Page 65 of Gilded Saint

Joy floods my cells, drowning all the negatives.

“Truly, you are. This is what you should do with your life.”

“That’s what Orlando says, but it feels pretty fantastic to hear it from someone else.”

“If I had a sister, I would do everything I could to support her dreams.” He side-eyes me. “Orlando’s young. If he were older, you would’ve had a more potent ally.”

He’s thinking of my situation, where I had few options and needed to beg a stranger.

“What’s your family like?” I want to learn more about him. This might be an arrangement, but we live together. We’re lovers. I’ll never forget him; of that, I’m quite certain. I owe him so much.

“They’re good people.” He crosses his arms over his chest and moves to a landscape painting I did of the sun setting over the ocean. It’s not the modern style I gravitate to, but it was required for my portfolio class. “I need to return to Texas, and they’d love to meet you. Think you can get away?”

“Tell me when.”

Chapter22

Sam, aka Leo, aka Saint

With the office door closed, I flip the lid on the box of burners, pull one out, and dial.

“Jack here.”

“It’s Leo.”

“Hold.”

I drop down on the leather sofa, kicking my bare feet up on the pouf, perfectly situated so I can see if a shadow crosses below the door.

“I’m back. Calling on a Saturday?” Jack asks.

“Need I remind you I work twenty-four-seven and have been doing so for more than five years?”

A grunt crosses the line. He can get annoyed all he wants. I really don’t give a fuck. A click sounds, and I assume it’s a door closing.

“What’s up?”

“I need to coordinate a visit with my Texas cousins.”

“Is this your bride’s idea?”

“No. Nick’s.”

“Why?” He’s right to be suspicious. And concerned. Jack doesn’t want these people anywhere near his family, even his extended family, if things go south.

“He’s looking for updates on some of your most recent product offerings. And he wants me to get a sense of what’s happening on the American sales front.”

“And he’s using the new bride as an excuse?”

“Something like that. I keep telling him it’s an arrangement, but he’s convinced it’s more.”

“Is that right?”

“Showed up for the ceremony to perform as my best man.”

“Nomad left that piece out of the intelligence briefing.”

“If I bring her, you’ll need to get a team on it. When I exit, they might come after her to ask all about who she saw on her Texas trip.”

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