Page 80 of No Mistake

“Sorry.”

“Don't apologize. I love seeing you this happy, and Ryan seems like a really nice guy.”

“Oh, he’d love to hear you say he’s nice. I’m not sure that’s quite the adjective special operators go for.” She could think of quite a few adjectives to describe him and none of them were “nice.”

“Maybe I should get him to introduce me to the rest of the team. Are any of them single?”

“Chloe, can you work on getting better first?” Sophie rolled her eyes, then stifled a yawn.

“Someone keep you up last night?” Chloe beamed.

“I couldn’t sleep, worried about you.”

“Yeah, right. I’m sure you couldn’t sleep, but it had nothing to do with me. Look, call him and go home. You’ve been here for hours. I’m good to have some time alone. In fact, I'd like some. I’m going to call Kings Medical, check in with them, let them know when I’ll be back, and call some of my resident friends.”

“I can stay while you make the calls,” Sophie said, although the thought of going home with Ryan was very tempting.

“You can come back tomorrow. They said I’ll be here for another couple of days, so make the most of your place before I get released and take up root in your spare room for a while.”

They had agreed Chloe would stay with her until she felt ready to go back to work.

Sophie hesitated. It didn't feel right leaving.

“Sister, please go. For me. Text him.”

She didn’t need any more encouragement. She texted Ryan to say she was ready to leave. His response was immediate.

Be there in ten. We’ll be home in twenty and you’ll be naked in twenty-one.

Ryan’s timeline was very accurate. After being taken to heaven three times, she and Ryan finally decided it was time for some food. It was almost nine at night. Not the best time to make dinner, but they’d worked up an appetite.

Between them, they made a simple pasta dish and sat at her kitchen island to eat it, sharing a bottle of wine. Share was a stretch as Ryan had nursed one small glass.

“So...” Sophie spoke between bites. “I wanted to ask about this whole protection thing. Chloe is doing well and I need to think about going back to work.”

“Do you know when Chloe is getting discharged?”

“Hopefully in the next couple of days. She plans to stay here for a bit.”

“Good idea. We’re hoping to hear very soon that Perez is back on Mexican soil. After that the protection can be relaxed.”

“What if he comes back?” Sophie had been worrying about that. Ryan took her hand, gave it a squeeze.

“Not going to happen. It’s a situation we will be taking care of.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he will not get away with what he did. My boss, FBI, will make sure of it.”

He let go of her hand and carried on eating.

“So your team are going to go after him?”

“Most likely, yes. That’s the sort of thing we do.”

Sophie was reminded of just how dangerous his job could be. As much as she admired what he did, it also sickened her to think of him deliberately going after men like Ricardo Perez.

“Hey, don’t look so worried.” Ryan set down his fork, having finished. “I am very good at what I do.” He winked.

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