Ian's Ultimate Gamble - Brenda Jackson [8]
Ian's eyes narrowed. "A man's life was lost," he said in a tight voice.
"Yes." she said coolly. "But Boris Knowles should have considered the consequences. He didn't get involved with a group of amateur criminals, Ian. He was involved in organized crime. Don't try and make me feel guilty for the choices he made."
"But had I known, I— "
"Had you known, there wouldn't have been anything you could have done. He was in too deep. Why is it so hard for you to believe that1? Telling you would not have changed a thing, other than involve you in a situation you didn't need to be in."
Brooke didn't know what else she could say to get through that thick skull of his. He refused to believe he wouldn't have made a difference, and that not knowing about Boris had been a blessing.
She heard his muttered curse and knew it was a mistake to have come to the lounge, a place where she figured he would be. "Look, Ian, evidently you and I will always have a difference of opinion about what happened and why I kept things from you. And I'm tired of you thinking I'm the bad guy."
She stood and threw a couple of bills on the counter. "See you around. But then, maybe it would be better if I didn't."
Ian muttered another curse as he watched Brooke disappear through the door, leaving her sensuous scent trailing behind. He felt that familiar stab of pain he encountered whenever he thought of her betrayal. But Brooke's words reminded him of the same thing Dare, a former FBI agent himself, had told him. Organized crime wasn't anything to play with, and regardless of the outcome, Boris had made his choices.
Dare had also tried to make Ian understand that when Brooke had taken the job as a federal agent, she had also made an oath to uphold the law and to maintain a rigid vow of confidentiality. Had she told him about the case, and security had been breached, it would have risked not only Brooke's life but the lives of other federal agents.
Ian had understood all of that, but still, he believed that when two people were committed to each other, there weren't supposed to be any secrets between them. So in his mind she had made a choice between her job and him. That, in a nutshell, was what grated him the most. Yet at some point he had to let go and move on or the bitterness would do him in. He couldn't continue to make her feel like a "bad" guy, especially when he of all people knew how much becoming an agent had meant to her. Twice her application had been turned down when background checks had revealed her family history— namely her father and brothers. It had taken Dare, who'd still maintained close contacts within the Bureau, to write a sterling letter of recommendation to get her in.
Ian pulled in a deep breath. It was time for him and Brooke to finally make peace. He knew that because of all that had happened between them, the love they once shared could never be recovered, but it was time he put his animosity to rest and make an attempt at being friends.
Brooke angrily stripped out of her dress. Ian Westmoreland was as stubborn as any mule could get. He refused to consider that she had been doing her job four years ago and if she had told him anything about the case, her own life could have been in jeopardy. No, all he thought about was what had happened to a man who'd been living a lie to his family, friends and business associates.
Fine, if that was the position Ian wanted to take, even after four years, let him. She refused to allow him to get on her nerves, and somehow and in some way she would wipe away the memories she found almost impossible to part with. More than anything she had to somehow eradicate him from her heart. But in the meantime she planned to enjoy herself for the next two weeks and wouldn't let him stand in the way of her doing just that.
She slipped into the two-piece bathing suit,