I’m starting to get the feeling that he doesn’t like my partner, and I can’t say that I blame him. He left in a bit of a rage the other night when I was on the phone with Miles, discussing my new living situation. Miles said some things that would have pissed me off if I were in Nix’s shoes,so he has every right to be angry and distrustful of the man who basically adopted me after my parents died.
The elevator door slides open, and I turn back around to face forward. I’ll just have to deal with Nix afterward . . . if they don’t kill each other first.
Miles looks up, and I note a deep scowl on his face as he takes me in. And then his gaze hardens when it lands on Nix as soon as he steps into his home. “You two have a lot of explaining to do,” he spits.
I can hear Nix push off the wall and his almost silent steps as he comes to stand beside me. There’s a protective way that he hovers that doesn’t go unnoticed by Miles, and he takes it in, sweeping his gaze between the two of us.
“A lot of explaining,” he adds in the same tone.
“Miles,” I say as clearly as I can, even though my nerves are on fire. “This is Feenix. Nix, this is Miles.”
Nix grunts his greeting but says nothing more. Hatred rolls off him in waves.
“Look,” I begin with a sigh. “We’re both working for the same side –”
“Except one of us joined the dark side,” Miles interrupts, pinning Nix with a glare.
I hold up my pointer finger. “Momentarily, but that’s beside the point. He’s on our side now –”
“So he tells you!” Miles nearly shouts.
It’s my turn to glare, and I have a feeling Nix is doing the same thing, a united front against someone who is questioning us. “I trust him with my life.”
“How could you?”
“Because he’s done nothing but keep me alive.”
Miles clamps his jaw shut, but he doesn’t remove his attention from Nix. I move to stand between them in case Miles says something stupid that’ll tip off Nix. If it comes to blows, I know who will win.
“We’re all on the same side,” I say as Nix puts his hand on my hip, ready to pull me behind him if he has to.
“Minus the fact that only two-thirds of the room is sleeping together,” Miles grits out. “Or were you going to leave that part out?”
“What she does when she is off-duty is none of your business,” Nix says so dangerously low that I get goosebumps.
“When you’re undercover, you’re never off duty,” he retorts, taking a step in our direction.
Nix’s hand tightens on my waist, but it’s me who speaks. “It doesn’t matter –”
“It does!” Miles shouts this time. “It’s colored your way of thinking, I guarantee it.”
“So what if it has!” I yell back at him. “I love him, and I’m still doing my job!”
Nix’s hand loosens for a minute, and I don’t blame him because even I can’t believe I admitted it. But then he tightens it again, possessively, and I know then and there that I won’t regret saying those words in front of him.
Miles slowly slides his gaze to me. He studies me, really looks at me, and then whispers, “I knew you weren’t ready for something like this.”
“For what? Love? Or the job?” I cross my arms over my chest and pin him with another glare. “Choose your words carefully, Miles, or you won’t just be walking out of Nix’s home. You’ll be walking out of my life.”
He has the audacity to look shocked, and he steps back as if I had shoved him. “Charlie . . .”
I shake my head. “I’ve never minded you being protective, you’ve had to be, but when you start questioning every little thing I do, I do mind. I won’t put up with it anymore. Either you’re on my side, or you’re not. It’s your choice, but you’re going to make it. Right now. Right here.”
He blinks a few times. I’ve never spoken to him in this manner; I’ve never made him choose between trusting me and my instincts and seeing me as that teen who needed a new dad because mine got himself stabbed. I’m not that girl anymore. I can take care of myself, and I can damn well do my job despite my personal life.
After a good minute of tense silence, his shoulders droop, and he releases a breath he must have been holding. “I don’t want you to do this, Charlie.” He looks at me pointedly. “This party – I don’t want you to go.”
“Then you and Nix are on the same side, but it’s a side I won’t be joining.”
