Page 22 of Rhys

“So how does a college girl from Nebraska end up getting shot and nearly killed by a hired hitman?”

A humorless chuckle escaped, nearly causing her to choke. “I ask myself that same type of question every damn day.” When he didn’t so much as smile, Vanessa took the hint and got serious once more. “About a year after the crash, I was approached on campus by a man in a suit. He said he was CIA and proceeded to show me a badge and his I.D. He told me he’d been watching me and a handful of other students for a while, and that he believed I had what it took to be an agent.”

“And you believed him?”

“Hell no.” She shot him an incredulous look. “The guy creeped me out, so I left. But he’d given me a business card with a Lincoln, Nebraska address on it. Curious person that I am…”

“You went there.”

“I went there.” She nodded. “And, as it turns out, both the man and the job offer were legit. John Faraday, that’s the guy’s name, became my official handler, and well…you know the rest.”

“Why you?” Rhys challenged. “Of all the students at that college, why did this Faraday fellow choose you.”

“That was the first question I asked once I realized his story wasn’t bogus. John said it was a combination of things. My grades and work ethic were mentioned, as well as my physical aptitude. I was on the university’s track team, you see.”

“Being a fast runnerisa good quality when you’re chasing the bad guys.”

The cheeky comment made her smile. “Or when you’re trying to get away from them.”

“Touché.”

A stretch of silence passed as Rhys took in all that she’d shared. He seemed to believe her backstory, which was good since she was telling the truth. And so far, his attitude about it all had been surprisingly calm.

But it was this next part that had her worried.

“Ask me.”

His dark brows furrowed. “Ask you what?”

“Come on, Rhys. It may have been two years, but I got to know you pretty well during that time.”Personally, intellectually…biblically.“I said I’d tell you everything so let’s have it.

“It?”

Vanessa kept her gaze locked onto his as she continued to hold her aching arm close. “Yes, it. Go ahead. Ask me the one burning question that’s been rolling around in that intriguing brain of yours.”

Dark eyes that gave away nothing stared down at her for so long, she half expected him to say ‘fuck it’ and kick her ass out onto the street. But he didn’t.

Instead, Rhys wiped his mouth with his napkin, tossed it on his plate, and planted the palms of his hands on top of the smooth, shiny granite. With his elbows locked and his focus lasered in on her, he finally acknowledged the giant elephant in the room.

“What were you doing in Kabul?”

5

Ah,there it is.

For the past two years, Vanessa had dreaded this conversation. The moment when she’d have to tell him the whole truth and nothing but while still hoping beyond hope that he’d find a way to forgive her.

And now that moment was here.

“I was sent to Kabul to infiltrate the volunteer aid group I’d joined,” she began to explain. “The Agency had been watching the man in charge, Damon Young, for a couple of months before they sent me in. My objective was to get close to him. Gather proof of his smuggling operation and report back to my people each week. And before you say it, no. My assignment didn’t require me to getthatclose to Young.”

The guy was nearly twice her age, and his romantic interests leaned more toward men than with women. Not that it would’ve mattered. Vanessa had never slept with a target in order to get the intel she was after.

It was a line she vehemently refused to cross.

“How’d you do it?”

“Surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult. Young was stupid enough and cocky enough that he got sloppy. All I had to do was gain his and the others’ trust.” Which she had in record time. “I gathered proof of what he was doing, sent it back to my handler, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

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