Page 51 of Ace

He sent emails to some of the major decision makers in this situation, including Gi’s father and his own, to add his last plea for good sense to prevail.

Then he made sure his rucksack was ready to sling over his shoulder before falling into bed. Four hours. His body was trained to sleep on command, and so it wasn’t long before the world went dark around him.

If he had dreams, he wasn’t aware of them. He awoke as though after a power nap, showered, dressed, and then crept through the silent apartment, breathing in all evidence of Gianna in his space. He allowed himself the time it took to walk to the elevator to grieve the missed opportunity. Everything between them had been as close to perfect as he’d ever dared hope. They could have had several weeks of time together to work on their relationship, plan out how to handle the long-distance aspects, to build trust. And really, he had been looking forward to enjoying the woman he loved.

For the first time since he and his team had created Top Flight, he regretted the decision. And he realized up until this point, he’d never had to sacrifice for his career. When he’d started Top Flight, he’d assumed he’d be able to work things out with Gianna, that he’d still continue something long-distance with her and that they would work together on something for the orphanages. Instead, he’d lost touch with her completely, and he’d missed her. But if he walked out on her now, without even a real conversation, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to mend that broken trust. Not after everything else. But he knew what she would say, what she would do, and he didn’t have time for either. And, in his opinion, her presence jeopardized the mission.

With every step, he let his emotions close off until, as he walked across the parking lot, his steps were the clipped ones he’d learned in the military.

He tossed his bag in the trunk, distracted, thinking ahead to what he needed to understand before he landed in Tandora. Movement in his car brought his hand immediately to where a firearm would be as he crouched at the side of his vehicle.

Gianna’s serious expression glaring out the window at him made him blink about five times to reorient his assumptions.

He took a moment to try and swallow down the pounding heart in his throat before he opened his door. “What are you doing here?”

“Just wondering if you’re going somewhere.”

“You obviously know I am.”

“Were you going to call?”

“I left you a note.”

She held up the two lines he’d scribbled. “This doesn’t count.”

“Gi, I don’t have time for this. That’s why the note. Why don’t you call me once I’m out of the parking lot, and we can talk it all through while I make my way to my plane.”

“You’re going back.”

“Yes. Gi, please. Call me.” He waited for her to get out of the car. But he knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

She looked away. Her rucksack was in the back seat. She wore her camo. Her hair was in a ponytail.

“You can’t come.”

“I’m coming.”

“It will make an already difficult situation worse.”

“If I don’t go with you, I’ll be over there on my own ticket. I’m coming.” She crossed her arms.

And he knew he’d lost this first of many battles. Would he win a single one? He doubted it. No. He had to win at least one. She absolutely could not set foot back on Panau until everything was stabilized. He would call in her father if he had to.

He pushed the start button with much more force than necessary and squealed out of the parking garage.

But she said nothing more.

They were in the air before she said another word, and that was simply to thank the crew member who brought her a drink.

Then she settled into a reclining chair and fell asleep.

Dex pulled out his files and opened up his laptop. He spent the remaining hours of their flight getting up to speed on the problems he was about to face. But he was distracted by every shift of Gianna, every breath, and the sight of her in her camo. Did he trust Gianna? Completely. Then why was he not welcoming her into his head? Why hadn’t he just invited her along?

And the answer stared back from all the paperwork.

Because he might have to make decisions for the good of Top Flight, for the good of the Pacific Alliance that would not be the one she would make, and he didn’t want to deal with her reaction. Worse, he didn’t want to see the look of betrayal on her face if he were to support the bombing of a facility on her beloved island. The worst part of that situation would be that her reaction would mirror his own and was part of the sacrifice he was willing to make to do the right thing.

Chapter 19

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