Miles looks at me as if he sees me for the first time. “Let’s talk about this later. Why don’t you join us for dinner?”
He doesn’t wait for a reply and makes his way after his family.
His family.
Not my family.
I hate him with a vengeance.
After a brief hesitation, I reluctantly follow and watch as they all take a seat at the dining table. They look so happy, so chipper, and even though I know there’s nothing but genuine love for one another in this room, I want to burn it all down around them.
Cool it, McCray, they’ve only shown you kindness.
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. If it weren’t for Jen, this would have gone a whole lot differently.
I wouldn’t have taken on this mission if I had had a clue about any of this.
It is one thing to want to impress the big boys up the ladder.
It is another thing entirely to compromise myself by working alongside the family I never knew I had. Keeping them safe when I know how much they mean to Jen is hard enough, considering the pull I feel towards her. Knowing they are my blood puts things in a whole new light.
One I don’t like. But regardless of my own personal feelings, it shouldn’t compromise the mission.
Iwouldn’tlet it.Of all the times to find out….
Pulling the plug on the mission isn’t an option, not when Jen is working hard to gain their trust and is integrating herself in their ranks. Bringing in another agent as her handler at this point is only going to screw things up for all of us. Besides, I don’t want her to have another handler. I want to be the only one who handles here.
Goddamn it.
“What did your mother tell you about me?”
“She told me you dated during university, but it didn’t work out,” I tell Miles through gritted teeth. “Until an hour ago, she never even told me your name.”
“I truly had no idea,” Miles asserted, and I dismissed his words with a wave of my hand. “Why did she tell you now?”
“A friend of hers saw me spending time with your sons.”
The Slades all exchanged quick, terse looks.
“Look, I don’t want to be in this position any more than any of you,” I snap. “I’m here to do myjob. I’m tired of seeing people with power hiding behind their money and making the rest of the world miserable.”
“Yet you have no problem claiming you’re a Slade,” Ryker shoots back.
I stare at him, my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides. “You know what?Fuck you, Ryker. I’m proud to be my mother’s son, and Icouldn’tcare less about your money or whatever else you think you have.”
Abruptly, Miles stands up and wanders over to me. “Look, Matthew, why don’t you sit down and we can talk about this? We can call your mother and—”
I shake my head. “No, you’ve all made it pretty clear time and time again that you don’t trust me, and you know what, that’s fine.Wedon’t have to deal with each other directly. The agents assigned to you can report to me if anything is wrong.”
Several voices rose up at once, clamoring to be heard on top of each other.
“I’m not going to risk the mission,” I add, in a louder voice. “Whatever big dramatic reveal this is…no, just no.”
With that, I spin on my heels and make my way out. Jen races to catch up with me, grabbing me by the arm. “What?” I snap at her.
“Can you calm down?”
“Just give me the keys,” I sigh. “I’ll pick you up when you’re done here.”