Page 104 of The Billionaire's Wife

“I have permission from Ms. Reid to approach you. She said she was going to get in touch to let you know.”

Tristan frowned, but he reached into his pocket and drew out his phone. He tapped at the screen then tipped it so I could see the text from Allison. “Okay. Speak.”

“Could we—”

“No.” Tristan cut the man off. “You’ve caused us a lot of problems, and my wife is just getting home from the hospital and needs to rest.”

Special Agent Orbison sighed, but he nodded. “All right. The FBI would like to officially apologize for the inconvenience they’ve caused. We’ve dropped all legal proceedings and have launched an internal investigation surrounding some of the actions that were undertaken.”

I waited.

The FBI man didn’t seem to be in a hurry to say anything else. Nor did Tristan.

I eased out from behind Tristan. “That’s it?”

Special Agent Orbison had the grace to look chagrined. “Unfortunately, that’s all I’m officially allowed to say. Unofficially…well, Special Agent Blake was working a sideline with the Russian mafia. He was hoping to get in with the Ortegas to broker information to the Russians. And the FBI. When you pulled out, he saw his chance to win disappear. I guess he’d made some promises that the Russians were definitely going to collect on. I’m still not clear why he thought murdering Ms. Clarke would fix anything. I’m not sure he could explain himself. He was desperate and stupid. And the FBI missed all of this. I missed it. Which makes me culpable as well. I’m sorry.”

I mulled those words and looked at Tristan. “You’re saying Special Agent Blake ran me down?”

Special Agent Ortega looked pained, but his nod belied his next words. “I’m not officially saying that.”

Tristan snorted.

“I’m so, so sorry. I trust my people. I feel like I have no choice but to do that. And usually they don’t let me down.” The FBI man’s shoulders slumped. “Usually.”

After a moment, Tristan nodded. “So we’re clear?”

“Yes. With our apologies. Official. And my own, besides. I realize none of that makes up for the turmoil that we added to.” The man actually looked like he cared.

I slipped my hand into Tristan’s. Maybe I should be angrier than I was about it, but if it meant an end to all of the drama, I was okay with letting it go. “It’s all right. Thank you for coming to tell us in person. You could have easily let the lawyers handle it.”

Special Agent Orbison’s smile flashed briefly, then disappeared. “That was the agency’s recommendation. I felt I owed you more than that. I wish you both the best.”

We stood by the elevator and watched as he climbed back in his car and drove off.

I sagged against Tristan.

He slid his arm around my waist. “Are you okay?”

“I’m tired and I’m ready for us to go home. Our home.”

Tristan looked down at me and the love in his eyes made my breath catch. I definitely needed rest. But maybe after that, well, there were some beautiful perks to being married to the love of your life.

EPILOGUE

Tristan

New Year’s Eve

The main floor of Peacock Hill was awash in gold and silver balloons, twinkling lights, and gleaming wood. Noah had looked as though he was going to swallow his tongue when Jenna came down the impressive staircase toward him earlier in the evening during the short but moving wedding ceremony.

And now?

I picked up two glasses of champagne from the table where it flowed from a fountain and servers filled flutes to load trays, then scanned the crowd for my wife.

My wife.

Since November, Faith and I had been getting used to living together. We worked well as a team—except when we didn’t. I smiled. I didn’t mind fighting with her when necessary. Making up was awfully fun, too.

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