Only, Blackhawk didn’t move.
Ethan looked paralyzed.
“I can’t believe this,” Ethan finally said.
This couldn’t be happening. In his chest, his heart was racing.
When he got no response, and no movement, Gabe went there.
“It’s that or termination,” he said, seeing how far the man would go to protect his partner, and their team. If he quit, he knew that there was more than just sex between them. There was something more.
Like when he’d tested Christopher Leonard, there had to be more than just attraction.
At his words, Ethan went pale.
That was all he had to hear.
Ethan swallowed.
He wouldn’t be bullied, especially by this man. He played more dirty games than anyone in the FBI.
Look at Sasha.
Look at what happened with the bikers who were transporting Snow and victims.
Gabe stared at him, waiting, and that’s when he saw the man make up his mind.
And Ethan backed down.
Because he wouldn’t burn Gene, or grovel to this man, Ethan took off his badge and gun, and placed them on Gabe’s desk.
“Then, I guess I’m terminated,” he said, and it was the hardest words he’d ever said in his whole life. All he’d ever wanted to be since he was eighteen, was to be a Fed.
In that split second, he had to make a choice.
Now, his dreams were crushed.
His heart was broken.
“I’m not playing games with you. This is exactly that. You want to see if I’ll bow to you, but I never will. I’m not going to be forced into compliance when I have an excellent closure record. I do my job, and I work damn hard to bring honor to that badge,” he said, pointing at his once-prized possession. “I’m not your pawn, and I’m not going to let you break me. I’ll walk first. I’ll give up my ambition for what I believe in.”
From where he sat, Gabe was shocked as shit.
He knew the man was ambitious.
“So you’ll quit? Over losing a simple partner?” he asked, seeing it wasn’t so cut-and-dry.
Ethan already had.
Now, he needed to get out of there before he started puking up his coffee.
Because that was next.
“You gave me the ultimatum. I chose, but I’m betting that wasn’t what you wanted—but what you just got. Director, with all due respect, fuck off, Gabe. Fuck off. You’re a disgrace to thebadge, and while you might not be dirty, like the director, you’re just as foul.”
Gabe actually stared.
And with that, he knew it was over.
