Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“Shopping? Who pays for that? I’m not employed.”
“Cole is handling this, and the government has a budget for witness protection.”
“I’m not in witness protection officially. I don’t want to be in witness protection. Noah isn’t who they say he is. He’s not. I refuse to believe I’m that wrong about him.”
“I know it’s difficult,” Smith says. “I’ve seen some things, the kind of deception that guts you. It’s like you suffered a death. You have to deal with the loss.”
“I don’t want to deal with the loss. I want him back.”
“The man you knew didn’t exist,” Smith says. “He can’t come back.”
I hug myself and cut my stare, fighting back tears before I look at him. “If he’s innocent, would you help him?”
“Of course. If I had proof that he was innocent. And you should want proof, too.”
“Of course. Right. I just—I love him.”
He closes the space between us and brushes his fingers across my cheek. “And he was a lucky man.” His hand falls away. “If he didn’t know that, he didn’t deserve you.”
I hold up my hand with the giant diamond on it. “No one gives a woman this kind of ring as a cover story.”
“You want me to have it assessed?”
I bristle. “Are you suggesting it’s not real? It’s real.”
“I’m suggesting it’s worth a lot of money—money you might need.”
“Oh. Right.” Sell my ring? No. No. No. I can’t. “I—I’ll think about it.”
“How about pizza? I can order, and we can watch a movie.”
“I think—I need to think.”
He nods. “If you change your mind, I’m in the living room. And the fridge is stocked. Make yourself at home.”
Home.
I’ll never be home again.
Present day…
“Ashley?”
I blink Aaron back into view and me back to the present. “Yes?”
“Do you trust Smith enough to risk his life? Because that’s what you’re risking by involving him.”
“Because you’ll kill him or anyone else?” I challenge.
He narrows his eyes on me. “Are you trying to make me the bad guy, Ashley?” He pulls me to him. “Because that won’t be hard. I’m not a traitor, but I am a killer. I’ve killed. I’ll kill again. That’s who I am.”
“Are you trying to scare me away?”
“If you can be scared, you should be. If you want, I can take you to Smith. I can plant you right there in his arms, and you can let him protect you for the rest of your fucking life. I’m a killer, but I’m also a man who has saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. I didn’t want to lie to you. It was my fucking job. I didn’t want to be setup, but I was. I didn’t want to fall in love with you. It was my fucking heart. So, yes, if you want Smith, I’ll take you to him. I’ll take you right now.” He releases me and walks away.
I swallow hard at the magnitude of his anger, and I realize how much his life has been shaken, just like mine. I realize, too, that he’s a hero, a man who has given everything for his country. A man who lost everything, even before the CIA, trying to take down a drug lord. And I think—I think I sent him mixed messages over Smith. I think I’m scared of being hurt and scared in general, and that betrayal I felt inside me back when I met Smith, when I lost Noah, still eats at me and at us.
Aaron faces me, his eyes dark and turbulent, his jaw set as hard as stone. “What’s it going to be? Smith or me?”
Smith or him?
I’m angry and hurt and angry all over again.
I want to punch him.
I want to kiss him.
I think I might just punch him.
I don’t actually know what I’m going to do, but I launch myself at him.
Chapter eighteen
Aaron
The minute Ashley launches herself at me, I step into her, and right when the crazy fireball of a woman that she is throws her fist at me, I catch her wrist. In a quick move, I turn her and press her against the wall, my legs caging hers. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You’re an asshole,” she declares, her hair wild in her face, her eyes throwing daggers at me.
“I’m quite aware of that fact.”
“Such a damn asshole.”
“Also aware of that fact. Haven’t we already had this conversation?”
“Well, you can just tolerate the repetition. Maybe it will torture you the way you tortured me by leaving me alone all this time. Leaving me to think you’re some sort of an evil monster.”
“I am an evil monster.”
“A jealous, evil monster,” she snaps back. “I was alone, and you lied to me. I could have fucked Smith ten times over, and you had no say in it.”
“Did you want to fuck him ten times over?”
“I wanted to feel something other than pain. I wanted to make the pain stop. You hurt me, and now you dare to stand here and judge me? You dare to—”