Page 106 of This Moment

Mark laughed. “CIA doesn’t deal with this kind of stuff, at least the department I work in doesn’t. I’m more of the go-and-save-the-day kind of agent.”

I raised my brow. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”

He slapped me on the side of my arm. “I’m glad everything is working out for the best, and you’re back safe, Cadie.”

She smiled. “Me too. Now what?”

Mark glanced over his shoulder and then back to us. “They’ll keep at least one agent here with you until the trial ends. Don’t expect it to be over quickly, though. It could take some time to get Bellucci convicted.”

“How will this work? Will they just follow me around all the time?” Cadie asked.

“They’ll try not to make it look obvious, but yeah. You’ll have an agent with you pretty much at all times.”

“I think we should look for a house and not stay at the cabin,” I said as I looked from my brother to Cadie.

“That’s probably a good idea. You could just stay here,” Mark stated.

“No, I don’t want Mom and Dad to learn about this.”

Mark nodded. “I agree.”

“But all of my furniture I bought. I’ve barely used it,” Cadie complained.

I shrugged. “We’ll just move it to a new place. I mean, that’s if you want to move in together.”

A wide smile grew across her beautiful face. “I would love that.”

Turning to look straight at Mark, Cadie asked, “Wait, does this mean I can contact my family now?”

He smiled. “Yes. I would try to keep it simple though. Don’t tell them too much, like where you are…just yet.”

She exhaled. “Okay. But I can call them?”

Nodding, Mark replied, “Yes, you can.”

Spinning to look at me, a wide smile broke out onto her face as tears started to form in her eyes. I had to fight the urge to pull her to me and kiss her.

Mark clapped his hands. “Now that everything is settled, I need to leave and get back to my team.”

Facing my brother, I held out my hand. We shook, and I pulled him to me. “Be careful, Mark.”

He hugged me for just a second longer than usual. “I will, big brother.”

When we stepped apart, Cadie hugged Mark. “Thank you for everything. Please stay safe, okay?”

“I will.” He kissed her on the forehead and then flashed us a brilliant smile. “I’m going to go let Lucas know I’m leaving. Kiss Macy and the kids for me?”

“Will do.”

My brother turned and walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Cadie put her hand on my arm and squeezed it. “He’s going to be okay.”

I let out a breath. “I hope so. A part of me wishes I didn’t know what he really did for a living.”

“I can totally understand that. But he’ll be safe. I, um…I should get to the bakery.”

Spinning around, I looked at her. “What? Cadie, you’ve been through so much this morning. Besides, it’s after three and closed.”

“I know, but we have so much baking to do. And honestly, Kian, I feel happy when I’m at the bakery. Calm.”

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