Page 64 of The Angel and the Agent

“What’s that?”

“Resist the temptation to confess or break up over the phone. You’re five thousand miles away, and he’s been going out of his mind with worry over you. Be soft, be gentle, and tell him face to face when you get home.”

“That’s good advice,” she conceded. “Maybe you should write a book:How to Break Up With Your Boyfriend, One Man’s Guidance for his Wife.”

“Pretty sure I’m the last person who should be doling advice, dating, marital, or otherwise.” He dialed the phone and sat back, blatantly eavesdropping.

“Taking a page from Jones’s book, are you?” she asked.

He grinned and spoke in an exaggerated Aussie accent. “One time I knew this bloke who got a phone jammed in his…”

“Hello, Amelia, is that you?” Piedmont asked. She had instructed Ethan to dial his private line, the one he kept on reserve for friends, family, and her.

She turned her back to Ethan. “Hi.”

“Oh, my…are you okay? I can’t tell you how worried I’ve been. Hold on, I have to sit down. I think I might pass out. Okay. Are you all right? Please tell me you’re all right.”

“I’m fine, honestly,” she assured him.

“Amelia, I am so, so sorry. If I’d realized how credible the threat was, I would have had the security team start immediately. They assured me there was no way they could get to you.”

“Piedmont, stop, please. It’s really not your fault.”

“Yes, it is,” Ethan hissed. She waved him away.

“These have been the worst few days of my life,” Piedmont wailed. Amelia closed her eyes.These have been the best days of my life,she thought, shocked. How could she think that when it had been nothing but constant danger? She glanced at Ethan.Oh, that’s how.

“When you get home, promise me we’ll have a conversation about us,” Piedmont demanded.

“I promise,” Amelia said, the weight of guilt hanging like a stone in her gut.

“Take care and, Amelia, I love you.”

She hung up without saying another word and sat stock still, the phone cradled in her lap. Ethan eased forward and took it away from her, setting it aside. Then he pulled her close and hugged her, and that was when the dam burst and she cried.

“I’m the worst person in the world,” she wept.

“Of course you’re not. It’s a really big world,” Ethan said.

“Do not tease me about this,” she pled.

“I’m sorry, but how can I feel bad when his loss is so much my gain?” he asked, his arm smoothing gently up and down her spine.

“What’s even the point when you don’t want anymore than these few days?” Finally, she broached the question that had been weighing on her.

“You said time wasn’t a factor. You said however long we had together would be enough, that it would be special and unique because we would have loved more in the short term than most people do in a lifetime.”

“What are you, a human tape recorder?” she asked, pushing at his chest in irritation.

He pulled her back again, holding her close and pinning her arms when she tried to squirm away. “We have tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. Let’s enjoy them for what theyare. If you will give me that much, I swear to you we’ll have fun and you won’t regret it. Will you?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. “But I feel gross, enjoying ourselves on Piedmont’s dime.”

“So do I. That’s why I put the hotel on my credit card,” he said.

“You did?” she asked.

He nodded. “The rest of the trip is on him. Itishis fault you’re here, his case, his failure to warn you, to properly protect you. But this part, this is for us, this is ours.”

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