"Like hell I will." He speaks in the same deep rumble, shoulders locked up like a bolted door, chest heaving with anger. "You have no right to make him choose between his brother and us. Jack has done nothing but comply with what FISA has demanded of him since he got here. When he made that deal with you, he thought Dan was dead. You know damn well he wouldn't have agreed to being an agent in the first place if he thought he could go back to his brother. His history with other agencies proves that."
I'm staring up at Leo in outright awe at this point, and he's still not done with this insane rant at his aunt.
"Even if Dan wasn't Jack's brother, finding and saving him from OI's control should be a priority," Leo insists fiercely, his eyes narrowing on Snow ever so slightly in condemnation. "Our agency has a responsibility to the Liquid Onyx survivors.Youwere the one who told me as much when I first joined FISA."
Snow and Leo proceed to have an epic stare off, the likes of which are unseen outside of a school playground full of competitive overachievers.
Taking a second to glance around the room, I clock the reaction of every other member of our team.
North looks mildly exasperated but seems intent on absolving himself from this messy battle of the Snows by keeping quiet and simply waiting until it stops happening.
Dru is clutching her tablet like another person would their pearls, scandalised by the current proceedings.
Rohan appears as highly entertained as I would expect him to be, obsidian eyes shining with anticipation.
When Snow is the first one to back down, to the surprise of everyone, Rohan catches my eye and mouths, "Ding, ding, round one." I have to keep my lips pressed tightly together so I won't bark out a laugh. No need to make things any shittier than they already are.
Snow stands up, which is more a sign of defeat than anything she could say out loud. She releases a long breath and nods at Leo. "I'm going to leave you with Senior Agent North, who will give out your new assignments following the recent discovery of OI's plan." She holds up a hand when Leo goes to start arguing with her again. "I will consider what we've spoken about today." She switches her attention to me again and adds, "We will discuss your brother's future soon, Agent Roth. Please know it was not my intention to make his fate seem unimportant to the agency."
North receives a look of acknowledgement as a go-ahead to take over the meeting. He tips his head at her. "Thank you, Director."
Leo still doesn't seem happy, and when Snow strides out of the room without a backward glance at any of us, he makes as if to follow. Seeing this for the suicidal move it is, I grab hold of his arm and yank him down into his seat, hard enough there's a loud whumping sound, and the chair creaks in distress.
When Leo tries to pull away from me, I lean in close to whisper harshly in his ear, "Live to fight another day, Leo. Don't make me have to slay the ice dragon and rescue you. I've got enough peer pressure going on around the whole hero thing already."
Leo stops struggling to be released and turns his head to look at me. I have to move back so we don't accidentally headbutt each other.
"No joke, I don't give a shit what she says," Leo growls, all intense and obstinate. "We're going to save your brother, and the rest of the world can just fucking wait or go ahead and end without us." He sounds so sure, so ready to throw everything to the wind in the name of helping a man who would have killed him a few nights ago if Damon hadn't shown up and forced Dan to run.
I get the sudden, overwhelming need to be alone with my partner. I don't think I've ever felt such a potent desire to touch him and be all around him, to be inside him, to seep my essence into his skin with my spit and cum. I'd fuck Leo right here on this table if I didn't think the others would kick up a massive fuss about it.
North clears his throat pointedly to get our attention. When we look over at him, he's giving us a low-level glower of admonishment. "If you're done being a pain in my taint, Agents, we still have a lot of shit to go over. For a start"—he looks at Leo with open disapproval—"the debrief for your most recent mission and your apparent need to ignore direct orders."
Leo grimaces, seeming to push back in his seat like he's trying to put more distance between himself and our handler.
From there, the rest of the meeting is taken up by the debrief we've been avoiding for days and then the vague outline of our next mission.
North tells us we'll be shipping off tomorrow to check out a new underground workshop that FISA thinks might be the temporary storage location for the machine OI has built to disperse the blue drug. The intel is flimsy, based on information gathered from the incarcerated OI agents that FISA captured during the storm of the facility.
If nothing else, it's a place to start, and considering we're working with nothing, and the threat is imminent, FISA will have to take what they can get.
I let the information wash over me as North talks. There's no point arguing about any of it. I already know where Snow stands, and whatever she said about thinking it over, her decision is unlikely to change.
The person I really need to discuss next steps with is Leo. If I decide to go after my brother on my own, he'll be the one most affected by it.
I didn't let myself think about the possibility of getting Leo to comewithme. It seemed too selfish an idea to contemplate, let alone put into action.
But if Leo insists on being a selfless idiot, I don't know if I'll have the mental fortitude, the moral strength, theheartto tell him no.
If I were a hero. If I were a good man. I'd leave without him and never look back. I'd sacrifice everything we are or could be to save him. Leo deserves that. Leo deserves a good man who would let him go.
I am not a good man. Never pretended otherwise.
In stories, it's always the hero who gets the girl.
In reality, though, maybe it takes a villain to keep the boy.
Chapter sixteen
