Secret Agent Boyfriend

by Addison Fox

  She’d asked because she wanted to know, plain and simple.

  And hadn’t been prepared for any reaction besides an unequivocal desire to stay.

  The large silver urn of coffee that had stood sentinel at the end of the breakfast sideboard for as long as she could remember greeted her as she filled a mug. Landry watched the rich black coffee fill her cup, hot and strong, and wished for a do-over. All at the tender hour of 6:00 a.m.

  Maybe if she had enough coffee she might find a way to put the genie she’d inadvertently unleashed in her bedroom back in the bottle.

  She risked a glance at Derek, busy fetching cream from the small fridge the staff kept stocked in the corner. The hard lines of his body had remained stiff as he finished dressing in her room, then left to change into fresh clothes in his own room. He’d donned a button-down shirt and faded jeans, and she wondered how she could be so attracted to him, even as her thoughts were in a million different directions.

  They didn’t live that far away from each other. A relationship wasn’t out of the question, and it was barely even long distance considering how often she was in LA for her charity work. They could find a way. And if things continued to progress, she could eventually see herself moving to Los Angeles full-time.

  Except he hadn’t suggested that would be a welcome next step.

  The truth slapped at her and Landry busied herself with making a plate of fruit to pass the time until Noah arrived. Just when she thought she couldn’t dither over selecting one more strawberry, her brothers’ arrival in the dining room ratcheted up the tension several more notches.

  “Anyone see Noah yet?” Carson kept his tone casual as he beelined for the coffee, but Landry sensed the notes of unease under the gruff demeanor.

  He was a man used to giving orders and expecting them to be followed. Process. Rules. Order. Carson had lived by those principles for his entire adult life. Which made what they were about to do that much harder.

  They were about to unleash chaos.

  “Everyone’s up early.”

  Noah’s voice rang out from the doorway. He looked comfortable, Landry realized, his usual work outfit of jeans, T-shirt and chambray button-down like a second skin. Yet even if the dress were casual, she knew it was something more.

  He was comfortable with who he was. Even the jokes the other day before the baby shower had held more frustration at his mother’s insistence on his settling down than any real upset over the matter. He did as he liked and lived as he pleased and by all accounts, Noah liked it that way.

  With the truth of his parentage, his life was about to grow considerably more attached, with responsibilities and expectations.

  And with the complete annihilation of anything he believed to be real.

  “I’m glad you’re here.” Whit greeted Noah first, slapping the man on the back and gesturing him toward the coffeepot. “Carson, Landry and I have something we’d like to discuss with you.”

  * * *

  The pleasant civility ringing out in the Adair dining room had a tense air about it, and Derek kept his position by the French doors that led out to the patio, unwilling to intrude any more than he needed to.

  He wasn’t a part of the family and they deserved the space to make the proper explanations to Noah. Hell, he was just the evidence man. The keeper of the facts and details that would blow up Noah Scott’s world.

  Starting with the fact that he wasn’t actually Noah Scott.

  “Oh?” Noah snagged a mug off the sideboard. “What’s going on?”

  “We’ve come upon some information you need to know. About our father.”

  “What?” Noah stepped away from the coffee immediately, his concern evident as he walked toward his family. “Did you find out something about his killer?”

  “No.” Carson shook his head. “We found out something about you.”

  Confusion stamped itself in Noah’s gaze—a vivid blue he shared with Landry, Carson and Whit. “Found out something? About me? Like what?”

  Landry moved close to him, her hand on his shoulder. At the subtle nods of her brothers, she confirmed what they already knew. “You’re Jackson, Noah. You’re the one our father spent his life searching for.”

  “I’m what?” Color drained from his face, leaving a ghostly visage in its wake. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “I know it’s hard to believe—”

  “You know?” His words were sharp, their bite swift and immediate. “You think you can drop a bomb like that on me and then tell me you know? Like you somehow understand?”

  “I don’t claim to understand, no. But I can empathize that this is a shock to you.” She lifted her hand once more but dropped it, her fingers curling into a fist at her side. “A terrible shock.”

  Noah shook his head, his gaze darting to each Adair in turn. “What could possibly make you think this? I’m your cousin. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. There’s just no way.”

  “It may be hard to swallow, but it’s true.” Landry gestured in Derek’s direction. “Derek has the details. The only thing left to do is a DNA test to prove it.”

  “Details?” Noah’s gaze swung from puzzlement to accusation as it landed squarely on Derek. “You’ve got evidence or something? Is that why you’re really here?”

  Unwilling to lie any longer, Derek nodded. “That’s why Kate sent me. My expertise is missing persons, and she wanted the Adair heir found. We can do the DNA test but you’re Jackson. I know it.”

  Each word was like a gunshot, and Derek saw how the delivery took Noah apart, piece by piece.

  “So it was a lie. The relationship with Landry. Your time down in the barn, buddying up. You were playing me?”

  He’d prepared himself for the accusations—knew they’d be a part of Noah’s inevitable reaction—but even he hadn’t expected how much it would hurt to hear them from a man he’d come to like and respect.

  Add on the reference to a fake relationship with Landry and Derek fought to keep his voice level and do the job he’d come to do. “No. It wasn’t like that.”

  “Spare me.” Noah stilled before turning on his family. “And all of you. You’re in on this. You all knew before I walked in here. Have you been planning this? Plotting to screw up my life?”

  Carson stepped forward. “Georgia pieced it together a few weeks ago. After she met you something bothered her. She felt like she knew you. It was only when she remembered a photo of Ruby’s father that she put the pieces together. The photo was an image of you.”

  Landry reached out once more, her voice soothing. “We never meant—”

  Noah flung his arm, dislodging the comfort of her touch. “If I meant anything at all to you you’d have told me. Instead, you went behind my back. For what reason? Some misguided sense of protection?”

  “We couldn’t tell you.” Whit hesitated before pressing on. “We couldn’t risk your mother vanishing into the wind.”

  “You think—” Noah broke off at that, landing heavily in one of the dining room chairs. “You think my mother’s responsible?”

  Derek stepped forward, effectively taking the burden off Noah’s siblings to share the truth. He laid the proof of what they’d uncovered on the table, the flight plan information on top. “Your grandmother was behind it all. She managed the kidnapping and took you to Europe after stealing you from Reginald and Ruby’s house.”

  Noah glanced at the papers before reaching forward to take the top sheet. His moves were ginger, as if he were dealing with a frightened horse, and Derek knew the analogy wasn’t that far off. Only now, Noah was the frightened one.

  “My mother might not have known who I was. She might have thought I was just a baby that her mother arranged.”

  “But she was still complicit. Whether she knew beforehand or after, she kept you
. There was no way she didn’t know who you were.”

  “But she was pregnant. I’ve seen photos. Even in the photos from my father’s funeral, she was visibly pregnant.”

  Landry tried once more to touch him and laid her hand on Noah’s shoulder. “That baby didn’t live.”

  “This isn’t possible. Nothing about this is possible.”

  “I know this is a lot to digest.” Derek took the lead once more, the overt shock and upset in the room in dark contrast to the sun streaming through the windows. “I’d suggest taking a DNA test first. That will give you actual proof and then we can work on next steps from there.”

  “Next steps?” Noah leaped up at Derek’s words, ignoring the papers on the table. “I’m not a project, Derek. Or an FBI file.”

  “Noah—” Carson reached out but Noah shut him off.

  “None of you understands this. You can’t possibly begin to understand and I could see past that. If this is true, it’s not your fault that you uncovered it. But what I can’t see past is that you didn’t tell me what you suspected. That you left me in the dark while you played Sherlock Holmes with my life.”

  Every word hung over the room, noxious clouds of black, before Noah slammed out the door.

  They all remained still for a moment, absorbing the reality of what had just happened, when Landry stood up. “Let me go. I’m sure he’s at the stables, and we have a special bond over the horses.”

  “You don’t have to go alone,” Whit said, already moving to follow her toward the door.

  “No, really. Let me try.” She glanced in Derek’s direction once more before she turned toward the door, the dazed look in her eyes cutting him off at the knees.

  He’d known her life hadn’t been easy these past months. The death of her father and all that had ensued since had taken its pound of flesh. But what killed him was the sheer absence of hope in her gaze, replaced now with a resigned sense of duty.

  The woman he’d come to know was warm, vibrant and full of life.

  And the woman who slipped from the dining room looked as if the weight of the world had settled on her shoulders, never to lift again.

  * * *

  The cool morning air whipped around her shoulders as she headed for the stables. Landry’s thoughts were a jumble between Noah and Derek, swinging back and forth, one to the other. Her brother needed her, more than ever, and she’d do her best to help him through this trying time.

  But she needed Derek. And as each moment passed he seemed to be slipping further and further away.

  Or maybe you pushed him away.

  The thought she’d tried so hard to ignore wrapped around her with the breeze, whispering in her ear and forcing her to consider her role in what was between them.

  She loved him.

  After a lifetime desperate for the emotion, it was amazing to see how easily it had planted roots and now lived inside her. And with that love she’d learned something even more significant about herself. Derek’s wants were as important to her as her own. Maybe even more so. She wanted what was best for him and believed in supporting him.

  So what are you afraid of, Adair?

  Grass crunched underfoot as she continued her walk, replaying the morning in her mind. Today was about Noah yet she’d attempted to rush into a conversation with Derek about their future.

  Why? To sabotage what was between them?

  Or to protect herself from the risk that he might walk away first?

  She’d spent so long blaming much of her life on her mother it was startling to acknowledge her own role in what had happened with Derek earlier. She had pushed him away. Their focus should have been the meeting with Noah yet she had pushed her fears smack in the middle of their discussion. And when he had been caught off guard, she’d used the moment to pick a fight.

  The stables came into view, the tall structure reassuring. No matter how bleak her life had ever seemed, the stable held the key to restoring her equilibrium. She could only hope it did the same for Noah. Or did she need to call him Jackson now? Would he even want that?

  Landry sighed and let the thought fade. They’d figure all that out in time. What Noah needed now was their understanding and support.

  Then she’d go see Derek and start over. The morning hadn’t gone as she planned, but they would get through it. And this time she wasn’t hiding behind juvenile emotions that had no place in their relationship.

  A wispy cloud floated past her peripheral vision and Landry gave herself a moment to stop and look at it. So simple, a quiet moment enjoying nature.

  There was beauty to be found if you looked for it. She could see that now. Even after all she and her family had been through these past months, she could—and should—take a moment to appreciate what she had.

  In time, Noah would find the same.

  Images of him through the years floated through her mind, as wispy as the clouds. He’d always been as much a brother to her as Whit and Carson. As youngest, she was both family pest and doted-upon sister. She’d been teased to within an inch of her ponytail and championed for whatever she wanted to do.

  Yet no matter the circumstance, Noah along with Whit and Carson had always shown a fierce devotion, their concern for her well-being at the heart of their actions.

  They were her first loves. She’d spent the past few months determined to help Whit and Carson find their way. Now she’d help Noah do the same. And as she navigated the waters with Derek—no matter the outcome—she knew the Adair men would support her in return.

  The welcome scents of the barn greeted her as she stepped through the heavy door. “Noah!”

  She strode down the long path toward the back office, so full of her own thoughts it took several moments to register the anxiety in the horses. Landry stopped, the restless underpinning growing evident just as she heard a loud whinny from Pete’s stall.

  And felt the distinct kick of adrenaline and fear as Mark Goodnight stepped out of Noah’s office.

  Chapter 18

  Derek refilled his coffee mug, the meaningless action something to pass the time. He’d already drunk enough caffeine to be jittery and on edge, and certainly didn’t need any more.

  He knew he should be focused on Noah but all he could think about were his clumsy moments with Landry that morning in her room. He wanted to make it up to her—would make it up to her—as soon as they got Noah past the upheaval of learning his real identity. He’d already put a buddy at the Bureau on notice for a DNA test and the need for expedited results.

  All they needed was Noah’s go-ahead.

  And then he could focus on the woman he loved. If he’d had any question at all about his future, the past few hours had erased any doubts. He loved Landry Adair and wanted to spend his life with her.

  “Did he agree to take the DNA test?” Georgia’s voice interrupted his thoughts, the question giving him a chance to focus on the real reason he was here.

  She’d joined Carson shortly after Noah, followed by Landry, had left the room and her husband had filled her in on the details.

  Carson shook his head. “He didn’t agree to much of anything. And he’s worried about Emmaline. You can see it beneath the anger.”

  “What should we expect there, Derek?” Whit asked. “As you said before, she’s complicit in this.”

  Derek took a seat, happy to have something to focus on. This he knew. Missing persons and kidnapping was his profession and he’d spent nearly his entire adult life understanding the ins and outs of the law.

  He also understood the damage individuals could inflict on each other and wanted to prepare them. The shock of the news likely wouldn’t assuage Noah’s innate need to defend his mother, regardless of the evidence against her.

  “We first have to prove she knew. We’ve all leaped to the conclus
ion she had knowledge Noah was really Jackson, but it’s possible Eleanor could have kept that from her.”

  “And if she didn’t?” Carson’s question went straight to the heart of the problem.

  “Then Noah hasn’t only lost the life he believed he had, but he’s lost his mother, too.”

  At Derek’s words, Georgia covered Carson’s hand with her own. “I know Ruby’s suffered. The pain of losing her son has never faded, even after all these years. And because of that, I struggle to give any sort of excuse to Emmaline. But what sort of madness must that be, to live a sort of half life as a parent? To forever look over your shoulder and know that your child came with a price?”

  “What price?” Whit stirred his coffee. “If what we believe is correct, Grandmother stole Jackson from son to daughter. No one was paid.”

  “It’s not the money. She’s paid with her soul.”

  Georgia’s words echoed through the room with a grim finality and Derek knew she spoke the truth. No matter how desperately Emmaline wanted to be a mother, the choices made decades ago had to have taken a toll. “Landry mentioned she’d come here, to the ranch, every summer with Noah. But that somehow she’d fade into the background, as if she didn’t wish to be scrutinized too hard.”

  Carson nodded. “Now that you put it that way, I know what Landry means. Emmaline was here, but she wasn’t. She just sort of hovered on the fringes.”

  “Remember the summer she had that fight with Dad?” Whit said.

  “What fight?”

  “What happened?”

  Derek and Carson both leaned forward on that tidbit, their questions overlapping.

  “I don’t know all the specifics, but it had something to do with AdAir Corp and Aunt Kate’s run for VP.” Whit rubbed at his chin. “I’m pretty sure that was it. She was upset with how public a figure Dad was with the company. Always throwing lavish parties and doing his level best to get as much PR—even if it was personally related—as he could.”