Page 54 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

She clung tighter to me. “Do you regret kissing me that day on the street?”

The timing of her question was unexpected. “No, but I still shouldn’t have done it.”

“But you did, and you’re here now, and this doesn’t feel like pretend to me.”

“Sabrina. I’m not pretending, but I meant what I said last night. I don’t get the happy ending.”

“Why did you come, then? I don’t want to believe it was just so you could use me to get to Soren. Are you just using me?” she begged to know.

“Yes ... no.” I begged myself to lie to her. It would be easier and cleaner that way. It was what I was supposed to do.

“Then why?”

I closed my eyes and sighed, a battle raging inside me. But I couldn’t do my job and lie to her. “Because I needed to make you safe.”

She snuggled in closer. “I wanted to make you safe today too.”

I stroked her silky hair, my chin resting on her head. A breeze whipped around us as if to remind me that trouble was stirring. What had I done? “Damn emotions.”

“I knew you had some,” she laughed.

“Sabrina, I shouldn’t.”

“That’s not true.”

“There’s no room for relationships in my line of work. Look at the danger I’m putting you in. I can’t continue to bring you into this.”

“I’m already in deep, and I think I know where the diamonds are,” she murmured against my chest.

Astonished by her declaration, I leaned away. “Where?”

“The underground caves that run for miles around here,” she whispered.

I thought for a moment. “It would make sense for him to hide the diamonds in his room, keeping them close by. But it doesn’t seem logical to hide them in the caves when he typically lives on Emerald Isle. What would his reasoning be? And how could he secure them down there?”

“I don’t know, but he clearly just got back from the caves, and that’s where he and Lexi met, and she said he told her that meeting her there was better than finding buried treasure. Maybe he was being literal. There are several tales and legends about outlaws and even pirates burying ‘treasure’ in the caves or even hiding out in them. Maybe he liked the idea of adding to the legend, or maybe he thought it would be the last place someone would look for the diamonds. The cave system is complex, and there are plenty of hiding spots in it. And he didn’t take his phone with him today and refused to give me any recommendations on the best places to go spelunking.”

“You make some valid points,” I conceded, although it seemed illogical and out of character for someone like Izan, who had gone to such great lengths for his “treasure.” I couldn’t see him being comfortable with the idea of being separated from the diamonds. Unless he was keeping them in multiple places, which was always a possibility. “If nothing turns up on Emerald Isle, I’ll have a team start searching the caves.”

“We could start our own search,” Sabrina suggested.

“Absolutely not.” I shut down that train of thought. “If he really is hiding the diamonds in the caves, you are staying as far away from there as possible. If he found out we went anywhere near them, it would only further rouse his suspicion, and who knows what he would do. This man has no conscience. Do you understand that?” I said as bluntly as I could to make sure I got my point across.

She gravely nodded.

“With that in mind, you’re not leaving my sight from here on out.”

“Do you mean ever?” Her voice cracked with every emotion I’d hid from or suppressed throughout my entire life.

Her words rendered me speechless. Did she have any idea what she was asking?

“I know you say you’re not supposed to get a happy ending, and maybe you wouldn’t even consider me a happy ending.”

She was wrong there.

“I don’t know what I’m saying,” she continued. “I don’t even know your real name, but I can’t forget our time in France. As crazy as it sounds, it felt as if I really knew you—the real you. Just being with you again, it’s, well ... I don’t know what to say. I guess what I’m saying is, Jack Ryan had a wife and family, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married.”

I chuckled. “Those movies aren’t real life.”

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