The meeting room was entirely silent.Mason had stopped watching the slideshow and started watching Zeus.He wasn’t the only one.Drew was as well, with suspicious hostility still emanating from him.It wasn’t like him to ambush someone the way he just had Zeus, even someone he didn’t like.
Something was going on with Drew, and Mason had a feeling there was a lot more to it than the issues he and Naomi were having at home.On the other hand, something at work would likely give Drew a focus outside of where he felt like he was failing his wife with their infertility struggles.And something to focus on other than feeling like he’d failed David and Cassidy—Mason knew that Drew blamed himself for David being shot by Cassidy’s ex.
They were going to need to have a session soon, no matter how Drew kept trying to avoid him.
Zeus was incredibly hard to read, which wasn’t helping his case with the rest of the team.Or with Mason, if Mason was being completely honest.He didn’t like being able to read one of the tea members.Zeus didn’t appear distressed, angry, or hurt.Just… neutral.Blank.Tense.But he could be tense because his connection to Devlin had just been discovered.
Or he could be tense because he’d just found out in a meeting of his co-workers that his girlfriend was cheating on him with their enemy.Really, it could go either way.
“So, Zeus.I suppose you didn’t know about this?”Drew asked when he reached the end, a picture of Noelle and Devlin leaving the hotel room, their hair mussed, Devlin now missing his tie and clearly freshly fucked.The smug smile on Devlin’s lips was impossible to miss.Drew, on the other hand, stared suspiciously at Zeus, as though he was trying to read his mind.
Good luck to him.Mason sure as hell couldn’t figure out what the man was thinking or feeling.
Zeus was still staring at the screen.Slowly, he turned his head—just his head—to look at Drew, his expression implacable.
He raised one eyebrow and said absolutely nothing.
“Dude… he just found out his girlfriend was cheating on him, what’s he supposed to say?”Jensen asked, swiveling around in his chair to face the table rather than the screen.
“Did he?Or is Noelle the conduit you use to pass information about Black Fox on to Devlin?”Drew continued scowling at Zeus, leaning forward with his arms braced against the desk.He was clearly ready for a fight.
And it looked bad.
It really, really did.
Jensen had jumped straight to the conclusion that Zeus was innocent, that he hadn’t known about Devlin and Noelle, but Drew made a good point.No one would expect that Zeus would use his girlfriend to stay connected to Devlin.If he was still in contact, if they were working together, it would be a brilliant ploy.
Maybe she wasn’t even Zeus’ girlfriend.Maybe she was Marshall’s, and that’s why there had been tension between them.Maybe that’s why they’d never scened publicly at the club.
Zeus turned his head again, away from Drew, his gaze drawn back to the screen where the picture of post-coital Devlin and Noelle was still up.The muscle in his jaw jumped again.
Because he was upset at his girlfriend?Or because he was upset he’d been found out?
Mason glanced at Lincoln, who was sitting back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze darting back and forth between Drew and Zeus.He appeared torn.Beside him, David was also frowning, though he couldn’t see Zeus’ face because Zeus was facing directly away from him.
Not that the man’s expression was giving anything away.
“Aren’t you going to say something?”Drew demanded, leaning forward, one hand curling into a fist, resting on the table.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Something.Anything.Aren’t you going to defend yourself?”Not just angry, Drew was confused.He’d done the shock and awe tactic to elicit a reaction—often a good way to go—but Zeus was giving them nothing.
Beside Zeus, Jensen looked uncertain.
“Is there something I could say that would convince you I knew nothing about this?”Zeus gestured at the screen.
Drew opened his mouth.Closed it.Frowned.
“You could try.”
“When someone is determined to believe the worst of you, there is no point.”Zeus shrugged, getting to his feet.“Now, if you will excuse me, I have some calls to make.Unless there’s something else you want me here for?”
“You can go, but don’t leave the office,” Lincoln said.“Find me when you’re done with your calls so we can talk.”
Giving their boss a jerky nod, Zeus strode from the room.His head was high, shoulders back, jaw still clenched, and there was fire in his eyes.The question was whether he was pissed because his cover had been blown or if he was pissed because he was innocent.
The door shut behind him, and everyone let out their breath at the same time.
