AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They were living together now in a suite Beatrice had assigned them. They could apply to build a cabin if they wanted, but it might be months before it could be started. Didn’t matter, he was doing so that morning. They needed their own place, outside of the woods, where they didn’t have to worry about their enthusiastic lovemaking being overheard.
As he soaped her from head to toe in the stall, he thought about the future. His cork was bobbing along nicely, the shoreline clearly in sight. “I love you,” he murmured in her ear, tweaking a nipple.
She leaned into him. “Prove it.” And then she sank onto the marble seat in the corner of the large walk-in and spread her legs. “On your knees, soldier.”
He grinned, moving in. That was one order he was more than happy to take.
EPILOGUE
SFI Headquarters
Three months later
Beatrice’s phone buzzed.She set her pen aside and pushed a button without looking away from her computer screen. Gus had responded to her email and agreed to come for a visit at Thanksgiving. This made her inordinately happy. “Yes?”
“Julia Torrison is at the front gate,” Connor said. “Should I enact Protocol Zero?”
Beatrice frowned, removing her reading glasses, and considering his question. “Is Director Flynn with her?”
“She’s alone and appears to be driving her personal car.”
A social call? Didn’t make logical sense. “Any tails?”
“Rory is scanning the area but it appears not.”
She rocked back in her chair, considering her options. Her brain ordered her not to chance it, but her gut said there was no danger. “Don’t enact the protocol. I’ll be right down. Let her wait where she is.”
Things had been good since the summer, everyone settling in to the compound without issue, and the CIA leaving them alone. For the first time ever, Beatrice was considering taking a week off over the holidays to savor the classics: baking cookies with the girls, putting up a huge tree in the foyer, wrapping gifts and playing Santa Claus to all the members of her extended family. Growing up, she’d never had that in her life, but the last few years with Sloane had shown her new ways of enjoying things. It was time to make the most of every day, and she was excited to keep expanding SFI in more ways than one. She had big plans, and so did Emit, and the future excited her.
When she reached the large, light-filled foyer, Vivi and Parker were waiting for her. “You’re not going out there alone,” Parker said.
“I’m in no danger.” The three of them, along with Jaya, had a standing girls’ night out every month. Sometimes Savanna, Amelia, and Sabrina came. While it was often uncomfortable for Beatrice to open up and confide in others about personal stuff, it was another reason she was looking forward to the future. It had taken her a long time to accept people worrying about her, and even more so to realize they wanted to be her friends, but here she was surrounded by them. “But Iwasgoing to force Connor to come with me.”
“We’ve got this,” Parker told him when he started to rise.
Beatrice opened her mouth to argue and Vivi slipped an arm through hers and lead her to the exit. “Come on.”
Forming a walking wall, the three strolled to the front gate. Ash was on guard duty today and stood watching Julia who leaned on the hood of her car, soaking up the fall sunshine. “Ladies,” Ash said, tipping an invisible hat. “Would you like me to open the gate?”
“Please.” Beatrice nodded and swept her gaze over Julia’s street clothes. No power suit today. She’d opted for casual pants and a loose shirt with the Eiffel Tower on it.
As the gate opened and Beatrice stepped forward, her posse following and getting a gander at the former spy-turned-CT analyst, Julia removed her sunglasses and Beatrice introduced them to each other.
“A powerful group.” Julia smiled wistfully. “It’s nice to have friends in the workplace. Rare in the circles we run in, isn’t it?”
It was, indeed. “What can I help you with?”
Julia held out a plain, legal-size envelope to her. “I’m on my way out of the country for a few weeks in Paris and wanted to drop this off. I suggest you keep it in a safe place.”
Vivi and Parker leaned in as Beatrice unhooked the metal fastener and drew out the contents. The presidential seal at the top made her stomach flip. Parker inhaled sharply and Vivi squeezed Beatrice’s arm, grinning.
A breeze blew a strand of Julia’s hair across her face and she tucked it behind her ear. “Con wanted me to state again that your cooperation in Colorado was appreciated. That”—she pointed at the letter declaring Bianca Marx, her former identity, had been cleared of all charges previously brought against her, as well as stating that Beatrice Reese was a U.S. asset and to be protected at all costs—“should clear up any doubt or confusion about your status with the Justice Department. A copy has been forwarded to the NSA. No one should ever bother or threaten you, Cal, or your daughter in any way in the future.”
The president’s signature was a flourish at the bottom, but Beatrice could barely make it out due to the tears clouding her vision. She swallowed hard, stuffing the pardon back inside the envelope. “Thank you.”
“Thank Conrad. He’s a challenge for most of us on a good day, but he’s a wily and astute ally to have on your side.”
Washe on her side? “Extend my gratitude to him.”
