“I’m still not convinced he had it in him. I think this was just dumb luck,” Thaddeus Mitchum said with a good-natured laugh. He pointed at the computer screen. “And don’t forget to bring back my barbecue.”

Daniel made an effort to smile, but it was half-assed at best. He should be ecstatic. Doubts that this job would come to a successful conclusion had amplified as each week passed. Being able to prove the naysayers wrong was the kind of shit he lived for. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy any of it. Whenever he tried, all he saw was that look of betrayal on Samiah’s face yesterday. How could he celebrate anything, knowing that she hated him?

He should have gone to her the moment she’d arrived at Trendsetters, even if it was only to apologize.

But when? When could he have gone to her? He hadn’t had a chance to eat, to take a piss, to take a damn breath yesterday. And why did he think a simple apology would make any difference if it wasn’t followed by a clear explanation of exactly what happened?

Once they were done rounding up all the evidence needed and arresting those involved, they’d spent three hours huddled in the largest conference room at Trendsetters, discussing the details of the operation with Barrington—who, to Daniel’s utter relief, had no knowledge of the money-laundering scheme. After answering as many of the CEO’s questions as they could, they’d all headed to the local FBI field office for a joint debriefing between DHS, FBI, and the FinCEN personnel involved in the takedown. Where would he have found the time to give Samiah the explanation she deserved?

It was futile to think that she didn’t know yet that it was her secured access card that had been used to breach Trendsetters’ security system. It was even more useless to hope that she hadn’t figured out just how her access card had been obtained, especially after she learned he wasn’t who he’d claimed to be these past few months.

Shame burned in his throat.

If he wrote a list of his regrets, it would stretch from here to the Colorado River. Yet the one thing he should regret—the one thing that should never have happened at all—was the one thing he wouldn’t trade. He’d known from the moment she nearly crashed into him at the coffee station his first day on the job that he should have stayed as far away from her as possible. The attraction had been there from the beginning.

Attraction wasn’t the right word. It had always been more than just attraction. The potent, all-consuming pull between them was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Pretending he could have ignored it all these weeks was pointless.