Page 43 of Second Chances

“Flatterer.”

“I was taught by the best.”

We both laugh.

“Was it bad?” I ask hesitantly. Matthew had told me that Ryan may not want to talk about what he’d been through.

“It wasn’t pretty, put it that way, but we saved a lot of innocent girls and brought about the end to a regime whose only interest was exploiting the innocent for money.”

I shift in my seat, so I’m nestled into his chest with the beat of his heart under my ear.

“Did you lose anyone?”

“Nobody who mattered. That’s the most important thing.”

“Good.”

“Ask me about her?” Ryan strokes my hair.

“Her?” I try to play innocent.

“The girl I sent to my mother and father.”

“Who is she?” My words are almost silent.

“Leia, she’s one of the girls we rescued. She has nobody to go to in this country or anywhere else in fact. Her mother, father and brothers may or may not be dead—we couldn’t confirm it. Her grandparents are currently awaiting trial. They were the ones who sold her to the organization I was working undercover to bring down. She was going to be placed into foster care and then eventually adopted if a suitable family could be found. But she’d been through enough. I knew there were two people who would care for her, and when I spoke to mum and dad, they instantly said yes. James pulled a few strings along with one of his friends, who’s the son of the ex-prime minister, and next week, she’ll be my adoptive sister.”

A cold chill washes over me as my mind fills with terrible thoughts about what Leia’s been through.

“Did they…r…” I can’t say the word.

“No, she’s a virgin still, thankfully, but she’s seen enough horrors to last her a lifetime. I’ll tell you more about her story later. Right now, I need to process it all. Her grandfather is every bit as evil as mine was.”

“I’m sorry.” I sit up on Ryan’s lap and press a kiss to his lips to comfort him. “Anytime you want to talk through your job with me you can. I’ll just sit and listen if that’s all you need.”

Ryan kisses me back.

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. I’ve made a decision that being an MI5 agent isn’t for me. It was the right job for the previous Ryan—the one hell bent on revenge and killing as many people as he could. I didn’t have ties to bind me to one place back then, but I do now with my family…you. I could have died out there—enough bullets came close. I don’t want to risk losing everything I’ve found, so you’re officially looking at an unemployed man. I gave in my resignation, handed over the current cases I was dealing with, and that’s it. I’m free.”

“No more license to kill?” I can’t help but try to lighten the mood with a James Bond reference.

“No more license to kill.”

“I wish I could say you shouldn’t have made that decision, but I’m happy you have. I haven’t enjoyed you being away. The worry…not knowing what was happening. I’ve missed you so much.”

I feel myself turning into an emotional sap. Tears pool in my eyes.

“I’ve missed you as well. There wasn’t a day I didn’t think about you. I know whatever is happening between us is moving at a rapid pace, and we should probably slow it down, but I wondered if you’d like to move in with me?”

“Move in with you?” My mouth falls open. I’d not been expecting that question to come from his lips. “You really are going all out with the change.”

“I wasted far too much of my life on revenge. I’m going to take the bull by the horns and just go for it. So what do you say?”

Yes, yes, yes.

My internal Elena is screaming her head off to accept, and I will, but first, I have a question. After all, a girl has to know how her man is going to look after her.

“What are you going to do for a job?”

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