Liam was right; she didn’t know this man.“Is that the only reason you kept hanging out with me, to learn about my brother?Thinking I might reveal something about him.Did you think I was a criminal too?That I was his accomplice?”Come to think of it, Rob had asked her a lot of questions about Liam.She had thought it was curiosity, but now she knew otherwise.He had just been using her.June thought she might be sick.
“No.”He shook his head and took a step toward her, but a glance up at her brother had him seeming to reconsider and staying where he was.“I was with you because I enjoyed being with you.There was no other reason.No ulterior motive.Yes, I was curious about your brother because you were so secretive about him.I asked someone to look into him before I left, and I swear I stopped caring by the time I came back.It’s no longer important, June.You are.”
If he thought that was supposed to appease her, he had another thing coming.“Yet because I wasn’t forthcoming with information, you did it anyway, behind my back,” she snapped at him, pointing at herself.“What he does for a living has no bearing on my life and shouldn’t have had any basis in our relationship.So, what if he had been a criminal—which he isn’t—that has nothing to do with me.You should have respected that boundary.”
Rob looked away in shame, but that didn’t make her any happier.He had been in the wrong to violate her trust.What Liam did was highly classified.If anyone found out he had a family and friends, they could be used for revenge or collateral for government secrets.That was why she’d gone out of her way to never mention his name or Cora’s.
She didn’t have pictures of him in the house in case people discovered their connection.She never guessed that the lack of knowledge about him would draw just as much notice.
“You know I respected your privacy about secrets, but you couldn’t do the same for me.”This was so much worse than when she’d thought he’d ghosted her.This hurt a lot deeper.It felt more personal now.
“June, why don’t you head home while I talk to Rob,” Liam suggested gently as he steered her to the side, so the men were face to face.
“I don’t have my car.”They had taken Rob’s.
Without looking at her, Liam pulled his car keys out of his pants pocket and handed them to her.“It’s a block back that way.”He pointed behind him.“Then turn left, and it’s on the right.Red Nissan.”
June looked at Rob one more time, unshed tears glistening in her eyes, before she turned around and walked away once again, but this time it would be the last.June couldn’t trust him after this.This had been the ultimate betrayal.
She could forgive him for not calling or whatever while he was on assignment.They had still been new and not even considered in a relationship yet, but this?How could she trust him after this?
Chapter 40
Rob watched June walk away with her head downcast.He felt horrible about how things turned out.He should have told her that he had been looking into her brother instead of her finding out like this, but he had given up looking into him, so it hadn’t seemed important any longer.
Rob shifted his focus to Liam, the man he had been looking into for weeks and now didn’t care less about.He’d much rather chase after June and beg her forgiveness.
“How did you know?”Not that it made a difference now, but he was curious to know.
“Nick,”—ah, that made sense—“As the leader in counter terrorism, he was a little concerned when my name search popped up on his radar, and someone was trying to dig into my classified file.”Which meant Liam worked for Nick in some capacity.
No wonder June had been so secretive about her brother.If it was ever found out she was related, they could use her to get to him and any government secrets he knew.
“Then you emailed him and started asking questions.He told me you were digging into me.When June told me about you, I put two and two together.Since you broke up, I didn’t worry further about it, but when you two got back together, I couldn’t risk you continuing to dig and risk others looking into me.”
Rob didn’t bother asking how Liam knew he and June were back together.At the moment, it wasn’t the most important thing.“I wasn’t meaning to cause an issue.I do background checks for a living.When there’s a mystery, I want to solve it.June was always close-lipped about you.People are only like that when they have something to hide.”
“Or protecting someone they love.”Fair.“In the words of June, that’s no excuse for what you did.”
“It’s not, but it’s the truth.Care to share why your record is sealed and it warranted notifying Nick I was looking into you?”Finally, he might solve the mystery.
Liam cocked his head to the side and almost looked pleased.“June didn’t share?”
“No, no matter how much I asked.”To his great annoyance and not from lack of trying.
There was a hint of a smile on Liam’s face at that statement.“My sister can hold secrets better than anyone I know.”
Wasn’t that the truth.She’d only ever given him breadcrumbs about Liam.If she was a man, she would have made a hell of a Special Forces operative.“Care to share finally?”Let his curiosity be appeased finally.
“It’s a need to know, and you don’t need to know.”
Rob swallowed his disappointment.He should have seen that coming, but he realized it didn’t really matter.Everyone was entitled to their secrets.“So, what happens now?Is this the part where you kick my ass?”Normally, he would say try to kick his ass, but Liam looked like he had been in more than a few fights and came out on top.Rob knew he could hold his own in a fight, but Rob wasn’t just fighting a combatant.He had offended the man’s sister.Liam would be out for blood.No holds barred.It was going to get ugly and bloody.
“That depends,” Liam said casually.
“On?”Rob widened his stance, not taking Liam’s nonchalant look seriously.
“Will you leave my sister alone now?”
