Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“Wait up.”
Luke faced him in the hall with both palms in the air—a warning to stay the fuck away.
“We need to talk.” Asher stopped in front of him and placed his hands on his hips, not sure what the hell to do with them. Maybe Luke would deck him? And he’d probably let him.
“I was right about you two.” Luke stabbed at the air in the direction of Jessica’s hotel suite. “How long have you been together?” His lips became a white slash on his tanned skin.
Asher closed his eyes for a second, trying to find the courage to deliver the truth, when in all honesty, he still didn’t know what was going on with her. She was warm one minute and cold the next.
Luke closed the short distance between them and locked his arms tight across his chest as if to deter himself from hitting Asher square in the jaw.
“We, uh, had a thing long before I knew you were her brother.” The truth settled in the air between them, and his heartbeat ticked up as he waited for Luke to speak.
“The Aleppo op?” His eyes became razor thin, his mind working fast. Anger flaring.
Asher nodded. “I didn’t see her again until you guys offered me the job.” He wasn’t about to place the blame on her shoulders for the lie, so he added, “I thought if you knew you wouldn’t want me on the team. I asked her not to tell you.”
Luke cursed under his breath. “So, all this time? Are you kidding me?”
“No.” Asher shook his head. “We kept it professional.” His mind went blank for a moment. “Er, until recently. Working together while you were gone, and then after Berlin, things just—”
“How could you?” His brows knitted, and his eyes darkened to a familiar shade—to the same color as Jessica’s whenever anger stirred inside of her. “She’s family, man. You crossed the line.”
His hands tightened at his sides. “Yeah, well, I can’t help who I fall in love with.”
“Yes, you . . .” His words seemed to die as he shook his head. “Love?”
Asher scrubbed both hands down his face, almost unaware of the words he’d spoken until Luke repeated them.
But everything was on the table now, and so, he said, “Yeah, I love her. I’ve tried not to.
I’ve tried really fucking hard.” His voice gave out, his words nearly falling through the cracks.
“But I can’t help it.” He swallowed. “I’m sorry. ”
Luke’s mouth opened, but his gaze shifted over Asher’s shoulder.
Asher turned. His heart plummeted at the sight of Jessica in the hall. Her lips parted, and her eyes locked onto his. “My program’s done,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I located Samir’s bank.” And then she retreated into the room.
Asher gripped his temples with his right hand. “I’ll, uh, get the team together.” He started past Luke toward their other hotel room, his mind racing like a greyhound around a track.
“Asher.”
“Yeah?” He glanced back over his shoulder.
“Does she love you, too?” he asked, his voice still tense, but less strained than before.
He looked down at his boots. “Probably not.”
“What do we have?” Owen examined Jessica’s laptop as he stood behind her at the desk in the hotel room.
Asher pressed his back to the window and bent one knee, pressing the bottom of his boot to the wall.
Luke knew he’d had sex with Jessica. And now Jessica knew he loved her.
Things hadn’t gone exactly as planned.
But then again, when in his life had anything gone fucking right?
Jessica glimpsed Asher over her shoulder, a visible tightness to her face. Her cheeks were only now sweeping back to their normal rosy hue after she’d become so pale in the hall.
He’d only been able to give her five minutes alone to absorb his confession to Luke, his words like those of a man taking his last dying breath.
“Jessica? You good?” Owen asked when she still hadn’t answered him.
She lightly shook her head. “Sorry.” She lifted her laptop and turned to face the team. “Samir had money in offshore accounts divided over seven countries, but then he funneled all the money into a bank in Cairo.”
“Is it still there?” Luke asked, crossing the room as if his boots were trudging through the muck to get to her. He slowly looked at Asher, and it had Asher’s spine straightening against the window.
“Unfortunately, the money was withdrawn. I’m about to access the bank camera feeds, so I can try and figure out who made the withdrawal because it was done on-site.”
“Whatever he’s planning is about to go down soon,” Knox said. “Should we head to Cairo?”
“Probably a waste of time. Whoever took the money is long gone,” Luke said. “Any idea where he got the money from?”
“Not yet. I’ve gotta change some of the code and see if that helps.”
“Owen. Liam. You guys work the CCTV feeds at the bank while Jessica handles the account,” Luke instructed.
“Roger that.” Owen grabbed his laptop from his bag by the door.
“Something feels off, though.” Asher couldn’t help but notice the slight tremble in her fingers when she’d spoken.
God, had he thrown her off her game? Talk about timing.
But would there ever be a right time for them?
“Why do you say that?” Luke tucked his hands beneath his armpits and rocked back in his boots as he studied her.
“The encryption is heavy. Military-grade heavy. Wherever this money came from—they sure as hell didn’t want to be found.” She looked up, her blue eyes touching upon Asher.
His palm went to his chest in an attempt to calm the heavy beats of his heart.
“Military? As in ours?” Knox approached the desk.
“I-I don’t know.” She wet her lips. “I think I might need my lab back in New York to make progress.”
“Well, we don’t need to be here or Cairo,” Luke said. “I’ll get us on the first flight back. Besides, with Echo heading to New York—”
“We should be there, too,” Knox interrupted. “In case anything goes down.”
“Agreed,” Asher said.
“Why don’t you, uh, help pack up the other room and then check in with Echo to see if they know anything else,” Luke issued the command to Asher.
It was a dismissal—they’d just checked in with Echo. But hell, maybe he needed to go, to clear his head.
He quickly surveyed the team, and he knew they could tell something was up, especially Liam.
Asher glanced at Jessica and saw her eyes back on the screen. So he forced his boots to move, to leave his team.
Out in the hall, he tucked his fingertips into his palms and pressed his fists to the wall, trying to get a grip.
I love her. Christ. He’d never thought that before, let alone said it.
Why the hell did those words have to leave his mouth tonight, of all nights?
God, he needed to get inside a cage. To lose himself in a fight.
Killing Egon hadn’t made him feel better.
He’d knocked the shit out of Egon for touching Jessica, for murdering Ara. The damage from the battery of hits to Egon’s face would never be seen, though, since he’d put a bullet in his forehead right after.
He wasn’t sure how he’d tell Jessica, or the team, the truth about what had gone down earlier.
That there’d been no hostage.
He’d taken justice into his own hands and killed a man in cold blood.
Guilt over his actions started to weigh down on him, and he rubbed at the dull ache in his chest, willing it to go away.
What the hell have I done?