Page 41 of Undercover Savior

I met his gaze. It was the first he’d looked at me since he returned to the dining room after being gone far longer than it should’ve taken him to retrieve his computer. Wanting to feelconnected to him again, my eyes bored into his. I didn’t answer or look away.

His eyes scrunched. “Sullivan?”

I nodded. “Yes. I will do.”

“Ash, you’re scheduled to meet with Periscope at fourteen hundred,” said Gus, looking up from his mobile.

“Bloody hell,” he said under his breath. “In order to do so, I need to leave in the next thirty minutes. Can you not?—”

“No,” Gus responded before David finished.

Would I sound childish if I said I wasn’t comfortable discussing the details of my investigation without him present?

“Let’s table Sullivan’s briefing until you return,” said Con, saving me from the embarrassment of saying it myself.

“Not necessary,” said David.

“It is,” I blurted, my eyes meeting his again.

“Very well,” he said, his voice softening as though he was speaking only to me.

I longed to be alone with him, to feel his arms around me, to hear his reassurance, to know that, no matter what, he’d protect me. I wanted the David from last night, not the one he’d reverted to being this morning—cold, distant, and detached.

When he left the room, saying a collective goodbye to the group, I raised my chin and squared my shoulders, not wanting him to see the hurt I was experiencing. This wasn’t any different than when the people I worked with shunned me. As for friends outside of the news agency, I’d lost touch years ago with anyone who might’ve been considered as such.

If David had been as demonstrative today as he was yesterday, there was a chance I would’ve been the one to withdraw. I was a loner. I lived alone, I worked on my own, and as far as a social life was concerned, I didn’t have one. So how would he fit in my life anyway?

“Earlier, I said Ms. Wallace would welcome the opportunity to meet with you, Sullivan. Is that something you’d be happy to do?” Con asked.

“Of course.”

“As it turns out, Fallon’s family has a place on the Isle of Arran. If you’d like, I could make arrangements for her to visit today.”

Today?“Um, sure, but I don’t want to inconvenience her.”

“She’s looking forward to it.”

I glanced over at Tag, who was studying his mobile. Based on the look on his face, it wasn’t good.

“Is everything all right?” I asked, unable to help myself.

He glanced up at me. “Yes, fine.”

I had to clench my fists hard enough that my fingernails dug into my palms to stop myself from calling him out on his expression. There was always a chance that whatever it was had nothing to do with me.

“Tag,” said Con.

When we both raised our heads to look at him, he was motioning to me, chuckling.

“What?” I asked.

Con raised a brow, then said Tag’s name a second time.

“No update on the intruders. We’ve been unable to track them.”

“When will David return?” I asked, suddenly feeling impatient and antsy.

“I’m not sure he’s even left,” said Gus.

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