Chapter 12 – Thiago
Twelve
Thiago
The weight slams back into the rack harder than I intended.
I sit up and drag a hand over my face as sweat drips down my temples, my chest still heaving from the last set. The burn in my muscles should be enough to clear my head, but it hasn’t done shit.
It’s been two weeks since I last saw Remi, since that kiss and everything that followed.
I’ve tried telling myself this is nothing more than frustration over a job that went sideways, but I know better. This isn’t just about a girl with a pretty face, because Remi isn’t just that.
And she isn’t the only thing weighing on me.
The commander has been breathing down my fucking neck for days, demanding updates and near-daily check-ins on my comings and goings.
Something about it doesn’t sit right. I’ve never had a handler this invested or this overbearing about a job.
There’s always a timeline, so that’s nothing new, but what she’s asking for involves too many moving pieces to rush.
I need to earn Remi’s trust before I can exploit it.
She isn’t the type to hand over access to her world easily, especially after what happened between us.
“You got a lot on your mind?”
My partner, Grey, leans against the rack, draining his water bottle as his eyebrows pinch when I don’t answer right away.
“What was that?” I ask, pulling out my earbuds.
“I asked if you had a lot on your mind. You look like you’re a million miles away, Braga. Work getting to you?”
If he only knew.
“Nah. Got some shit to sort out. Nothing important.”
He glances away and sighs like he doesn’t believe a single word, but he lets it go. His attention shifts past me a second later, and I catch the change immediately. The look in his eyes and the smirk tugging at his mouth tell me there’s a woman involved.
“Fuck. Me,” he groans, straightening his shoulders. “That is one fine piece of ass.”
Good. Maybe he’ll walk over and introduce himself and leave me alone. He’s a decent guy and a solid teammate, but on a normal day, the last thing I want is to hold a conversation while I’m working out, let alone when I’m already in a shit mood.
I follow his line of sight anyway.
Of course it’s fucking Remi.
She makes her way toward a Smith machine with the same confidence she seems to carry everywhere, completely unaware that I’m watching her from across the gym. My hand closes harder around the bar as every thought that’s been fucking with my head for the last two weeks suddenly has a face again.
Grey lets out a low whistle under his breath and shifts his stance like he’s about to make a move. There’s no fucking way I’m letting that happen. I set the weight down and sit up, my eyes never leaving her.
“Don’t,” I say, keeping my voice low.
Looking at me, his forehead creases. “What?”
“That one.” I nod in her direction. “Not your type.”
The smirk creeps back onto his face. “Since when do you decide my type?”
I don’t answer because I don’t have one that makes any sense. Remi made it clear two weeks ago that she wants nothing to do with me. Who Grey talks to shouldn’t matter.
But it does.
“Look, I’m just trying to save you the headache.”
Grey pauses, then turns back to face me. “You know her or something?”
I push to my feet and grab my towel, buying myself a few seconds before I have to answer.
“Something like that,” I say, wiping my face as I watch her. She hasn’t noticed me yet. Otherwise, she’d probably run out the door or chase me out herself.
His eyebrows lift. “Yeah? You wanna elaborate, or am I supposed to figure that out on my own?”
I finally glance at him, just long enough to make my point. “Drop it, Grey.”
That only makes his grin widen. “Yeah, you definitely know her.”
I don’t deny it, which is answer enough.
“What? She some kind of psycho?” He folds his arms and licks his lips as his attention drifts back to her. “I’d risk her wrath any day. Look at that.”
I make the mistake of doing just that. She’s in the middle of a set of squats, and for several seconds, I forget all about the man standing beside me. My cock stirs at the view.
“Goddamn, Braga. I don’t care what you know. I’m going for it.”
Every instinct in me wants to tell him to stay the fuck away from her, but I keep my expression neutral. We’re part of a team, and the last thing I need is to start shit with one of the guys here. It won’t do me any favors with the unit or the commander.
But the thought of him walking over there gets under my skin in a way it has no business doing.
She’s mine.
The words come out of nowhere, so immediate and possessive that I almost laugh at myself. She isn’t mine. She never was. And Remi sure as hell doesn’t belong to anyone.
My gaze swings back to Grey, who’s still staring, and I decide to let him learn the hard way.
“Okay,” I say with a sigh, gripping the bar again like I’m about to start another set. “Your funeral.”
He chuckles and tosses a towel over his shoulder. “Not that I need your approval, but I appreciate the concern.”
I reset my grip without looking at him. I can hear the confidence in his voice, though, and I already know it’s about to get him into trouble.
“Go ahead,” I mutter. “Knock yourself out.”
He claps me on the shoulder as he passes and heads straight for her.
This should be entertaining.
Grey leans against the Smith machine beside her, and I catch Remi’s eyes in the mirror when she notices him. The warning in them is clear, but she doesn’t stop her set or acknowledge whatever he says.
He tries again.
A smirk pulls at my mouth. I did warn him.
Remi finishes her rep, racks the bar, and pulls out her earbuds before turning on him. I can’t hear a damn thing from here, but judging by the look on Grey’s face, she isn’t letting him down easy.
His hands come up in surrender, and the only words I can make out are the ones he mouths next. I’m sorry.
I’m already laughing by the time he starts the walk of shame back to me.
“If you say I told you so, or even think about saying it, I swear to God, Braga.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I grab my water bottle, failing miserably at hiding my grin. “Well? What did she say?”
“You mean other than asking what the fuck would possess me to think I could talk to her? There were some other choice words in there, too.”
More laughter spills out of me.
“She’s mean, Braga. Stuck-up bitch.”
My laughter dies. “She’s a bitch because she’s working out and not interested?”
He shrugs and takes another drink of water. “Come on. She knows what she’s doing, showing up looking like that, dressed like that, then acts offended when a guy tries to talk to her.”
I stare at him, waiting for some indication that he’s joking.
There isn’t one.
“Or maybe she came here to work out.”
Grey scoffs. “Whatever. Women like that think they’re too good for everyone. Sometimes they need someone to knock them down a few pegs.”
I didn’t know this side of him existed.
“Yeah,” I say, my voice flat. “That’s not how that works.”
“Jesus, relax.” He tosses up a hand. “She’s all yours.”
“She’s not—”
I glance across the gym and find Remi staring straight at us.
Fuck.
From the look on her face, I have no idea how much she heard or saw, but whatever conclusion she came to isn’t good. She snatches up her bag and water bottle and heads for the exit without looking back.
I leave Grey standing there and take off after her. “Remi, wait.”
Of course, she ignores me and keeps walking through the parking lot.
“Fuck off, Braga.”
“Can we at least talk?”
“Why don’t you send your little friend? He seems to be really good with words.”
“Grey isn’t my friend. We work together, and for the record, I warned him not to bother you.”
She scoffs. “Ah, another pig. Why am I not surprised?”
“Come on, Remi. That’s not fair. I’m nothing like him.”
She stops so suddenly I nearly run into her. When she turns, the anger on her face tells me I’ve somehow managed to make this worse.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she says. “At least he’s straight up about what a fuck-ass scumbag he is. Unlike you, liar.”
She turns away again.
“Remi, just give me a minute.”
She stops but doesn’t face me.
“I’m asking you to let me explain. That’s all.”
A few seconds pass before she finally turns around. Her eyes narrow as she looks me over, and despite her obvious fury, she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in a long fucking time.
“Okay, Braga. Explain why the hell you’re here. Out of all the gyms in this whole goddamn city, you just happen to end up in mine, the same way you slithered into my range.” She squares her shoulders. “So I ask you a second time. Are you stalking me? Because I promise that won’t end well for you.”
“Is that a threat?”
She closes the distance between us without a hint of hesitation. “It’s whatever the fuck you want it to be.”
I hold my ground, refusing to give her the satisfaction of backing away. “I didn’t see your name on the door.”
I wait for her comeback, but she says nothing, so I continue.
“What I do for a living doesn’t define me. My father was a detective…” I drag a hand over my jaw. “Look, I know plenty are assholes. It doesn’t mean I’m like that or whoever else made you hate cops enough to look at me like I’m the enemy.”
“What someone does means everything.”
There’s something in the way she says it that strips the argument right out of me. This isn’t about Grey, and I’m starting to think it isn’t entirely about me either.
I’ve read the files, but those pages reduce entire lives to names, operations, arrests, and body counts. They tell me what people have done without telling me what brought them there.
“Thiago,” she says, and some of the anger has faded from her voice. “I don’t want to see you again. I don’t want whatever you think this is or could have been. It can’t be, and it won’t ever.”
That shouldn’t bother me as much as it does.
I came here to get close to her. Whatever happened between us was supposed to make my job easier, nothing more. Except that in the last two weeks, I stopped thinking only about the job.
Remi takes two steps back, then turns away from me and walks toward her car. I stay where I am as her engine rumbles to life, and a few seconds later, she tears out of the parking lot.
Fuck.
“Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you.” Elena’s voice startles the shit out of me.
I turn and find her sitting behind the wheel of a black SUV, a cigarette balanced between her fingers.
“How long have you been there?”
“Long enough to know you’re fucked,” she says casually, amusement threading through her voice.
“I told you I need time.”
“No, that’s not what I’m referring to.” She takes another drag from her cigarette. “And I think you know that.”
I stare at her. “I don’t follow.”
“Of course you don’t.” She taps the ash out of the open window. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”
“I won’t deny the obvious, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be objective.”
A knowing smile touches Elena’s mouth. “Beautiful, dangerous, and completely uninterested in making this easy for you. I can see the appeal.”
“You’re reading too much into it.”
“Am I?” Her gaze shifts toward the street where Remi disappeared. “Because from where I’m sitting, you looked more concerned about her walking away than you did about losing access to the Cain family.”
I don’t answer, mostly because anything I say will only give her more ammunition.
Elena exhales a slow stream of smoke through the open window. “You don’t have the luxury of forgetting what this is, Operative. Fall for her, and you become compromised. We both know what that means for you.”
The warning grates on me, but I keep my expression neutral. She may be my handler, but I’m not about to let her question my ability to do the job based on one conversation she watched from across a parking lot.
“I’m aware of the stakes,” I say. “I’m also aware of how to do my job, and I haven’t given you a reason to question that.”
Her eyebrow lifts as she studies me.
“No,” she says after a moment. “Not yet.”
It’s the last thing out of her mouth before the dark-tinted glass slides up, cutting me off as the SUV pulls away.
I stand there long after she’s gone and drag a hand over my face, my gaze returning to the street where Remi disappeared minutes ago.
Two weeks, and I still haven’t figured out how to get back in. The bigger problem is that I’m no longer sure how much of me wants another chance because of the assignment and how much I simply want another chance with her.
Either way, it doesn’t change what I have to do.
Whether Remi wants me there or not, whether she hates everything I represent, this doesn’t end with me walking away.