+18 - eps 22-27 - A case takes Russell and Brock to the brink of death. It'll be up to Gillian and the team to rescue them before they're killed by a white supremacist militia. And in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, the threat of a bio attack fo...
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They stopped at a red light and Brock risked to face her. Time to leave her out of excuses to keep punishing herself.
"Look, Gillian, I just wanted you to know where I stand. That's all. It doesn't mean I expect any kind of response. I just thought you should know, since we share so many aspects of our work. But I wouldn't want any of this coming in the way to working with you—which you've always known I truly like."
There. Take the easy out and stop torturing yourself. Now go put yourself together and let's move on from this dead end. One day you'll come around. Eventually. Or not. But at least let's preserve what brought us together in the first place. What we both love. Let's not lose that.
Gillian managed a nod, too busy keeping her tears in check. Stop hating herself would take longer. Maybe the rest of her life.
The light changed to green and he looked out again to drive.
They didn't trade another word until they reached the airport. Then Gillian felt a sharp prink of angst. They would stop by the FBI hangar in under a minute. Get out of the SUV. Join the others to board the Falcon. And any chance to talk or change what she'd done would be lost. Maybe forever. She'd lose that chance. And somehow she'd lose him.
He braked before she could overcome that upsetting certainty. Unlock his seatbelt and step out took him about ten seconds. He didn't want to be surrounded by the punks and their picnic spirit when there was so much unspoken between them. But lingering in the SUV would only attract the punks' attention, and that'd be even worse. They didn't have anything left to say for now—or they would've said it over the last ten minutes of thick silence after the traffic light. He needed to bring this to an end. So time could start passing by and do its work, for better or worse.
She wasn't as quick as him, and Brock circled the SUV while she got out of it. He opened the door to grab their bags as she came to his side.
"I'm sorry, sir..." she mumbled.
He swallowed his surprise at hearing her speak at all and gave her duffel to her. "Don't be, Gillian," he replied in a gentle whisper. "And please, stop calling me that." He flashed a quick smile at her puzzled frown. "I've got a name, you know?"
She would've so hugged him and kissed him—if only he weren't such a good kisser that would make it impossible to stop at a single kiss... unless he said he loved her, of course.
A dull giggle escaped her lips, and she tried to keep up with his humor. "Me too, and you never use it either."
Brock leveled up in self-control when she played along, and turned to grab his own bag.
"You mean your first name?"
Gillian waited for him to face her again and nodded, smiling back at him.
Brock knew she would hate him forever, but there was no way he'd keep his mouth shut. So he closed the SUV and met her eyes. He gauged his voice to sound as if commenting on the weather.
"I know. I'm keeping it for Wednesday breakfast."
"Hey, Brock! Cassidy wants us back to DC!"
Russell would never know how much the other two wished they had a bazooka at hand, to show him the end of its barrel and the rocket inside up close. Yet, his interruption came in handy. Brock arched his eyebrows at Gillian like a wink and turned to Russell, going to him.
"Straight from here?"
Gillian spun on her heels to watch him, not sure whether she should run after him to punch him or laugh out loud. Stupid, stupid, stupid man and his deadly punch lines! She shook her head and chuckled under her breath as she walked to the team.
Aldana and Tanya flanked her on their way to the jet.
"You better start talking," said Aldana.
"Cassidy said Agent Brockner wasn't picking up his phone," said Tanya.
"And both of you were out of sight when we got back from the beach."
"And way too quiet."
Gillian clung to their chatter to kick herself back into character.
"Forget it. Too many X's for your fine ears, gals."
the BLACKBIRD series book 5
THE END
Keep reading on the next book: Irene -BLACKBIRD book 6
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