Page 110 of The Last Promise You Made

I had to do it. I had to trust her because she needed me to, but also because I needed to prove that I could.

Chapter Thirty-five

Gia

NEVER HAVE I EVER

Performed by Danielle Bradbery

I could almost feel Ryder’s internal debate wafting through the air. He didn’t want me to do this. I’d said too much about my plan to entice Laredo into taking me somewhere private. I should have known Ryder wouldn’t be thrilled about that scenario, regardless of the strategy behind it. Regardless of the fact that I’d used similar ploys to plant devices in places around the world.

I just had to be prepared for whatever Laredo would have waiting if he already knew who I really was, if the leak in the task force had already given him my real job along with my badge number.

Ryder moved past me, shoving his way through the stack of trunks, stopping at a large rounded one with a heavy, old-fashioned lock hanging open off it. I followed him, looking inside to see a slew of movie props. Swords and a fake holy grail. A shield. Sashes and shoes and bags.

Ryder handed me a red velvet bag. “There’s a tiara in here that Gemma lent the film crew last year. It has a matching necklace, earrings, and a bracelet. It’s all very Art Deco and a bit gaudy, but the large pieces might help you hide a camera.”

I drew out a tiara made of yellow gems and diamond-like crystals. Designed with elaborate scrolls of curves and flowers embedded around the large stones on the front, it fell off to more round diamonds on the sides. It was tastefully small but jewel-studded enough to make a statement. A pair of clip-on earrings with large yellow and white gems dangling down several inches matched the tiara along with a three-strand, beaded necklace and a stunning cuff bracelet.

“These are beautiful—gaudy—like you said, but gorgeous. I’ll figure out how to add a camera to at least one of them and stream the feed to our burner phones.”

I was still uneasy about Ryder coming with me. Every protective instinct in my body had roared to life, determined to make sure he was around for that little girl who desperately needed him. I was terrified I’d miss an opportunity to end this because I was afraid of letting him out of my sight. Alone, I could maneuver through anything. With him… I’d be tempted to watch over him rather than do the job. But also, I needed him to get me in the door.

Worse, I needed another set of eyes at that gala, and right now, I didn’t know who I could trust besides Rory. Not with Enrique and Leland both under suspicion.

“I need one of Scully’s men to go grab my bag from your house,” I told him.

“I’ll call Maddox and see if he can do it.”

How would Maddox feel about me using his brother? I could almost hear him trying to dissuade Ryder as much as I had.

We made our way down the rickety stairs, and I checked on Addy again. My heart swooshed softly, happy to see her still sound asleep, wrapped in the blankets with her stuffed animal and not hiding under the bed. Today had been terrifying, but maybe the love she felt from Ryder…from me…was allowing her to still believe in some measure of safety.

Ryder grabbed my hand, steering me back to the room we’d lost ourselves in for a few minutes, but I pulled away. “If you could call Maddox, that would be great. I want to check in with the officers outside, and I need to make a few calls.”

“You need to rest your voice and get some sleep so you’ll heal.”

It had been so long since I’d let anyone worry about me, care for me, love on me, that it was overwhelming to have it all streaming at me now from Ryder. What was even stranger was that I actually bloomed under the attention, actively craving his concern and love.

I still didn’t know what any of this meant for me going forward. Leland’s words about there coming a time when I’d be willing to give up my job for someone came back to me. I’d scoffed at it, doubted it would ever happen, and now…love had hit me like an overwrite virus, destroying what I’d had and making me start anew.

Except, unlike catching a computer virus, I didn’t feel frustrated or angry. Love wasn’t ugly or vicious. The way it wrote itself on your soul was beautiful. I wanted to keep it rather than scrub it away. Those few moments tangled with Ryder hadn’t been nearly enough. I craved more. I yearned to have those feelings every single day, to wake up with his blue eyes taking me in and his fingers tracing patterns on my skin.

I eased back into Ryder’s space, rose on my toes, and kissed him. Softly. A quiet pledge. A promise I hadn’t been able to say aloud yet. Because what would it really matter if I did say those words? He lived on a ranch in the middle of Nowhere, Tennessee. I lived in Maryland, miles away from NSA headquarters. I traveled the world, and he barely left the ranch. He reveled in being with his family, and I ran from mine in the name of service to a country I wasn’t always sure deserved it.

Unlike Leland giving up fieldwork to stay close to headquarters, I doubted the NSA would let me do even an analyst job from the middle of nowhere.

My emotions were ping-ponging all over the place, and I was desperate to get some control back, to talk to someone who would understand.

I ran my hand along his cheek, the beard a dichotomy of soft and prickly. “Let me do two things, and then I’ll come and rest.”

He brought my hand to his mouth, kissed the knuckles, squeezed, and then turned and walked toward his grandmother’s bedroom.

My heart fluttered. He was trusting me—not only to do my job but to come back to him.

After what Ravyn had done to him, I knew how hard it was for him to do just that.

I promised myself I wouldn’t let him down, even if I couldn’t see the right ending.

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