Page 43 of Kidnapped Forced Mate

“Phew!” I blow out, sliding a hand through my hair in relief. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I’ve come to realize how I feel about the human woman who was meant to be my mate. But I hang my head in utter defeat, knowing that I have made the greatest mistake of my life.

Olivia is gone for good. There is no going back. And when I spot the painting laid out on the bed – the painting of me that remains incomplete – it serves as confirmation of what I already know.

She’s not coming back. Anything that might have reminded her of me, she’s left behind. I’d done the unthinkable, the unrepairable, by lying to her.

Only because I wasn’t being honest with myself.

Because of my own mistakes, I’ve lost the woman I love. I’m not used to it, but this is the one time in my life I have to take accountability for what I’ve done.

I have to accept that my reluctance, to be honest, has cost me the only love I’ve ever experienced. It’s time to finally be a man.

Chapter 18 - Olivia

“What the hell is going on here?” Director Sheffield asks when he bursts into the boardroom upon Agent Matthews’s request.

“I can explain, Sir,” I say as I rise and bow my head curtly to the head of the undercover department.

He huffs and glares at me. “You have a lot of explaining to do, Agent Jackson. The rest of you…” He waves dismissively at the agents in the room. “... Get out. I need to have a word with Miss Jackson in private.”

As Agent Matthews and Agent Hawks leave the boardroom, a shiver of trepidation comes down my spine. My disappearance – my actual disappearance, and not the one we’d staged – had come as a shock to everyone.

But, after doing my homework and leaving no stone unturned before returning to the office, I was able to find that I could still salvage this operation. Thanks to Agent Matthews, of course.

“Sir…” I turn to the director, clasping my hands behind my back and standing at attention with square shoulders. “I know how bad this looks, but I can assure you, we’re still good to go.”

Good to go?” he scoffs disbelievingly. “You were AWOL, Agent Jackson. Disappeared without a trace.”

“Exactly…” I agree with a nod. “I ensured that Luca Mancini would not find me even if he tried.”

“None of us could find you, Agent Jackson. How about that?”

When Director Sheffield plops on a chair, I do the same, calmly taking a seat across from him. He steeples his fingers in front of him, gauging me through narrowed eyes.

I take a deep breath before pleading my case. “Luca Mancini couldn’t find me where he thought he would – but that just strengthens my hold on him.”

Director Sheffield grimaces only because he knows it’s true. Before making my grand entrance back at the office, I met up with Agent Matthews, who revealed how they tried to hold off Luca Mancini when they couldn’t find me. His own search for me led him to the safehouse I was meant to be kept in until he found me.

Everything was going as planned, except I wasn’t there for him to come in and rescue me. This only angered Luca, who agreed to pay a ransom the staged kidnapper demanded, which interrupted his business dealings.

The deal we were meant to intercept hasn’t gone through yet. We still have time to do damage control, and I’m ready to finally put him behind bars.

“You expect me to allow you to continue on this mission after what you did?” he asks with a raised brow.

“I’m asking you to let me bring him in at last.”

“You sound very sure of yourself, Agent Jackson,” he comments.

I nod firmly. “That’s because I am. If I had any doubt before that the Italian didn’t bite the bait, I am sure of it now.”

Every corrupt man in every corner of the world has heard about the disappearance of my alias, Vanessa. Luca Mancini has been caught, hook, line, and sinker, and there’s a manhunt in the underworld to find me.

Once I’m found, he’ll no doubt take me to his villa in Sedona. What we planned for will naturally materialize, and I can pick up where I left off before the dragon shifter picked me up and flew me away from my duties as an FBI agent.

“Fine…” Director Sheffield finally relents. “But I’m keeping a very close eye on you, Jackson. If you don’t get him this next round, I’m putting you back behind a desk.”

“Got it, Sir,” I nod curtly. “You can count on me.”

“I sure hope so,” he sighs discontentedly as he rises to his feet and stares down at me. “Where were you, anyway?”

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