Page 80 of What About Love

“Darlin’, you did.” The commonly used southern endearment said in Cap’s Texas drawl reminded her of T. All the Rossi men used it, friendly, harmless. It meant nothing really, as it had meant nothing to T, evidently.

She mentally locked that away in a compartment to deal with later, much later, maybe never.

“Can we not mention that, please? It’s embarrassing. I was on duty.”

“You’d also been drugged, kidnapped, tied to a chair for hours, and beaten,” Cap reminded her needlessly. “No one is going to fault you for passing out or for taking a few days off work to recover. Your flight landed less than 24-hours ago, Angie.”

Ignoring all of that, she blurted out, “Is Dan back? I thought I’d resume training with him, if possible.”

“Yeah, he had his mother transferred to a rehab here in San Antonio so he could be close. She’s a fighter and will be back on her scooter street racing in no time, he says.”

Her lips twitched, falling short of a smile. “I’m relieved to hear that.” She stood. “I’ll go find him and get out of your hair.”

“Wait, Angie. I’m concerned. You’re quiet, not like your old self. Maybe you should talk to someone.”

“I talked to Val. She gave me some resources, but I’m good. I’d really like to move past it now.”

She kept her features carefully composed under his keen scrutiny. At length, he murmured, “I expect you to come to me with any problems.”

“I will, Cap, thanks. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see if Dan’s in the training room this morning.”

She’d made it to the door when he added, “You did great. Went above and beyond what any of us asked for. If not for you, who knows how many more women that psychopath might have tortured and killed?”

Above and beyond. Those words made it all come rushing back: T’s mouth and hands on her on the carousel, fucking her against the wall in the service hallway, her foolish mouth blurting out that she loved him. She glanced at Cap and nodded before whisking out the door.

Above and beyond...if he only knew. She would have laughed if her heart wasn’t completely annihilated.

Chapter 19

ANGIE WOKE UP ONE MORNINGin early fall to realize the days had merged into weeks, which had melded into months—two interminable months to be exact—since she’d returned from LA. It was hard to believe because the pain was as raw as if it was yesterday.

To his credit, T had tried several more times to clear the air, but she avoided him, only speaking to him if it was work related. Childish, that may very well be, but Angie considered it justified as a means of self-preservation.

Fortunately, Cap, who was as intuitive as he was intelligent, didn’t need to be told there was a problem and didn’t assign them further cases together. So, they didn’t run into each other often.

That suited her fine. Her plan to muddle through with her broken heart was to keep it professional but distant. With her personal life a minefield of pain and regret, her only distraction was work, which Cap threw at her full force.

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