"I was really angry at first. I felt betrayed…confused. But I've had a little time to think, and I know it was the job, Wyatt. You had to protect your cover. You didn't know who I was in the beginning. And even then, you couldn't really trust me because of my father." She paused. "I know you had doubts about him. I actually had a few myself."
"I didn’t want him to be guilty. I'm glad he wasn't."
"Me, too."
"I hated lying to you, Avery. It's usually not a problem for me. When I go undercover, I'm normally infiltrating criminal organizations where everyone is bad, everyone is a liar. It was different being at Nova Star, getting caught up in Hamilton's dreams, and in yours. I'm not sure I could have kept up the pretense much longer, especially not with you."
"Your job sounds dangerous."
"It can be," he admitted.
"Do you always work undercover?"
"I have for the last five years, but I don't know what's next."
"Because you don't have another assignment…"
"Because for the first time in my career, I don't want to disappear into some other world. I don't want to become someone else." He paused. "I've been in the shadows a long time. I liked it a lot at first. I'd wanted to disappear from my own life, and this job was the perfect way to do that. But as the years have passed, I've started to feel like I'm missing something. I've sometimes wondered if I'm forgetting who I really am. When I met you, something inside me snapped. I didn't want to keep my walls up. I didn't want to look down; I wanted to look up. You didn't just show me the universe, you showed me myself."
"I'm so glad," she whispered, her heart in her eyes.
"I know I saved your life."
"Multiple times," she put in.
"But you saved me, too. And no matter what happens, I'm never going to forget you."
"What you should never forget is yourself," she said.
"I'm going to try to hang on to that, too," he admitted.
"Could you work for the FBI and not go undercover, Wyatt?"
"Yes, I could. But I don't know how good of an agent I would be. I'm better on my own. No rules. No politics."
"Then maybe you should keep doing what you're doing."
"Or maybe it's time for a change, but a lot of that is dependent on what happens with any internal investigations the bureau decides to conduct regarding my behavior and Bree's."
"I hope she won't get into any trouble."
"I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she doesn't pay for my sins."
Avery gave him a questioning look. "That blonde agent who arrested you…"
"Joanna?"
"She has something against you, doesn't she? When she looked at you at Hamilton's house, it felt personal."
"I don't know exactly what her deal is, but she asked me out years ago when we were at Quantico, and I said no. She was one of the instructors, and she's ten years older than me. I thought it was inappropriate."
"Ah, a scorned woman. You do leave broken hearts behind you, don't you?"
"Her heart was not broken. We never went out." He paused. "I don't care about Joanna, and I will figure out who set me up, but that's for tomorrow or the next day."
"Are we back to living in the moment?" she asked wrapping her arms around his waist.
He smiled down at her and couldn't help but steal a kiss before he answered. "I definitely want to live in the moment with you again…I just want there to be a lot more moments in our future. I don't know what I want in my career, what will work for me, but I do know that I want a life that's more than my career. And I want you in it."
"You do?" she asked, uncertainty in her eyes. "Are you sure when all this excitement wears off, you won't find me incredibly boring?"
He laughed. "Never."
"I can be boring, Wyatt. The last few days aren’t me. You know how you said everyone has a secret…well, I do have one."
"What's that?"
"When you turn off the lights in my bedroom apartment, the ceiling turns into the night sky. Yes. I am that crazy about space."
He laughed. "I can live with that. But I'm not trying to rush you into anything. I just want you to know that this is me, the real me. There are no more secrets. Everything I told you about my past was true. And the way I feel about you is true. I hope you can believe that."
"I do believe it. I trust you, Wyatt. And I want to get to know you. I want to hear all your stories. I want to meet your friends."
"I want to hear your stories and meet your friends, too." He paused. "But mostly I just want to show you that I'm not going to be like your dad. I'm not going to change into someone else and disappear on you. My professional life is not my personal life."
"I know that, Wyatt. I admit that at first, when I heard about your disguise, I thought that I'd been taken in again, but now after everything that's happened, I realize how wrong I was. When I made love to you last night, I told you I knew who you were, and I did, and I do. It doesn't matter what your name is. I know your heart." She put her hand on his chest and gave him a smile that nearly undid him.
"You are something else, Avery. You have knocked me off my feet. You have spun me around and turned me upside down. You have made me look at the world, at myself, in a different way."
"That wasn't all me."
"It was you," he said, pressing his lips against her soft cheek. "Last night was the most amazing night of my life."
"I hope you're talking about the hours when we weren't running for our lives."
"I am."
She smiled up at him. "Let's see if we can top it. You like a challenge, don't you?"
"Always," he said, as he slid his hands through her hair, trapping her face for another long, tender, promising kiss.
"Then take me to bed, Wyatt."
"I thought you'd never ask."
Epilogue
Six days later, on a beautiful but cold Sunday afternoon, Avery stood on the same beach where she'd let herself scream into the wind only a week earlier. But she wasn't crying this time. She was with Wyatt as well as friends and family who were coming together to celebrate Noelle's life.
Having finally decided that the last thing Noelle would want was a funeral, she had thrown together a gourmet picnic. There were a couple of coolers filled with drinks, and a dozen colorful blankets spread across the sand. Tomorrow, she and Wyatt would hire a boat to take them out on the ocean, so they could toss Noelle's ashes at sea, but today was to laugh and smile and live life the way Noelle always had.
"You did a great job," Wyatt told her, as he joined her at the water's edge.
"Thanks. I think Noelle would like it." She smiled at Wyatt, feeling her heart flip over just from gazing into his sexy brown eyes. They'd spent every night together, and most days, of the past week, sorting out their lives, cleaning up their ransacked apartments, and dealing with the fallout from everything that had happened.
Wyatt had spent long hours with the FBI, following up all aspects of the conspiracy case, interrogating Carter and Bickmore and even tracking down the Chinese company involved and rounding up a few other people from Kyle's department who had been complicit in small ways.
After Hamilton had canceled the launch, she'd been kept busy at work, dealing with endless questions about Nova Star's future as well as keeping the daily programs going.
But every day, life had started to make a little more sense. And a lot of that had to do with Wyatt. She was getting to know the real him, and she was falling more in love each day.
She thought Noelle would like that, too. She'd always said that falling in love was the best feeling you could ever have, which was why she liked to do it so often.
"Hello there," Whitney said with a wave, coming across the sand with Avery's father.
"Thanks for coming," she said, giving both her dad and Whitney a hug. She was starting to like Whitney more, too, finally believing in the love she had for Brett. "I do have to warn you, Dad, that Mom will also be here."
; "I can handle seeing your mother," her dad said easily. "And this isn't about us; it's about Noelle. What about Kari?"
"She's not going to make it. I sent her some money to help her out with her immediate bills and told her I would take care of everything here."
Her father gave her an approving nod. "You always do the right thing."
"I try."
"It's nice to see you as well," her father told Wyatt.
"You, too. Happy to see you got the sling off."
"Everything is healing well. I'm back to writing, too. The past few weeks have inspired me to dig a little deeper into family relationships."
She gave him a smile that held no more bitterness. Her dad might always be an opportunist, but he was still a good person.
"My father will be here, too," Whitney said.
She was surprised. She'd given Hamilton an invite but hadn't thought he would come with all the turmoil going on in his life.
"I'm so glad," she said.
"There he is now," Whitney said, tipping her head toward the path.
"I'm going to say hello," she said. "Make yourselves comfortable. Get food. Get drinks."
"We'll be fine," her dad said.
"I'll take care of them," Wyatt added.
She walked across the beach and gave him a big smile. "Hamilton."
"Avery," he returned, giving her a warm hug.
"I really appreciate you being here."
"Noelle was part of our Nova Star family. And since Kyle was also responsible for her death, I wanted to pay my respects."
"Thank you. How are you doing?"
"Well, the past week has been filled with revelations, most bewildering and disappointing. But I'm starting to see a path to the stars again."
She liked the gleam in his eyes. "Really? You're not going to shut down the company?"
"No. Kyle's actions have definitely set us back, but he wasn't the only engineer working on our technology. And I feel like I owe it to everyone at the company to keep things going. I also believe my wife would have wanted that. She did believe in this dream, Avery. And I did do everything I could to save her."
"I know that, Hamilton. I know you loved her. She was a special woman."
"I don't know what's going to happen to Kyle. He doesn't want to speak to me, and maybe that's just as well. There's really nothing to say. His actions are indefensible. Even if he believed I let his mother die, he shouldn't have done what he did. He left death and injury in his wake."
"I know it's complicated, though. As you said, he's your child."
"He is. And I'm going to make sure he has a good attorney. Other than that, he'll fight his own battles." His gaze moved past her. "I see that Wyatt is still here. The two of you are together, aren't you?"
"We are. I'm in love with Wyatt."
"It doesn't bother you how easily he became someone else?"
"No. I know who he is. And he's a good man. The two of you were actually on the same side. You both wanted the truth."
"But I didn't want it enough to risk my son's life. I thought I was protecting Jonathan. And there was even a point when I thought Whitney might be involved. She's always complaining about being left out. Kyle was my last choice. In fact, he wasn't even on the radar. I guess that's why you shouldn't investigate yourself."
"Probably not. Can I get you a drink?"
"I'll help myself. Go visit with your friends."
"Whitney and my dad are here."
"I see them. You really don't have to worry about me, Avery, but I appreciate your concern."
As Hamilton wandered off, she saw Wyatt talking to Bree. She thought about joining them, but her mom was coming down the path, followed by her boyfriend, Don. Her mom was not going to love the fact that she'd been shot at while she was gone, but she'd probably be happy to know she'd met the man of her dreams. They definitely had a lot to talk about.
* * *
"What are you going to do, Wyatt?" Bree asked. "Now that you've been completely reinstated, and your slate has been wiped clean?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Flynn might be moving on to another case."
"You're going to stick with Flynn."
"That depends."
"On Avery?"
"Yes," he admitted.
Bree smiled. "You finally found the woman who made you want to come out of the shadows."
"I did. And I'm not sure I want to go back under."
"There are jobs you can do that don’t require that."
"I'm looking into all that. By the way, I still don't know who set me up. I've gone through the players involved, and no one seems to be a good choice for Joanna's anonymous source."
"Well, it looks like my instincts about Vincent Rowland were wrong."
"Why do you say that?" he asked sharply.
"Because I found out from Joanna that Vincent was the one who made calls on your behalf to the top people in the bureau. He basically saved your ass."
He thought about that, wondering why Vincent had gone to the trouble. "It would be an interesting play to throw me into the fire and then save me."
She gave him a doubtful look. "Now you sound like the one who's paranoid about Vincent."
"It just doesn't quite add up. And I trust your instincts, Bree."
"We should have a group chat one day soon—get Damon, Parisa, and Diego in on a call."
"We should definitely warn them to watch their backs, especially Parisa and Diego. If Vincent was part of what happened in New York, then he already messed with Damon. But we don't need to talk about that now." His gaze wandered to Avery, who was talking to her mother.
"Is that Avery's mom?" Bree asked.
"I think so. I've only seen her picture until now."
"So, you're going to meet her today," Bree said with a gleam in her eyes. "I know you can blend into any group, any situation, but how good are you with mothers?"
"I've never met one before now," he admitted. "Never got close to anyone to meet their family, to be my real self."
"She's going to love you, Wyatt."
"For saving her daughter?"
"And for loving her daughter. You do love Avery, don't you?"
"More than I thought possible. I feel like I've been punched in the gut and I can't quite catch my breath."
"Yep, that's love," she said with a laugh.
"Speaking of love, where's your significant other?"
"Nathan is coming back to town tonight. Maybe we can double date one day next week."
"That sounds almost…normal," he said with a laugh.
"Well, I wouldn't get used to it. Our lives don't stay normal for long. You think Avery is up for it?"
"Most definitely," he said, as Avery joined them.
"Am I up for what?" she asked, having heard Bree's question.
"Loving an FBI agent," Bree said.
Avery's gaze met his. "Most definitely," she said, echoing his answer.
Bree laughed. "You two are too much. I'm going to get some food."
"I hope Bree didn't bring bad news," Avery said, linking her hands with his as she faced him.
"All good. I have a clean slate. I can do whatever I want to do next."
"What's that going to be?"
"I have no idea," he said with a laugh. "We'll figure it out together. As long as you're in my life, I honestly could do anything."
"I feel the same way. We make a good team."
"We do." He gazed deep into her eyes. "I love you, Avery. You have my heart. It's a little battered, but it's all yours."
Her gaze softened with tenderness. "And you have mine."
# # #
Dear Reader:
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EXCERPT – TAKEN
The Deception Series - Book One
© Copyright 2018 Barbara Freethy
All Rights Reserved
Kayla Sheridan had longed for love, marriage and a family. Now, after a miraculous whirlwind courtship with the man of her dreams, she is his wife. But on their wedding night, he vanishes, leaving Kayla with the bitter realization that her desire has made her an easy mark for deception.
Nick Granville has an ingrained sense of honor and an intense desire to succeed in building the world's most challenging high-tech bridges. But when he crosses paths with a ruthless con man, he's robbed of everything he values, including his identity. With nothing left to lose, he'll risk any danger to clear his name and reclaim his life.
Thrown together by fate, Kayla and Nick embark on a desperate journey toward the truth -- to uncover the mysterious motives of an ingenious and seductive stranger who boasts he can't be caught ... and to reveal the shocking secrets of their own shattered pasts.
Prologue
“To my wife.” Nick Granville gave Kayla Sheridan a dazzling smile as he raised his champagne glass to hers.
Kayla tapped her glass against his. As she looked into the gorgeous blue eyes of the man she had married, she felt a rush of pure joy. She could hardly believe she was married, but an hour ago she’d vowed to love this man above all others. He’d put a ring on her finger and a diamond necklace around her neck and he’d promised to stay forever, which was really all she’d ever wanted. A child of divorce, she’d split her time between two houses, two sets of parents, two cities, and she’d said more than her share of good-byes. That was over now. She was Mrs. Nicholas Granville, and she would make her marriage stick.
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