Chapter 20

TWENTY

We watch the private airfield for hours. Only one flight comes in all day and by the looks of them, they are not your regular businessmen. No, this is a don’t ask, don’t tell kind of place, which means there will be no records.

It’s another dead end . . . until we see her.

A tiny, curvy blonde leaves the building after locking up. A manager maybe? “Follow her,” I instruct, and so we do. This town is small, so there isn’t much, and she heads right to a bar.

Dimitri follows her in, reporting that she’s sitting alone at a table in the corner.

“Find me everything you can on her,” I demand. She was the one meeting the clients, so maybe she knows something.

“On it,” he murmurs through the phone, and a few minutes later, a document is on my screen. I scroll through it as the others spread out to watch the back. Jonas remains at the airfield with Isaac, searching just in case.

Lives alone, thirty-five, divorced, and has worked there for five years. She has a huge bank account, one dog, and one cat. No family, nothing else. She’s also alone on a Friday night in the bar looking lonely. No listed address, shit.

She’s the only link we have, the only choice.

She’s lonely and desperate for attention. I hate it, but I know what I’m going to have to do to get the information we need. It makes me feel sick.

“I’m coming in,” I tell him. “I’ll get the information.”

“How?” he asks, but I hang up, ignoring the clenching in my gut and the deep feeling of betrayal. If Nova found out, she would kick my ass, and the thought makes me smile as I cross to the bar. I’d let her since I’d deserve it, but I have to do whatever it takes to get my girl back. After that, she can beat me and then kiss it better. Taking a deep breath, I paste on a fake, overly friendly smile. I hang around the bar for a while, ordering a beer and taking a sip before approaching her. She’s reading a romance book, and when I stop before her table, she is so engrossed she doesn’t even notice at first.

I clear my throat, and her head snaps up, her eyes widening and cheeks heating. She looks around nervously.

“Hi.” I grin. “I’m Reggie.”

She blinks and then blushes harder. “Oh, God, I’m sorry. Hi, erm, hi, yeah, I’m Sarah,” she blurts out.

“I’m new to town, and I don’t really know anyone,” I tell her, leaning in like this is a secret. She smiles and giggles as she looks around. “Can I join you? I really don’t want to sit alone, drinking my beer.”

“Oh, of course.”

I slide into the booth opposite her before she can change her mind. Her eyes scan me and heat, and when she meets my gaze, I see desire and curiosity. Good. I can use that, even as the sight of another woman lusting after what belongs to Nova makes me want to gag. This body is hers, every inch of it.

“What are you reading?” I ask, leaning back and purposely flexing my arm as I drape it on the back of the booth. Her eyes follow it like I knew they would. “Sarah?” I murmur silkily. I hate this. I hate every fucking second of this.

I can feel Dimitri judging me, but I’ll do anything for her.

“It’s just a romance novel.” She ducks her head. “I love them. They always get their happy ending. I don’t know why I said that.”

Laughing, I reach out and eye the cover. It’s of a lady and a dragon, and I make a note to read it to Nova later. She would probably love it. “I love happy endings. I’m hoping for my own,” I say softly. “Is it sexy?” She laughs nervously, and I chuckle. “I take that as a yes. I’m curious, do you enjoy reading it? The sex scenes?”

“I . . . Yes,” she admits, eyeing me through her lashes. “Most women do.”

“How come?” I ask with genuine curiosity and no judgement.

“I guess it’s how we want to be loved. It’s more than the mind-blowing sex they get, which if we are honest, not a lot of women get, but it’s the love. Did you know romance is the biggest selling genre in fiction? Let that sink in. Women are so desperate to be loved right that they buy books about it because they know it’s the only way most of them will get it, and men? They make fun of it. They make fun of women wanting to read a book about being loved and cared for like the idea is ridiculous.”

“Because men are idiots. You want to be loved?” I ask.

“Everyone wants to be loved, Reggie,” she replies, sitting up straighter, bolder in her passion. It’s cute. “Every single person, no matter what they say, wants that. They want to be loved deeply and stop being hurt over and over. They want a happy ending without pain. Many don’t find it, so they find it through this, fiction, until they do find their happy ending. Other people already have it and love relearning the feeling through others. Some simply want an adventure. They get it through books. Like me, a small-town girl, I’ve got to visit the stars, see other planets, and go to the deepest depths of the oceans. I’m a soldier, a sailor, a mermaid, a pirate . . . I can be anything I want in these books, and for the hours that I indulge and read, losing myself between ink and paper, the shitty world around me doesn’t exist. I’m free.”

“That sounds amazing. I never thought about it that way. I guess I never really gave myself the time to explore reading. I’m always so busy planning for the future or what comes next.”

She smiles. “You should.”

“I will.” I’ll explore it with Nova, if she desires to find the kind of freedom pages can offer. She will always have that deep love this woman loves reading about, but I like how happy it makes Sarah, and I want that for Nova.

She’s a lovely woman, and she deserves to find happiness. She’s clearly smart, kind, giving, and optimistic, but she isn’t my Nova. There is only one woman for me, and I’ll use and hurt this kind woman if I have to.

I take a deep breath, hating myself for what I’m about to say. “If you want, I could help you find that freedom.”

“How so?” she asks obliviously.

Smiling secretly, I stand and offer her my hand. “How about you take me back to your place and I’ll show you? We can even act out some of those scenes.”

Wrong, so wrong, so very wrong.

She hesitates, but then she lays her hand in mine. I pull her to her feet, and she clutches her bag as I lead her to the door.

I tell myself to hold her hand. Even if it looks odd, I drop it in the ruse of opening the door. She hesitates again but ducks through, and I wipe my hand on my trousers, the wrongness of it sticking with me. I need Nova to replace it. Sarah’s hand was too hot, and it didn’t fit right, not like my Nova’s, which fits perfectly.

At the parking lot, I look around and back at her with a smile, draping my arm around her coat-covered shoulders so I don’t have to touch her.

“You drive?” I offer. “I don’t have my car.”

Liar, but that way Dimitri can follow us.

“Of course.” She fumbles with her keys, and I grin. When she gets them, she blushes and leads me over to her car. It’s a nice brand-new model, and I slip into the passenger seat as she hits the ignition, and then we are on the road. I glance into the side mirror to see lights a few cars behind us. They are not noticeable to anyone else but me.

Dimitri.

I make small talk until we pull up in front of her house, and then I get out and follow her up to it.

Her house is adorable, a single-story cottage set before the woods. The lights are on, and there are flowers bordering the stone paths to the door. Once inside, we are greeted by a purring black cat and she blushes. “This is Romeo.” She laughs as I chuckle.

She heads in, strips off her coat and bag, and drops them onto a side table. There is a kitchen to the left, a farmhouse style one that’s cut with a few steps into an open-plan living room. Sofas face a huge fireplace with bookshelves on either side, and the back windows are floor-to-ceiling to show the forest.

It’s cute.

“Do you want a drink?” she asks nervously.

“Sure, a drink would be great,” I reply.

I wander around, pretending to look at things, but really, I’m scanning the house. Beyond the kitchen, there is a door that clearly leads to a bathroom. There’s also a short flight of stairs to an open loft up top with a bedroom and an office. That’s where the information will be. Maybe locked?

“Here.” Sarah offers me a tumbler of what smells like vodka and something fruity. “Oh, let me just let Juliet out.” She blushes again and calls, tapping her leg, and an older Labrador trots in. Juliet spares me a glance as she goes outside. I use the opportunity and pour the drugs into my cup, using my finger to stir, and then I swap mine with hers, which sits on the table, all before she turns back.

“Sorry,” she offers, and heads over.

I sit on the sofa, and she copies me, clearly nervous.

“So, what’s your favourite book?” I ask, sitting back on the sofa, trying to gather as much information as I can in case we need it.

She hesitates. “At the moment or in life?”

“Both,” I reply, and she seems to struggle for her answer.

“Right now, probably Touch of Frost Queen. I don’t think I could pick one in general because there are so many good ones.” She grins. “What about you? I don’t know much about you, so tell me all there is to know.”

“There isn’t much,” I answer, and she looks worried. “I live a pretty boring life.” I take a sip, but she doesn’t. “We can spend all night talking if you want, or we can spend our night having fun. Which one would you like?”

“Fun,” she whispers.

“Good.” I smile. “Down the hatch.” I wink. “And then into the fun.”

She quickly downs the drink and reaches for me. I let her straddle me, but just as she leans in to kiss me, her eyes grow fuzzy. Thank God. I don’t think I could stand feeling her lips on mine.

It doesn’t take long before she’s out, and I turn so she falls into the sofa.

I lay her down slowly and cover her. Romeo jumps onto her chest, purring. Her dog, Juliet, barks at the back door, so I let her in, and she snarls at me but moves over to her owner. Juliet whines and nudges Sarah, and then she crouches before her, snarling at me when I get too close.

“Good girl,” I tell her and move to the front door and open it, finding nothing but darkness. Dimitri slowly materialises, glaring at me before slamming his fist into my stomach, and then he steps past me. “You deserve that.” He stops at the sight but turns away, scanning the house as I rub at my aching abs.

“Search upstairs. There’s an office there, get everything,” I demand.

“What if the information isn’t here?” he mutters.

“Then we wait, and when she wakes, we get it out of her,” I snap.

“Seduce it out of her, you mean,” he retorts angrily.

“You think I enjoyed that?” I go toe to toe with him, snarling. “I hated every single fucking minute, but it if gets us closer to our girl, I will. I will do whatever it takes, and then I will beg on my fucking knees for forgiveness.”

“I can’t wait to see her kick your ass.” He smiles, and I smile back.

“Me too. Now go, we don’t have very long.” My phone rings and I answer it. “Report,” I tell Jonas, ignoring the other missed calls from the general. I don’t have time to deal with him. I’ve debriefed him as much as I can, and he’s angry, but there are more important things than handing over the research.

Like getting my girl back.

“Nothing here, boss, only a few flight numbers.” It’s clear he’s frustrated.

“Text me them all, you never know.”

“Got it,” he offers as I hang up.

“Anything?” I call to D.

“Give me a second!” Dimitri snarls.

I wander to the kitchen and do the pots while I wait—it’s the least I can do—then I fill up the cat’s and dog’s water dishes since she will probably feel groggy.

“Nothing.” Dimitri comes back down.

“Fuck.” I slam my fists down, and my eyes go back to where she stirs. “Then we go to plan B.”

* * *

We wait for her to wake. Dimitri leans against the wall, and I sit on the coffee table. When her eyes flutter, I wince. She sits up groggily and rubs her head. When she sees me, she frowns. “Reggie, what happened?” she slurs, looking around. When she notices Dimitri, she screams and scrambles back on the sofa.

“We will not hurt you, Sarah,” I promise. “I’m sorry about drugging you.”

“You drugged me? What the fuck? God damn it, I knew it was too good to be true. A ridiculously hot man hit on me then drugged me. Come on, what the fuck? You couldn’t just live with your mother or something?” She seems to be talking to someone else, maybe God, so I ignore it.

“I need information,” I begin, and she laughs hysterically.

“You could have just asked like a normal person,” she snaps. Is it bad that it didn’t even occur to me until she mentioned it? Maybe.

“You wouldn’t have told me. You would have screamed and called the police, and it would have cost precious time,” I reply logically with my hands splayed, showing I’m harmless.

She watches us carefully. “Get out,” she demands.

“I can’t. Please, we just need your flight records for this date.” I show her the date, and she frowns harder, her nostrils flaring.

“Get out before I call the police or worse.” She tries to throw herself over the sofa, so I move quickly and block her, sitting her back down. She slumps, realising she is outnumbered. I can see how terrified she is, but she holds it in check well. She’s brave, this girl.

Very brave.

I hate that I’m doing this too. She is a good person and doesn’t deserve it.

“I should have taken that Italian mobster up on his fake marriage offer,” she mutters. “But no, I had to be independent, and look where it got me.”

“Please, Sarah,” I plead. “You can hate me and call the police, but I need the information. Not for me. For her.”

“Her?” She hesitates.

“My girl. The love of my life. She was on that plane. She was taken. You said you read about men doing everything they can for their love, and that’s what I’m doing. I love her more than anything in this world. She’s my family. She’s my everything. I can’t lose her.” I know my voice cracks, but I let her hear the truth. “Please, Sarah, I just need to know where she went, I have to find her.”

“I’m fucking crazy,” she mutters as she stands and moves over to a small bookshelf I didn’t notice. She roots around for a while before ripping a paper out and handing it to me. “I don’t ever want to see you here again; do you understand me? And if this girl isn’t who you say she is, I hope she hurts you badly.”

“She will, no doubt,” I admit. “She’s crazy like that.” I chuckle. “Thank you, Sarah. I mean it.”

She simply nods, and it’s clear it’s time to leave.

As we head for the door, she calls out, “Reggie, or whatever your name is, I hope you find your happily ever after.”

“So do I, Sarah, and I hope you find yours too,” I reply as I shut her front door and look down at the note. “Ready the plane. We are wheels up. It’s time to get our girl.”

Hold on, baby, we are coming. Just hold on a little longer.