Page 40 of Lethal Game

Max closed the door behind them and turned to face her and Con. “I’ll post a guard outside your door.”

Sophia’s stomach knotted. “Sir, I’m not...that is, I don’t feel...” God, how did she explain the mixed-up muddle of her emotions?

“Safe?” Con offered the word tentatively.

“Yes, that. Could I bunk with Connor for the rest of the night and worry about my room tomorrow?”

Max stared at her like she’d spoken a foreign language. “You said he was here debriefing you?” Max asked in a deceptively soft voice. He looked at Con with a tight expression.

Con didn’t flinch or fidget. “You know as well as I do that venting to a buddy is important after something like this.”

“So you’rebuddiesnow?” Max asked in a tone that said he didn’t believe it.

“Yes,” Sophia answered. “I trust him. He...” How did she explain? “He doesn’t treat me like I’m twelve or disabled.”

“You only met him a few days ago,” Max said, his voice rising.

“So what?” she demanded. “He’s kept his word to me, Max.” She stared at her boss and mentor, and begged him with her eyes to believe her. “I feel safe with him. I trust him.” She held out her hands. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Max looked at Con again and opened his mouth a couple of times before anything came out. “Fine. We’ll discuss this further in the morning.”

“Yes, sir,” she and Con said simultaneously.

Max shook his head and said, “Grab what you need for tonight. I’ll meet you two in his room with a cot.” Max didn’t wait for their answer. He slammed the door on his way out.

“That was weird,” Sophia said after a moment. And scary and infuriating.

“Can you be specific?” Con asked. “A lot of weirdness has happened in the last few hours.”

“All of it.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I need a shower.”

She glanced at his crotch and noted that the wet spot had dried enough that it wasn’t noticeable. “I’m uncertain of the protocol. Do I apologize because getting undressed is probably going to be an evenstickier situationthan it was earlier?”

He looked at her with a frown that turned his eyebrows into one long straight line. “Seriously? You’re going to ask me that out loud?”

“How else am I supposed to ask? Charades?” She spun on her heel and went to grab her go bag.

“Whoa.” Con took her by the shoulders and turned her around to meet her gaze. “You only apologize if you’re sorry you did it. Are you?”

That cooled her frazzled nerves. “No. Are you?”

“I don’t think it was the smartest thing either of us has done, but I’m not sorry either.” His face was somber. What had him looking so sad?

“Okay,” she said, trying to smile. After all that had happened in the last few hours, it probably looked more like a wince.

He watched her for another moment. “I scared you. When I took down those two assholes. Didn’t I?” He looked like he regretted what he did.

For the first time since she met him, Sophia was tempted to lie.

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