Page 10 of Heartless

He could only imagine the pain and loneliness she must have felt. He rarely went more than a few hours without talking to his wife. A year or so back, Mara and their children had been abducted. Each breath he’d taken until they were returned to him had felt like razor blades slicing into his heart. Olivia had been living with this pain for over two years.

“I’m sorry,” he offered. “I wish you had shared what was going on.”

She gave a halfhearted shrug, and he wondered if she knew how even that little gesture showed the depth of her hurt.

“I was taught that sharing information, especially personal, was tantamount to being a traitor. Stupid, I know, but what you grow up with sticks with you, whether you tell yourself to get over it or not. It always seems to be there, hovering.”

Noah knew that was all too true. It was something he’d fought against his entire life, until he’d met his Mara. She had changed everything for him. Not a day went by that he didn’t know how blessed he was.

Olivia went on, the emotion in her voice almost painful to hear. “Our marriage was over long before Nic disappeared. I didn’t see it for a long time… Didn’t want to see it. Then I… We…” She swallowed hard, gave a quick shake of her head. “Something happened that brought it to a head, making us both realize that what we’d had no longer existed.”

Noah was no marriage counselor. He’d screwed up too many times to even consider himself wise in the way of wedded bliss. But he happened to know someone who excelled in such things. He knew her very well, in fact.

“Will you do me a favor?”

Olivia blinked up at him in surprise. “Of course. If I can.”

“After you called this morning, I thought you might need someone to talk to. I asked Samara to come with me. She’s in the next room. Will you talk with her?”

Her smile gave him her answer before she said, “Thank you for that, Noah, but I have a plane to catch. I’ve got some cleanup to do, and it can’t wait.”

“Of course.”

“I’d like to talk to her at some point, though. Would you tell her that for me?”

“Of course I will. Just let her know when you’re ready.”

“Thank you. And also…I wanted to tell you this…before I left. Working for Last Chance Rescue has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I want to thank you for that opportunity.”

His brow furrowed with concern. “This sounds a lot like a goodbye. Are you resigning?”

“No. Not unless you want me to. I just won’t be able to work any ops for a while.”

“Take as much time as you need. But understand that you are a vital member of our team. I don’t want to lose you. None of us does. We value you, Olivia. Know that, if you know nothing else. You are important to us. Not just as an operative, but also as someone we care deeply about.”

The gleam of moisture in her eyes told him he’d said the right thing. He’d meant every word. Olivia was often harder to read than anyone he’d ever known. Seeing her relief at his words was a revelation.

“Would you explain to the team that I’m just taking a few weeks off for personal business, but I’ll be back as soon as possible?”

“Of course. And let us know if there’s anything we can do.”

“Thank you, Noah. For everything.”

Noah watched Olivia leave with a strange heaviness in his heart. She was about to face her demons, and he knew from personal experience that no matter how hard you fought, sometimes those demons won.

CHAPTER FIVE

Option Zero Headquarters

Montana

Asher Drake sat at the head of the conference room table. The day he’d anticipated and dreaded had arrived. Would it all fall apart, or would they weather this storm as they had so many others? The truth would be revealed very soon, and the chips would fall one way or the other.

As far as he knew, no one suspected what was about to take place. He wished that wasn’t so. Keeping secrets from his team was an abomination to him. The reasons behind the deception were many and varied, but the number one root was the need to keep people alive.

He already knew the team wouldn’t see it the same way—at least not at first. In fact, these people would have a huge problem with the concept. They faced danger on a daily basis. Telling them the deception had taken place for their own good would not go over well. He didn’t blame them. If he had been left in the dark, he’d be mightily pissed, too.

He was prepared for the anger. It should be directed at him—he was a big boy, he could take it. He refused, however, to let it fall on anyone else. He was the one who’d agreed to the deception. Only one other team member knew about it, and that was only by default. He had never intended to involve anyone else. This had been his secret to keep.

---