Page 87 of Jael

“She’s the one I worked with before. She wasn’t in that position then.”

“So tell me, what did the deputy director want you to do?”

“She’d heard you’d soon be engaged to Christopher. I was supposed to get close enough to exert influence over the venue for the party.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

She tested his confession by going back over everything that had happened, but he came up short. “Nope. I don’t buy it.”

“It’s the truth.”

“When you turned up at my dad’s place, I wasn’t engaged. And I had no intention at that time of marrying Christopher.”

“Whoever gave her that information obviously knew what a convincing man your dad was. It’s what everyone was expecting. You may not have had it in mind, but your dad definitely did.”

“Okay, let’s say for a moment that I had intended to marry Christopher back then. What makes you think I would turn on my own fiancé?”

“You didn’t need to. All I needed to do was get you in the venue for the engagement party where the FBI could listen in. You wouldn’t have known anything about it.”

Jael stared at the ground as she put the pieces together, trying to make sense of what Danny was saying.

“That’s all you came here to do? Make sure I got engaged and tell me where I should have a party?”

“Basically.”

“But you told me not to marry him.”

“I know. I’ve been trying to find another way.”

“But I still don’t understand how a certain venue gets Artus and Christopher arrested. What if they didn’t talk business?”

“There are other operations in play that would have put pressure on them the night of the party. It was supposed to get them talking so they’d give up incriminating information.”

“Sounds like a long shot.”

“It is. But Artus is so careful, this was the only way they could see of getting to him.”

“So all this ‘caring’ for me that you’ve been doing has all been to get me to choose the right venue to celebrate my engagement?”

“No.” Danny took a step toward her. “I didn’t want to do the job at all. When Deborah came to me, I fully intended to turn her down. That’s not my life anymore. But part of the reason I finally agreed was because I was worried about you. The last thing I wanted was for you to marry Christopher. I’ve been doing everything I can to find a way at Artus that doesn’t involve you.”

“Why? What difference does it make to you?”

“I never stopped caring about you. I know I didn’t act like it, but…that’s the truth. All of it.”

She sagged against her car. Nothing in her life made sense, and even after Danny’s confession, she still couldn’t see a way forward for herself.

“I guess you’re out of luck,” she said. “Not only are you well and truly out of Artus’s circle after what you did to Christopher today, but how can I marry him after what happened? Which means there will be no engagement party, and Vita Nova comes to an end. I have nothing left. Nothing.”

“Then let me help you.”

She wanted to be mad at him for lying to her, but she had to choose her enemies carefully right now.

“You think you can still bring them down?” she said.

“I’ve got another plan in motion, yes.”

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