Page 54 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

“Seriously?” I say, shaking my head. “You’ve been able to read my mind since the second I met you. You really don’t know what I’m thinking right now?”

“I think I do,” he says, searching my eyes for further clues. “Are you sure?”

“I guess you’re not going to know unless you ask.” As I stand up to walk toward the gelato stand, he grabs my hand and spins me back around. He takes a deep breath and starts to lower onto his knee—

“Mason!” Both of our heads whip around to see Hawk running toward us. He looks like he’s about to start a firefight right in the middle of this tiny piazza. He stops in front of us and takes a quick deep breath.

“What?” All the gentleness in Mason’s face is gone instantly.

“JJ’s dead.”

My hand flies over my mouth as I try to process the news.

“How?” Mason says. His face is already battle-ready.

Hawk shakes his head slowly. “On a mission. Bryce said he was all over the place—went into a room too early—”

“Did they take the other guys out?” Mason growls as his fists clench tightly.

“They got a few. They’re in pursuit of the others right now. They want us there. We’re wheels up in an hour. I’ve been trying to call you. You didn’t answer. I tracked you here.”

Mason nods his head slowly. “Give me a second,” he says, looking at Hawk.

“You’ve got five minutes. It will take them that long to get the car here.” Hawk takes a few steps back and gets on his phone.

Mason looks down at me, shaking his head.

“Mason, go. I know you have to go. He’s your best friend. Go.”

He puts his hands on my shoulders and looks at me, but I can already tell his mind is somewhere else. “This . . . we can’t do this right now. This isn’t the story I want to tell our grandkids about how we got engaged.”

“I know,” I say, nodding. “I know. Go. We can talk about it when you get back.”

He hugs me tightly. “I told Mack I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”

“Amar and Amina are in custody. And this is Rome. It’s safe. I’ve traveled all over the world by myself. I’ll be fine.” I pause for a second as he squeezes me tighter. “I’m so sorry about JJ. You have to go. Get the people who did this.”

“Mason,” Hawk says, pointing to Butch who’s standing outside a van that’s just come to a screeching halt in front of the piazza. “We’ve got to go.”

Mason leans over and gives me one last soft kiss. “I love you. I’m the luckiest person alive.”

“Nope,” I say, trying to smile. “I’m the luckiest.”

He starts walking backwards to the van. “We can decide later who’s the luckiest.” He’s trying to smile, too. “I’ll call you from the plane.”

We watch each other until he hesitantly closes the van door. After the van speeds off, I hear the little girl laughing behind me. I turn around to see her mother tickling her nose with a daisy she’s plucked from the flower bed next to them. I watch them play for a second before I collapse back onto the bench—sobbing so hard I can barely catch my breath.

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