Alexander's eyes stayed locked on Ray.

Then, slowly, a smile crept across his face. "You almost had me. Ray, I may have lied about being a veteran, but I have studied microexpressions. You're trying so hard to look angry, but it's all an act. Your emotions don't line up at all.

"Even from over two hundred meters away, I can read you perfectly. I can even hear your heartbeat—calm, steady, nothing like the rage you're trying to project. Not a trace of furious pounding."

Ray stared at him, genui