* * * *
She wouldn’t look at him. Kenzie sat in a chair pretty much as far away as she could.
How could she think this was about Deanna? She genuinely thought he was still in love with a dead woman? A dead woman who’d betrayed him.
It was ridiculous, but then she wasn’t wrong about the fact that it was his fault he hadn’t figured out Manny was smarter than him once again. One would think he would learn.
If Kenzie wasn’t lying, then he’d ripped her apart, and the thought made him sick to his stomach.
He needed to talk to her. He’d been an ass, but she was also right that he might not be over the fact that she’d lied to him.
“What did you do?” Tim whispered the question.
Fucked everything up. That was what he’d done. On every level since when Big Tag had sent him a message that the team was meeting and wanted to speak with him alone, he’d gone and gotten Tim.
Who had Claire and Gabby in his “room.” Oh, it looked innocent enough, but he understood one of the things they wanted to talk aboutwas Tim. But by that point he couldn’t come up with another excuse for barging in, and Tim was here.
So that was why they wanted to talk to him alone, and he’d fucked that up, too.
“I took a call Kenzie didn’t think I should.” She’d changed into an oversized sweater and jeans. The sweater’s arms came down past her wrists, covering the spot where he’d left his most ruthless, harmful mark.
Had she put some ice on it? Taken some anti-inflammatories? She wouldn’t let him take care of her. Her sisters were already forming a protective wall around her. Now he wouldn’t be allowed back in the dungeon she loved. He was probably about to get his ass kicked out of The Garden altogether.
Kenzie was here along with her sisters, Lou, their husbands, Samantha, and Oliver. The parents hadn’t made it in yet.
Oliver had been plain. He was no longer a Dom in his eyes. He was banished from the dungeon floor.
The court was protecting their princess.
No one protected him.
Except her, you massive ass. She tried to spare you all of this, but you wanted to call her out publicly. You wanted to humiliate her, and turns out you only made yourself look like an idiot.
I love you, Ben.
He was never going to hear those words again.
Tim seemed to think about that before quietly replying. He didn’t need to be told who had been on the other end of the line. “We’re not supposed to answer his calls. What lies did he tell this time?”
Tim sat beside him at the opposite end of the table to the Americans and Brits. He’d mentioned they could move closer but had seemed to realize something had gone wrong.
“He didn’t tell lies. He gave me the truth. He’s known about Kenzie and Kala all along. He’s known for years. Now that I know I can see how he’s been taunting me about it,” Ben whispered. Tim would back him up.
Tim’s head tilted and reminded him of how Kenzie’s dog looked when he was confused. “Uhm, yeah. That’s not some big revelation. You read the files, right? It was clear that Manny knew the family before they were an Agency team.”
Embarrassment flashed through him. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t made that connection. It was in the way Big Tag had written it up. He’d talked about his family but hadn’t explicitly mentioned the twins.
Of course he was a fucking intelligence officer who was supposed to be able to read between the lines. It was clear in that report.
He wished she would look at him.
What the hell had he done? How could he undo it? Did he even want to?
Now that his rage died down, he could see how calmly and fairly she’d tried to handle the situation. She’d tried to spare him that scene in the dungeon, but no, he’d plowed through because he’d known he was right and she was…
He hadn’t meant to call her a whore. Didn’t even think the word about her, and yet he could see he’d described her that way.
He felt hollowed out, and he definitely felt the distance between him and this team he’d become a part of over the last few weeks.
