Page 73 of Wicked Temptations

“It won’t work.Wewon’t work.”

He heard the doubt in her voice, but it also sounded like she was trying to convince herself. There was also a thread of pain lacing her words. He hated that it was between them, the memories of him being a coward. He knew he hurt her, and it was his own damned fault she didn’t trust him. He would just have to spend the rest of their lives proving he was worth the effort.

“We could try.”

Her mouth thinned and he knew that he had touched a nerve. He wanted her to say that everything would be okay, that they would get their own happily ever after, but he didn’t want to force anything. He also didn’t want her freaking out and running the other direction. That’s what he’d done the first time around. So he knew he had to be patient.

“We have too much on our plates to worry about it right now. Just…wait until you make a decision. I would rather you not have a mad bomber threatening you when you choose. If you don’t, we’ll both question the decision.”

She didn’t get a chance to answer before there was a sharp knock on the door before it swung open abruptly. He wanted to curse, but he held it back as he looked over his shoulder. Standing there was Del, but right beside him was Addie March.

Fuck.

ChapterSixteen

Less than fifteen minutes later, the cots had been removed from her office, and Tamilya was dressed. Although, it didn’t matter. The whole office probably knew they’d spent the night together. She knew there was already speculation about what was going on with them. She should probably be more upset, but with TFH, embarrassment was usual. In the FBI, it had been a threat to her career. Here they just bet on it.

She showed Addie into her office.

“So, you and Floyd are back together,” Addie said, slight condemnation in her voice. Addie had never married, and she hadn’t understood her relationship with Marcus back then. She definitely wouldn’t understand it now, because Tamilya didn’t really know what the hell was going on with it. At one time, Tamilya would jump to get her approval. Those days ended the moment she had let Tamilya take the blame for the Virginia Star bombing. Now, she didn’t give a damn what the woman thought.

“Not really.”

There was no indication that she was irritated, except for the way her mouth thinned.

Not much had changed in the last few years. Addie was still an imposing figure because of her size and her personality. Even though she was shorter than Tamilya, Addie constantly wore heels so she seemed taller. Tamilya had always thought she did it to give herself an edge over people. She may have been on a flight for eleven hours, but she looked perfect. Her hair was up in a tight twist at the nape of her neck, the severe look matched Addie’s personality. The woman never allowed anyone to point out that Addie had made any flubs. The steel grey eyes still took in every bit of information the world would give her. Tamilya often thought Addie looked out at the world to find mistakes others made and somehow use that information against them. And she had wanted Tamilya to be just as cold-blooded as she was. Tamilya shivered. The thought that she would have ended up like Addie scared the bejesus out of her. Was that why she was holding back from Addie? She didn’t take crap off anyone, and that was part of what appealed to Tamilya. She’d thought having such a tough mentor would be good. Tough and mercenary…that was a different story.

“I didn’t know you were coming over here until TJ told me,” Tamilya said. That bothered her, she didn’t know why. It just did. No, she did know why. As the POC for the investigation, Addie should have told her she was coming. A text wasn’t a hard thing. Hell, a fucking email would have sufficed.

“I was ordered to come over when all the connections were being made between the two incidents.”

She raised her eyebrows. “So, the FBI is going to admit that I was right?”

Addie smiled. “Maybe you can get backpay for the years since?”

There was a tinge of sarcasm to her words, but Tamilya didn’t know if it was for her or for the FBI. She was betting on both. Addie always saw herself as the injured party.

“Considering what I made while working for Conner Dillon, I really don’t think that will be necessary.”

Addie hesitated then nodded. “Alright, what do you have?”

“Not much and the FBI is really irritated that they have to read me in.”

“Only one text so far?”

The memory of the taunt left an empty pit in her stomach. She knew she should want the bastard to text her because it would put them closer to catching him. Still, it left her feeling dirty. It stained her soul knowing that she hadn’t been listened to all those years ago.

“Yeah. Just one text. Do you have anything in your memory that points to this? Any wording?”

She sighed. “I brought some files with me, and I thought maybe we could work together on them. For old time’s sake?”

Addie wanted to know if Tamilya trusted her. With her career, that would be a big no. With the job, yeah, she would. At least for this investigation. She knew Addie would do anything to salvage her reputation that was growing more tattered by the minute. When Tamilya had been hired by Conner Dillon, the contract had included a clause allowing Dillon to fire her due to revelations about past cases. Seeing that he had wanted to hire her even after all the fallout from Virginia Star, Tamilya had been pretty safe. It was a different story for Addie. She still hadn’t started her new position and, if the Virginia Star issue got messy again, it might threaten any jobs she had lined up. This was—once again—all about Addie.

Still, Addie had been with the FBI for over twenty years. Her brain and connections were what Tamilya needed here, so she would play nice for now.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “Let’s do this.”

Addie smiled, relief filling her gaze. Maybe Tamilya had been reading the situation wrong.

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