Page 60 of Torgash

"Look at me." I don't hold back this time.

She finally lifts her head, and for just a moment, the mask slips. I see the fear underneath. The terror she's trying so hard to bury.

Then the walls slam back up.

"Last night was a mistake," she says, voice emotionless. "We lost perspective. Got distracted from what matters."

Her voice shakes when she says it. Her fingers grip the table edge until her knuckles go white.

"You don't believe that."

"I believe in the case. In justice for the families Royce has destroyed." She turns back to the files, refuses to look at me. "Everything else is secondary."

"Everything else?" I step closer, close enough to smell her fear again. Stronger now. Desperate. "Is that what you call what happened between us?"

"What happened between us was a lapse in judgment." Still staring at the paperwork. "It won't happen again."

I slam my palm down on the table beside her. The possessive fury wants blood, wants to tear apart whoever made her this afraid. "Because someone threatened you. Someone made you believe that what we have undermines the case."

Her hands go completely still. "There is no 'we,' Ash. There's the job. That's all there's ever been."

Her voice cracks on 'ever been.'

"You're terrified." I move around the table. "Royce got to you. Used what we shared against you somehow."

"Stop." She stands fast and puts the chair between us. "Just stop. You're reading things that aren't there."

"Then explain the anxiety. Explain why your hands shake when you think I'm not watching. Explain why you can't look me in the eye when you tell me last night meant nothing."

Christ, Nova. Don't let him convince you I'm the enemy.

"Because it didn't mean anything." Too loud. Too desperate. "Because I don't need you complicating my life. Because this job is all I have, and I won't let anyone—including you—destroy it."

"Including me." Christ, that cuts deep. "So I'm just another threat now. Another problem to manage."

"You've always been a threat." She finally meets my eyes. Ice cold. "I was just stupid enough to forget that for one night."

Silence. Heavy and brutal. I want to grab her, shake her, demand the truth about what happened in that office this morning. I want to hunt down Royce and tear him apart with my bare hands.

She's done with me. Already back behind that fucking badge where I can't reach her. Maybe that's what she needs right now—distance from the monster who's made her life hell.

"Williams' timeline review. Garcia prep." Her voice goes flat. Dead. "We should get started before the deposition."

"Nova—"

"Bank records still don't match the Garcias' testimony. Timeline's off by several months."

She won't look at me. Won't let me in. And pushing harder will just make it worse.

So I step back.

"Fine," I tell her, moving to the opposite side of the table. "Let's prep the Garcias."

We work through the testimony without speaking. The silence cuts like broken glass. But one thing's clear: Royce got to her. Threatened her. Used me against her.

He thinks he won.

Stupid fuck just poked the beast.

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