"Realistic?" He stepped closer. His height forced me to tilt my head back to keep eye contact. "Realistic is understanding that this program is designed to fail. Realistic is knowing that they put us together because we're both expendable."
"Speak for yourself," I snapped. "I'm not giving up my career because you can't handle having a roommate!"
"Your career?" His laugh was sharp and humorless. "Your career was over the moment you were assigned here. You're just too naive to admit it."
That stung. Worse, because there was truth in it. "At least I didn't risk civilian lives by playing lone wolf!"
The moment the words left my mouth I knew I'd crossed a line. Hawley's face went completely still. His eyes hardened into something dangerous. The air between us seemed to freeze.
He took one step forward. I instinctively backed up until my spine hit the edge of the counter, the hard surface digginginto my lower back. He didn't touch me. But his presence was suffocating. Looming.
"You want to talk about risking lives?" His voice dropped to something barely above a whisper. Somehow more terrifying than if he'd shouted. "Let's talk about the officers who risked their cover and their lives because you couldn't keep your mouth shut for a puff piece."
My lungs constricted. The room felt airless.
How.
How does he know.
I shoved past him, hard enough that our shoulders collided. The brief contact sent an unexpected jolt through me. Not anger. Something else I couldn't name. My hands were trembling as I grabbed my wallet and badge from where I'd tossed them earlier.
"I don't have to listen to this," I muttered. My voice unsteady even to my own ears.
Hawley didn't try to stop me. Didn't say another word. Just watched with those cold eyes as I fumbled with the door.
Once in the hallway I leaned against the wall. Pulse hammering in my throat. "Shit," I whispered, running a hand through my hair.
I needed air. Distance. Out of this claustrophobic box and away from the man who had just looked straight through me.
I took the stairs too quickly. Almost tripped on the last step. The night air hit my face, cool against skin that felt fever-hot with shame.
He knew. Somehow, he knew what had really happened. The part that wasn't in the official reports.
And worse. For just a second back there, when he'd had me cornered against that counter, I hadn't felt just anger. I'd felt seen. Really seen, for the first time since this whole nightmare began.
Round one: no winners. Just the promise of a very long war.
Chapter 4: Cologne Like a Weapon
Luke
The quiet between us had a pulse. A heartbeat. Thirty seconds and counting.
My grip tightened on the steering wheel. Knuckles white as droplets hammered the windshield. His cologne filled the car like a weapon. Too strong. Too deliberate. Specifically engineered to suffocate me in this space. Just like everything else about my new partner.
Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven.
Leather creaked as he shifted beside me. The deliberate intake of breath signaled preparation. People like him never lasted long in quiet. Only a matter of time before he combusted into the silence I was trying to keep.
"So." His finger tapped against his knee in a rhythm that made me contemplate driving off the bridge. "Bar fight at a Korean BBQ place in Koreatown. Guy pulls a knife. Other guy gets stabbed inside the restaurant." A glance outside, casual. "Backat 52, this would be an easy cleanup. Smoothed over before breakfast."
My gaze stayed on the road. "This isn't 52."
"Clearly." He examined the modest buildings of Cabbagetown passing by. His lip curled slightly. "Point is, this is straightforward. Drunk people. Bad decisions. Someone pays the price."
"Nothing is straightforward when alcohol and weapons are involved. The victim's in surgery with a subdural hematoma."
A dramatic sigh. Like I'd personally arranged the brain injury to inconvenience him. "Still. This is our chance to show Inspector Murphy we can handle a simple case quickly. Get back in his good graces. Stop this partnership idiocy." A sidelong look. "Unless you enjoy living with me?"
