Page 77 of Covert Temptation

He didn’t answer right away. He stared out the window, jaw clenched so tight it ached. “I don’t want to throw this away. Her.Us.Whatever the hell this is turning into.”

“Get the facts first. Don’t condemn her without knowing everything.”

He let out a breath that trembled a little. “This isn’t just about a lie to the team…or to me. Cipher knows I’m searching for her online.”

There was a stretch of silence. Then Con said, “So she lied to stay hidden. And now he’s using that lie to flush her out.”

Dante turned back to the desk. The photo still glared on the screen.

Christ, seeing her like that, exposed to the eyes of men paying to watch her, shattered everything he knew and believed about their relationship.

He thought he felt a shift in the air, the faintest breath stirring it.

The soft creak of a floorboard made his heart stop.

He looked up.

Kennedy stood in the doorway. Barefoot. Silent. And ashen.

His heart rocketed up his throat.

“Kennedy?”

She didn’t answer. She just stared. And then she turned and walked away, fast.

He reached out a hand as if he could yank her back to him. “Kennedy, wait!”

She rushed faster in a streak of blonde hair.

“Shit!” Dante cursed and looked at the phone still in his hand, live with Con. “I have to go.”

He took off after her. He had no idea how much she’d heard, but from the look on her face, it had been enough.

He needed the truth from her—every last word of it.

But he also knew if he didn’t fix this now, he might lose her before he ever really had the chance to hold on.

* * * * *

Kennedy slammed the bedroom door and backed away from it slowly, her mind spinning. She wrapped her arms around her middle because her guts were falling out.

He knows. He knows.

Every time Dante or the FBI received new intel, she feared this would happen. Now it had.

He knew her deepest, darkest secret. It wasn’t about her harmless lie of omission on a government job application. It was about being an exotic dancer to put herself through college.

Even as shivers claimed her, relief somersaulted through her mind. Now that Dante knew, she didn’t have to worry anymore.

The sound of a hand hitting the other side of the door made her back up another step.

“Kennedy.”

He didn’t wait for her answer, just pushed his way inside. He snapped on the light, making her blink.

“Kennedy, talk to me. This time I need to know everything.” His eyes were hard and carried a hint of the old ice she’d seen back when he didn’t trust her. When he didn’t like her.

She hugged herself tighter.

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