Rome crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t like the proprietary tone Dupree used when he said Maria’s name. “Go on.”
“I just want you to know that she might seem like she’s alone in the world, but she’s not.”
Rome said nothing, and he could tell that irritated the Seal. More than irritated him.
“You might think you’re just having a good time, but Maria is a good girl. She doesn’t need some jackass messing with her head.”
Aggravation marched down his spine as he tried to hold onto his temper. “Is that what you think I’m doing? That people who live the life like me are just messing with each other’s head.”
“No. But she doesn’t need another one like you.”
That gave Rome pause. “Another jackass? I thought she’d never submitted before.” He was sure of it. Besides the fact that she told him, her reactions had been too raw, too real for them to have been staged. He was sure he had been her first Dom.
And her last.
Rome pushed that thought aside. “Explain yourself.”
“She’ll kick my ass, but she was involved with a few guys at the bureau. All of them thought she could help their careers. As soon as they figured out she couldn’t, she was dumped.”
“I have nothing to gain from this.”
Dupree snorted. “Other than making yourself a big name by catching a serial killer. Putting her out there to be bait.”
“Hey, that was her crazy idea. And basically she told me if I didn’t help, she would do it anyway without me. She didn’t need my help, or so she said.”
“That’s what she said.”
“Then why are you yelling at me?”
“I thought maybe it had been your idea to begin with.”
Rome shook his head. “No. All hers. Sits there as pretty as she can be and tells me she’s going to be bait for a serial killer who likes to kill women who look like her.”
Mal sighed, a resigned look flashing in his face. “Damn, always fighting that old man. I thought after he died, she’d let it go.”
“Oh, yeah, and I have to deal with her acting like I’m being a macho asshole because I want her to be protected as she dangles herself in front of the killer like some big, juicy piece of steak. It’s enough to drive a saint to sin.”
“You don’t say,” Mal said, rocking back on his heels.
“And she really drives me insane. She’s so damned smart that she thinks she can’t mess anything up, but in this game, one little slip up and she could be dead. I couldn’t deal with that.”
Mal said nothing for a moment then he grinned. “Shit, you’re in love with her.”
“What?”
“You are knee deep and drunk in love with the woman.”
“No.” He couldn’t be. He was infatuated, like Amy said, that was all. She was so different than any of the other women he’d dated, and he really had never initiated a sub before her. It was that connection. That was all.
“Damn, this is good. You can take care of her, get her away from DC.”
He was still trying to figure out if Mal was right about his feelings when what he said penetrated his brain. “Get her away from DC? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I guess you haven’t had much time to chat, with chasing the serial killer, huh?”
Rome shook his head.
“She’s not built for the FBI.”
Anger had him striding toward the Seal, ignoring the fact that there was a good chance Dupree would knock him senseless with little effort. “What the hell do you mean? She’s an excellent agent. Her mind is amazing.”
“Yes, but that’s part of her personality. She is good at being things. Her father taught her that, may he rot in hell.”
Some of his anger subsided. “I take it you didn’t like him.”
“I never met him, but there is something wrong with a man who teaches his fourteen-year-old daughter to shoot because there is a good chance someone will kill her.”
“He told her that?”
Mal nodded. “That’s just the surface. How can any teenager have a normal life going to crime scenes? Her best friends were the other agents. She became an agent because she couldn’t see being anything else.”
“She’s damned good, probably will move up the ladder.”
“And die an early death of stress. She’s good at it, but she’s much better at other things. Have you looked at her laptop yet?”
“Looked at it?”
Dupree smiled. “Take a minute or two, get a peek. I think you might be surprised by what you find.”
“I know about the writing.”