Page 54 of Zero Hour

It was guilt.

He was blaming himself. Not for failing the mission—but for compromising it to save her.

“Sorry I didn’t get a chance to let you into the house,” she said quietly. “I know you were hoping to plant that bug. I feel like I ruined everything for you.”

He sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers tightening around the bottle. His response was slow, deliberate. “No, I did that all by myself. But your safety was the priority.”

She studied him, tilting her head slightly. “Was it?”

His gaze snapped to hers. “Of course.” But she saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes, the war raging inside him.

Pat was a man who’d spent his life making the hard calls, putting the mission first—no matter the cost. The kind of man who would sacrifice anything, anyone, for the greater good.

And yet… tonight, he hadn’t.

She was well aware he’d compromised the op.For her.

He knew it. She knew it. And from his stormy expression, he was still trying to figure out why.

And for some reason, that made it worse.

This was a man used to certainty, to control. To executing a plan with cold precision. But she’d knocked him off course.

He raked a hand through his short, dark hair, greying at the temples, his frustration palpable. “I couldn’t leave you there to be raped. Not by that monster.” His voice was rougher now, as if the thought alone made him physically ill.

Something in her chest tightened.

He had saved her. But at what cost?

“If only Adam hadn’t met with Amir, none of this would ever have happened,” she whispered, more to herself than to him.

Pat sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “How did your husband end up working with Al-Jabiri?”

She tensed, her fingers tightening around the mug. “It’s a long story.”

“We have all night.”

Fair enough.

She took a slow, steadying breath before beginning. “They met at a work event. Adam was always networking, always making connections. I should have known something waswrong, but at the time, I thought nothing of it. Then one day, Amir called him and asked to meet somewhere private. Adam agreed.”

Pat’s brows furrowed. “Why?”

She let out a humorless laugh. “To be honest, I don’t know. I think it was professional curiosity. Maybe a little arrogance. Adam thought he was too smart to be played.”

A muscle ticked in Pat’s jaw, but he didn’t comment.

Jasmine felt her cheeks burn. “You know what the worst thing is? I didn’t even realize he was missing until two days later.” She let out a weak, self-deprecating laugh. “I know how that sounds, but we lived separate lives. He was obsessed with his work, and I was obsessed with mine.”

Pat tilted his head, eyes unreadable. “You slept in separate rooms.”

It wasn’t a question.

She stiffened. “Yes.”

The way he was watching her made her skin tingle. Not in an uncomfortable way, but in a way that made her hyperaware of every breath, every flicker of his gaze.

Why did it feel so intimate to admit that?

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