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“Who knows? I’m willing to gamble if you are.” She leaned against him. “We’ll stay close.”
“All right, I’ll grab the basket.”
“I’ll get a blanket.” They moved around and out of the cottage together. God, he wanted to put his arm around her as they strolled, but he had no idea if she’d welcome that type of closeness. Besides, Guardian could pull the plug on him in the morning. God only knew what they’d find in their investigation. His family was almost a mystery to him, and that was how he liked it. His father and mother had turned him out and expected him to make his own way. He’d survived.
Val spread the blanket out, and they sat on it as she pulled out container after container of food. “Dinner wasn’t great, and we skipped breakfast. I’m starving.” She took out a bottle of wine, a bottle of water, and a small flask. “Your scotch, sir.” Val shook the silver container. “We’re off the clock and free of any interruptions here. A safe place to cut loose and relax.”
“Until the morning,” he acknowledged. “Did you reach your Russian contacts?”
“That’s on hold until your expedited investigation gets back to management.” Val popped an olive into her mouth and chewed it. “Any reason why you wouldn’t pass muster?”
Smith picked up a sandwich made on a baguette and took a bite. After he swallowed, he shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Val picked up her half of the sandwich and stalled with it halfway to her mouth. “What exactly does that mean?”
Smith took another bite. He didn’t want to get into his childhood, but that ship had launched when he’d agreed to go on the trip with her, hadn’t it? “After I found the information about my mother when I was six, I was sent to Preston Heights Military Academy, where I lived except for one month at Christmas until I graduated at eighteen.”
She put her sandwich down on a piece of wax paper. “No other holidays or summers at home?”
“No.” He lifted his eyes and saw the pity in hers. “Don’t do that. Don’t feel sorry for me. It is what it is.”
She snorted. “Your parents are troglodytes.”
Smith blinked and then laughed. “They don’t live in a cave.”
“No, but they acted like it. How could you send a child away like that? I can’t have kids, but let me tell you, if I ever did, they’d be showered in love.” She picked up her sandwich and took a huge bite, mumbling something as she chewed.
“I knew nothing different.”
“Have you talked to anyone in your family since you left?”
“No. I haven't spoken to my family since my father told me to make my own way at the age of eighteen and asked me to leave.”
She stopped chewing and swallowed hard. “That still pisses me off.”
He grabbed a handful of chips and popped one in his mouth. “It is what it is.”
She popped up to her knees and almost shouted, “What? No.” Val sputtered, “Oh my God. I’m going to pay a visit to your parents.” She shook her head and dropped back onto her butt. “I don’t hate many people, but I think I’m leaning in that direction with your folks. They wouldn’t like me when I’m mad.” Val mumbled a few non-ladylike adjectives as she munched on several chips.
He shrugged. “Hate consumes too much energy.” He only hated one person, and that bastard was dead. He'd helped incinerate Simmons’ body. He was a nightmare that would never return.
“Stop being sozenabout it. You should go back and show them you survived and that you’re working for Guardian now.” Val grabbed the wine opener from the basket.
Smith took the sharp object from the fiery woman and opened her wine. “What reason would that serve? He’d think he was right in turning me out.”
She stopped chewing and looked up at him. “Well, crud … There is that.”
After handing her a glass of the wine, he took another bite out of his sandwich. “Why can’t you have children?”
Val stared at her wine for a moment. “I was married before I worked for Guardian. My husband didn’t want kids. A really long, drawn-out story, but I agreed with him and had my tubes tied. Let me tell you,thatwas a fight. Doctors didn’t want to do that procedure on a young woman, but we persisted and found someone who would perform the operation. My husband was murdered about a year later. That’s when my world shattered into a million pieces.”
“You must have loved him very much.” Smith saw the grief in her expression, andthattype of emotion was only reserved for those who were truly loved.
She looked straight at him. “I did. He’s been gone for twelve years now. He’ll always hold a special place in my heart.” She drew a deep breath. “But life goes on.”
“It does. What did he do when you lived in Minnesota?” Smith took another bite of his sandwich.
“Ha! Wrong. That’s where I went to school. I moved to New York after I graduated, much to my parents’ displeasure. I worked in a gym and started training. That’s when I met him. He was a professional MMA fighter—a heavyweight. I also fought professionally. We trained together.” She took a drink of her wine.
