Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
“Izzy, I’m so sorry,” Serena said softly.
Nate blinked and looked away. “I know. ETA five minutes.” He was talking through his radio, and when he finished, he looked at Serena. “Here’s the deal. I’m putting Isabeau on that helicopter in five minutes. I really hope you’re on it.”
She swallowed and glanced back to where Taj was talking to Sergeant Whatever Color. “Even if I wanted to go, which I don’t, I can’t leave him. He doesn’t have his visa yet.”
“Has he started his paperwork?” I asked. “Because if that’s all that’s keeping you here, I can—”
“It’s in process.” She moved forward and cupped both sides of my face. “What did I tell you the first time you asked me not to cover a war zone?”
“That ignoring a situation doesn’t make it better for the people living it.” My throat threatened to close, my body recognizing my defeat before my heart.
“I still feel the same way. Me leaving isn’t going to help these people. The least I can do is bear witness.”
“You’re not coming with me, are you?” My voice broke on the last word.
She shook her head. “I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to quit.”
I pressed my lips between my teeth and fought the immediate burning in my eyes. The very passion I’d always admired about Serena had the potential to get her killed, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
“I’ll give you guys a minute, but that’s all we have,” Nate said quietly before walking toward Taj.
“I won’t be able to come back,” I whispered. “I pulled every string I had to get here, and I have the feeling Nate did too.”
She smiled. “Only you would come searching in the first place, and I love you for it.” Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against mine. “But I can’t leave. Not yet.”
“And if the province falls before your thirty days are up?” I could barely get the words out. “Please tell me you’ll get out before then. I can’t leave you here—”
“I’ll leave if the province falls.”
“Promise me.”
“Promise. I’m not trying to get myself killed. But I’m not leaving Taj. It would be unspeakably cruel to abandon the person who has done so much for me, and he won’t be safe here anymore, not after the work he’s done for me, the work he’s done for our government in the last few years. You know they’ll kill him the first chance they get.”
Hope sprung up in my chest. “I can work on his paperwork. At least I’ll do what I can to push. The State Department is overwhelmed.”
“I appreciate that.” Her hands fell to my shoulders. “Just remember that I’m here because I choose to be. What’s happening is more important than me.”
“Not to me.” I winced. “And yes, I can hear exactly how self-centered that sounds.”
Serena laughed and pulled me into a hug. “I’ve missed you. And no matter what, my assignment is up in a month. I’ll be home before you know it.”
Nate walked by, followed by the remaining operators, but I couldn’t let her go, even when the wind gusted in, somehow hotter than the stifling, stagnant air of the room.
“Stay with Nate,” Serena whispered. “That man has his faults, but there’s nothing he won’t do to keep you safe.”
“And how would you know that?” I found the strength to pull back so I could look at my sister.
A smile curved her lips. “Because I see the way he looks at you. Guess nothing much has changed there.”
I shook my head. “He’s been an absolute ass from the second I got off the plane. The only reason he’s looking at me is because I’m his assignment.” But that wasn’t the entire truth. Feeling his gaze on me, I glanced over my shoulder to see him waiting for me in the doorway, and turned back to Serena. “But there’s been a minute or two that he’s just been . . . Nate. We’re making the best of a really awkward situation.”
“Are you, now?” She retreated a couple of steps, her fingers sliding down my arms until she held both my hands. “If I had to promise that I’d leave if the province falls, then you make me one too.”
“What promise do you want in return?” I gripped her hands and told myself this wouldn’t be the last time I saw her. If I even thought it, I wouldn’t be able to walk away.
“Promise me that you won’t marry Jeremy.” She nudged my ring with her finger.
I blinked. There was no way she knew. “Because he’s Mom and Dad’s choice, or because you’ve never liked him?” She’d made her opinion widely, loudly known the night Jeremy proposed at our family’s very renowned, very well-attended Christmas party.
“No.” Her voice lowered, and her posture softened as she grinned at me like we were back in that apartment in DC and not in the middle of a war zone. “Because I see the way you look at him too.” She glanced meaningfully over my shoulder. “You have no business marrying one man while you’re in love with another.”