by Katie Reus
He headed for the front of the building, weaving his way through cars and the men did the same, keeping their distance. Ignoring them, he headed straight for the front door. Once he was inside he was met by two armed men, both wearing gray uniforms. Depressing color.
Both men had buzzed haircuts and were fit. The one on the left nodded at him. “You’re going to go through a security scan, then a strip search. Once you’re upstairs you’ll go through another security scan.”
Levi gritted his teeth but nodded. He wasn’t exactly surprised but a strip search, really? Twenty minutes later he and an armed escort stepped out of an elevator and headed down a hallway. After they took a left, the guard stopped at the first door on the right. There weren’t any more offices in this hallway and the door was unmarked.
The guard nodded once at him, then left. Guess that meant he should knock. Before he’d raised his hand, Wesley barked out, “Come in.”
Bracing for the worst, he opened the door to find Wesley sitting behind his desk next to a stack of paperwork.
He eyed Levi cautiously. “You here to kill me?”
Levi rolled his eyes, knowing that was Burkhart’s way of breaking the tension, and let the door shut behind him. “I should after that fucking strip search.”
Burkhart shrugged, his mouth pulling up at the corners. The man hadn’t changed much in two years. Dark hair, graying at the temples, piercing green eyes, and he was in good shape not just for a man in his fifties but a man any age. “Why are you here?”
“Where’s Selene?” he demanded. He sat in one of the maroon chairs on the other side of Burkhart’s desk.
To Levi’s annoyance, Burkhart didn’t seem surprised by the question. He just watched him like he wanted to see into his soul. “Why do you want to see her?”
His jaw clenched as he started to answer. When he saw a picture of Wesley and Selene with their arms around each other on one of Wesley’s bookshelves, he frowned. She was younger in the picture, maybe eighteen. She wasn’t exactly smiling for the camera, but she looked proud. It was difficult to tell where the picture had been taken because it was outdoors. Everything about the photo was generic. “Damn, you really did recruit her young.”
Wesley shifted in his seat, his expression turning hard.
“I wasn’t insulting you. She told me she’d been recruited young. I guess I just wasn’t sure.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“Why do you think I want to see her?” He wasn’t telling Wesley anything.
“Because you love her.”
Levi blinked but nodded stiffly. “Yeah. I do.”
“So?”
“What the fuck do you mean, so? She told me she’d contact me in a week.” And he’d been watching the clock, counting down, agonizing like a teenage girl waiting for a phone call.
“It’s only been a week.”
“It’s been eight days,” he growled. “Did you detain her or some shit for letting me go?”
Wesley shook his head, the protective vibes rolling off him fierce. “No. So, you love her. What does that mean for you, Levi? What are you going to offer her? A broken man still mourning his dead wife? Selene shouldn’t come second best to a memory.”
The questions grated over Levi’s skin like shards of glass. “How’s that any of your business? And Selene would never be second best,” he snarled, pissed Wesley could even say that.
“She’s like a daughter to me. I want to know and you’ll damn well tell me or you won’t see her.” There was a flicker of something in Burkhart’s eyes but the man was so unreadable it was impossible to tell. Hell, he’d taught Levi everything he knew.
“I will always miss Meghan,” he rasped out, his throat tightening for a moment. “Always. But I love Selene.” He wasn’t sure what the hell he had to offer her, but he’d figure it out. He’d give her anything she wanted, do anything she wanted. The woman had saved him when he hadn’t even realized he’d needed saving. “You planning on charging me with anything?”
Surprising him, his former boss snorted. “No. I know why you did what you did. And most of the gray stuff you engaged in wasn’t on domestic soil. Besides, I don’t have any proof of anything.”
The tension in Levi’s shoulders fled and he relaxed against the seat. If he wasn’t getting arrested he could think about starting a life with Selene. A real one. That hope sat heavy on his chest though. For so long he hadn’t thought of anything past revenge. These new possibilities were terrifying. “So what happened with Schmidt? Did he know about Meghan?”
Wesley shook his head, his expression grim. “No, he reached out to her for help and when she went to see him, she must have been picked up by Tasev’s men. I’ve got some of his men in custody, though most were killed the night we raided his place, and only one has been around long enough to have known about how Tasev acquired Schmidt. He didn’t keep many employees much longer than a year. Tasev was monitoring Schmidt’s calls and e-mails. When he reached out to her, it set off Tasev’s alarm bells. He took her because he wanted to know who she worked for, her connection to Schmidt, and if anyone she worked with knew who he, meaning Tasev, was.”
Levi needed to know exactly what had happened. “You believe the doctor?”
“That he had nothing to do with her death? Yeah. I do. Plus he passed the polygraph we gave him. Doesn’t mean that bastard is innocent though,” Wesley muttered.
“What about Tasev’s men? Any of them around when she was murdered?”
Wesley’s face turned impassive. “What if I say yes? Are you going to let it go and let the justice system do its job or are you going to give up Selene and go after them?”
“The justice system is broken and we both know it, but . . . I won’t go after anyone.” He wouldn’t do anything that could take him away from Selene. He just hoped she still wanted him; that she meant the words she’d said to him. He’d lived on them every day since.
Wesley nodded once. “Right answer. And no, none of the men with him now were part of what was done to her. They’re all dead according to one of Tasev’s former crew. He was with Tasev for almost three years and has been very cooperative. He also passed the lie detector test. He knew about what happened to her, but he wasn’t there for any of it.”
Levi had more questions, but more than anything, he just wanted to know where Selene was. “You going to tell me where she is?”
Wesley sighed and picked up the phone on his desk. After dialing a number—that Levi memorized—Wesley sat back and waited for whoever it was to pick up.
Levi hoped it was Selene, but couldn’t tell if that’s who he was calling.
“Hey,” Wesley said, his voice softening.
A pause.
“Levi’s sitting in my office.”
A longer pause.
“He wants to see you now.”
An even longer pause. This time Levi didn’t think she was even speaking on the other end.
Finally, “Okay.”
Once Wesley hung up, Levi shifted to the edge of his seat. Taking him by surprise again, Wesley stood. “Come on. Let’s go see her.”
Almost numb with hope, he followed his boss out and they took a private elevator to an underground parking garage and got into a luxury four-door sedan Levi had no doubt was armored. Wesley was silent as they left the compound but the energy humming from him was almost palpable.
“What is it?” Levi asked quietly after about twenty minutes of driving. “I can hear the gears in your head.”
Wesley pushed out a ragged sigh, the action out of character for the man. “Your life is about to change and I’m—” He broke off and cleared his throat. “You were a good agent and I’m truly sorry for what happened to Meghan but you’re getting a second chance at life. I know you won’t come back, especially after today, but if you ever change your mind you’ll always have a place waiting.”
His words stunned Levi, but he didn’t know how to respond so he leaned back against the leat
her seat and looked out the window. If he’d done anything truly heinous while he’d been off the reservation he was certain Wesley would have made him pay, but there was no way Wesley or anyone had proof of much of anything Levi had done in the last couple of years. And Levi had a feeling that prosecuting someone who’d once been deep Black Ops wasn’t something the NSA would ever want to open themselves up to.
They were silent as Wesley drove them out of town to a rural area with a lot of forest and flat spreads of land.
When Wesley turned down a road with a sign marked private property off to the side, Levi glanced at him but it was clear he knew where he was going. The single-lane road was paved with fenced-in property that contained horses on either side. Maybe Wesley was taking him to a safe house. As they neared the end of the fenced property, the trees on either side thickened for about a hundred yards before thinning again. The paved road turned into a long gravel driveway and a two-story log and stone cabin-style home came into view.
“What is this place?”
“Selene’s home.”
His heart rate kicked up. Levi looked at him in surprise, but Wesley didn’t glance back. It answered the question why Wesley preferred to work out of Pine Mountain. Wesley kept driving down the gravel driveway until he parked in front of a two-car garage. “They’re waiting for you.”
Wait. “They?”
Wesley didn’t answer. Just looked out the driver’s side window. For a moment it looked like he had tears in his eyes but Levi knew that was just plain wrong. Without questioning him further, he jumped from the vehicle, thrumming with an out of control need to see Selene. To hold her in his arms, to tell her he loved her and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life showing her how much. He didn’t care who was at the house with her. Maybe another agent or something.
Before he’d made it up the stone steps to the wraparound porch, Wesley was already pulling out of the drive. Good. Levi didn’t plan to leave Selene any time soon. Or ever. And he didn’t want an audience for what he had planned.
When he reached the front door, it swung open immediately. Selene stood there wearing jeans, a blue sweater, and no shoes. She looked nervous.
Welcome to the club.
He stopped where he was, scared as hell to see her again. Especially when she hadn’t called him like she’d said she would. “Hey.”
She smiled. “Hey. You’re here.”
He nodded and she shook her head at herself. For a moment he panicked. What if she hadn’t meant what she said? Things between them had been fast and intense and hell, maybe now that she’d had time to think about it she realized he had nothing to offer her. “Can I come in?”
She swallowed hard and nodded, stepping out and closing the door behind her. “Yeah. In a minute. I, uh . . . I don’t even know how to tell you this.”
Her words barely registered. Unable to stand not touching her any longer, he crossed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. Holding her long, lithe body against him was the best sensation in the world. He squeezed her tight, feeling like his chest might explode when she wrapped her arms around him. “Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I meant every word I said, Selene. I love you. I don’t know what I have to offer you now. Hell, I don’t even have a place to call home or a job or anything to give you but I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Her pale blue eyes filled with tears. “I love you too. More than I ever thought possible. But right now . . . I’d like you to meet someone.” Her voice broke on the last word and tears started tracking down her cheeks.
Who the hell was here that would make her so upset? “Don’t cry, baby,” he murmured, wiping his thumbs across her soft skin, hating to see her in pain.
“These are happy tears,” she whispered, pulling back from him. “Come on.”
Levi didn’t want to see anyone else but Selene, but he let her take his hand and lead him through her foyer, past a dining room and living room and into a spacious kitchen where a little girl with bright red curls sat in a booster chair eating grapes from a Minnie Mouse plate. She looked up at him, then at Selene, then back at him. She smiled, revealing twin dimples in her little cheeks before she popped half a grape in her mouth.
Levi stared as a painful suspicion took hold. It was too much to hope, but . . . she looked exactly like Meghan. A complete replica of her when she’d been little. Red hair, twin dimples, green eyes. The bottom of his world fell out. His throat tightened and he tried to look at Selene, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the toddler. He wanted to pull the little girl into his arms.
“Juice!” she suddenly demanded, taking her sippy cup and pounding it on the table.
Laughing, Selene went to take her sippy cup. A tremor racked through him and he blinked back hot tears. Levi managed to find his voice. “Is she . . .”
“She’s yours and Meghan’s. She’s two and her name is Faith,” Selene said, moving to the refrigerator while he stood there staring through swimming eyes. “I’ll tell you everything when she goes down for her nap, but for now, meet your daughter, Levi.” Selene’s voice broke then too and he didn’t even bother trying to stop the tears.
His throat was thick as he forced his feet to move. He sat across from Faith, not wanting to scare her as he catalogued each tiny feature. Her hair and eyes were Meghan but the nose and mouth were all him. God help him, he couldn’t stop staring. She was a miracle. One he wasn’t sure he deserved but he was grateful he’d always have a piece of Meghan. He didn’t know shit about kids and he was a big guy. What if he scared her?
Selene placed the sippy cup in front of his daughter again, then pointed at the seat next to Faith. “You can sit next to her. She’s very well adjusted and not scared of most people.”
Still unable to talk, he slid into the chair, drinking in the sight of his daughter.
Daughter.
It seemed impossible yet here she was sitting right in front of him. When the table started shaking he realized his knee was bouncing up and down, hitting it. He forced himself to stop and cleared his throat. He should say something. Anything.
“Nose,” Faith said, pointing to his nose.
He nodded and mimicked her like a parrot. “Nose.”
“My nose,” she said, touching her own.
“Your nose.”
She pointed to her eye next and said, “Eye.” He started to repeat it when she crossed her arms over her chest and said, “love,” then pointed at him and ended with “you.”
He looked away, his throat clogged with tears as he started shaking. Fuck, he couldn’t control the tremors racking his body. Selene’s arms came around him from behind, holding on to him tight. “Her foster mom taught her that,” she whispered. “But I’m pretty sure she’s going to love you more than anything in this world.”
A sob escaped and this time he didn’t fight it. Selene murmured soothing sounds as she held him close, rocking him against her chest. “Thank you,” he finally whispered, able to get something out. He couldn’t imagine all the trouble Selene had gone through to even find Faith, to give him the most precious gift in the world. And she’d clearly been taking care of her.
Luckily Faith didn’t seem fazed by his outburst, she just kept chattering away, making mostly nonsensical words as she ate grapes and drank her juice.
Levi couldn’t believe any of this was real, but he knew it was. He didn’t know if he deserved a second chance but he was sure as hell taking it with both hands. He was going to make a life with his daughter and make sure Faith knew only love and happiness. He just hoped Selene wanted to be part of that life.
Chapter 24
Security clearance: status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information and/or restricted areas.
Wesley picked up the phone in his office and dialed a familiar number. He hadn’t heard from Levi or Selene since he’d dropped Levi off and he didn’t think he would for a while. Later he’d have Levi�
��s rental car delivered to him, but that wasn’t important now.
At first Wesley had been surprised at the thought of Selene and Levi falling for each other, especially since Selene was so different from Meghan. But maybe he shouldn’t be. They both had a steel core and had been through some tough shit and come out okay. Thank God Levi eventually had. Wesley hadn’t been so sure the man would ever get out of that dark abyss.
“Yeah,” Max Southers said, his voice distracted.
“You at work?” Wesley asked.
“Yeah. Getting out of here soon though.”
“Want me to call your office or is this secure?”
“We’re fine.”
He didn’t plan to say anything classified but he didn’t want this conversation to be overheard. “Just about wrapped up all that shit with Tasev.”
Max snorted. “Glad that bastard’s dead. Saw the news and heard through the grapevine you brought down what could have been a vicious attack.”
“Yeah.” Toxins in general were nasty business. “Sorry I haven’t called you since everything went down. I know you had a contact in his organization and I want to make sure he got out before our raid.” It was likely two undercover agents according to what Selene had put in her official report, but Wesley wanted to feel out his friend before continuing.
“Hypothetically, if I had a contact, or contacts, they’re alive and said to say thank you to a certain blond operative if I ever got the chance.”
Wesley smiled. “Hypothetically she extends her thanks too.”
“When are you going to be in DC again?”
Wesley glanced at his calendar. “Next week.” He had a bitch of a schedule next week, flying to three different locations.
“Come over for dinner if you’re free. Mary would love to see you.”
“Think she’d cook that lasagna for me?”
Max chuckled. “Yeah.”
“I’ll set it up with you later.” As soon as they disconnected, Wesley stood and grabbed his laptop. He could work from home tonight.
• • •
Sitting on Selene’s couch while his beer sat on the side table next to him, Levi felt as if he was going to wake up at any second and discover this was all a dream, that he hadn’t just met his daughter for the first time today.