“So why’d you keep the bracelet with you instead of sending it on ahead?”
There was a coldness to Nick, which Carlie didn’t understand. Maybe since he’d never been a father, he couldn’t sympathize with the fact that she’d lost her baby and had clung to the one connection she had left.
“Gabi’s grave is in Maharla. I planned to bury the bracelet near her headstone once I got there.” She shrugged and looked down at her hands, not wanting to see the ice in Nick’s eyes any longer. “One day, I hope to sneak into the country and leave it with her. It’s hers. She should have it.”
Unexpectedly, his arms circled her and he pulled her against his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m being a jerk, and I shouldn’t be. I wanted to do something special and when I saw that stuff, I got jealous that Ryan already did that for you.” He caressed her back with a tender touch. “It sucks that you’ve had so much heartbreak. I’m sorry about Gabi.”
Carlie sighed with relief and sagged against him. “Now that we’ve found each other, we can replace our old heartbreak with new, happy memories. Let’s not talk about the past anymore.”
“I thought you were all about sharing.”
“I was, but I think we’ve covered the important stuff.” She squeezed him tightly. “Let’s focus on our future.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Though Shelley always came to work a few hours later than Carlie and after the baking was finished, the second she showed up Nick made an excuse and left the shop. He raced back to Carlie’s house to inspect the bracelet more closely.
It took all his acting skills and experience as a S.A.T.O. agent to pull things together this morning when Carlie pulled out her ‘safe.’ He knew his initial reaction alerted her, but hopefully she bought the explanation of jealousy. If she figured out he knew what the bracelet really was, knew she had been lying this entire time, the game was over. She’d tell her terrorist associates all about Nick. He’d never learn her secrets if that happened. In fact, he’d probably find himself on their hit list.
Then again, Carlie persisted with the Princess Stephanie lie, so she apparently never planned to tell him the truth.
Nick took deep, cleansing breaths, fighting to hold onto his karate training and clear his mind. What he really wanted to do was shove his fist through the wall. Maybe that would stop the horrible pain piercing his heart.
She lied. All this time, Paul was right. Nick let himself believe in her, care for her...love her. Like a damn fool.
“Shit!” The cleansing breaths weren’t working, and Nick clenched his hands into tight fists.
Carlie deserved an Academy Award with the way she’d pulled off the lies about her unhappy marriage and the baby she lost. He foolishly believed her—every single word. That same story convinced him she lied now. Bringing Gabi into the picture to explain the bracelet was the lowest form of low.
He forced in another breath and pulled out his phone, snapping pictures of the sparkling diamonds from different angles. Although he’d head to the hotel to look at the pictures Paul provided, Nick remembered them well. This little bauble wasn’t a family heirloom from the royals of Maharla. It looked exactly like a terrorist bracelet.
After hiding everything back in the ‘safe,’ Nick hurried to his hotel. He had to call Paul eventually, but clung to a hope that he’d remembered wrong. Maybe Carlie’s bracelet looked nothing like the pictures. If only she were telling the truth. They could go forward with his plans to leave the country and live in delirious happiness together.
Shuffling through the different pictures a few minutes later left no doubt. He compared the third photo to the snapshots on his phone. It was exactly the same. There was a remote possibility Ryan’s family shopped at the same stores as the terrorists for jewelry, but somehow Nick doubted that.
He gritted his teeth and dialed Paul’s number. Although his heart shattered into a million tiny pieces at Carlie’s betrayal, he had a job to do and American citizens to protect.
“Nick?” Surprise was clear in Paul’s voice. “I didn’t expect to speak with you until President Sharp returned.”
“We have a complication.” Though his throat constricted with grief, he forced himself to continue. “I found what you’re looking for.”
“Really?” Paul sucked in a loud breath. “Did you stumble upon it, or did the target come clean with you?”
“She showed me. I think it was an accident on her part. I gave her a present and she wanted to put it in a safe place. When I asked about that, she had no choice but to show me.”
“That’s disturbing news, given the other phone call I received this morning. The agent tailing Muhammad Khan overheard plans of something happening Thanksgiving weekend.”
Carlie said she was helping Muhammad Thanksgiving morning, but seemed excited about Donovan and Madeline coming to visit. What did she plan to do, attack somewhere during the day and play happy hostess at night?
“I’m sorry, Nick.”
Paul’s voice startled him almost as much as the apology did. “Why are you sorry?”
“I tried to warn you. I knew you were falling for the target. It’s happened to us all at some point, but it really sucks when you learn your trust was put in the wrong person.”
Nick rubbed his right temple. The dull, throbbing headache had started shortly after seeing the bracelet, and struggling to control his emotions didn’t help. “You sound like this has happened to you before.”
“It has. I had only been an agent at S.A.T.O. for a year. Surprised it took you so long to have it happen, actually. It’s hard to work so closely to someone without feeling something, even if you know better. We’re human, after all.”
“I always knew the other targets lied to me. Carlie seemed so sincere. I believed her.”
“That’s what happened to Jason Steele, too. I felt bad having you take him out, but instead of coming to me when he found out his target was lying, he helped her.” Paul made a disgusted noise. “The President almost died because of it. He was a loose cannon that we couldn’t afford, and the board members realized we had to change the way S.A.T.O. ran.”
So that was the reason for the changes in the organization. Nick had guessed as much, but hadn’t dared ask. “Thanks for telling me. I’ve been frustrated with things since Jason.”
“I know that, and I’ve been worried about you. When I saw you getting in too deep with this target, I decided it would be a good test for you. It would let me know if you were trustworthy or not.”
“And now?” A thrill of dread went through Nick, wondering if his life was in danger.
“The people of the United States are fortunate to have you defending them. You’re a real hero, Nick, even if they don’t know it.”
It was hard to feel pride while heartbroken about Carlie. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll set up a phone conference with the President. Knowing Khan has something planned for the holiday weekend, we can’t wait. I’ll call you with further instructions soon. For now, keep an eye on things.”
“Do you have any idea what, exactly, Khan plans?” Nick asked. “Did you ever figure out what that bracelet does?”
“We have some guesses,” Paul said. “We think the plan is to disrupt the shipping industry through that part of the country. Portland has the third largest port in the US. If they put a stop to that, it will cripple our economy over the long term. Short term, they can stop our ability to ship food to people. Portland has ships, trains, air traffic, and trucking all out of there. It’s a huge key to our supply chain.”
Nick closed his eyes. That would be a complete disaster. Not many people grew their own food. Without the shipping industry, Americans couldn’t survive long. Is that truly what Carlie planned? What irony. She and Muhammad fed homeless people, all while planning to starve the entire country later.
He was a secret agent, trained to follow orders and protect Americans. Did he have any right having personal feelings when his target’s plan would hurt
everyone…innocent children?
“How can they shut it down?” he finally asked.
“We think the microchips affect computer systems, either a virus or by taking it over so the terrorists can control things remotely. It probably isn’t their only weapon, but will be an effective one.”
Nick wondered what other methods they would use and to what extent Carlie was involved. Did she make the plans or just follow orders?
“Don’t let her leave with that bracelet,” Paul said, breaking into his thoughts. “No matter what you have to do to stop her.”
“Understood, sir. I’ll await further instructions.”
Nick hung up the phone and stared at the picture of the terrorist bracelet. How could he face Carlie, knowing what he knew? Somehow, he had to find the inner strength to pretend nothing had changed. His first stop had to be the dojo. All his life karate had given him purpose and balance, and he desperately needed to find that now.
If he couldn’t control his emotions before seeing her again, his mission would fail. For the first time in a week, Nick forced himself to think about what that meant, what was at risk. His feelings were unimportant in the overall scenario. Even though he loved Carlie and couldn’t turn that off by snapping his fingers, he also couldn’t let her harm innocent people.
***
It was a quarter to six when Nick finally walked into the shop. Carlie let out a sigh of relief at the wide smile that split his face when he saw her. She grinned in return and waved. Although she wanted to run and jump into his arms, there were still a few customers finishing their meals, so she walked sedately to him.
She took his hand in hers and looked into his dark eyes. “I’ve been worried about you today. Why didn’t you text me back?”
“Sorry, my lady. I went for a workout this morning, and then I had a small catastrophe at the restaurant. By the time I saw your message, I was already on my way back to you.”
Relief flooded through her. She’d half convinced herself Nick was still upset about her keeping Gabi’s bracelet and not telling him about the money sooner. It was nice to have a reasonable explanation that had nothing to do with the strangeness between them earlier. He seemed perfectly normal now.
“Is everything okay at the restaurant?” she asked.
“It will be. I’ll have a few more things to do tomorrow, but there’s nothing for you to worry about.” He squeezed her hand tightly. “I wanted to make sure I got here before Shelley left you alone, so I told my manager everything would have to wait.”
“You take such good care of me.” Carlie smiled, resisting the urge to kiss him. “I really would be okay by myself. You don’t have to put your life on hold. I’m great at the defenses you taught, so you don’t need to worry.”
Nick shrugged. “I can’t help worrying about you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and we have to keep you safe. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“Well, lucky for you, we won’t be here too long tonight. I’ve already cleaned the kitchen except these last customers’ dishes. I just have to count the cash while Shelley mops out here and then get a money order mailed out to my business partner so he can pay the bills.”
Nick glanced at his watch. “The banks are closed tonight. You can’t get a money order.”
“Shelley went for me earlier. It’s a bit silly to do business like this. Maybe Bradley could make her an authorized person on the bank account. Then she could sign checks for stuff. I didn’t realize how much time he’d be putting into the business when he agreed to help. I hope I can send him some profits soon.”
Though she grinned, a crease formed between Nick’s eyebrows and he didn’t return the smile. “Shelley left you here alone?”
“Don’t go getting upset with her. I tried to get a hold of you, but couldn’t.” Although she knew it was ungrateful, she felt resentful that no one thought she could be by herself for five minutes. “Shelley didn’t want me alone either, so I called Muhammad. He picked up the food earlier than usual and stayed with me until Shelley got back.” She refrained from rolling her eyes by sheer determination. “Happy now?”
“You were with Muhammad?”
“Yes. He kept me perfectly safe, so there’s no point in getting angry with me.”
Across the room, Shelley waved to get her attention and pointed at one of Carlie’s tables. They looked ready for their check.
“Nick, I don’t know what’s happened to us today, but there’s a lot of tension. Can we put this on hold and work things out tonight? I have customers to take care of, but you’re more important to me than anything else.”
His mouth turned down in a frown. “Am I really?”
“Of course.”
Hurt and confused, Carlie walked to the table, forcing a happy smile on her face as she helped the family settle their bill. They were thrilled with the food and promised to come back. Normally, that would have made Carlie’s entire night brighter.
Nick glowering at her from the corner put a damper on everything. This was a side of him she’d never seen before. She wished she understood what the problem was.
***
They rode home in silence. Nick knew he screwed up again. No matter how many times he reminded himself Carlie was a target and he had to do his job, it didn’t seem to matter. His feelings got so tangled and confused when he was near her. After taking the entire day to prepare himself, two seconds in her company had him feeling hurt and angry all over again and lashing out.
On top of that, she spent time alone today with Muhammad. He couldn’t even guess what plans the pair of them made. They probably laughed at how gullible Nick was the entire time.
That’s what hurt the most. He thought Carlie was actually falling in love with him. His feelings for her ran deeper than anything he’d ever experienced, and she only pretended to feel the same.
He’d only known her a short time. How could he care for her so much?
He glanced over. Carlie sat with her arms crossed over her big brown coat and stared out the passenger window. Pretty much the same attitude she showed since Shelley left them alone at the shop.
“You’re awfully quiet over there, hon.” He couldn’t bring himself to call her ‘my lady’ again. That was a special name for the woman he loved, but it felt wrong when he’d said it at the shop. Now he knew the truth—Carlie wasn’t his lady.
“I’m just thinking. Trying to figure out what went wrong, actually.” She sighed and turned in the seat to face him. “What did I do?”
Nick pulled into the driveway and turned off the car, trying not to let the plaintive note in her voice affect him. She sounded sad, but it was an act. He couldn’t let himself forget, not this time. “It’s my fault. You didn’t do anything wrong.” If she could lie, so could he. “I’ve been trying not to think about it, but today’s Dad’s birthday. I think that’s why I’m so sensitive.”
Compassion filled her eyes and she patted his leg. “I didn’t know. Do you ever think about calling him? Maybe it could help.”
Although his dad’s birthday was actually in March, Carlie somehow managed to ask a question that would force him into sharing more with her. Then again, his true feelings might put her fears to rest in a way his subpar acting abilities couldn’t. “He has a new family and no need for me. I don’t want to talk to him.”
Knowing her usual do-gooder act, he half expected her to argue, but she surprised him by nodding. “Some relationships aren’t worth the time.”
He wondered if she were thinking about Ryan, before reminding himself she was never really married to the prince.
He caught her with his best piercing stare. “That is so true. No matter how much you love someone, it doesn’t matter if they don’t feel the same.”
“So, let’s forget about those people and focus on each other. Erase today’s fight from our memories and chalk it up to us both being emotional because of the past.” She offered him a smile. “Can we forgive each other and move
on?”
He forced a return smile. “I’d like that. How about we eat dinner and then watch some movies tonight? I’m really tired, and I’m sure you must be too.”
She winked. “Sure you won’t mind taking time off from our active fantasy life?”
“Cuddling with you is just as good as anything we do in the bedroom.” It was the kind of line that always made women swoon, and Carlie was no exception.
“That’s so sweet. I must be the luckiest lady on Earth to have found you.”
“And I’m the luckiest man.”
At least he had been until this morning.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The text from Paul didn’t come until the following afternoon. Nick’s anxiety built throughout the day waiting for it. Carlie didn’t appear to notice anything wrong, so at least he’d managed to reassure her. Well, if she did notice anything off, she probably attributed it to Nick’s feelings about his dad and decided not to make an issue of it.
Willing to step back and give him space when he needed it. Not many girlfriends did that. She’d be the perfect woman for him, if she wasn’t a terrorist.
No. I have to stop right there. She’s not the woman for me.
Those stern thoughts did nothing to change his feelings.
Carlie was in the kitchen preparing food for the latest table of men while Shelley flirted in the dining room. If only Carlie were as straightforward as her friend. Shelley’s intentions were clear. She wanted to find a man, plain and simple.
He walked into the kitchen, trying to ignore the way his breath caught in his throat when he saw Carlie. She’d pulled her hair into a ponytail and the back of her slender neck begged him to kiss it.
“Hey, Carlie.”
She turned around, a smile on her lips. Those full, luscious lips. Nick closed his eyes.
“Hey, yourself,” she said. “What’s up?”
He cleared his throat and forced himself to look at her. “I heard from my manager over at the restaurant. I need to go finish some paperwork. Will you and Shelley be okay for a few hours by yourselves?”
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