Page 42 of Their Virgins Secret

“Burke? Is there anything I can do?” Hilary asked. “You must be so tired. I can make reservations for dinner. You need to eat. ”

Burke shook his head. “No, thank you. Not hungry. Get us back on a plane to Colombia. ”

Hilary’s eyes widened, her lip forming a pout. “But you just got here. Burke, your wounds aren’t completely healed. ”

A cold professional mask slid across Burke’s face. Cole was fairly certain that his own mirrored that desolation. “Give us a moment. ”

Hilary nodded reluctantly and walked out of the room.

“I want to go to New York,” Cole blurted.

“What would it prove? And according to that report, she’s moved. ”

“I want to lay eyes on this fucker. What’s his name?” Cole demanded.

Burke’s laugh was humorless. “Angus. He’s from Scotland. ”

She’d married someone named Angus? “She can’t be serious. We’ve got to go. ”

They could talk to her, force her to tell them just why she’d promised to wait when she’d obviously had no intention of being there when they came home.

Fuck, he still loved her. He didn’t want to let her go, but he couldn’t bear to see her with this man who had replaced them in her heart. He couldn’t see a ring on her finger and know he hadn’t put it there.

“We can’t go, Cole. ” Burke scrubbed a hand over his hair. “She never called. ”

“We didn’t call her, either. ” He regretted that fact on a daily basis, but it had been too dangerous.

“When were we supposed to call, man? We’ve been deep undercover for months. We have to face facts. She didn’t love us. It’s over. Fuck. ” Burke turned away. He stalked to his desk and picked up the phone. “Rafiq al Mussad, please. Yes, tell him this is Burke Lennox, and he needs to call me soon. We’re heading back to Colombia soon. We need to meet with him. ”

Cole stared out his window. Miles separated him from Jessa, but even if she stood in front of him now, he wouldn’t be able to reach her.

His future was over. He needed a drink.

Burke continued to make plans, but Cole could see the rest of his life mapped out in a neat plan. Fight. Fight. Die. Alone. Maybe he would save a few people, but the only woman who could have saved him was lost.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Present Day – Dallas, Texas

Cole watched Jessa, his every instinct on overload. She was thinking something, up to something. She glared at him, then paced the small room, her feet padding across the floor in a quick step that told him all about her anxiety—and her anger.

Of course she was angry. In her head, they had lied, but it hadn’t really seemed like a lie at the time. It had been a cover. They went undercover enough that it was just part of the job.

But this particular cover had blown up in their faces. Burke could be as optimistic as he wanted. She wasn’t coming back. Not now that she’d decided what they really were.

Mercenaries.

He hated that fucking word. It sounded selfish, made them seem like men who sold their services to anyone with cash, who used their power and strength, no matter the cause and no matter who got hurt. That wasn’t him, but he wouldn’t be able to convince Jessa. Did he even deserve a chance to try at this point? He sighed. And how would their son regard them when he got older, grew up?

“So, how long do you expect me to live in a swamp?”

Cole watched her pace, her hands clenching and unclenching. She was ready to explode, and he was going to let her. Maybe if she bled off some of her tension naturally, he wouldn’t be tempted to throw her onto the bed and force orgasms on her until she relaxed. He liked that plan much better, but she didn’t want him. Uncle Martin had been right; he wasn’t good for anything. No one would ever love him.

Burke crossed his arms over his chest and stared straight at Cole. “Well? Don’t you have some caveman comeback to that one?”

Cole just shook his head.

“Not a single word?”

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