Mercer’s gaze swept over the agents in the room; then his stare rested on Gunner. “Make sure your brother understands the situation.”
Gunner gave a jerky nod even as he headed for the door.
Once he was away from them, his steps picked up and he hurried down the hall. Sydney was already gone on the elevator, so he took the stairs, three at a time, and he was standing in front of that elevator when the doors opened.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him.
Before she could speak, he caught her arm and pulled her toward him. He knew this floor well. He’d spent enough time at the EOD facility to know every inch of the place. He didn’t take her to Slade—he knew Slade was in the room with the guard stationed at the door.
Instead, he took her back and to the left. To the old conference room that would be empty.
“Gunner.” She started to dig in her heels. “I have to talk to him.”
“You’re talking to me first.” He pushed her inside the conference room and secured the door shut behind him.
Then he turned around and just...stared at her. She was pale, and he didn’t like that. There were a whole lot of things he didn’t like just now. “What are you going to do?”
She huffed out a breath. “I’m going to get Slade help. That’s what we’re both going to do.”
Through gritted teeth, he asked, “Are you still marrying him?”
Her eyes widened. “That’s what you want to know?”
“Are you?” Because if she was, he would back away. No, damn it, his brother was hurting. His captors had strung him out on their poison. He would back away, no matter what. “He’s the one who loves you.” Gunner forced the words out.
If possible, she seemed to become even paler. “And you don’t?”
His chest ached. “We had a good time, Sydney.” He didn’t let emotion slip into his voice. He couldn’t weaken. “But he’s the one you promised your forever to.”
She took a step back. “A...good time?” Her voice faltered. “That’s really all I was?”
No, she’d been everything, to him.
She still was everything to his brother. “Slade needs you,” he said.
“And I’ll be there for him. I’ll help him.” Her voice was tight. “I always planned to help him.”
Then she was marching forward.
Gunner stepped out of her path.
She reached for the door, then stopped. “Did you really have to pull me aside just to tell me that you didn’t love me?” The pain in her voice seemed to tear into him. “Trust me, Gunner.” She glanced back at him, and he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. “I already knew that.”
She left him.
I never said I didn’t love you.
He sucked a deep breath. One. Another. When his hands were steady, he left that room. A turn down the hallway showed Sydney just slipping past the guard.
Gunner’s stare slid over the hall. Slade was being held in an interrogation room. That meant the area adjacent to that room would be designed for surveillance.
Gunner’s steps were silent on the heavily carpeted floor. After about ten feet, he stopped, going not in the room with Slade, but into the surveillance room.
The surveillance room was dark, but he didn’t bother turning on the light. Through the big wall of glass—a two-way mirror—he could see perfectly into the area next door. He could see Sydney. See Slade.
Mercer had sent him after Sydney because the boss had wanted to make sure that Slade went in for his treatment.
But Gunner knew that Slade didn’t want him anywhere close by, so he’d keep his distance.