Page 132 of Shadow Operative

“Thankfully, it won’t be.”

They paused on the corner and listened to a lone ukulele player strumming and singing “I’m Yours” on the other side of the street.

Nia’s thoughts whirled as she tried to find the words to say. Where did she even start? Before she could, Gage spoke up.

“Why were you acting strange this morning?” Gage studied her face, searching for answers. “Was it because of the kiss?”

“Yes.” She paused and shook her head, resignation pressing on her and tugging at her features. “I mean, no.”

“Well, which is it?” He continued to study her face, confusion in his gaze.

Nia let out a soft breath as she tried to explain. “The truth is someone sent me a photo. Of you.”

“Of me?” Confusion flashed in his eyes.

She licked her lips, which suddenly felt dry. “You had a gun, and you held it to a woman who looked terrified. The thing is, I thought I knew who Mario was, but I didn’t. It’s been my fear that will happen again. That I’llbe tricked and feel like a fool. So when I saw that photo . . .”

“I don’t know who sent that or where they got it.”

“Graham said the men who wanted to buy that app . . . that they somehow had access to it. That they seemed to know who you were.”

A shadow flickered across his gaze. “Is that right?”

“You know who might have sent it?”

He offered a stiff shrug. “There are several people it could have been. I’d need to narrow it down.”

She nodded slowly. “I see.”

There was so much she still didn’t know about him.

“Can I see the photo?” he asked.

Nia nodded and found it on her phone. She watched Gage’s face as he stared at it. She wanted to see surprise. To hear denial.

Instead, Gage looked off into the distance and frowned. “That’s a real photo.”

“What?” The word came out in a rush of breath.

Gage nodded toward a park in the distance. “I know you need to go visit your sister in a moment. But can we sit down and talk for a minute?”

“Of course.” Nia braced herself for whatever he had to say.

Gage felt butterflies in his stomach.

And heneverfelt butterflies. Everyone told him he hadnerves of steel.

But not right now.

He led Nia to a bench facing the water, and they sat down.

It took him a moment to find the right words. There was so much he wanted to say. So much he couldn’t say.

“That photo was from a top-secret assignment I did,” he finally started. “I know the woman in the photo looked innocent, but she was actually married to a powerful terrorist leader.”

“She looked so scared.”

“Shewasscared. I didn’t shoot her. We turned her, actually, and she began to give us information on her husband and his exploits. Because of that, some major attacks were thwarted. Innocent lives were saved. The photo looks violent, but there was so much more to it than that.”

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