AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’ve been sulking for days,” he said to me.
“I’m fine, Ryan,” I responded. “It’s nothing.”
“You sure? Did something happen in Jeddah?”
“Why would you ask if something happened in Jeddah?” I asked in response to his question, and he frowned. His brown eyes deeply set against mine, and I waited for him to say anything.
“Nothing,” Ryan said. “I just wonder what’s up with you, Nina, and I hope you know you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know,” I said with a tiny smile. Then I finished the fruit juice, and got on my feet. “I’ve got a flight to catch.”
Ryan walked around the table and gave me a tight bear hug, then he kissed my forehead. “We’ll talk soon.”
“I’m going to miss you, Ryan.”
“Me too.”
We stayed in a tight hug till Rose came into the kitchen. “Thanks for breakfast, Rose,” I said when I pulled away. “And for letting me stay the week.”
“Ryan and I both wanted you here,” Rose answered, then she came close and hugged me too. “Have a safe flight.”
A cab was out front waiting for me already, and I got in, then waved at Ryan one last time before he went into his house.
I stared hard at my phone for the rest of the drive to the airport, and I held my breath too, waiting and hoping that Jack would call. Tears swelled up in my eyes when I tried to reach him again and I still couldn’t connect.
The ache in my heart was turning to worry. He hadn’t mentioned traveling to Langley, so why did he leave without a word?
Is it work? Another undercover job?
I wiped my cheeks hard when I reached the airport and got out of the cab. If I mattered to Jack even a tiny bit, then he should have reached out to me before leaving Denver.
Even if it’s just a text.
Slow anger burned to the surface, and I knew that this time, I couldn’t let myself wallow in agony because I missed Jack. I did that six years ago, and I couldn’t do it again.
This time I would shut him out of my heart.For good.
Chapter Sixteen
Jack
“Howdiditgo?”Ryan asked when I walked into his house that evening and took off my suit jacket. My shoulder muscles had been tensed for days, and after the briefing with my superiors in Langley on how the job in Jeddah went, I returned to Denver for another line up of meetings with an investor for my new hotel and lounge.
“Not so good,” I told Ryan who happened to know almost everything about this mission. “The sheikh left the country before the agents could find him. His wife was arrested, and she’s being moved back to American soil, and the UAE government are pissed. They’ve threatened to make a big deal out of the arrest. It might even go federal, and the DOJ might get involved.”
“Did Nina see or learn anything about all of this?” Ryan asked cautiously as he sipped from his drink and set his glass on the table again. “She stayed only a week here, but she was worried the entire time and kept asking about you. I told her I didn’t know why you traveled to Langley because I figured you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get her involved in all of this.”
When I didn’t say anything, Ryan raised a brow, and questioned again. “Or did you?”
“Of course not, Ryan. I’ll never do anything to put Nina in danger.”
“Good,” he answered, then picked up his glass. “Because she’s our sister, and she should never be in harm’s way.”
His words stung, but I swallowed back the lump that formed in my throat and sighed. “I need some of what you’re drinking,” I said, and pointed at his glass.
“Brandy,” he told me, then got up, walked to his fancy bar in the living room, and returned to the kitchen with a bottle. “Remy Martin, rare,” he continued as he poured me a glass. “A wedding gift from my wife.”
“She sure knows her liquor.”
