Page 27 of Daddy's Little Spy

Whipping his head up, he turned his glare on Amara. “Why?”

“She cares for you. And I, despite my better judgement, care about her. I don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”

“It’s a little too late for that, don’t you think?”

With a quiet sigh, she crossed the room and plucked the tumbler from his hand, draining the contents before handing it back to him. “I know. And I’ll be damned if I know what to do about it. Because even if she falls for you and leaves her job to marry you, you’ll have to tell her about the plan eventually. She’s too smart not to figure it out.”

“I know that. Which is why I’m moving the timeline up a bit.”

Shock replaced concern, widening her eyes. “To when?”

“Tomorrow. I’ll lay everything out for her tonight, give her a bit of time to come to terms with everything. Will you ask Emilio to call Father Russo so he can be here sometime in the morning?”

“You only want me to ask because you know he’ll shoot you down.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I just know you’re the braver of the two of us.”

Amara snorted, but the corners of her lips twitched. “I’ll see what I can do. Emilio isn’t going to be happy about this. You know how he gets when the plan changes.”

“I know. I owe you.”

“Yes, you do. Go on, I’ll cover for you with our guests and Emilio.”

Leaning in, he brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Thank you, Amara. You know I love you, don’t you?”

“I know.”

Satisfied she would smooth over his absence with their guests, Benito skirted the party and headed back to his bedroom. But instead of being met with a sweetly sleeping little girl, he found a furious, fully awake woman.

Going purely on instinct, he closed and locked the bedroom door behind him. “You’re awake. I think it’s time we had a talk, Detective Clarke.”

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