Page 74 of Between Love and Honor

His breath felt like it was traveling through a straw, he could barely get enough air into his lungs. Dorothy handed the secretary a burner phone.

“She used this,” Dorothy said.

“Hmm.” The secretary examined the phone before waving it in front of Ben. “One of ours.”

No! It couldn’t be. He opened his mouth to argue but the only sound that emerged from his throat was a pathetic wheeze. Both women gave him a pitying look.

“Haven’t you heard the expression if you love someone set them free? If they come back to you, it was meant to be. If not—” The secretary glanced over to Dorothy as if the other woman would complete the sentence. Dorothy shrugged.

The straw was getting smaller because now he was feeling lightheaded.

“Relax,” the secretary added. “I’m sure of all the women you’ve been involved with, Agent Darby is the most capable of taking care of herself. You didn’t really expect her to trust us to ensure her parents’ safety, did you?

Besides, I needed to get word to MI6 she is alive. This was the best way to do it without Ronoff finding out.”

Dots began to swim before his eyes. Hell, yes, he expected her to trust him. Hadn’t they just settled that argument? And still Quinn had slipped away again. He blinked several times trying to focus on the coldhearted, mercenary woman who had practically held the front door open for her. A roaring began in his ears. And then he did something completely out of character. He lunged at the Secretary of Homeland. Fortunately for his career, a pair of strong arms yanked him back.

“Bennett!” Adam shook him. “That’s not how to handle this.”

The damn woman was made of steel because she didn’t even flinch.

“Let me remind you, Agent Segar, that our primary mission tonight is to retrieve the very valuable AI program you lost and to catch a traitor before they sign the death warrant for seventeen people. I’m not here to play matchmaker,” the secretary said matter-of-factly.

He flung off Adam’s hold and tried to regain what little composure he had left.

“Agent Segar,” one of the marine guards said.

“What?” Ben snapped.

“There’s someone at the north gate asking for you.”

His heart leapt into his throat. The secretary had the nerve to raise a delicate eyebrow in an I-told-you-so manner.

“Well, don’t just stand here. Go and get her.” She gestured to the foyer. “We’re going to need all hands on deck if we’re going to pull this off.”

He was jogging down the drive before he realized he had an entourage following him. Adam and Joss were hand-in-hand while Christine shadowed their steps.

Dorothy did her best to keep up. Ben stopped suddenly when he spied Quinn chatting up the Uniformed Division officer manning the gate looking as if she had just returned from a walk in the park.

And holding a damn potted plant in her arms.

“What the hell?”

She turned her head at his words. Apparently she and Secretary Lyle were graduates of the same damn spy school for girls because she wore an identical haughty expression as his boss.

“Is that what I think it is?” a stunned-sounding Josslyn asked.

Quinn’s face broke out in a rapturous smile. “No Serengeti wedding is complete without one. Or in your case, four.”

Josslyn actually squealed beside him. Before she could hug Quinn, however, Ben grabbed the damn plant from her arms and shoved it at Adam.

“Ben,” Quinn objected.

“Not. Here.” He glared at Dorothy. “Sign her in.”

Wrapping his fingers around her wrist, he marched her up the drive and into the West Wing. The marine guard was stoic as they passed him by. He led her down the hall and outside to a narrow path snaking between the Kennedy Rose Garden and the Oval Office. The agents stationed outside the president’s office gave him a wide berth as he towed her toward the private pool area on the White House lawn.

“Ben,” she said again.

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