Chapter 10

Steven, who was quietly listening to them the whole time, decided to intervene.

"Look, guys, this is getting out of hand. I think we already got what we came here for. I believe Ms. Reed is telling the truth here. So how about we wrap this up now?" he said.

Harold nodded at Alex. "I think that's enough."

Alex thought of objecting, but after a pause, he relented. He threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine."

He turned to face Shannon.

"I gotta say, I admire you for using your wiles on Mr. Magdalena so effectively. It must have been a small feat for you luring him to your bed and convincing him to marry you," he sneered.

Luis bristled from Alex's insult. He balled his fists and stared at Alex with contempt and fury. He wanted to hit the guy so bad but he managed to control the urge.

Shannon, on the other hand, who was used to insults from misogynist men like Alex, responded in controlled anger.

"You're an asshole," she said through gritted teeth.

Alex looked offended.

"What did you just call me?!"

Shannon crossed her arms and glared defiantly at Alex.

"I said you're an asshole," she repeated.

In an instant, Alex slapped her in the face.

"Hey!" Steven and Harold reacted in surprise.

Luis was taken aback and looked just as surprised as them.

Steven rushed over to her. "Are you alright?"

"Alex, that was uncalled for!" Harold said, reprimanding the hot-tempered agent.

Quickly recovering from the slap, Shannon nursed her right cheek in pain and glared at Alex. Without warning, she advanced towards him so quickly and punched him in the face.

Alex stumbled backwards but regained his footing after a few moments.

"Why, you―" he fumed at her.

In retaliation, Alex gripped Shannon's neck with his right hand and pushed her back against the wall. Shannon was taken aback and started struggling from his grip.

Luis was shocked to see Alex choking Shannon. He quickly stood up to defend her.

"Hey, stop!" he yelled as he advanced towards Alex.

But Harold pushed him back while trying to pacify Alex.

"Alex, that's enough!" he yelled while pushing Luis back on his chair.

Steven was already behind Alex, trying to pry him away from Shannon.

"Alex, stop it! Let go of her!"

But Alex wouldn't let go.

"You little bitch!" he screamed at her, while Shannon continued to struggle and fight back.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" yelled Luis at Alex desperately as he struggled from Harold's grasp who was still holding him back.

Just then, Max burst into the room, followed by Dennis.

At the sight of Shannon and Alex, Max rushed over to them.

"Let go of her!" said Max, as he forcefully grabbed Alex away from Shannon.

He punched Alex with such force that he went down on the floor with a slam.

Free from Alex's grip, Shannon dropped to her knees weakly, coughing and gasping for air.

Max bent over to her with concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked her gently.

Unable to speak for a moment she nodded. Max and Steven helped her get up from the floor.

"That was out of line, Alex! You're way out of line!" barked Harold, who was now standing over the fallen agent in anger.

Luis was left standing in the corner, now with a concerned look on his face as he stared at Shannon who was still a little breathless.

Alex got up from the floor, touching his bloody nose.

Max swiftly confronted Alex, ready to kill the agent.

"Touch her again, and I will destroy you!" he threatened as he faced Alex in fury, pushing a finger on Alex's chest.

Alex smirked at him while wiping the blood from his nose. He looked over at Shannon who was standing behind Max, still looking furious at him.

"How dare you!" she said hoarsely.

Alex was about to respond but the deputy director stopped him.

"Stand back, Alex. That's an order!" Harold warned Alex.

Alex slowly stepped back from Max, still looking smug.

Meanwhile, Dennis looked at the men around him, looking clueless.

"What happened here?"

"The question is, what is he doing here?!" Harold asked Dennis, referring to Max.

"Uh, sir, he came barging into the house. I tried to stop him from coming here but he pushed past me," Dennis replied.

Max turned towards Harold.

"Sir, I came here because we learned that Shannon was being questioned about the Bogota mission. We called Jim and he said he didn't know about this and that he would've never agreed to this!" explained Max.

Shannon frowned and turned to Harold.

"You lied."

Harold gave a deep sigh, exasperated at the turn of events.

"I'll talk to Jim when he gets back," he said.

Turning to Shannon, Harold said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Reed. You can go now."

Shannon shook her head in disgust then went to fetch her purse from the chair.

"Come on, Shannon," Max held out his hand towards her and led her out of the room and out of the house.

Steven followed them out, apologizing profusely to Shannon about what happened. He left the safehouse shortly after making sure Shannon was alright.

Outside, Max led Shannon towards his car, which was parked at the far side of the house facing the room where Luis was in.

Moments later, the CIA deputy director, Dennis and Alex left the safehouse and went their separate ways.

Back in the room at the safehouse, Luis peered through the window to see Shannon and Max talking outside. They were standing beside a silver car. He couldn't hear or make out what their conversation was about but he could see she was upset about something.

She's probably upset about the whole interrogation. Luis guessed.

He watched from the window as Shannon's face suddenly crumbled and he could see tears rolling down her face. Max hugged her for a few minutes, rubbing her back consolingly. Then she pulled away from him and wiped her tears away. She nodded as Max said something to her while squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

Then she turned and got into the passenger seat of the car. Max went around the car and got into the driver's seat. It wasn't long before he and Shannon were driving away from the safehouse and towards the IMF division office.