Without looking at him, Ryker said, “How do you know what I’ve asked, or what she’s told me, for that matter?”
“Because I know you,” Jake didn’t miss a beat before pointing to Olivia again, “and I sure as hell know her.”
Ryker, the cold asshole, simply shrugged. “She may have forgotten something. Or, maybe there are things she’s hiding from me.” Ryker turned and looked at Jake again. “There could be things she doesn’t want either one of us to know.”
“Bullshit.” Jake spoke through his teeth, barely squelching his urge to pummel the guy. “Look at her. She’s beyond exhausted and in pain.”
The agent looked at Jake with assessing eyes. “She was cleared by one of our doctors. Other than a few cuts and scrapes, Miss Bradshaw has some bruised ribs. So, nothing serious. And she hasn’t complained about anything, so how do you know she’s in pain?”
She wouldn’t complain, you bastard. Jake took a step closer. “I told you. I know her.” He looked through the glass at Olivia again.
She sat stoically as she spoke, her hands clenched together in white-knuckled fists on the table in front of her. Her face filled with frustration and sorrow as she answered the agent’s questions, and Jake’s heart broke a little more when he heard what she was saying.
He and Ryker listened as she told the female agent about what went down with the bastard she called “Shorty” while Jake been subduing and killing the other one, named Mateo. His soul filled with anguish when he heard her describe how afraid she’d been when the fucker had put his filthy hands on her.
Turning his head, Jake was surprised to find Ryker’s laser-like focus on him, rather than the fragile witness in the other room. The guy tilted his head slightly, studying him.
“What is she to you?”
Jake raised a brow. “Like you don’t already know?”
Ryker was the head of a covert defense unit within Homeland. He’d been handpicked by the president, himself, so his clearance level was as high as it got. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t find out.
“I know that you grew up with her. That her brother was your best friend. I know that you spent more time at their house than your own when you were young, most likely to escape your alcoholic father, since your mother left when you were just a baby. I know Miss Bradshaw is your...friend. I’m just wondering if there’s more to it than that.”
Motherfucker.
Jake never hidden the fact that his mother hadn’t wanted him, and his dad had been more concerned with finding his next bottle than making sure his son got fed. He’d always suspected that Mike had shared the story of Jake’s shitshow family with Pops, and that was reason the guy had taken him in like he had.
From the time Jake was in junior high until the day Pops died, Mike and Olivia’s dad had been the only true father figure in his life.
“You’re right. My parents were total fuck-ups. And yeah,” Jake continued, “James Bradshaw pretty much raised me as one of his own, but as far as Olivia and I are concerned, that shit’s none of your goddamn business.” He wasn’t about to share his feelings for her with Ryker or anyone else here.
At that, the agent began to lose a little of that famous control he was so well known for. Ryker turned and pointed his finger toward Jake’s chest.
“You seem to forget you work for me, McQueen. Yet, you took your entire team halfway around the world to destroy one of the most powerful drug lords in existence without my knowledge or consent. You could have caused a fucking international incident, for Christ’s sake! It’s bad enough you damn near got yourself and your teammates killed in the process, I won’t even go into amount of time, money, and favors saving your ass cost me. So you’d better believe it when I say that both you and your friend in there are absolutely my fucking business, now.”
Unfazed, Jake took a step forward, his voice steady. “Wrong. I work for myself. I take on some jobs for you, all of which my team has successfully completed. I didn’t tell you about my plans for Cetro and his men because keeping you in the dark gave you plausible deniability. I covered your ass, Ryker. You’re welcome.” It was both lie and truth.
The tip of Ryker’s finger dug into Jake’s chest. “Bullshit. You didn’t tell me because you knew I would have stopped you.”
Jake looked down. Despite the urge to break that self-righteous finger poking his against chest, one corner of his mouth raised. With a feral smile, his eyes found Ryker’s again. “You could have tried.”
The two men continued to stare each other down before Ryker finally gave in. Letting out a stream of curses, he took a step back. The man shook his head, returning his focus to the other room.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Ryker asked, “Does she know the truth? About her brother, I mean.”
Of course, the guy would know about Mike. Jake looked at Olivia. “No.”
Ryker’s head swung around, his surprise obvious. “You never told her?”
Jake kept his eyes forward. “That information is classified.”
Ryker let out a low whistle. “Damn, Jake. If she ever finds out—”
He didn’t finish, but he didn’t need to. Jake was well aware of what the fallout would be once Olivia finally learned the truth. It was why he planned to wait until her situation was less volatile to confess his greatest sin.
More than ready to put an end to their separation, Jake said bluntly, “We’re done here. I’m taking her home.”
“We’re done when I say we’re done,” Ryker responded adamantly.
Jake moved toward him. “You don’t want to push me on this one, Jason.”
He turned around and headed toward the door.
