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

when you called me?” Nico cut her off, his voice deadly soft. She’d not forgotten how private he was about certain things, but they were thrown in so much with the other trainees, as well as they spent so much time with Rykov and Balfour she hadn’t thought much of it. Especially because everyone, apparently, knew about them by now.
    “I guess? Yes? I mean, he knows we’ve been not… great…” she trailed off as guilt and resentment cooked together in her gut simultaneously. “But then anyone could have figured that out the way you were with me when we split off,” she added the last bit, not meaning to needle him but he hadn’t made any effort to hide his bad mood towards her in front of Russi when the two teams had parted ways on the first day.
    “That was not because of you,” Nico said curtly and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. Why the hell was he being so… contrary and stubborn? He wasn’t acting anything like the man she thought she’d come to know.
    “Can we just… stop?” she asked. “I don’t want to fight. I don’t even really know why we’re fighting. This is like the shittiest, stupidest non-argument I’ve ever had. Can’t you just tell me how your end of the mission is going and if you’re doing okay?” She couldn’t help the wistful tone in her voice, and he went quiet for a few moments. Her heart hung out in her throat, making it hard to swallow, hard to breathe.
    “I am doing well,” he said, voice stiff and uncomfortable. She closed her eyes and rubbed at one temple, staving off the stress-headache that was growing there. Where the hell was her sweet, romantic Nico? It wasn’t like their mission was particularly strenuous. He’d had to do some on-site recon, of course, but he moved so quickly and quietly… and to be honest, he loved that kind of work best.
    “Well that’s good,” her words were flat and dull despite her best efforts to keep them cheerful. She could hear a murmuring in the background where he was, a feminine voice, Rykov.
    “I must go,” he was being short with her still, and it made her heart clench painfully in her chest. “Daria I think… I think it is best if we stop, for now.”
    “We are stopped,” she said, feeling confused at why he was repeating her earlier words. “We’re not fighting right now, we don’t have to talk about this until we’re back in the city.”
    “No,” he drew out the word slowly, and the breath ran out of her lungs and didn’t return. “We should stop.”
    Cold fingers wrapped around her spine and she couldn’t quite believe it, that he was-
    “Are you breaking up with me?” The world was tilting, it seemed so surreal,   and she felt like she was floating uncomfortably.
    “I must go,” his final words were short, and then the line disconnected. She inhaled, a sharp noise that whistled down the back of her throat as she let the phone and the hand holding it, fall into her lap in disbelief.
    Hot tears pricked at the corner of her eyes and she stared at the blank screen, not sure how everything had pitched sideways so quickly, how they’d gone from stilted to severed in a few seconds. Her thumb moved against her own will, swiping and dialing up his number again.
    It went right to voicemail, a mailbox that wasn’t set up. A tremble ran through her and her throat closed over. No, he couldn’t … she dialed again. Voicemail. Maybe something had happened to them. She scrambled to her feet and raced inside the cabin.
    Her sharp movements had Russi out of his seat in an instant, the headphones wrapped around his neck as he observed her, obviously expecting an attack given the way she’d burst inside.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, frown creasing his eyebrows together.
    “Are they fine?” Daria gulped out, blinking back wetness as her eyes sought out the monitors. The terrorist camp was deserted, quiet, no movement, and then she looked at the video feed of where the three