“What did they say?”I asked, voice calm but cold.
She sighed.“Just that I was risking my job by dating an outlaw.”
The word outlaw scraped my nerves raw.
“Who said it?”I asked.
She didn’t answer.
“Nita,” I warned.
“I’m not giving you a name,” she replied firmly, like she had already anticipated where my mind would go.“It’s not about that.”
“It is about that,” I said, jaw tightening.“Who?”
“Dante.”
Her voice was sharp, a reminder of who she was.Not one to back down.Federal Investigator.Trained to face men worse than me.Controlled.Not some woman waiting at home for a man to handle things.I forced myself to breathe.
“All right,” I managed, slower.“Tell me exactly what happened.”
She hesitated again, then spoke carefully.“We were leaving a meeting.Small talk.Nothing important.And he,” She stopped, like she’d caught herself.Like she’d almost said too much.
“He,” I repeated.
She sighed, annoyed at herself.“A colleague.He made the comment like it was a joke.Like he was warning me.Like he knew something he shouldn’t.”
My hand tightened around my phone.“Did you tell him it was me?”
“No,” she said immediately.“I didn’t tell anyone who I was dating.That’s the point.”
My blood cooled in my veins.
“Then how would he know?”I asked, voice low.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, and that was what made it worse—Nita not knowing the how.Nita uncertain.Nita forced to look over her shoulder in a city full of predators in suits.In her world, private lives stayed out of work
I stared out into the dark beyond the lot.My instincts sharpened so fast it was like flipping a switch.
“They know about you,” she stated quietly.“Or they know about the club.Or?—”
“Or someone’s watching,” I finished.
She didn’t deny it.That was her fear.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to stay measured.“Did you notice anyone following you?Any strange cars?Anyone lingering near your building?”
“No,” she shared.“But I haven’t been looking for that.”
I had.My pocket felt heavier.The feed.The alerts.
I hated the surge of vindication that tried to rise, hated that part of me that wanted to say see, like I had been right to be paranoid.
“Listen to me,” I said, voice turning steel.“From now on, you look.You check your surroundings.You don’t walk to your car staring at your phone.You vary your route when you can.”
She went still.“Dante, don’t do this.”
“Do what?”I snapped.“Care?”
