Lee laughed. “You really care about Fay?” His tone turned serious, but not bitter. Perhaps he was coming around. Maybe he realized that if he wanted a position with the Brotherhood Protectors, in any branch, he needed to toe the party line. It wasn’t that hard to do. As long as Lee kept his head down and did his job, he could fit in. Walker had faith in that. However, he didn’t necessarily want him in the Colorado branch.
Only because he wanted Fay.
For real.
“I do,” Walker admitted. “It was unexpected and it’s still new, but she’s one of a kind.”
“No offense, and this isn’t a gender thing either. But she’s moody.”
“I used to think that about her too,” Walker admitted. “But she’s not once you get to know her.”
“I have to admit that I was surprised to see her here and to learn she’s not with the CIA anymore,” Lee said. “She always seemed like a power-hungry kind of woman. Someone who would stop at nothing to be at the top.”
“She’s nothing like that.”
“If you say so.” Lee waved his finger. “She doesn’t seem like your type though, but who am I to judge.”
“Right. Because you’re not judging me at all.” Sometimes Walker wondered if Lee had any self-awareness whatsoever. It was like he took two steps forward with his attitude, only to take one big one backward. However, Walker gave the man kudos for trying.
And for being honest.
That was something.
“Look. I came out here because I heard amazing things about this organization and the fact you were here was icing on the cake. Finding out Fay was here put a damper on my excitement. You and her being a couple burst my bubble. Give me five minutes to wrap my brain around all this.” He took the turn down Walker’s street. “She all but accused one of us of turning on our team.”
“That’s not how it went down.” But Walker could see how Lee would take it that way.
“Can’t you see she was looking for a scapegoat for her fuckup?”
“Did you ever think for a second that maybe someone did give up our location? That maybe our position was compromised?”
“No. At least not by our men. If it was, there was a leak because she screwed up.”
There was no point continuing this conversation. Lee wasn’t ever going to change his mind. He saw things from his point of view and he couldn’t for one second look at them from a different angle.
“If you want this job, you need to change your attitude. You can think it all you want, but don’t express it, and for the love of all things holy, pretend you don’t believe it. Otherwise, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.”
The vehicle rolled to a stop in the driveway.
“Why her?” Lee asked. “Of all the women in this town, why get involved with her?”
“Because she challenges me, and frankly, I find her fascinating,” Walker said. “I like her. A lot. If you gave her half a chance, you might find you could respect her too.”
“For you, I’ll work on having an open mind.”
Perhaps miracles do happen.