Ian chuckled, but there was no humor behind it. “Everything. I got a call from Langley. The op was ready to go despite my half-assed work. The day you managed to get the bonds, I was supposed to head to Dublin to meet with you and prep you for your final mission. I should have been there the night you went into that pub. I would never have allowed that to happen, by the way. I had a room next to yours, and we were going to spend the evening in a debrief. I was walking in to grab my passport, and that’s when I found her.”
The idea of walking into a perfectly normal situation and finding Avery’s body on the ground sent a chill through him. “You didn’t kill her?”
“She was a message to me.”
Liam could remember how she looked in those photos. Beautiful. Cold. Soulless. If it was a message, someone had been serious about it. Shit. “From who?”
“From whoever hired her to seduce me, I suppose. She had some very nasty ties to the Russian mafia. I didn’t bother to look into her past. I was too in lust.” Ian ground the words out like every one cost him.
“Call it what it was, Ian,” Alex said from the corner. “You were in love with the woman.”
Ian’s mouth took on a cruel line. “It was lust. I didn’t know who the fuck she was. She lied about everything.”
Alex sighed as though they had been through this a thousand times. “No, she didn’t. She told you her real name. She gave you every opportunity to check her out. You chose not to. I think she was in love with you, too, Ian.”
Ian waved him off. “It doesn’t matter now, Alex. She’s dead and I fucked up Liam’s life, and I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since.”
“Did you plant the bomb?” He asked it with a little hesitance. What the hell was going on? Had Ian been the one to eradicate all the evidence? Had he been the one on watch when his brother had been murdered?
“Of course not.” Ian sank onto the wooden bench. “I wouldn’t blow up my own goddamn assets. I know you don’t think a lot of me, but I’ve never hurt my own men. It’s why I didn’t sign on as a full-time operative. The Agency uses me on certain ops, but I never fit the profile for a pure agent. I can’t sell out my friends. I was talking about the fact that I was too involved in Charlie’s death to handle my own op. They brought someone in to handle the operation, and he fucked everything up.”
“Who?” Liam asked.
Ian’s face hardened stubbornly. A nasty silence filled the air.
“You have to understand he didn’t find out until very recently,” Alex started.
“Fucking Nelson!” Liam got into Ian’s space. Eli Nelson seemed to be everywhere.
“I didn’t know who he was when he came to Dallas a while back. He wasn’t using his real name, and I didn’t know him by sight. It’s not like we have an annual Christmas party, but I started to research him after he nearly killed my brother.” Ian stood, not giving an inch.
“You know you’re both letting Nelson win if you beat each other up over this,” Alex pointed out.
“I want to know what happened.” Liam didn’t back down. “Did you know I was being set up?”
“Fuck, no. I didn’t know anything until you called me after the building had blown up,” Ian replied. “I was…I was trying to deal with Charlie’s death. I was useless.”
“We call it grieving in the real world,” Alex said, not moving.
“Shut up, Alex,” Ian rounded on his best friend.
“I can’t. Adam isn’t here to lend much needed sarcasm, so I have to. Really, you two are setting a new world record for testosterone levels in a locker room.” He got serious for a moment. “I hate watching you two tear each other up when there’s no reason for it. Ian was hurting because he loved his wife.”
“I didn’t love her,” Ian ground out.
“Tomato, tomahto,” Alex shot back. “Ian’s made one mistake in his very long career, and he’s felt guilty ever since. It’s been worse since he came to give a real goddamn about you. Give him a break, man. He lost his head over a girl. Can you say you’re not doing the same right now? I’m not blind. I’ve followed you for days. You’re crazy about Avery.”
“She’s a pretty girl.” He wasn’t going to admit it. The last thing he needed was to get pulled off the op because he’d fallen for someone who didn’t really want him. A girl who saw him as nothing but an orgasm on two legs.
“Don’t be an idiot, Li.” Alex shook his head. “You don’t want to end up like him.”
Ian turned to Alex. “You’re supposed to be my best friend.”
“I am,” Alex replied. “I’ve also been married to a psychologist for long enough to know that you’re in denial about Charlotte, and you can’t move on until you at least accept the fact that you loved the woman.”
Ian shot Alex the finger as he moved around Liam. “Says the man who still calls himself married years after his wife divorced him. Fuck you, Alex. And Liam, that’s the truth. I’ve told you everything I know. If you don’t accept it, you can take a fucking hike. I’m done with this.”
Ian stalked out, his boots thudding an angry rhythm over the hardwoods.
And Liam still had questions. He started to walk out after Ian. They weren’t done.
Alex got in his way. “Don’t. He wasn’t ready for this. Please give him a little time.”