Page 56 of On the Double

He turned on his heel and headed through the crowd, not saying a word to anyone else. This was all my fault. I rushed after him, catching him before he could get in his truck and drive off.

“Cash!”

He glanced over his shoulder, barely acknowledging me. “What?”

“I’m…I’m sorry about the?—”

“I fucking told you to do it.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t mean it, did you?”

At my heated words, he turned on me. “And why would you think that?”

“Because you don’t actually want to let go of your anger.”

A bark of laughter left his throat, but it quickly morphed into rage. “Would you let go of your anger?” he snapped. “If you’d seen and done what I had, would you walk away?”

“There’s nothing more we can do. The government has taken over the case. If we interfere, it’s only going to cause problems.”

“Who said anything about interfering?”

I hated that look in his eyes. He was going to do something fucking stupid, and he wasn’t going to tell anyone what those plans were. “Cash, if you go rogue, you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“Wow, you really don’t think much of my skills.”

“I think you’re hurting right now, and that anger you’re feeling is going to cloud your judgment.”

He shook his head slightly, pretending he wasn’t planning a fucking thing. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got nothing planned.”

“Yet,” I corrected.

He sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. I didn’t like the look in his eyes or the way he seemed to space off when I was talking to him. He wasn’t fucking listening because he already knew whatever I asked of him would go unanswered.

“Enjoy the party, Edu. You never know how much time you have left to enjoy shit like this.”

He yanked the truck door open, but I called out to him one last time. “Promise me something right now.”

He was half in the truck when he stopped, not really turning to face me.

“Swear to me that if you do anything, you’ll fucking tell me about it. I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t want to do that.”

Which meant it was a fucking suicide mission.

“I’ll be there,” I promised. “Rafe might not have been my brother, but you are. You’re my fucking family,” I admitted. I didn’t share shitlike this often, but what we had built at OPS was more than I could ever have dreamed of having. And I wouldn’t give that up for anything. So, if he was about to go do something stupid, I would be there with him, fighting alongside him. No matter the cost.

He nodded slightly before getting in his truck and driving away. I wasn’t sure if I got through to him or if he would actually tell me what was going on, but I’d be keeping a closer eye on him over the next few weeks. One way or another, I’d find out what was going on with him and do whatever it took to keep him from falling off the cliff.

“My grandparentsjust left for the night,” Harper said, looking exhausted.

I flinched at the ache growing in my chest at the sight of her looking tired. This wasn’t normal. I shouldn’t feel this way over a woman I barely knew, and I definitely didn’t like it.

Glancing around, I saw the party was still raging. No one was calling it a night anytime soon. “If you want to go back to my place, you can.”

The shocked look on her face threw me for a loop. “Go to your house without you there?”

“Yeah,” I said warily. “Why?”

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