I ride a little farther to the closest Metro station. I need to get underground. I try not to look around, because someone who wasn’t trying to run wouldn’t. I could still have a tail. It might not have worked, but I can’t risk it. My feet move me forward.

Of course. The train isn’t here. I don’t want to wait, but I don’t want to go back above ground, either. I let out a heavy breath. If I were an agent tracking another agent, I would approach before I stepped on the train. It makes the most sense since you can’t really risk the shuffle exchange. I assure myself that if I can get on board, I have a good shot.

The Metro starts to make its way. This is it.

Don’t draw any attention to yourself, Charlie. Look casual.

The doors slide open and passengers disembark. I step forward, praying this works. Two more steps.

One more step and I’m on my way.

I start to pass through the doors and someone grips my arm.

Fuck. I’m caught.

Mark

“I’m done with her,” I say to Natalie for the tenth time. “And just stop. She left, okay? I’m not going back up there with my nuts in a jar.”

Her eyes soften and she bites her lip. Then the little terrorist turns angry. “What’s wrong with you? Are you dumb? Blind? In need of someone to slap you? Because I’ll do it!” She huffs around the room, mumbling. “Idiot. I swear to God, I don’t know why I talk to any of you. Jackson, Liam, Quinn, and now you!”

“Are you pregnant again? You’re awfully hostile.”

“I’ll show you hostile!” she screams and throws a wad of paper at me.

“That wasn’t very nice. Why the hell do you care, anyway?”

Her horns are sprouting. “Why do I care?” she yells, more antagonistic than actually curious.

Since I got back from DC, she’s been relentless. This is what I get for texting people. Lee immediately called me, demanding I “fix this.” Telling me how people like Charlie don’t come into our lives every day. How when you have something that’s worth it, you have to go for it—like I told her and Jackson when they were making stupid choices. I love it when a woman throws shit in your face. It’s been a week since I heard from Charlie. Obviously, it’s not bothering her that we’re over.

“Lee.” I close my eyes. “I know you’re trying to help, but we’re done.”

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“Sure, we can go with that,” I placate her.

“Did you tell her you loved her?” she asks from the chair.

I look over at the leather seat by the window. Every day for the last few weeks that’s where she was. Going over file after file, writing down notes on things she wanted me to dig deeper on, but she’s no longer there.

“Mark?” Lee brings me back.

“Not in so many words.”

“Why?”

“Because I won’t lie to her.”

“But you’ll lie to yourself?”

I groan. I need new friends. I need a new life. Jackson and I haven’t signed anything. I’m glad I gave myself the out. This way, I can vanish and not worry. I can take the trips I’ve wanted to go on, surf in places I’ve only dreamed of. Maybe a break from everything is what I need.

“Did I care about her? Yes. Did I love her? I could’ve. But loving someone like Charlie isn’t exactly easy.” It’s more like sticking your hand into a lion’s cage and praying it doesn’t bite. Which it will, as she so graciously demonstrated.

“You know, if I remember correctly, there was this guy, let’s call him Matt.”

“Matt?”

“Go with it.”

I shrug. It’s her story.

“Matt is a great guy. He’s funny, charming, caring, would give you the shirt off his back, but Matt is kind of dumb when it comes to women. He’s the quintessential bachelor. Lives in this house off the beach, and it’s decorated in pizza boxes.”

“Matt sounds like my kind of guy.”

“Shut up,” she says while she gives me the evil eye. “Matt is a moron. Matt does dumb things. Matt doesn’t know how to be an adult. He’s doing everything right but missing out at the same time. Sure, he owns a house. Sure, he has a great job. Sure, he has amazing friends. To everyone else, it seems he has it all. But Matt is alone. Everything around him is superficial. The times that matter in life are spent with someone who sees through the superficial. They see you for who you are, and love you despite the flaws.” Natalie stands, walks over to where I am, and places her hand on my shoulder. “It’s time to fight for something worth fighting for. I’ve known you for a long time. I’ve seen you screw around and date, and then I saw you with her.”

“Thought we were talking about Matt?”

She gives me a blank stare before she goes on. “Don’t be Matt. She may not be the easy choice, but she’s the right one.”

Lee kisses my cheek and walks off, leaving me stunned. The thing is that I don’t know that she’s the right choice. I don’t know if there even is a choice. I went after her. She was cold, distant, and to be honest, a bitch. While normally I don’t mind her hostile side, what the hell doors did she leave open? None. I’m not going to beg anyone.

She made her bed, now she can lie in it. She’s pretty good at lying anyway.

Nine days without her in my house and it feels empty. Nine days where her snoring hasn’t woken me up, or I wake up eating her hair in the middle of the night because she flips it in my face. I hate that her perfume lingers in the air. If she could just vanish from my house, that would be great.

I wonder about her more than I should. Is she still following her leads? Did she go back to the agency so she could pursue her end goal? She’ll never find him on her own, and I honestly think she’s being roadblocked. There’s no way with her intelligence, training, and the lair of computers in her house, she wouldn’t know by now. Someone is pulling the strings behind her. I have a feeling it’s her handler.

Charlie described how she figured it out. How this girl had to have betrayed her because no one else knew the information that was disclosed. Now she trusts her again? It makes no sense. I know she’s desperate, but it made me question her thinking when she suggested it.

My phone rings and Liam’s name flashes across the screen.

“Hey, I thought you were on vacation with Lee,” I answer. I’m confused as to why he’s calling. We all got the verbal beat down from Natalie about how no one was to bother her. That Liam is deploying and she wants a week of just the four of them. If our houses were on fire, we could figure it out without her.

She’s a fun one.

“Yeah, I just got a call from my PI buddy in DC.”

“I’m not worried about her anymore.”

Liam laughs. “Sure, you’re not. The thing is, he’s been keeping an eye on her place. Nothing stalker like, but when Lee filled me in on your situation, I thought maybe he could keep tabs on her for a bit.”

I growl at the idea that he did this. Why the fuck can’t these people just stay the hell out of it? We’re done. I wish her well, but I don’t care anymore. I sigh and then it sinks in, if Liam is calling me—the guy called him. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”