Page 21 of Dirty Justice

“I’m considering the force of impact if I jump out of the moving car.”

His lips tipped at one corner. “Depends on if you roll into trash cans or just hit another car.”

She let out a groan. “I really don’t want to discuss it.”

“But you need to hear it.”

She flicked a glare at her partner’s profile and braced herself for what he had to say on the subject of Apollo, wondering whether it would be equal to smashing into some trash cans or hitting a car head-on.

They were heading to the opposite end of the city. Their destination was a small business run by people who were reportedly using nondocumented workers for labor and breaking every last rule in doing so. She cast a glance in the side mirror but thankfully didn’t see the Uber that Apollo got into. Ofcoursehe had to kiss her in front of her partner. The man considered anybody with a Y chromosome to be his competition.

“I’m not a fan of Robert.” Brown’s statement hit her out of nowhere.

“I couldn’t have guessedthatwould come out of your mouth.”

He went on. “The guy is completely wrong for you.”

“What do you mean wrong for me? He’s smart. Agentleman. Which is more than I can say for most men. Robert is a nice guy.”

“I won’t argue that he’s nice. But that doesn’t mean you should be together. Clearly you have feelings for this other guy.”

She fiddled with her seatbelt that suddenly felt as though it were slicing her in half. “I was trying to get him out of my system,” she muttered. “And I never told Robert that we were exclusive.”

Brown swung his head to look at her. “Have you two even kissed on the lips?”

“In my defense, I didn’t even know we were dating. You’re the one who made it sound like that. We’ve only sat together at lunch and gone to get drinks two times.”

“That’s definitely not a commitment.”

“Absolutely not.”

“So why does your man consider me a threat?”

She pushed out a sigh at Brown’s question. “I have no freakin’ idea what goes on in that man’s mind. If I did, we wouldn’t be discussing it because I’d already know how to get rid of him.”

“Is that what you want, Devi?”

She considered the question. “What I want is some peace. A little happiness, too. What is wrong with getting that from Robert?”

“Nothing, if he makes you happy.”

“He does.”

“Jesus, Indika. Meeting up in the building cafeteria is not romance—it’s timing and geography.”

“He walks me to my car. When he’s on our floor, he pops into my office to talk.”

“Uh-huh.”

She squelched a groan. She was doing that a lot ever since Apollo decided to rip back into her life like a tornado through a trailer park.

“Robert also asked me to dinner tonight.”

“And you didn’t go.”

“No,” she said quietly. “After talking to you, I feel worse for cancelling on something with a much brighter future than what I opted for.”

“The big hot SEAL.”

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