Still with a fistful of my shirt between his lethal fingers, he slams me against the door of the SUV. “Start talking.”
My head thumps against the metal door. I wince, the breath leaving my lungs in a rush.
On this side of the BMW, we’re hidden from oncoming traffic. Behind him, the desert stretches out into parched hills.
As soon as I regain my balance and composure, I attempt to put some distance between our bodies.
The second my back’s turned, he pushes me again without warning. Not forcefully enough to sprawl me into the dirt, but still.
I whirl around and glare. “Do we really have time for this?” Even my voice sounds strange. Shit.Shit shit shit.
“Trinity.” He utters my name like he’s planning to murder me when this is all over. “What. Did. You.Do?”
“Nothing!”
What’s the point? Brody already takes his rage out on me for no reason. I’ll be in much worse shape if I actually give him one.
Better for him to believe I’m innocent?—
Brody unleashes an unhinged roar, losing the miniscule amount of cool he had left. I flinch, my body on high alert.
“Could this mission possibly go more sideways?” He punts a small rock with his boot. The projectile soars toward the lanes of traffic and hits someone’s windshield viciously enough that the car swerves.
Brody paces in one direction, then pivots and heads straight for me. I inch away until my back hits the passenger door.
He slams the window behind my head, rattling the tempered glass. Air clogs in my chest as it tries to reach my lungs.
“From the moment I laid eyes on your spoiled ass, this entire mission has been a colossal bitch.” He’s seething, the muscles around his eyes twitching like mad as he serves me a scowl sharp enough to draw blood. “If I find out you had anythingto do with the Russians attacking us, and I meananything, you’ll pay.”
His threats sink into me like claws through flesh.
I’m frozen to the spot, but I don’t back down.
“You may not believe this.” My voice comes out soft and steady. “But I don’t give a damn how yourmissiongoes, Brody. I’m not your sidekick, and I’m certainly not your property.I’m a person.If you think you can scare me into forgetting that, then…you’re bruised and
delusional—”
He closes his fist around my neck and exerts pressure. Though I can still breathe, the threat remains.
I swallow with difficulty. If Brody gets like this when he’s merelysuspiciousof me, what would he do if he knew for sure it was my fault?
I hope to never find out.
He releases his grip on my throat. My airway floods open, oxygen pouring in as I gasp for breath while doubling over and coughing.
Brody steps back, the intensity of his glare blunting by the second. When he speaks again, exhaustion has eaten up all the rage in his voice.
“We’re on our own and out of options.” He huffs away in frustration, but three paces away, he wobbles.
He glances down, and my eyes follow suit.
I slap my hands over my mouth to strangle my scream at the sight of blood seeping into the dirt at Brody’s feet and his red-soaked pant leg.
He’s injured. Who knows how much blood he’s already lost.
In fact, my captor may be on the brink of death.
Chapter 21
