“She has been bleeding herself dry, trying to protect this woman,” I snap back.
Gunnar exhales slowly through his nose. “Or it’s an innocent-lookingdoctor who has motives we aren’t aware of.”
I round on him, my shoulders squared and my chest puffing out. “You don’t fucking know her.”
“Neither do you,” Gunnar retorts calmly. “I know people. And I know that when someone’s positioning themselves between two dangerous forces, it’s rarely without motive.”
“Bullshit,” I fire back as heat floods my chest and burns up the back of my neck. “She’s not playing chess. She’s trying to keep people alive.”
Hawk’s gaze sharpens. “You’re too close to this.”
I bark out a laugh. “Yeah? No fucking shit.”
“This isn’t about you trusting her,” Hawk continues. “It’s aboutrisk. The risk she is putting us all in. She wants to speak to the husband. Alone, if she could. That’s not normal.”
“She’s a surgeon,” I snarl. “She stares down death for a living. You think a weak-ass man who beats on women is going to scare her? She cares about this woman. Deeply.”
Gunnar twists in his chair. “Caring doesn’t preclude betrayal.”
I step forward before I realize I’m moving, my hands balling into fists at my sides, readying to place one on his jaw. “Careful, old man.”
Gunnar meets my stare without flinching. “You’re defending her like she’s fucking family.”
“Because she is,” I admit without hesitation.Or she’s going to be.
Hawk’s brow lifts slightly as Gunnar studies me, reassessing not just this situation but me. Gunnar’s tone is steadier when he speaks again. “You met her weeks ago.”
“And?” I shrug. “My dad proposed to my mom on their second date. They were married for twenty-seven years until she died. Time isn’t the measure. And just because you haven’t met anyone you’d instantly change your whole world for, doesn’t mean this isn’t real.”
Gunnar’s mouth twitches. “Low fucking blow.”
“You started it,” I grumble.
Hawk sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “Jagger, no one is saying she’s malicious. We’re saying we don’t know what her endgame is.”
“That doesn’t make her a threat.”
“No. It makes her unpredictable.”
Gunnar pushes to his feet. “You’re staking operational security for a woman who won’t tell us where the asset is.”
“She’s not an asset,” I snap. “She’s a woman and a mother.”
“And that mother’s existence has already gotten one of Blake’s colleagues nearly killed,” Gunnar counters.
“That wasn’t Blake’s fault.” I rake a hand through my hair, pacing before stopping short. “She’s not going to double-cross us. She doesn’t have it in her.”
“You don’t know that,” Hawk counters.
“I do,” I growl. “I know her.”
Gunnar tilts his head. “Youwantto know her.”
“Same damn thing.”
“No,” Gunnar says gently, andthatsomehow pisses me off more. “It’s not.”
Iglare at him. “You’re not my commanding officer anymore.”
