Free Taking Sides (ARC Operatives Book 2) by Audrey Noire

settle down,” Rykov bit out. Her eyes were soft as she looked at the younger augmented, and Daria could tell that Rykov felt bad for him in her own way. “The footage placed you at the camp only once when we weren’t expecting you-“
    “I saw movement, similar to what I can do, and I knew it was Russi. He is the only other augmented with speed as I have, and there was no reason for him to be in the camp at that time. He should have been back at base, monitoring the computers and watching Daria’s back,” Nicolai’s words were increasingly bitter, and Daria pulled her arm out to place a gentle hand over his where it rested on her knee.
    “Right. You’ll file your official statement once things have settled, but I think given that the only one claiming you’re an associate is Russi, and the rest of the crew we picked up didn’t even know who the hell you were when we had them try to ID you, I think we can all safely assume you weren’t involved,” Balfour was soothing as he spoke, and Nico calmed somewhat. Daria looked at him, wondering if he would ever forgive her for thinking the worst of him, and knew deep down… he would. If she would forgive him for his rough treatment of her, their not-break-up. That was something to be discussed later, when Rykov and Balfour were gone.
    “Good,” Nico grumbled and then leaned into Daria, wrapping a possessive arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him.
    “It all seems very simple,” Daria said, looking from one of her senior agents to the other. Balfour shrugged and Rykov looked at her nails.
    “It’s not the full story, but we’ll get that out of Russi. He’s been with ARC for a long time, and I’m not sure that he’s been a double agent for his entire tenure. Something caused him to snap, switch sides, and why he picked an environmental group is beyond me. That man is a red-meat devouring, big-truck driving sterotype, so it doesn’t seem like his crew,” Rykov said and then bumped Balfour’s knee with her fist. “C’mon, let’s let these two patch things up between them. You and I have paperwork. Lots, and lots of paperwork.”
    Balfour cursed under his breath and slowly got to his feet. Daria made a move to follow, but Nico held her tight, not letting her shift an inch. Rykov smirked at that.
    “You behave yourself,” Balfour admonished them both and then moved towards the door.
    “I will let you out,” Nico said but made no move to get up. Rykov laughed at that.
    “No you won’t. Stay with your girl, the door will lock just fine behind us.”

CHAPTER NINE

    Despite Rykov’s assurance that the door would lock after they left, Nico was a blur as he got off the couch and checked it. Daria’s hair fluffed up as he breezed back to her in a heartbeat and had her tangled in his arms before she could protest.
    “Hey, we seriously-“ Daria squirmed and got herself out of his grip, pushing up against the side of the couch to look at him. “We need to talk.”
    Nico’s expression was shadowed as he watched her, and Daria felt her stomach turn off. What did he expect? She wasn’t going to embarrass him in front of their senior agents, but that didn’t mean he was off the hook. He had some serious explaining to do.
    “ Mila ,” he started and then took a deep, huffing breath, “I should have told you about Russi, how he trained me and mentored me during the initial phase of receiving my augmentation.” Nico’s words were stilted as he spoke, but Daria didn’t reach out to him to comfort him like her whole body was telling her to do.
    He needed to get it all out before she’d make her decision. It was clear he wanted her back, that didn’t even need saying since he’d hustled her to his apartment and cocooned her in his bed. She just wasn’t sure she wanted to be back, as much as the thought of leaving him made her heart shiver.
    “Yeah but that’s like, just the start of it. You were a dick the day we got our assignment, and then