Mitch’s gaze had gone distant. He was having a hard time breathing. “Are you absolutely sure about this? It’s a big deal.”
“Let’s see . . .” Owen’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “I am nearing a pretty nice-looking pension from the United States Army. I’ve got just a little bit of pretty metal on my uniform, a title they pronounce colonel, and holy shit, look at that, they even gave me a fucking office at the Pentagon. You’re a tedious man, Foster. I don’t know how you keep employees.”
“My charming wit,” he rasped, his mind helpless for the moment as if it had been hit by a curveball traveling a hundred miles per hour.
“There’s something else I need to talk to you about,” Owen said. “When are you going to be in town?”
“You say that like I’m around the damn corner. It’s a six-hour flight, Young.”
“You’re not a morning person, are you?”
Mitch dropped his head back. Emotion washed over him in a tidal wave. “I’ll call you when I’m coming in. Thanks for the information.”
FIVE
Mitch disconnected and stood staring at the ceiling for what felt like a long freaking time. The longer he stared at nothing, the harder it was to move. Fury had him sweating, shaking, rage building in his body until he thought he’d burst. And underneath, hurt. Hurt so deep it sealed his bones.
When his mind short-circuited and stopped connecting facts, he turned on Halina. She was sitting on the edge of the other bed, the bathrobe clutched in one hand at her neck.
“That . . . didn’t sound good,” she rasped as if her throat were too tight to get the words out. Her pupils were dilated, her eyes an odd shade of dark blue.
“You . . .” He didn’t even know how to get the words out. He wiped a hand over his mouth. Get it together. It’s over. In the past. Way past. But the pep talk only eased the anger so the hurt bubbled up in its place. He couldn’t even look at her when he said, “You weren’t even married?”
Hearing the words aloud split him down the middle. God, he’d thought he was over this. So over her. But he obviously wasn’t. He’d obviously been stuffing the pain away instead of dealing with it. And, wow, did that bite hard.
“He was your cousin, working at the Russian embassy. Exactly what you’d told me when we met.”
He laughed at the sheer absurdity of it and looked at her. She was staring down at her hands twisting in her lap. Dex’s head popped up, his gaze darting between him and Halina. He whined.
Halina drew in a breath, as if she was going to speak, but only curved her lips in and closed her eyes.
Mitch stepped toward her. “You only used him to create the illusion of a husband . . . to get rid of me.”
She looked up and opened her eyes, filled with regret, but also resignation. “Mitch . . . it’s . . . complicated.”
“I guess creating a husband out of thin air would be a little complicated.” He crossed his arms and turned away. “Jesus, that’s a first. I’m not every woman’s favorite, that’s for sure, but I can’t think of anyone who’s gone to those lengths just to get away from me. Seriously, Halina, breaking up with me would have worked just fucking fine.”
When she remained silent he railed, “Christ, what a thing to do. Why wouldn’t you just tell me you didn’t want me anymore?”
“Because you would never have believed me.” Her voice was soft, but sure. “I know you. You would never have let me go.”
“Let you go? You never gave me the slightest indication you wanted to go.” He threw his arms into the air. Halina leaned back and gave him a wary look from beneath her lashes. “We were making love three times a damn day, every day, for weeks before you left. You couldn’t get enough of me. Then—bam—you walk in with your husband and leave me.”
She pulled her lip through her teeth. “I . . . I handled it badly. I’m sorry.”
“Badly? You handled it badly?” he said, incredulous. Infuriated she would diminish how hellish their breakup had been on him. He approached her, hands clenching and flexing. Her body tensed.
Dex shifted forward on the bed, his weight on his front paws. The growl that sounded in his throat told Mitch to watch himself.
“Tikhiy,” he bit out and Dex’s growl transitioned into a whine of disappointment.
“Don’t yell at him,” Halina said. “None of this is his fault.”
“You’re right, it’s yours. And that lousy excuse is not going to cut it, Halina. No one—no one—creates a fake husband to get out of a good relationship. There was no reason for you to think I would try to hold on to you if you didn’t want me. It wasn’t like I forced you to be with me. I wasn’t abusive or controlling or . . .” He threw one arm out wide, gesturing angrily to nothing. Halina flinched. He didn’t give a damn. He’d treated her like a goddamned angel and she’d stabbed him in the back. “That’s a lousy lie, Halina. I want to know exactly why you pulled that cruel stunt. And I want to know now.”
Dex half whined, half yowled, one of those sounds Mitch translated into, “Stop fighting.”
Halina leaned forward and lowered her head into her hands. “Nothing’s clear anymore. It’s been so long.”
“It happens to be something I can’t fucking forget, so you’d better try a little harder.”
“Stop”—she lifted her head and winced then lowered her face into her hands again—“yelling.”
A piercing buzz sounded in the room and Halina jumped. Dex followed, seeming to go from a lying position to all four feet with no transition. Halina’s gaze darted to the red flashing light above the door. Buzz—buzz—buzz echoed in the hallway. Then the sounds of guest doors opening and closing, voices, the words “fire alarm” and footsteps.
“Mitch—” she started.
He gripped her upper arms, too rough. She gasped and met his eyes again. “Why did you do it?”
A hard knock sounded on the door, followed by, “Security. Open up folks, everybody outside.”
Dex’s growl turned on the stranger outside the door this time and Halina shushed him.
Mitch yanked her off the bed. “This discussion is not over. And don’t even think about making some shit up before we get back to it, because I’ll know you’re lying.”
She jerked out of his hold. “Dex.”
“Don’t sic him on me either. I’ll just call him off.”
“I’ll just override you. He’ll always listens to me over anyone else.” Halina turned toward the suitcase he’d brought in for her.
He grabbed her arm. “No time for that, printcessa. Didn’t you hear the man?”
“Mitch—”
“We’ll be out there ten minutes and they’ll call it clear.” He stuffed car keys and wallet into his jeans pockets, his gun into the back of his waistband, pulled his shirt down, and tossed his jacket over his arm as he opened the door.
“What about Dex?” she asked just as they faced a six-foot-five man in a security guard’s uniform.
“Sorry to wake—” His gaze dropped to Dex. “What’s that dog doing in here?”
“Disabled companion in training.” Mitch said the first thing that came to mind and gave the guy a look that dared him to challenge.
The security guard returned a skeptical frown. “Go on. Follow the emergency exit signs and stay outside until the fire department clears the building.”