Beautiful Redemption
Page 33He was still in love with Camille. I didn’t understand, and worse, I wasn’t sure of my feelings either. I knew that I cared for him. If I were being honest, that was a gross understatement. The way my body responded to his presence was addictive and impossible to ignore. I wanted Thomas in a way that I’d never felt for Jackson.
Is it worth the mess it might make at work? Is it worth the mess he could make of me?
I pulled my hair out of my mouth after realizing I had been chewing on it. I hadn’t done that since I was a girl. Thomas was my neighbor and my boss. It was illogical and unreasonable to attempt to be anything more, and if I wanted to stay in control of the situation, I had to surrender to that fact.
My door swung open.
“Liis?”
It was Thomas.
I slowly turned around and sat up straight. The anguish in his eyes was unbearable. He was being pulled in two directions just like I was.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re not the one I’m mad at.”
He shut the door and walked over to one of the club chairs before sitting down. He leaned down, putting his elbows on the edge of my desk. “That was totally out of line. You didn’t deserve that.”
“You had a moment. I get it.”
He stared at me, rattled by my answer. “You’re not a moment, Liis.”
“I have a set goal that I am determined to achieve. Any feelings I might have for you won’t get in the way of those goals. Sometimes, you make me forget, but I always come back to the original plan—a plan that doesn’t include a significant other.”
He let my words simmer for a bit. “Is that what happened with you and Jackson? He didn’t fit into your guidelines for the future?”
“This isn’t about Jackson.”
“You don’t talk about him much.” He sat back.
“That’s because I don’t need to.”
“Weren’t you engaged?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”
Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Nothing, huh? Didn’t shed a single tear?”
“I don’t really…do that. I drink.”
“Like that night at Cutter’s?”
“Exactly like that night at Cutter’s. So, I guess we’re even.”
Thomas’s mouth fell open, not even attempting to hide his wounded ego. “Wow. I guess so.”
“Thomas, you of all people should understand. You were faced with the same decision when you were with Camille. You chose the Bureau, didn’t you?”
“No,” he said, slighted. “I tried to hang on to both.”
I sat back and clasped my hands together. “And how did that work out for you?”
“I don’t like this side of you.”
“That’s unfortunate. From now on, this is the only side you’re going to get.” I stared him straight in the eyes, unwavering.
Thomas began to speak, but someone knocked on the door and pushed it open.
“Yes?” I said, recognizing Constance standing in the doorway.
“You had a visitor downstairs. I brought him up.”
Before I had the chance to wonder who on earth would be visiting, Jackson Schultz walked around Constance and stood in my doorway.
“Oh. My. God,” I whispered.
Jackson was in a French-blue button-down shirt and patterned tie. The only times I’d seen him look so well dressed was the night he proposed and at Agent Gregory’s funeral. The hue of his shirt set off his azure eyes. They used to be my favorite thing about him, but in that moment, I could only notice that they were as round as his face. Jackson had always been fit, but his smoothly shaved head made him appear more portly than he was.
The longer we had been together, the more his less appealing features and habits had grown noticeable—the way he’d suck food through his teeth after a meal; lean to the side when he passed gas, even in public; or not always wash his hands after he had been in the restroom for half an hour. Even the three deep wrinkles where his skull met his neck made me cringe.
“Who the hell are you?” Thomas asked.
“Jackson Schultz, Chicago SWAT. Who the hell are you?”
I stood up. “Special Agent Maddox is San Diego’s ASAC.”
“Maddox?” Jackson laughed once, unimpressed.
“Yes, as in the asshole who runs this place.” Thomas looked to Constance. “We’re in a meeting.”
“Sorry, sir,” Constance said, not looking sorry at all.
She didn’t fool me. She’d told Thomas what kind of coffee to buy, and once she’d learned Jackson was in the building, she’d swiftly escorted him to my office to remind her boss that he had competition. I wasn’t sure whether to strangle her or laugh, but it was clear that she cared about Thomas, and it was nice to know she thought well enough of me to push him in my direction.
“Agent Maddox, we were just wrapping up, weren’t we?” I asked.
One corner of her mouth turned up. “Yes, sir. Agent Schultz, if you’ll just follow me.”
Jackson kept his eyes on me while he followed Constance until they were both out of sight.
I narrowed my eyes at Thomas. “That was unnecessary.”
“Why didn’t you tell me he was visiting?” Thomas barked.
“Do you really think I knew?”
His shoulders relaxed. “No.”
“The quicker you allow him in here, the quicker he’ll leave.”
“I don’t want him here.”
“Stop.”
“What?” Thomas snapped, pretending to stare at the various photographs and Post-its on my wall or the bookshelf or neither.
“You’re being childish,” I said.
He lowered his chin to glower at me. “Get rid of him.” He kept his voice low.
In the recent past, I might have been intimidated, but Thomas Maddox didn’t scare me anymore. I wasn’t sure that he ever had.
“You made such a big deal of me being jealous last night. You know I left him and have zero interest, and look at you.”