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exceptional. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Marlowe.”
    â€œI wish I could say the same. All I’ve got is your word that you have a pedigree. You’ve seen my dossier. The least you could do is return the favor and show me yours.” The striking woman stood in front of his desk with arms crossed, not bothering to sit.
    â€œAnd if I say no, what then?”
    â€œThen you would seem like a man with something to hide.”
    â€œWell, here’s a novel concept. You could give me a chance. I assure you, I’ll grow on you.”
    â€œLook, I just want to know what happened to Garrett. Is it true you’re replacing him?”
    â€œYes. I follow orders, same as you.”
    â€œWhere is he?”
    Cross raised his eyebrow and didn’t answer at first. He made her wait, until he finally said, “I can’t say.”
    â€œCan’t or won’t?” She leaned across his desk and fixed her icy blue eyes on him. “Big difference.”
    Cross smirked and rocked in his chair.
    â€œWe work for a covert agency. Everything is on a need-to-know basis. Surely you understand how that works.”
    â€œI do, but surely you understand a man like Garrett doesn’t just disappear, not without people asking questions.”
    From what he’d read of her file, a woman like Alexa Marlowe wouldn’t let her questions go unanswered. She was stubborn. Her inquisitive nature and undaunted spirit made her a good agent. Cross knew he’d have to go beyond protocol to satisfy her. And what he had to do wouldn’t be easy—for him or her.
    â€œSit down, Alexa.” He softened his voice and gestured toward a chair. The woman begrudgingly complied and sat on the edge of her seat. Her eyes were fixed on him with a stern expression on her face. Cross took a deep breath before he said, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but . . .”
    â€œBut what?” She clenched her jaw.
    â€œGarrett is dead. He was killed on a covert mission.” He swallowed and found it hard to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know he was your friend.”
    She fought to stay in control.
    â€œNo, this can’t . . .” She shook her head, and her eyes watered. “How?”
    â€œI don’t have the details. And there are things we may never know.”
    â€œWhat are you . . . s-saying?”
    â€œI’m saying . . . that his mission was highly classified. And we may not even recover his body. Witnesses say he was killed in an explosion, Alexa. A bad one, but we’ve confirmed his DNA at the scene. I’m sorry.”
    Cross had delivered his message and waited for her reaction. With a trained operative, he’d only get a glimmer if he got any response at all. Alexa Marlowe stared at him for a long moment with only small flinches to her facial muscles. He knew she was deciding what to believe, but when she gritted her teeth and stood without another question, her move surprised him.
    Without a word, she left his office.
    I t took all Alexa’s strength for her to walk away from Donovan Cross when she wanted to scream. Screaming might wake her up from the living nightmare her life had suddenly become.
    This couldn’t be happening.
    Numb, she shook her head as she closed the door behind her and headed down a hallway toward the elevators in a fog, not knowing where she was going. She wanted a stiff drink to dull her senses and slow the rush of emotions that crowded in on her, but her training and her loyalty to Garrett wouldn’t allow it.
    In all the operations she’d worked with Garrett, she found it hard to picture him dead . . . until now. He was such a resourcefully strong man who had lived through some amazing missions, many of those with her by his side.
    Donovan Cross was another story. She didn’t know him or trust him. Her first impressions of him weren’t good. He was cagey and