Page 109 of Elusive Promise

"You would have had a lot in common," he agreed.

"What do you think is going to happen to you, Jared? I'm surprised no one from your agency spoke to you if they were at the FBI office while you were there."

"I'm not surprised by anything that happens."

"They can't fire you for saving people's lives."

"They can do what they want. It still infuriates me that we didn't bring Isaac in after Paris, after what he did."

"They thought he'd be more valuable spying on the group."

"But he wasn't spying for us. He was playing both sides. April figured that out. That's what she wanted to tell me and why she was killed."

She nodded. "Well, he's not going to hurt anyone else ever again. I know it won't bring April back, but you did get her killer. That’s something."

"And you got Jasmine back to her family. So, you can stop feeling guilty about not saving her the night they took her."

"Let's both stop feeling guilty."

"Deal."

"Now we just have to figure out how to get you back in the good graces of the CIA."

"That one is on me, Parisa."

"What would you do if you couldn't return to the agency?"

"I have no idea. Maybe spend a lot of time riding Barnabas."

"I'm sure he'd like that, but I suspect you'd be bored in under a week."

"Maybe," he conceded. "What about you? Will you return to San Francisco now?"

"My last assignment is done. I was undercover at a tech company, using my language skills to ferret out conspirators in an industrial espionage case. I was able to assist in acquiring enough evidence to bring charges, so that case will move on to the courts. I've been offered a permanent position there, if I want to continue doing what I was doing, which was interesting, but I was getting a little burned out on trying to fake more technical skills than I actually possess."

"What else would you do?"

"There's a job in Los Angeles—also corporate crime—but my friend Bree is there, which would be fun."

"She's one of the Quantico group?"

"Yes. But I'm not sure if that's where I want to be. I also have an offer for an assignment in London. I was supposed to decide on one of those offers by Friday. I was going to spend the week here—shopping, seeing some musicals, hanging out with Damon and Sophie, and figuring out what I wanted to do next—but I got a little distracted."

"That's an understatement. It sounds like you have a lot to think about."

She didn't like the suddenly distant note in his voice. "You're on the list, Jared." She put her hand over his, as she gazed into his mesmerizing eyes. "Last night seems like a long time ago, but I haven't forgotten a single minute of it." She licked her lips. "To be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed by how strongly I feel about you. I could almost call it…love."

"I could, too," he said with a serious smile. "In fact, Iwouldcall it love. It's fast, it's reckless, it's fun—it's everything. I've fallen for you, Parisa."

Her heart swelled with his words. "I feel the same way, Jared. We haven't even known each other a week, but I know you almost as well as I know myself. We're connected in so many ways, at so many levels." She paused, wanting to find the right words. "I don't know how to let you go. And I don'twantto let you go. But I also can't imagine how we can make this work."

He framed her face with his hands. "All that matters right now is that you want to make it work."

"I do. I really do."

"Good. I feel the same way, so let's start there. And we'll see where we end up." He brushed some dirt from her face with a gentle hand. "When that bomb went off, I was terrified, Parisa. I thought I was going to lose you."

"I'm sorry I put you through that. You lost your mom to a terrorist attack, and April the same way. You must have felt like it was happening again."

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