He stared at the blue blobs but saw red.
She tangled her fingers until her knuckles whitened, but in true Opal fashion, immediately stretched her delicate fingers on her thighs as though she were calm.
“It was stupid of me. I should’ve disengaged sooner.” Frustration dripped from her words. “I won’t be able to use him again. Word will spread. No one will do drug deals with me. Not even Cipher will be interested in me when he realizes I can’t even close a drug deal without smashing my dealer’s face in!”
Jesus Christ. She’d done that?
“Opal.” Sinner put a hand on her arm but she tore it away.
Her fingers trembled when she touched a dark spot on the thigh of her pants. A splatter of wetness. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Where is this water coming from? What’s dripping?” She jerked her head up to meet his gaze.
His gut squeezed in reaction to the beautiful wreck she was right now.
She shook her head hard enough to send her dark hair flying. “No. No way. I-I haven’t cried since I lost my m-mom.”
Sinner’s chest cracked wide open at the sight of tears sliding down her cheeks, silent and unstoppable. He’d seen men bleed out without making a sound, seen women hold themselves together under pressure that would’ve crushed anyone else. But this…unraveling…hurt in a way he never anticipated.
“That’s enough,” he grated out. “Con, I’ll call you back.” He cut the call without asking permission and dropped to his knee in front of Opal.
“Listen—”
She leaped to her feet, eyes darting to the door. She wasn’t just spiraling, she was ready to run. Whether she was going to run from this op or into danger, he didn’t know.
He stepped in front of her before she could flee. “Ten,” he said quietly.
She froze. “What?”
“Ten steps from here to the door.”
Her lips parted. Her swollen eyes held his and a red flush mottled across her tear-streaked face. “Maybe for you. Twelve for me.” Her voice was thick, but his words quelled her response to run.
“What did you do to the dealer, Opal?”
She searched his eyes, her own black pools of fury. “I smashed his face into the brick wall.”
He stared at her.
“After I kneed him in the balls.”
She knew how to fight. Of course she did. But they didn’t teach her that in Quantico. That place was all rules and procedures with just enough personal protection training to get by.
He took a slow step closer. “I know you think you failed.”
She backed up half a step. “Just find another fake spouse.”
“I don’t want another fake spouse. I want thebestfake spouse.”
Conflicting emotions warred over her face for just a split second before she slammed them behind the blank mask again.
“I want the best, Opal. And the best is you.”
Her breath hitched.
“This is too important to walk away from. We need to find Cipher.”
The tiny crinkle between her brows that never seemed to go away deepened. “I shouldn’t have reacted like I did.”
He closed the distance between them. “You protected yourself, and I’m damn proud to call you my partner.”
