Page 78 of Every Last Breath

Suppressing an eye roll, she smiled. “I believe Sanborn called you—and I quote—backup.”

“Backup with three years seniority.”

Another damn challenge. She was in charge and if this op went south, it would rest squarely on her head and her record. But she could throw Castle a bone here and there if it meant he’d cooperate. “Agreed. You’re the senior person on my team.”

“Reaper, can you compile a spreadsheet of the Ghost’s past known contracts? Types of targets he’s taken out, any special skills he might have had to use to pull off the jobs.”

One assassin looking at another might be helpful for a different perspective.

“Sure.” Gideon dug into a sandwich and sat, logging in to an individual screen on the smart table.

Sensing Cole’s stare on her, Maddox glanced at him.

Once they had regrouped at the hotel after losing Novak on the train, he’d given her a breathtaking bear hug, and for a split second, she’d forgotten how their ugly past had poisoned any hope for a future.

A dangerous moment of hesitation.

Time to establish boundaries and set him straight about his place in this mission.

“You should hydrate.” She took one of the last ham sandwiches. “It’d do you good to get a bite away from here. You’re not used to working in a place with no windows. It can drive you stir-crazy.”

“Take a break with me. You need one. Clear your mind for a few minutes.”

“I can’t.” She tensed and considered stepping into the hall for what she needed to say next, but being alone with him right now wasn’t a good idea. “Cole,” she said, lowering her voice, “this thing between us is a distraction. You’ve no idea how hard I work to measure up. I’ve sacrificed, suffered, bled to be here. I’m good at what I do, but out there, I need to be objective. Not emotional.” An operative. Not a woman. “You have to back off.”

If she wasn’t a good operative, she was nothing.

Cole hardened his jaw and shot a glance at Gideon, as if uneasy they weren’t alone. Gideon ate while working. He was listening, of course, but appeared oblivious.

“There’s no putting me on a leash,” Cole snapped.

Another one of those dog references he threw around like she thought of him as a pound puppy.

“And with this thing between us,” he continued, “there is no backing off.”

“Then you need to walk away from this.” Not just for the sake of the mission or herself but to keep him safe. God, what if something happened to him out there, at Novak’s hands? Her stomach clenched at the thought.

Cole popped to his feet, his expression mulish. He looked fierce and as pigheaded as ever. “That’s not happening. You’re pissed I hugged you in the hotel when I saw you were safe. It wasn’t wrong, even if it was ill-timed. We didn’t lose him because of a hug. Don’t forget, Novak slipped by Castle and Reece too. Novak was just better than us today. Your inability to find balance with me being a part of this equation is your issue, not mine. But a word of advice—practice until you can.”

He snatched Novak’s copy of the Washington Post off the table.

“I’m taking a break.” Cole stormed out of the room.

Balance had never been an issue. She didn’t allow her personal life to invade work. Her world was simple, small, sterile…because he hadn’t been in it. Now the lines were blurring.

Practice until you can. When did he start talking like a Chinese fortune cookie?

The sudden tightness in her chest was an irksome weight.

Janet breezed in with a fresh pot of coffee, plugged in the carafe, and marched out with the pep of the Energizer bunny.

“You’re right,” Gideon said, typing on the virtual keyboard, not looking at her.

“Thank you.” The validation was a relief.

“But he was also right.”

She stiffened, not seeing how that could be the case. And quite frankly, right now, she wasn’t inclined to try.