Page 35 of Ronan

Disappointment.

Hurt.

Shame.

Cameron slams the door behind him, and an ache tears through my chest like someone has gripped that useless organ caged in my ribs, squeezing the life out of it. My hand lands on my sternum, fingers digging into the leather of my armor as I try to make sense of what just happened.

Every muscle in my body twitches with restless energy, the urge to chase after him so profound I have to physically fight my legs from moving.

Do I give him time to cool off or follow?

Does he even want me to?

I don’t want you, Ronan.The words echo through my mind as I stand in a state of complete indecision, halfway to the door with no idea what to do. “Fuck!” I bellow, shoving my fingers through my hair and yanking. The sting against my scalp doesn’t help, though, only making me angrier as I pull.

“That’s it,” I mutter, charging after him. “He doesn’t get to walk away from me.” Hand on the knob, I’ve barely even started to twist it when the crunch of gravel outside makes me freeze.

Cameron.

Terror causes me to charge through the door, not even bothering to look out the windows in my haste. I burst outside to find a familiar van parked beside my sedan.

“Officer Ronan.” Commander Bravis stands with another officer I don’t know well, arms crossed, and an icy dread grips me as I see Cameron’s shadow flit behind a tree. “Care to explain what you’re doing here when you should be on patrol?”

My heart pounds as heavy as a sledgehammer against a bass drum, but I fight to keep my face composed as I gesture toward the house. “Apologies, sir, your presence threw me off guard. I was on my usual route when I caught the sunlight reflecting off the windows of this structure. I thought it would be wise to investigate.”

His soft hum is barely audible above the beating of my pulse, and his eyes are cold and full of arrogance as he strides closer. “You just stumbled upon this house today, then? Never seen it before?”

My mind races, a clammy sweat prickling my skin. If he steps inside and sees the chaotic mess of supplies on the floor, it’s all over.

He’ll execute me on the spot, history be damned.

“Correct, sir. The structure is highly unstable and needs to be burned down before the rebels find a use for it. You caught me as I was on my way to base to file a report.”

“Is that so?” he muses, glancing around me to the open door, and I wonder just how much he can see inside from where he stands. His boots thud on the ground as he circles me, a predator sizing up its prey, and I maintain my posture with my shoulders back and spine straight. The other officer’s lip lifts into an amused smirk. His head is wedged so far up the commander’s ass, he can’t even see the precarious position he’s put himself in by aligning with such a traitorous man.

“That’s curious, Ronan,” Bravis continues. “Do you want to knowwhyit’s so curious?”

My mouth opens and closes before I manage to speak. “If you consider it prudent to share, sir.”

“Ever since that escape attempt in the prisoner cells, something about you has been… off.”

Determined not to show my nerves, I force myself not to swallow or look towards the woods. “Off, sir?”

“Ah, Ronan, you forget how well I know you.” He hums, still circling me like a vulture over fresh roadkill. “How well I understand the way you think, and how easily I can read your body language. It just didn’t make a lot of sense.”

“The breakout?”

He shakes his head, staring at the ground with his hands clasped behind his back, and it’s an intentional slight.By dropping his guard, he’s showing me he doesn’t consider me a threat. “Not the breakout, although that was suspicious. No, it didn’t make sense that you left the base afterwards. I spoke to the gate guards, and they told me you used my name to keep the vehicle from being searched.”

“I’d seen a rebel escaping, sir. I didn’t think it was prudent to waste time searching an empty van while a murderer ran free.”

“So you’ve said,” he mutters, stopping in front of me. “Repeatedly.”

Commander Bravis is a tank of a man—not as tall as me, but with shoulders wide enough to be a wrecking ball when the situation calls for it. His presence alone is a silent declaration of power. He trained me to wield a sword and fight hand-to-hand, but more importantly?

He taught me how to trust my instincts, and right now, those instincts are screaming at me not to let him out of my sight again.

“It made me suspicious enough that I demanded to be alerted any time you left the base.”

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