a distraction and so I had to end it."
He whirled around, a cruel smirk playing on his mouth. "Right. That makes me feel so much better, Nina. I was just a goddamn distraction to you. Bravo."
I rolled my eyes. "I cared about you."
"Not nearly as much as your so called goals." He snapped. "What is it? What is this thing that matters so goddamn much to you that you can't even allow yourself to have a life? I know it has something to do with Santiago. Your obsession with him and the black smoke gang isn't normal."
My stomach twisted, and for a second, I nearly told him the truth. Could I trust Paul? He had just saved my ass, but it wasn't enough for me to just reveal everything.
It was getting harder for me to have faith in my own abilities, and honestly, Paul was a damn good agent. Better than Matthew and his doofus partner. With Paul's help and connections, I was sure I could make some progress, get some leads, but...
"What's going on, Nina? Let me in for once. You're not a one man army. Nobody is." He implored.
"The truth is_" I was cut off by the buzzing of my phone. The sound was enough to bring me back to my senses.
"I'm sorry, Paul. I'm sorry for screwing up with the informant. Thank you for not telling Keef. Paper work isn't really my forte." I chuckled dryly, trying to keep my tone light but he wasn't buying it.
"You're doing it again. You're shutting me out. Why did I think anything had changed?" He shook his head.
"I need to take this." I reached for my phone, but he lashed out, grabbing my arm.
"Nina_"
I shrugged my arm away from his hold, glaring at him. "Drop it, okay? I don't need your help or your goddamn saviour complex."
He flinched at the sharpness of my tone, and guilt immediately soured inside me, the horrible taste of it filling my mouth. Before I could say anything else, he had turned on his heel and stalked off, shoulders tight.
Damn it.
I pulled out the phone, chest tightening when I saw an unfamiliar number on the screen.
"Hello?" I said.
"It's D5." The familiar voice of my private informant said. "I have something for you."
Hope took flight in my chest. "What?"
"There's a party, and some big players are going to be there."
"Where?" I asked immediately. "Send me the coordinates."
"There are no coordinates." D7 sighed.
My eyebrows pulled down. "I don't understand."
"The party is happening on a moving cruise ship. So get ready for a little swim agent." And with that, the line went dead, leaving me with my mouth gaping open.