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She pulled her lips back some and whispered my name.
“Nic.”
Dropping my forehead to hers, I took in a deep breath.
“I’ll call you when I land,” she whispered.
I nodded. “Okay. If I don’t answer, I’m on a call.” With a sweet innocent smile, she reached up one more time. “Have a safe trip, Gabi.”
She swallowed hard. “Stay safe. I love you.”
My heart stilled. She said the words and I knew in my heart she meant them. I winked. “Always, and I love you too.”
Climbing up into my truck, I glanced back at her. I silently pleaded with her to tell me why her eyes looked so lost. When she lifted her hand in a wave, I did the same.
When I pulled away from her place, I took my phone out and hit Liam’s number.
“Hey,” he said.
“Anything?”
“Listen, Nic, I think you need to let this go.”
My heart jumped to my throat. “What did you find out from your friend at the FBI?”
Liam’ sighed.
“This sneaking behind her back doesn’t feel right, Nic.”
“No fucking shit. Neither does following her to Italy. I feel like a goddamn stalker. I want more than anything to believe she isn’t hiding anything, but she is. So what did he find out?”
“There’s nothing he can find on a Gabi or Gabriella Mandola before six years ago.”
“Nothing?”
“No. He checked the entire east coast for a five-year span on either side of her date of birth. It came back with nothing. It’s like she didn’t exist but up until six years ago.”
“What about her social?”
Liam grew silent.
“Liam?”
He blew out a quick breath. “When he typed it in it came back with . . . classified.”
My breath stalled in my chest.
“What?”
“Yeah. He’d have to get a different security clearance to get in. I’m sorry, Nic. He hit a dead end. But he did say she could be in some sort of witness protection.”
I scrubbed my free hand over my face and cursed. “What in the fuck?”
Holy fucking shit. What in the hell was going on?
“Nic, I’m really sorry. He doesn’t have any other information.”
I sighed in frustration. “It’s alright. Listen, I’ve got a flight to catch so I’ll be out of touch for about twelve hours.”
“Dude, I really wish you would rethink this. I have a bad feeling you’re not going to like what you see in Italy.”
I wanted to agree with him.
“I’ll see you in a few days. Thanks, Liam. Appreciate all you did for me.”
Hitting End, I tossed my phone on the passenger seat. I had to hustle to get to the airport in time to catch my flight. Somehow I’d managed to get on a flight that left three hours before Gabi’s. I’d beat her to Italy and get my plan laid out better.
All this trouble and what was I hoping to find out?
The truth.
The only problem was; I was beginning to think the last thing I wanted to know was the truth.
The ball cap was pulled low on my head as I watched people embark off of Gabi’s plane. When I saw her, my breath caught. She was wearing a free flowing long white dress. Her hair was down and she looked beautiful.
She also looked nervous as hell as she frantically looked around her.
Tossing my bag over my shoulder, I started to follow her, being sure to keep a good distance back as we all walked to the baggage claim. I couldn’t help but notice how since she left the gate area she had kept her head down and didn’t really look at anyone.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out.
It was from Liam asking if I had made it and how it wasn’t too late to turn this around.
I closed my eyes and cursed internally. I hated not knowing what was going on. My gut was telling me something was off . . . way off . . . and I wouldn’t rest until I found out what it was.
Gabi pulled out her phone and a few seconds later, mine buzzed in my hand. I sent it to voicemail. She glanced around again and then smiled. She must be listening to my message. Dropping her head, she left me a message, hung up, then waited for her luggage.
Gabi headed out of the airport with one suitcase. I’d already had Liam’s FBI buddy Jim Linde arrange to meet me at the airport. He was working over here on a case and was more than willing to help me out. We’d met earlier and he was waiting outside where all the Taxi’s lined up to pick people up.
When I stepped outside, I headed quickly over to his car while keeping an eye on Gabi.
Slipping in, he asked, “Is that her?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He frowned.
“What?”
Shaking his head, he replied, “She looks really familiar that’s all.”
I looked at him. “Really?”
