Taking Sides (ARC Operatives Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

again, this time it was softer, the corners of his eyes crinkling a bit like Balfour’s did, and she had to fight the urge to bury her head in his shoulder and just cry it out.
    Things would be fine with Nico, they had to be fine. They’d both finish up the mission and he’d hug her hard and she’d inhale the scent of his cologne and it would all sort itself out, right?
    Russi’s hand slipped around her shoulders and he tugged her in against his chest. She let him, relaxing against his bulk with a sigh. He wasn’t Balfour, and he certainly wasn’t Nico, but he’d do for now. She needed the comfort his warmth was providing.
    They sat in the quiet, enjoying the heat of the sun as it poured over them, until her phone beeped. She pulled away from Russi and checked it.
    Mila, I have a few minutes, do you want to speak?
    Her heart surged and she stood up without a word, immediately dialing Nicolai.
    “Want me to go inside?” Russi murmured beside her and she flicked a glance at him before shaking her head. If she needed to talk privately she could always walk down the driveway that lead to the cabin. Putting some miles on her legs would be good, because she was pretty sure she’d gained a few pounds over the mission already. Besides, it was likely she and Nico wouldn’t be having a private Conversation on his end anyway, what with the two senior agents being close by.
    He picked up right away, and she held her breath as his voice warmed her from the inside-out.
    “Daria-“
    “I’m sorry,” she blurted out suddenly, “I’m sorry for everything.” She wasn’t quite sure what she was apologizing, after all it’d been him who’d iced her out the morning they’d been assigned this mission, but she wanted the stilted conversation between them to stop. Beside her Russi let out a low, almost inaudible whistle. It was all she could do to keep from throwing up her middle finger at him for judging her.
    There was silence on the other end and then she head Nico sigh in a way that did nothing to comfort her.
    “I was not expecting an apology,” he said after too many heartbeats of quiet had stretched out between her words and his. She couldn’t help the frown that crossed her face and she twisted away further from Russi so he wouldn’t see it. The agent was leaning out from her anyway, and she could just see him in her peripheral vision as his gaze tracked along the trees and he pretended to be somewhere else.
    “Well I wanted to give one?” her words bent upwards hopefully at the end. “I just miss you so much, and I don’t even know why we were fighting in the first place, not really.”
    “We weren’t fighting,” Nico said, and there was an annoyed layer in his voice, a hint of frustration. “Daria, I was not mad at you, but it feels as if the entire situation has been… you have blown it out of proportion.”
    Her stomach iced over and she swallowed, a fresh wave of helplessness welling up inside her. The whole damn thing was confusing.
    “I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to talk about this, I just wanted to apologize, that’s all, I didn’t mean to make it a big deal,” she said, trying to salvage the conversation and guide it somewhere away from where it was heading. “I guess I’d just never had you shut down on me like that before, and I didn’t know how to take it. Now, I know… just leave you alone until you’re ready to talk.”
    Her words were apparently the right ones, for once, because Nico’s voice was warm again when he spoke,
    “I did not mean to keep you out, Mila ,” he said softly.
    Russi’s arm brushed the side of hers as he sighed and got to his feet.
    “When you’re done deferring to your boyfriend there, kid, come inside so we can get some work done,” the man said brusquely as he walked inside, the screen door slamming hard after him. She heard Nico’s breath, a sharp inhale, at the other end of the line.
    “Sorry about that, that was just-“
    “Was he with you