Page 194 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“The briefcase is useful. You were still wrong. Both things can exist without you turning one into an excuse for the other.”

There was the briefing version of him again for only a moment, then he gave me a quick once-over and the tone changed.

“Now you decide whether you’re walking out that door or staying for the other conversation you’ve been trying to start since you’ve been here.”

My heartbeat went uneven.

“O-other conversation?”

“Don’t play stupid with me.”

“I’m not.”

Wolf unclipped the folded webbing and let it hang from one hand. I stopped breathing for a second.

“You keep looking at this every time I wear it. You spent an entire car ride asking what I like. You stand there and mouth off every time I get close enough to make you nervous.”

He stepped toward me.

“So quit pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

His anger had not disappeared. He was still furious with me, still carrying Offenburg in the set of his shoulders, but the fury had sharpened into the exact kind of dominance he had warned me about. I realized he was not trying to make me comfortable with it. Wolf was making me choose whether I could handle it.

“You said I’d want to reach for the door,” I said.

Wolf’s eyes held mine.

“I said you might.”

“You sound disappointed that I haven’t.”

“I haven’t given you a reason to yet.”

A shiver ran down my back.

“Is that supposed to scare me?”

“No.”

He took another step.

“It’s supposed to make you decide.”

I looked at the door and Wolf did not move to block it.

The conversation in the car came back with embarrassing clarity, along with his hands steady on the wheel while I kept pushing out of sheer curiosity. I thought the test would begin when he touched me but it had started the second he told me to close the door.

I looked back at him.

“I’m staying.”

“Not enough.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t give a fuck what sounds good. Tell me what you actually want.”

I wet my lips before answering while Wolf stood there waiting, the webbing still wrapped around his fist. I knew I could leave if I wanted to, and somehow, having that choice made the fact that I wanted to stay feel more important.