Alpha One (Shadow Agents 1)

He was by the door. Arms crossed over his chest. At her words, his head cocked toward Susan.

Susan stared right back at him. “Aaron always told me that you were dangerous.”

Juliana eased to the side, blocking her view. This wasn’t about Logan. “Susan, when this mess is over, I’ll call you. We’ll sort everything out. The house, the will—everything.”

Susan’s lips twisted in a sad smile as her gaze focused on Juliana. “He loved you. Probably more than you’ll ever realize. It’s too bad you didn’t know anything about him.” She brushed by Juliana. “Maybe you should take a look at what’s on the walls of his room. It might surprise you.”

Then she was gone. Gunner followed behind her, shaking his head.

But Juliana saw Logan grab Gunner’s arm before he could walk through the doorway. “Find out what she knows.”

Gunner gave an almost imperceptible nod.

The door closed behind him with a click.

Juliana rubbed at the bandage on her neck. She’d almost forgotten about her injuries. Her head had finally stopped throbbing. She just—

“Don’t.”

Logan stalked toward her. He caught her fingers, pulled them away from the small bandage. “Don’t do anything to draw attention to it.”

“No one’s here to see.” His team had cleared out the house. They were alone—all of the guards were stalking along the exterior of the place.

Alone with Logan. When he was this close, the awareness between them burned. But she turned away. “I’m...I’m going to shower.” She didn’t want to see what waited in her father’s room. Not then.

She wanted to wash away the memories of blood.

Logan’s fingers curled around her wrist. “Are we going to talk about it?”

Her throat went desert dry. “It?”

“You...almost coming...”

There’d been no almost about it. She glanced back

, and from the look in his eyes, Juliana knew he realized that truth.

“Or are we just going to pretend that it didn’t happen?”

Juliana gave a slow shake of her head. “I’m not that good at pretending.”

His gaze searched hers. “You’re mad because of the setup. I get that.”

Good for him.

“But I swear, I wouldn’t risk your life for anything. You’re my priority.”

She believed that. After all, wasn’t keeping her safe his job?

His fingers tightened around her wrist. “You’re just going to walk away, aren’t you?”

It was what he expected. She knew that. But there was more at stake right then.

Juliana had realized just how vulnerable she still was to Logan. He’d gotten into her heart once, and no matter how hard she tried, she’d never been able to shove him out.

She still cared for him, probably always would.

But she couldn’t let herself love him again. It was too dangerous. Too painful.