Page 70 of Heartless

“I’m sorry, Livvy. I shouldn’t have left you like that.”

“It was the job. I understood.” Her eyes flitted away from him as she added, “I just really needed you, and you weren’t there.”

“Is that why you decided what you did?”

“Yes and no. I thought we would have time to talk about it. I thought once I explained everything, you might not be totally on board with it, but that you would eventually agree. It didn’t work out the way I’d planned.”

“Not for either of us.”

He drew her into his arms and closed his eyes at the way her body molded against him as if she were made for him. Every soft part filled his hard angles.

“I know I’ve already apologized for this, but I have to say it again. I’m sorry for what I said, for the way I handled it, babe. It was the worst thing to say. I didn’t mean it.”

“I know that.”

“I wish I had held you in my arms and comforted you. I wish I could change so damn much, Livvy.”

Her smile was sad. “I know that, too.” She let out a little puff of air. “I knew telling you I was pregnant would be difficult, but I thought we would get through it. I knew we might argue, but I thought we would talk it out like we used to. I didn’t know it would destroy us.”

Hawke held her even tighter. He had plenty of regrets in his life, but how he’d behaved that day would always be number one.

“I wish I could make things right again.”

Her eyes roamed over his face. What she saw made her back away from him. Hawke dropped his arms to his sides.

“You haven’t changed your mind,” she said softly.

He didn’t want to hurt her, but neither could he lie. “No, I haven’t.”

Taking a deep breath, she said, “Then I think you should go. There’s nothing more for us to talk about.” She turned away from him and went back to the plans for the op. “Nothing other than business.”

“I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Wait.”

His hand was on the doorknob, but hope leaped within him as he turned back to her. “What?”

“I’ve watched Iris’s interview a dozen times over the last couple of days.”

Pushing aside the crushing disappointment, he asked, “You saw something?”

“Heard something. Do you remember when Iris said we should look for the traitor among the surviving members of the team?”

“Yes. Why?” Confused, he shook his head. “I don’t for a moment believe Mack, Deacon, or Trevor betrayed us. Do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“What if she was referring to another survivor?”

“You mean Rio or Layla?”

“Yes.”

“We both identified Rio’s body, and I ID’d Layla’s.”

“We identified a body in Mexico. He was wearing Rio’s ring, had an identical tattoo and similar features. Those things can be faked.”

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