Page 107 of Beyond the Rules

I watched Nina’s expressions cycling in slow motion. Her eyes widened and she frowned as she struggled to understand. Her confusion lasted but a second. She was too fucking bright. She figured it out all on her own. Her eyebrows clashed over her nose and her glare swept over us like hurricane force winds as she realized we’d beenholdingback.

“Negative, Mariner, we do not confirm,” Zar said in a wooden voice. “Keep the protection teams in place. I’m not giving the all clear until Dimayev is behind bars and the judge hasdeniedbail.”

“Aye, aye,” Noah said, oblivious to the storm brewing in the bunker. “Marinerout.”

Nina set the champagne flute on the desk, spun in her chair and faced us, cheeks high with color. In my mind, I heard the crack of our newly poured foundation breaking. Tanner, Zar and I closed ranks and braced as one.Incoming.

“Dimayev threatened them, didn’t he?” Nina’s chin came up in the air. “And you didn’t tell me. You didn’t tell me that he went after my mom and myfriends.”

“Now, Nina,” Tanner said in his calming tone. “We made sure everyone was safe, including you. Please don’t jump toconclusions…”

“Bullshit.” The hurt of betrayal gleamed as her glare jumped between us. “Iseverybodyokay?”

“Everybody’s fine,” Tanner said. “Well…except…” His Adam’s apple bobbed with a swallow. “Lina Roberts. I’m sorry, Nina. Dimayev got to her before we found out.She’sdead.”

“Lina’s dead?” Nina’s hand shot to her mouth. The tears that bulged in her eyes drove a spike through my heart. Then her grief transformed into rage. “Why didn’t you tell me? She was my friend. I had a righttoknow!”

Between her tears and her anger, I was down for the count. I’d rather face the devil’s wrath than the furious, bitter glare she aimed at usrightnow.

“You guys said you trusted me.” She stood up, spine ramrod straight. “But you never really did. And now, because of me, Linaisdead.”

“Nina,” Tanner tried toexplain. “We—”

“It wasmydecision.” Zar stepped between us and Nina. “I stand by it.Blameme.”

Her stare fixed on him. “It was all an act. I was never part ofyourteam.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zar clenched his fists, his forearms bulging. “You just brought downDimayev!”

“I’m sick and tired of this double standard,” Nina spat, her eyes aglow with emotions that burned in my gut like radioactive fallout. “Maybe it’s because I wasn’t at the ridge when you made your pact. Or because I’m a civilian and you don’t trust that I understand your mission frame of mind. Or maybe it’s because I’m a woman. I don’t know. Sure, you guys are wired to protect and defend. I get that. But that doesn’t give you the right to exclude me from my own life, or to lie to me, or to sideline me every time you feel the truth is too hard for me to handle. I’m not a part of your team. I’ll never be. And now Lina’s dead, becauseofme.”

Tanner started. “You’re notbeingfair—”

“Fair?” She scoffed, a bitter sound. “Trust is fair. Discussion is fair. Respect is fair. Equality is fair. This shit where I’m some weak, fragile creature who can’t make good decisions for herself or for her team, where I don’t get a say in my own life?Notfair.”

Tanner squeezed the bridge of hisnose. “Nina…”

She snarled. “Don’t you Nina me. It’s done. Right? Dimayev is caught. Our deal is over. I’m outofhere.”

The bottom fell out of my world. My stomach plummeted. I was in a HAHO gone bad, spinning in the dark, and no matter how much I jerked the cord, my parachute refusedtoopen.

“You’re not clear of danger yet.” Zar moved to intercept Nina, blocking her way with his body. “You can’tleave.”

“What are you going to do?” Nina perched her hands on her hip and challenged Zar with her glare. “Lock me up? Turn me in to the sheriff? Put me back in jail for violating myparole?”

The breath went out of Zar. His chest deflated. I’d never seen him defeated before, but now the lines of his face deepened. He looked beaten, ancient, crushed. He looked likeIfelt.

“I’m not gonna do any of that.” Zar’s shoulders slumped. “I…Ican’t.”

The bunker went pin-drop silent. Not even Tanner knew what to say. A furious Nina diverted around Zar and marched to the door, on her way to packing, I feared. I knew we had to do something, enact some delay and evade tactic that would buy us some time to figure out a way tofixthis.

“The wedding’s on Saturday.” The words just burst out of my lips. “You said you’d go with me. Youpromised.”

My tone was deliberately sullen, resentful, accusatory even. I knew I was being low-handed, trying to manipulate Nina’s emotions, but the mission was spinning out of control and this was a goddamnemergency.

Nina halted by the door and steadied herself on the threshold. Her head dropped to her chest. All I could see was her straight back and her shoulders, shaking with her emotions. She shot me a sidelong look, her mouth straight and thin, her eyes humid. She knew how important the outing wastome.

“Fine.” She exhaled a shaky sigh. “I did promise. So I’ll go to the wedding on Saturday. Then I’llgohome.”

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