Ivan could kick rocks. He wasn’t going to rationalize this. There was no reason to do this to him.
NONE.
Michael had meant everything he said when he told Elizabeth that he quit. There was no way he could go back to work with this between them.
The betrayal alone…
She hurt him.
God.
Not only had he lost everything, but he lost that connection to the one person he could trust. She let him fall, and he couldn’t forgive her for that.
She’d promised to never let him be hurt again, and she’d failed at that mission.
Big-time.
When his phone rang again, it was Callen, and instead of answering it, he sent it to voicemail too.
There was no reason to speak to the man. For all he knew, he’d been her accomplice in this.
Fuck it.
He wasn’t family now either.
As the phone went quiet, that’s when it chimed, and a text came through.
Oh, it was clear that Callen was going to be relentless when it came to this.
Well, he didn’t care.
There wasNOTHINGhe could say to make this right. This whole mess wasn’t kind or fair. He’d nearly died trying to save one of them, and this was his reward?
HURT?
Opening the text, he read over the words, and he was numb inside.
‘You’ve gotten this wrong, Michael. If you’d just answer the phone, I’ll explain. Elizabeth had nothing to do with this. Please answer so I can tell you what you don’t know. It will make sense, and you’ll understand that no one did this to you intentionally.’
Funny, but he didn’t believe him.
Not.
At.
All.
Only, he was curious to see how they rationalized this away. Would they lie to him even more?
Would they tell him he was overreacting?
He couldn’t imagine what the excuse would be on this one.
When the phone rang again, he hesitated. Only, he so desperately wanted what Callen said to be true. He greatly wanted for Elizabeth to be innocent of this so he could at least have his Mom.
Because he was going to need her.
His life had bottomed out in the last few months, and he felt alone—like when he’d gone back to the US without the one person he loved in the world.
