Page 27 of The Truth Between

“Soren,” he said, nodding slightly. I returned the gesture and watched as he took a seat across from me. “Sorry for being late. Something came up last minute. You know how it is.”

I did, and I didn’t mind the opportunity to relax and have a drink. I would have preferred to do it at my house, where I could be closer to Iris, but it is what it is.

“Why did you want to meet with me urgently?”

“It’s time for your next assignment.” Parker slid a sealed envelope across the table between us.

“You don’t usually give me files on whoever you want me to handle.”

“This one’s different.”

I hesitated for a moment, eyes flicking between the envelope and Parker. “How so?”

Parker’s fingers drummed against the envelope, but I couldn’t hear it due to the music that surrounded us from every angle. “This one’s delicate.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Instead of responding, I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

He leaned back into the plush leather seat, his eyes carefully observing the crowd below. “It involves someone you know well. That is, you did once upon a time. Don’t open the envelope here. Wait until you’re back in the privacy of your own home.”

My grip tightened around my drink, and I could feel the ice cubes clinking softly against one another. I was stuck pondering the words he used as I tried to piece together what he was trying to tell me.

I tore my eyes away from him, choosing to stare at the envelope that sat between us. I placed my glass down and reached for it.

“Someone I knew well?”

He simply nodded and lifted his drink to his lips. He took another sip as my fingertips pulled it closer to me, but I didn’t open it.

“I know you’ll handle this professionally.” Parker’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Keep it clean, keep it quiet. And remember, your duty as a Chevalier comes above personal grievances.”

It was a warning, a reminder of my loyalty to the organization, and I was confused about it. Why even say that? I’d never given him reason to question my loyalty to the Chevaliers, so why was he now?

Our conversation continued, and after about twenty minutes, I could sense that our discussion was winding down. I assumed the main reason why he wanted to meet in person was because he wanted to hand me this envelope. I sent a text message to my driver, letting him know I would be outside in the next five minutes or so.

“There’s something else we need to talk about.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t go soft on Iris.”

My jaw tightened at the mention of her name, although I’d expected him to say something about her. I thought about watching her in the guest room, writing in the notebook that had been left on her desk. I’d already known she was an obsession I couldn’t afford, and yet I couldn’t get enough of her. This meeting was starting to annoy me.

Looking Parker dead in his eyes, I replied, “Why would I? Your orders didn’t call for me to change anything.”

“I’m just making sure.”

“You’ve never done that before. You used to trust that I would get the job done no matter what.”

Parker ran a hand through his hair. “It’s obvious how much she looks like—”

I knew what he was going to say before he said it, and I hated every minute of it. I was trying not to reach over and break his damn neck. At this point, I didn’t care if he was chairman of the Chevaliers or not. “Don’t you dare.”

“I’m not treading into those waters, Soren, but I need to know that you can do the job if it comes down to it. You’ve been through a lot over the last couple of years, and if you need to, we can hand this off to someone else.”

“Who? Like Ioan?” I snorted to punctuate the end of my sentence. He could never replace me. I thought about seeing him standing next to Parker just before I met Iris on Westwick University’s campus. There’s no way Parker thought that he could carry this out.

“It doesn’t matter who.”

I leaned forward and glared at him. “But it does, and you know it.”

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