Page 85 of The Spy Ring

TWENTY-NINE

Tiffany

“What a view,”Evaleen said standing next to me as we looked out over Lake Michigan. The water was a beautiful tropical blue and dotted with white sailboats.

I frowned. “Gorgeous. But, Henrik always did have great taste. Too bad he doesn’t live here anymore.”

“But Dixon does.” She nudged my shoulder with hers.

I nodded. It should be a happy day, full of smiles yet everything felt like dry toast. Henrik managed to find another place for the wedding, which happened to be his old condo that had a spectacular view of Lake Michigan. Aria was more than happy to help out, as she was the one who currently owned his old place.

“Yup. She sure does. Kudos to her,” I said leaning my head on the glass before taking a deep breath.

“Hey. What’s wrong?” Evaleen’s placed her hand on my back.

“Jagger. I made a mistake. He wasn’t the man I thought he was.”

Not that I knew much about him until two days ago. That should have been clue number one. A man who refuses to let you inside until after you’ve fooled around with him, that’s not a good sign.

“I drunkenly married him in Vegas and he took a month and a half to inform me about it. Then he lied about being a physical therapist, taking advantage of me and my son. As if that wasn’t enough, Jagger spied on me. Like, he actually planted listening devices inside of my apartment. All to gather information so he could lure me in to bed.” I rubbed my neck.

Evaleen sighed. “You found out about him spying on you?”

With tremendous surprise, my breath caught and for a moment I couldn’t speak.

I lifted my head, shaking out a cough. “You knew?”

She nodded. “I can’t tell you much, but just know that I’ve spoken to his old partner a few times. Jagger is a good guy. He really is, but he fucked up. He knows it, I know it, and everyone can agree to that.”

“What do you mean you can’t tell me? Did he swear you to secrecy?” My ears burned with anger and wonder, that so many people, friends I trusted, were deceiving me.

“No, it’s not that. He doesn’t even know that I found out about it.” She took a deep breath, glancing around the room before leaning into me, “I took a job recently. Nothing super-secret like Jagger, but it is with the government.”

My head went back as I let her words sink in. “Does Edgar know?”

She nodded.

“Okay, I won’t ask you anymore about it. But you are right about Jagger, he did fuck up,” I groaned.

“Fear is a powerful thing. It can cloud judgment and make people do crazy things, believing that what they’re doing is for the best.” Evaleen stared out at the view for a moment as she pursed her lips.

“I guess that’s true.” A warmth crawled up my neck as memories of me trying to talk David out of the surgery that ultimately gave him the ability to walk and communicate with greater ability.

I was scared. There was a risk he wouldn’t make it and I couldn’t take losing him too. And when he fell into a coma after the surgery, I feared the worst. I said and did things during that time that I regret. Glancing over at Edgar fixing Henrik’s bowtie, I can’t help but think how I almost ruined Henrik’s chance with Morgana. All because my fear allowed me to assume the worst in everything.

“This is your life and you have David to think about, but I really wanted you to know that one bad action doesn’t make the man,” Evaleen said.

She was right, but Jagger went too far. What he did wasn’t just creepy, it was an invasion of privacy. I was about to explain that to Evaleen when Aria came up behind us.

“I think Morgana needs you, Evaleen,” Aria said.

They went off to the back bedroom where Morgana was finishing getting ready or as Aria put it, “being held.”

I turned toward the guys and smiled at the skinny one with a mop of brown hair sitting on one of the white fold out chairs in the front row. His long fingers fidgeted with something in his hand.

The place was cleared of Aria’s furniture and filled with people sitting in folding chairs, excited chatter, and flowers. Henrik, Edgar, and the minister stood in front of the massive stone fireplace that was in the corner of the room. I moved closer and sat next to David.

My breath caught in my throat at how handsome my son looked.

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