The baby cried again, a thin, desperate sound that scraped along the edges of the silence between them.Wolf could push.He could step forward, force the issue, make it clear that this wasn’t a request, but he didn’t.
There was something endearing in the way she stood there, looking ready to fight something she couldn’t possibly win, and with that child behind her.He shifted his weight slightly instead, settling into stillness.
“You mentioned Derek isn’t here,” he said.“Where is he?”
Jade tightened her jaw, still looking gloriously stubborn.
“I told you,” she said.“I don’t know.”
“He left.Yesterday,” Jade finally added.
Yesterday.Wolf filed that away instantly.
“Left,” he repeated.
“Yes.”Jade curled her fingers against the edge of the door, pressing her nails into the wood like she needed something solid to hold onto.“That stupid ex of mine didn’t explain why he was leaving or anything.”
The baby let out a sharper cry, louder now, verging on a wail.Jade’s eyes flickered for a fraction of a second toward the sound, then snapped back to him.
“Ex?”he asked.
She blinked.“What?”
“You said ex,” Wolf pointed out.
“Yeah,” she muttered.
“Aren’t you together?”Wolf queried.
“No, not anymore.”Something in her expression shifted again, anger this time, before she shoved it down.
Wolf watched her, measuring.He searched her face for cracks, any hesitation, anything that didn’t line up.
“How convenient,” he said.
Her eyes flashed with anger.“I’m not covering for him,” she shot back.
He didn’t respond immediately.Wolf merely let the silence stretch, let it press.
“You know who I am,” he said finally.
It wasn’t a question.Jade held his gaze.Nodded once.
“I know,” she said, biting on her lower lip.
“And who I work for,” Wolf added.
Another nod.“Yeah.”
Wolf tilted his head slightly, studying her face.
“Then you understand,” he said, “that withholding information from me isn’t a good idea.”
Her lips pressed together.
“And it’s not worth it,” he continued, “defending Derek Callahan.”
She laughed, and the sound was short, sharp, and entirely without humor.
