Page 10 of Marrying a Spy

Noah squinted again, which Sophia was beginning to realize meant he had more that he wanted to say. She cleared her throat. “What?”

“I need to earn his trust,” Noah said.

Sophia studied him. This was getting ridiculous. Noah knew she had nothing to do with James. Why did he keep pushing it? “Okay. Well, I’m not sure how you plan on doing that.”

Noah shifted his weight as he shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Well, actually, we were thinking…” His jaw clenched as his voice trailed off.

Growing frustrated, Sophia said, “Just spit it out.” She met his gaze with as much strength as she could muster.

Noah grabbed her hand.

Tears pricked her eyes as a memory from ten years ago rushed through her mind. They’d been here before. And he’d broken her heart days later.

She felt her hand start to shake as the word no rushed through her mind.

But before she could say anything, he parted his lips.

“I need you to marry me, Sophia.” He extended his hand, and resting on his palm was a diamond ring.

She stared at it and then back up to Noah. Was he serious? What the heck was happening?

“What?” she whispered. She had to have misheard him. The ringing in her ears was too loud.

He sighed as he glanced at her. “It wouldn’t be for real. Just until I talk to your dad. But we need a plausible reason for him to come out of hiding.”

Now she was really sure she’d heard him wrong. “We…hiding?”

Regret passed over his face. “There’s something you don’t know about me.” He glanced back and forth. “I work for the CIA. I’m a spy.”

She stared at him. There was no way she’d heard him correctly. “A what?”

“A spy. I work for the CIA,” he repeated.

Suddenly, she was thankful that she was leaning against the tree. If he worked for the CIA and was looking for her father, what did that mean? “A spy,” she said.

He nodded.

“When? Why? How?” So many questions were racing through her mind. How was Noah—Noah—a spy?

“I didn’t start out that way. I joined the military and did well. From there, I became a pararescueman. I was recruited to the agency about two years ago.” Just as the last words left his lips, he winced.

She watched his expression, wondering what that meant. Did she want to know? Maybe, but she knew better than to ask. “And my dad?”

He glanced over at her and furrowed his brow as if he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the truth. And maybe she wasn’t. But she’d spent so much of her life in the dark when it came to her dad that perhaps it was time to walk into the light.

Noah sighed. “He works for a major money launderer. His boss moves money for some very dirty people overseas.”

Sophia wanted to throw up. She couldn’t believe it was true. But Noah looked like he was being honest, and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t come all the way back just to tell her lies.

“So why do we need to get married?”

“I’m hoping that if he sees your announcement, he’ll come. Then I can speak to him.” Noah scrubbed his face. “If I can gain his trust, maybe I can get close to the guy he’s working for.” Sophia furrowed her brow, but Noah shook his head. “It’s best if you don’t know the details.”

She hesitated, not sure if she liked that answer. Then she shook her head. This was ridiculous. “There has to be another way,” she said, turning to studying the bark behind her. She ran her fingers up and down its rough ridges.

Noah sighed. “Anything else would take too long. We need to act now.” From the corner of her eye, she saw him run his hands through his hair. “I don’t expect this to be easy, but there’s more at stake here than our broken past.”

Tears pricked her eyes. Broken past. They had a lot more than that. She blinked a few times, praying that she wouldn’t cry. “What if I can’t?”

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