Page 55 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

She bit her lip. “I suppose not. Anyway, I’m probably just speaking nonsense due to all the chemicals you keep mixing inside of me. But ... I keep feeling like I should tell you that maybe you have a choice. You know, if you want one,” she quickly added. “I’m not saying I would be your choice.” She blushed. “Obviously, I think you’re a jerk.”

“As you should.” I smiled, although I meant it. I was a jerk, and she was the most adorable creature I’d ever come across. And her words had me thinking things I probably shouldn’t. Did I have a choice to make?

Sabrina pulled away from me, flustered as if she’d said too much. She switched gears. “You still promise me you’re going to keep my sister safe, right?”

“I swear to you.”

“If you didn’t know where Soren was today, how can you be sure? What if he takes my sister and we don’t know?”

It was a valid question. I pulled Sabrina aside, toward a grove of pine trees. In a low voice, I said, “We’ve purposefully kept this part of the mission strictly observational. Someone like Izan who deals with the worst scum of the earth would look for bugs and trackers. We are trying not to arouse suspicion. Although I fear that’s exactly what I’ve done.” Not to say I believed Izan knew who I was working for, but he probably believed I knew more than I should. Most likely he assumed I had ties to organized crime and was monitoring him, trying to steal the diamonds for myself. I did have those kinds of ties, but that was a different alias.

“So, what will you do now?”

“I’ll get some agents in here to observe him twenty-four seven so I can keep an eye on you.” I drew her close and tucked some of her gorgeous auburn hair behind her ear while gazing into her eyes, so full of confusion and longing—so much longing. A desire to watch over her for the rest of my life filled me.

“We should probably get going,” she stuttered. “I have something to do,” she said so vaguely it alarmed me.

“What do you have to do? It had better not be going anywhere near those caves. Promise me you won’t go looking for the diamonds.”

“I promise I won’t. I saw the look in Soren’s eyes today, and I’ve never been so frightened in my life.” She shuddered. “It’s just that I need to get my sister a gift. Do you want to go shopping?” she asked brightly, abruptly changing her tone.

I thought about days with Sabrina at the markets in Bordeaux, perusing every booth and shop without a care in the world, watching her try on silly hats and silk scarves. It was the first time in my life I’d ever felt at peace. I wished I could have captured every moment. Now, gazing at her, I felt the same way. I wanted more carefree days with Sabrina, where all I cared to do was make her smile.

The woman was going to have me thinking about those choices she spoke of. But I wasn’t sure I was brave enough to choose a life with her.

Sabrina

“I’LL BE RIGHT BACK. I want to wrap Lexi’s gift.” We’d just returned to the cottage from a trip downtown, where we’d spent a few hours lazily checking out the boutiques and antique shops like there wasn’t a diamond smuggler running loose at the resort. I’d found the perfect gift for Lexi to enact my secret plan of how to keep track of my sister. I didn’t want to tell Cash about it because I was afraid he would talk me out of it or tell me it wouldn’t work.

But I was more determined than ever to keep my sister safe. Not that tracking her every move would necessarily protect her, but I had to do something. What if Lexi accidentally came across something she shouldn’t and Soren snapped and kidnapped her so he could get rid of her? And I’m not talking about breaking up.

Cash grabbed my hand before I could flit off. “Wait. I have something for you.”

I tilted my head. “Okay.” I had no idea what he could have for me.

Cash reached into a pocket inside his jacket, one where I was pretty sure he kept a gun, and pulled out the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It was the gold filigree necklace made in the 1820s with chrysoberyl gemstones that I’d admired at the antique store in their rare finds section. It cost over $4,000.

I blinked and dropped the bag I was carrying, stunned to see the necklace dangling from his fingers. “Cash,” I stammered. “I can’t accept that.”

“Please,” he implored. “I saw you admiring it, and I can’t imagine a better place for it than around your gorgeous neck.”

“It’s too expensive.”

“Sabrina, I have more money than I know what to do with.”

Huh. I’d never thought about how much money a spy might make. Sure, in France I’d just assumed he was wealthy, given the way he dressed and his penchant for fine food and wine, but we’d never discussed his finances. I didn’t care how much money he made.

“But you should give that kind of gift to someone, you know ... someone you ... see yourself having a future with,” I couldn’t help but say. For some reason, I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut around him. I already felt stupid for basically throwing myself at him after our run-in with Soren, when I thought Cash might have died. I realized how crushing that possibility was to me and how much I still felt for him.

Cash reeled me in with his eyes and a slight tug of his hand. It was unfair how easily he captivated me. “Sabrina,” his gravelly voice said my name so well. “In my line of work, I never know what the future holds, but right here and now, we’re together, and I want you to have this.”

I stared at the beautiful necklace, wishing I could accept it, but it felt wrong to do so when I knew we probably didn’t have a future together. “Cash, I love the necklace, but I want more than pretty reminders of you.” There went my mouth again. Or was that my heart?

His face fell, and the necklace almost slipped out of his fingers before he grasped it and clenched it in his fist. “Sabrina,” he groaned. “You know I can’t promise you anything.”

“I know.” I pulled away from him, my dumb heart breaking. Hadn’t I told him I would loathe every second of being with him? I was such a liar.

“Please, take it,” he begged.

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