Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A/N: Hey guys, trying something new in this chapter. There's a part in Grant's perspective, I just felt like it fit to see his thought process. I might do this a couple more times, but it's not going to be regular. Let me know what you guys think! His part is going to be in bold 😝 also, quick shoutout to Lexis_Winchester for her amazingly kind words❤️❤️❤️ I know I say this almost every chapter, but thank you all so much for the support, it means so much to me

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My hands gripped the steering wheel much tighter than normal. I forced myself to relax my jaw. Slater had noticed immediately that something was wrong with me, because of course she had. She noticed everything about me. Every mood, every change in my behavior. Everything.

She knew me better than anyone else in the world, except maybe Garrett. I could tell she was still watching me from the passenger seat for more signs of something wrong, so I tried not to show any. I knew I was being ridiculous, anyway. Acting like a complete idiot.

But I just couldn't help it. That cop had been flirting with her, and I was pissed.

More than our covers being blown, more than Marco and Tess selling us out and tipping off the men at the docks, watching him flirt with her had sent me redlining.

I was jealous. I'd never been jealous before, but then again, I hadn't had much reason to be. Any time we went undercover, we went as a couple. And if someone flirted with her in front of me anyway, they were flirting with Kayla, or Isabella, or another one of our covers. That cop was flirting with Samantha.

She truly hadn't seemed to notice or care, which was more of a relief than it should've been. We'd been partners for years now, and yet, this feeling was completely new.

Although, if I were honest with myself, the feelings causing the jealously might've been around for longer than I wanted to admit.

I grit my teeth, then stopped as soon as Samantha looked over at me. I took a deep breath, and it didn't help. I was still jealous, and I was mad that I was jealous.

I wasn't supposed to be feeling jealous. I wasn't supposed to be feeling anything this strongly, for anyone at SHIELD. I was an agent of Hydra, undercover at SHIELD, lying in wait for the moment we came out of the shadows. I wasn't here to make friends, or anything else that might compromise me. But Slater had managed to sneak under my guard.

I'd thought about approaching Garrett to recruit her to Hydra after her stunt with Director Fury, but I'd thought better of it. Samantha constantly risked her own life to avoid killing anyone. She felt empathy and kindness for everyone she met, in every situation. Making friends and trusting them was one of her favorite hobbies. All of it was a massive weakness, and would definitely keep her from joining Hydra.

And yet, "all of it" was also why I'd started falling for her.

I clenched my teeth as the thought crossed my mind. I'd always found her attractive, and it had started turning into something more during our mission in Málaga, probably while we were laughing at stupid jokes from The Office. But this... this was something different. Something much, much bigger.

I shook my head to physically clear the thought from my mind as I pulled the car up to the curb outside Marco and Tess's apartment. I couldn't afford to think about this anymore right now. I'd deal with my feelings for Slater and everything I owed Garrett later. Hopefully much, much later. Right now, we still had a job to do.

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I narrowed my eyes at Grant as we stepped out of the car at Tess and Marco's apartment. He hadn't said a word to me on the drive over, and I could tell he was still dealing with something, although I had no idea what. I watched his shoulders drop as we walked up the apartment steps, but I could tell he'd forced himself to do it.