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“Fair enough I’ll save rin Dauy wasn’t kinda funny

“You do that In the ?”

“I thought you weren’t here to offer advice”

“That sounded like a question to me”

Dominic squinted

“Are you asking my intentions?”

He waited for the laugh He got a nod

Holy crap

“Okay, I get that you’re within your rights as a brother, but seriously? The first tio Do you think Lara would appreciate you sticking your nose in her business?”

“That’d be between her and me, wouldn’t it?”

“And this is between her and me”

“No You h my situation” Banks’s pause was infinitesiht it, his fury fled The guy had been through hell and his hell had alry “You brought her here, you orchestrated a meet between us That makes this between her and you and me”

“Okay So what do you want me to say?” Dominic asked “That I’m sorry? That I made a mistake? Or that I’m crazy about your sister?”

All of which were true

“Nope Like I said, I’ you—don’t fuck with ot a chance to start over now If you choose to be a part of that new beginning, you’d da-tero”

Dominic wanted to protest the ultiuy knehere Lara was, how she was doing He wanted details on this new beginning and where she’d beit

But he was still stuck on the fact that uptight, upright Lieutenant Banks, code name, Sir, Yes, Sir, had just said fuck

It was

Banks didn’t wait for a response, though Message delivered, the guy was done With a nod, he stuck his cap back on his head, executed a smooth about-face and strode out of the room

Leaving Dominic with one inescapable fact: he and Lara were either over for good, or he’d better ure out if he could handle them

He sank back onto the bench, his shoulders sagging and his head throbbing

He sorta wished Banks had belted him in the face instead

13

DOMINIC STORMED UP the path to his cabin, wondering how many new levels of pissed he could reach before his head simply exploded

He’d wasted two days of his leave on a wild-goose chase, then gotten his ass chewed out by his brother for not returning the truck sooner, then by hisfestivities