by Kat Mizera
I got my things upstairs and let myself into my apartment. Everything was the same but somehow different. Maybe it was me that was different, but it was hard to tell. I kicked off my shoes, put on sweats, and threw in a load of laundry. I looked through the mail Mrs. Winkelhofer had left on the table in my foyer and tossed it aside. I had nothing to eat in the apartment but I wasn’t that hungry. Mostly, I wanted to sleep, but it was too early. If I went to bed now, I’d be up at three or four in the morning, so I’d wait a little while.
I went to my purse and pulled out the letter from my father. He’d told my mother to only give it to me if Ace and I were together. Which meant we should probably read it together. Except he wasn’t here. Something I might have to get used to.
My phone buzzed and I smiled at a text from him.
On the plane. Give Chains a call. He’s leaving in the morning but he installed an alarm system in your apartment while we were gone, so you might want him to show you how to use it. I’ll text when I land.
I smiled and texted back: Thank you. Fly safe.
Then I called Chains. The sad thing was, I hadn’t even noticed an alarm system.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ace
I forced myself to get a little sleep on the plane because I needed to be on top of my game for the meeting with Director Dickhead. I didn’t know what he was pissed about, because I’d spoken to Erik and he’d put actively establishing a new intelligence agency on hold until at least after the new year, so there was no way anyone had intel saying anything else. I’d saved Erik’s life more than once over the years, and I was positive he would have my back. Which meant this emergency meeting was either about something else or it was going to be a pissing contest because the director and I had never gotten along. This was a chartered plane, not a commercial flight, which made even less sense. So I closed my eyes and let both my mind and body rest.
By the time the plane touched down in D.C., I was alert and wide awake. I’d slept for three hours, which was more than I needed in a situation like this. I grabbed my bag and went through customs, heading out to get a cab. It was just after nine in the evening and I was about to call my boss when I saw my name on a white card held by a limo driver.
What the fuck was this? Either I was in bigger trouble than I thought or someone was playing a joke on me. I approached the man with a frown.
“I’m Mr. Ross.”
“Welcome, sir.” He led me to a waiting vehicle and opened the door. When I got in, Director Dickhead was sitting there with a shit-eating grin on his face that made me want to grab him by the throat and throw him into the street.
“Good evening. Hope your flight was good.”
“It was fine. Thanks.” I looked around. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Wanted to have a little chat and I figured you’d be more comfortable here than in a cab.”
“It’s almost Christmas and I want to get to my family. Can we cut to the chase?”
“You’re up for a promotion, Ace.” He grinned as though he was giving me the key to the city.
I arched a brow. “You want me to be a suit sitting behind a desk?”
“Some of the time. You’ll still be out in the field, but you’ve done excellent work the last few years, and the benefits of your connection to the Limaji royal family are immeasurable. As a deputy director, you’ll be the main liaison to all the eastern European operations with hands-on directives for anything that has to do with Limaj.”
I stared at him with a combination of awe and disbelief. This guy didn’t like me, and the feeling was mutual, so it didn’t make sense he would put me up for a promotion. Of course, he wasn’t the only person who made those decisions, but I wasn’t the type of agent who would be good behind a desk and everyone knew that.
“Sir, I’m flattered, but this doesn’t feel right. You and I have butted heads since the day you took over our department, so it makes no sense that you would put me in for a promotion.”
“I put you up for a promotion that makes you someone else’s problem,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “Win-win. Not to mention the pay raise, extra vacation days, and travel perks.”
“I don’t need the money, I have plenty of vacation days, and I already travel three hundred days of the year. What’s actually in it for me?”
The older man’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head. “You can’t let anything go, can you, son?”
“I’m not your son.” We engaged in a steely staredown until he finally sighed and looked away.
“I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them. You’re up for a promotion. I didn’t put you in for it and don’t know who did. It’s above my pay grade and I don’t really give a shit as long as I don’t have to deal with you anymore.”
“Good to know.” I stared out the window. “Where are we going?”
“You don’t have a place to live here, do you?”
“I have places to crash. It’s not a problem.”
“Does this mean you’re turning it down?”
“It means I have to think about it. I don’t have any details so it’s hard to say yes to something so vague.”
“Paperwork is in your email.”
“I’ll read it and let you know.”
“I need an answer by tomorrow.”
“Why? It’s the holidays. Short of an international terror threat, the suits have all checked out for the year.”
“Like I said, above my pay grade.”
There was nothing to say to that, so I knocked on the partition separating us from the driver and gave him an address.
I got out of the limo and pulled out my keys, something I rarely did. I didn’t have a home or apartment here in the D.C. area, but my parents did. They’d bought it because they worried about me and wanted me to have a place to lay my head, even if I didn’t go there often. They used it on occasion, when they traveled or came to visit friends, and the best part was that it was in my stepmother’s maiden name. Not that the CIA couldn’t find it if they were looking, but it didn’t immediately pop up on anyone’s radar and it afforded me a modicum of privacy.
If Director Dickhead wanted to look it up, it wouldn’t be hard to link to my stepmother, but again, I had nothing to hide. I just liked having privacy and a place to sleep where I wouldn’t be bothered. By not using this as an official residence, it stayed under the radar. At least it had so far. Director Dickhead now knew about it, but I was too grumpy to give a shit.
I dropped my keys on the kitchen counter and left my bag in the hallway. The townhouse was cold since no one had been here in a while and I turned on the heat. I needed a shower, something to eat, and to talk to Shannon. Then I’d be able to wrap my head around this promotion opportunity. I really needed to talk to Erik and hear his thoughts as well, but it was the middle of the night in Europe now. I’d stay up a few more hours so I could talk to Erik and Shannon, and then I’d crash for a little while.
In the meantime, I opened my email and perused the official offer letter. It was the usual bullshit, nothing that impressed me and not really a job I wanted. It was still nice to see, after so many years of service, that I was appreciated. Everything within the agency was political, so I knew someone wanted me in that position for a specific reason, but I was okay with that. I just didn’t want the job itself.
I was contemplating what I wanted to eat when someone knocked on the door and I immediately reached for my gun, sticking it in the back of my jeans as I peered out the peephole.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered under my breath, opening the door. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Well, hello to you too, Agent Ross.” Sandra Barnes brushed past me and into the townhouse.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Shannon
I didn’t sleep well that night and was up early, showering and dressing to go see my mother. I hadn’t heard from Ace but hadn’t expected to. Flying west to the U.S. from Europe meant he’d arrived
around nine or ten o’clock in the evening East Coast time and probably would be getting some rest now. I was worried about his meeting with his boss because he’d been agitated about the whole thing. I wished there had been time to talk more, but there hadn’t been so now I was going to deal with my mother and see if we could get past this.
The whole thing was stupid. She’d tried to do something nice, because my father had suggested it on his deathbed. Instead of setting us up on a blind date or some other thing a regular mom would do, she’d gone way over the top in her usual dramatic flair, dragging me, Ace and my poor coworker into the mix as well. Now I was left reeling in the aftermath, both excited at the prospect of being with Ace and frustrated that my mother had gone to such extreme lengths to make it happen. As if it was a given that we still felt the same way about each other. Yes, I’d romanticized him all these years, but I didn’t really know him.
For all she knew, he’d never given me a second thought. Unless… I chewed my lip as I got in the cab. Had my father kept in touch with Ace over the years? Was it possible neither of them had been able to tell me? But why wouldn’t Ace have confessed to that now? Would it matter since my father was dead anyway?
Instead of overthinking something I wouldn’t have the answers to, I put it out of my mind and walked into the hotel where my mother was already seated at a table in the restaurant.
“Hi, Mom.” I sank into the chair across from her and motioned to the waiter. “Coffee, please.”
“Did you sleep well?” she asked me. She obviously hadn’t. There were circles under her eyes and she seemed so much more subdued than usual.
“Not really. You?” I met her gaze across the table.
“No.”
We ordered breakfast and I sipped my coffee, missing the cappuccinos Felix had made for me each morning on the boat. Had that been just yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago.
“Did you read the letter?” she asked quietly.
“Ace had to leave and you said Dad wanted us to read it together.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to wait then.”
“Is everything okay with the two of you?”
“I don’t know. I mean, you threw us together and now I’ll never know if he really wanted to see me again or if he only came because I was in trouble and he felt he had to because of his relationship with Dad.”
“You’re a foolish girl.” Mom shook her head, pursing her lips. “He could have sent someone else if it was just about protecting you. I’m sure there are a dozen men he trusts, like that Chains fellow he mentioned, who could have come if he wasn’t interested. Besides, I knew he wanted to see you.”
“How?”
She gave a little shrug. “Your father spoke to him on occasion.”
“And he told Dad he thought about me?”
“I think so. Your dad was vague when he mentioned it, and he was very sick, so I wasn’t thinking ahead at the time.” She paused. “I know you lost your dad, but I lost him too, and I loved him for almost all of my adult life. We met when I was just nineteen and I’ve never looked at another man. I may not have been the mother you wanted, but I was the wife he wanted, and he trusted me to do what was best for you. I failed sometimes—maybe a lot of the time—but it wasn’t because I didn’t love you. I just had a different vision for what I wanted for my only child and now I’m trying so hard to make it up to you.” She blew out a breath and looked up at the ceiling, blinking furiously in an obvious attempt not to cry in public.
“I know, Mom. I know.” I patted her hand awkwardly. I didn’t know what else to do. We’d hashed this out in therapy but then she’d gone and done something crazy. Again.
“So where do we go from here?” She looked resigned, as if it was a foregone conclusion that we would be estranged from now on.
“I honestly don’t know. I understand that you thought you were doing something nice for me, but do you see how wrong it was to manipulate everyone?”
“The only person who was manipulated was you,” she responded primly, a tiny glimmer of her regular personality shining through the contrite façade she’d put on since yesterday. “Ace and Sandra both had choices. She wanted the money, and I suppose a little of that payback Ace talked about, and Ace could have said no or sent someone else. Neither of them was manipulated into doing anything. Ace would have sent someone he trusted if he truly didn’t want to see you again, and that would have been the end of it. Now, whether or not you forgive me, my question to you is, what’s going on with the two of you that you don’t seem happy?”
“I told you—I don’t know why he’s really with me.”
“What does it matter? Even if he hadn’t given you a second thought all these years, he still came and you two picked up where you left off after that night you met a decade ago. You said he wants to be together, explore a relationship. What are you waiting for? Be angry with me, cuss me to the moon and back, but why aren’t you getting on a flight to D.C. right now and letting him know you support him no matter what professional decision he makes?”
We stared at each other for a long moment and I honestly couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She was right, damn her. This wasn’t about Ace. This was about me, my insecurities and desperate need to pretend I didn’t need anyone, because other than my dad, I’d never truly had anyone else I could count on. My relationship with my mother had been a work in progress that had taken a big hit again, but that wasn’t Ace’s fault.
“It’s the middle of the night there, but if you haven’t heard from him by noon, call him. Don’t wait. Ten years was long enough, don’t you think?”
“Ten years, seven months and seventeen days.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ace
Walking out of CIA headquarters for what was probably the last time was a weird feeling. I hadn’t planned to quit, but the more they pushed me to take the promotion, the more I’d known I wasn’t going to. I didn’t know what I was going to do professionally, but the plan was to get in touch with Shannon and figure out our shit together. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and I wanted us to spend it together. We’d texted a few times today, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her or tell her what was going on since it had been nonstop since last night.
Sandra showing up at the townhouse had been a shock, but finding out she was an operative had been mind-boggling. Chains had sent me pictures of her, so I’d known what she looked like. We’d had an interesting conversation, and while it had been a hell of a coincidence, it turned out she’d been in Cologne working on something else entirely and her job at the school was merely a cover. Now that her assignment was over, she was back in D.C. working on something else.
“Ace!” A voice was calling to me and I turned, squinting in the sunlight.
Sandra came jogging up to me. “Hey. Heard you quit. I’m sorry to hear it.”
“It was time.” I shrugged. “I have other things on my mind.”
“A blond teacher in Germany?” she asked with a grin.
“She’s definitely at the top of my list.”
“You going back to Germany?”
“I booked her on a flight to D.C. for tomorrow. Hopefully, I can convince her to get on it. If not, I’ll take one to Germany tonight, because I’m not letting her go.”
“Good for you.” She paused. “Listen, tell her I’m sorry. She got in my way and I did something petty by agreeing to help her mom with this little scheme, but I never would have hurt her or anything.”
“I know.”
“Well, good luck with everything.”
“Thanks. You too.” I nodded as she went back inside. I tried to call Shannon but she didn’t pick up so I opted not to leave a message and texted her instead:
Been thinking about you. Call me when you get this? Xoxo.
I stuffed my phone in my pocket as I headed to my rental car. I didn’t want to go home just yet—it was too damn quiet—so I figured I’d grab some food and make a few calls.
I had to update Chains and Erik, see what they wanted me to do.
I’d just walked into a restaurant not far from my townhouse when my phone buzzed.
Shannon: I have a surprise for you.
I grinned as I responded.
Ace: Does it include a leather teddy, high heels and maybe a flogger?
Shannon: You know I just turned twelve shades of red, right? Don’t do that to me when we’re not together! And while we can discuss those things at some point in the future, that is NOT your surprise.
Ace: Well, are you going to tell me?
Shannon: Maybe. What are you doing right now?
Ace: Working lunch. If we’re ever in Georgetown at the same time, I’ll have to bring you here. Brady’s is the best.
Shannon: I’ve been there! Don’t forget, I grew up in the area.
Ace: Dammit, quit changing the subject. I want to know my surprise.
Shannon: It’ll have to wait… How much longer will you be there?
Ace: Maybe an hour? I have a lot to tell you. You want me to call you when I get home?
Shannon: I’ll talk to you then.
I chuckled to myself, feeling a lot better about my future, and dug into my burger.
I sat there eating the world’s best burger and thinking about what to do next. Quitting had been impulsive, but it had been the right thing to do. For me anyway. I was a little lost, though, because the military and then the CIA were all I’d ever done or wanted to do. I’d never dreamed there would be someone like Shannon who could turn my world upside down with just a smile. We had a lot of things to consider if we were going to be together, but now I had the time to devote to her.