Evidence of Passion (Shadow Agents 7)

That shoulder rollback? He did it right before he lied.

“That’s not true.” Her head was aching again, but there was no way she was about to let that weakness show. “You...you requested to be on the assignment, didn’t you?” That was a pure hunch on her part.

But after a tense moment, Dylan nodded.

“Why?”

“Because he’s a dangerous man. Jack needs to be—”

“Stop it! Just tell me the truth.” She was almost begging him. And Rachel was so confused. Lost and confused because she’d thought they always had honesty between them.

Now she wasn’t sure what was happening or if they had anything between them. She exhaled slowly. “Why were you after him?”

His lips thinned. “Because he killed someone I knew.”

“Knew?” Rachel pressed. But she suddenly realized that maybe she didn’t want to hear this part. Because that poker was back in her gut, burning hotter than before.

“Shannon Morgan. She was his fourth victim. Shannon and I were...close.”

It hurt. So much that she retreated a step. “You were lovers.”

A grim nod was her answer.

He’d had lovers. Of course he had. She’d thought...just the other night...Rachel shook her head. “There’s more to this story.”

More that she just didn’t know.

He glanced down at the floor. “We talked about getting married.”

She grabbed the edge of the desk. He’d loved Shannon. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shook his head.

“Dylan—”

“Because they were together!” The words burst from him. Angry. Snarling.

Her hold on the desk tightened.

“Shannon and I...we talked about a future together. She knew what I wanted but she wasn’t ready to settle down. She met Jack. He seduced her, charmed her. She thought the guy actually cared about her.”

A dull ringing seemed to sound in her ears. “But he was just getting close to her because she was an assignment. The same way he got close to me.”

“She told me that she wanted to be with him. Her ‘Jack.’ She broke up with me. She went to be with him. And the next day, she was dead. He’d put a bullet in her heart and left his calling card in her hand.”

There was grief in his voice. Grief and fury.

Rachel realized where she fit into his equation then. “It was always personal for you. You wanted vengeance.”

“I wanted justice.”

She didn’t believe him. “You...you used me.” She’d never thought that someone else had been involved. When they were together...he’d said that it was just about her. About him.

But as soon as they’d realized that Jack was back in town, Dylan had been the one to push. He’d wanted them to play at being lovers, then to take it a step further...to be lovers.

“That’s why three years passed and you never so much as tried to kiss me.” She’d been blind. Trusting the wrong man, again.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He raked a hand over his face. “You’re tired. You need to rest before your flight.”