Chapter Twenty-Six
Sabrina
“IS THIS NORMALLY HOW YOU do stakeouts?” I snuggled my back against Cash, who was holding me from behind while he used his fancy night-vision goggles to spy on my parents’ house. We stood on the perimeter of the cozy campsite we’d created on the other side of the lake, nestled in a dense cluster of towering pine trees. Seriously, after this, no one could say I was boring—I was starring in my own freaking spy movie with the most handsome man on the planet. I was even wearing nighttime camo and a dark beanie like a boss.
Cash and I were both afraid Soren and Lexi were going to skip town in the middle of the night. More concerning, the diamonds weren’t in Soren’s room. So where were they? My bet was still in the caves, but after today’s weirdness, it was too risky for Cash and me to search for them. Besides, I felt like we needed to watch the house. I didn’t care if two other agents were monitoring the situation: this was my ungrateful sister we were talking about—who, by the way, looked stunning in her wedding dress. So stunning, Soren cried when he saw her for the first time. Soren also tried to smooth things over with Cash by telling him the stress of the wedding had just gotten to him and he’d snapped. Yeah, right.
Cash lowered the goggles and kissed my neck. “Usually I’m alone, but this is far superior.”
His warm lips on my cool skin sent a heat wave down my spine. It felt a little wrong to be loving this situation. But if I had to help catch a diamond smuggler and save my sister, I might as well enjoy myself, right? Not to say I wasn’t worried out of my mind, but somehow being in Cash’s arms made me feel like everything would be okay.
“Can I ask you some more questions?” There were so many things I wanted to know about his life as a spy, and I was afraid we were running out of time—a thought that hurt my soul.
Cash chuckled. “You want to play truth or dare? Didn’t you learn your lesson?”
“For the record, we probably wouldn’t be here together if it weren’t for that stupid game, and I was thinking more of just the truth part. Being with you feels daring enough,” I admitted. At least daring enough for my heart.
Cash’s arm, already snaked around me, tightened. “Sabrina, you don’t know how much it means to me that we’re here together, but you can walk away anytime. You probably should.”
“Is that what you want?”
“No. I just don’t want to hurt you.”
I didn’t want that either. “Let’s just make the most of the time we have together.”
Cash kissed my head and went back to looking through his night-vision goggles. “I like the sound of that. Ask away.”
Ooh. Where to begin. I started with a softball question. “Are you ever afraid you’ll get caught?”
“Until this assignment, not really. There’s a certain thrill in almost getting caught.”
“You make it sound like it’s fun for you.”
“Maybe in a sense. If you’re too worried about getting caught, you’re more likely to screw up or miss something.”
Some guilt crept in. “I’ve made you screw up on this mission, haven’t I?”
“Sabrina, it’s been worth every cost.”
“Even if Soren gets away and you don’t find the diamonds?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve never failed.”
Oh. Well, that answered my next question. “Never?”
“Never.”
“What if you need a sick day?” I asked, quite concerned.
“I don’t get sick days,” he laughed. “I once took down an assassin when I had the flu with a one-hundred-and-four-degree temperature.”
Why did that break my heart so much? I wanted to make him some homemade soup to make up for it. “That sounds awful.”
“Nature of the business,” he said, like it was no big deal.
“Um ... so when you say you take someone down , do you mean kill them?” I winced, knowing how cringey the question was.
Cash paused for a moment. “Sometimes, yes,” he uneasily admitted.
“Oh.” I mean, it wasn’t like this surprised me, but to have confirmation was definitely a shock to the system. My would-be boyfriend was a professional killer, of sorts. Probably shouldn’t spread that around.
“Does that bother you?”
“Does it bother you?” I asked instead of answering, needing to understand how he felt about it.
“Of course. Even when it’s necessary and it saves lives, it eats at my conscience.”
“I’m sorry, Cash. It was callous of me to ask.”
“Sabrina, you have every right to know. I’m not rainbows and sunshine.”
“I don’t know—you’ve made me feel plenty warm.”
“Is that so?” he groaned into my ear.
“Uh-huh,” I stammered, going weak in the knees. “I suppose there is a rule against making out on stakeouts?”
“It tends to be distracting.” He nuzzled my ear.
I turned my head and leaned away from him, put out by his response. “Do you make out on stakeouts a lot?” A girl needed to know these things.
He flashed his dazzling smile at me, amused. “No.”
“Have you ever?”
“No, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“Um ...” I wanted to kiss him so badly but felt guilty about shirking our duty. “What about my sister and Soren?”
“Agents Todd and Randall will keep me apprised if they make a move.”
This was an excellent point. And it didn’t mean I was a terrible sister if I wanted to kiss the man I loved before he disappeared, right?
Before I could answer myself, Cash pocketed his goggles and drew me in with his eyes. And with a swift move of his hand, he grabbed hold of the hair spilling out of the beanie, bending my head back and allowing him to incline my face just right until his lips landed on mine, controlling them with fervor. The sheer intensity of it made me hold on to his jacket for dear life as he unleashed all the feel-good chemicals. His kiss touched every nerve in my body, and I couldn’t get enough, while his free hand pressed on the small of my back, drawing me flush against him and allowing him to deepen the kiss. I wanted to memorize everything about this moment, from the way he tasted like the mint brownies I’d swiped from the restaurant’s kitchen, to how I trembled with dizzying bliss.
Please let me keep him.
Cash abruptly ended what I could only describe as heaven on earth, like he knew what I was thinking and it scared him. He gazed at me, bewildered.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Just the opposite.” He kissed my brow, which must have felt feverish after the kiss we’d just shared. His lips lingered on my hot skin as our breathing slowed and the trees rustled around us.
Standing there, I forgot the rest of my questions. Instead, my mind worked over any way we could keep this from ending. That brought a question to mind. “Cash,” I whispered. “If you weren’t a spy, what would you choose to do?”
He didn’t hesitate at all to answer, “Love you.”
I sank against him, adoring that answer so much. I wanted to ask him how we could make that career change happen, but his spy senses must have gone off. He grabbed his night-vision goggles and focused in on my parents’ house.
“Damn it.”
“What? What?” I asked in a panic. Visions of Soren dragging my sister out of the house in a body bag flashed in my mind.
“It looks like Izan is packing his trunk.”
“With what? Diamonds? My sister’s body?”
“Luggage.” The corners of Cash’s lips twitched.
“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Is my sister with him?”
“No. He’s gone back into the house.” Cash lowered his goggles, reached into a hidden jacket pocket, and pulled out a shiny buzzing gadget. “Agent Todd,” he spoke into it. “You are secure to speak. I need an update.” Cash put a finger to his mouth, making sure I said nothing.
I waited with bated breath for Agent Todd to say something. “Rabbit Two.”
I knew that was spy speak for Lexi. I braced myself for the worst.
“She left the premises and met with a Jade Walton.” Agent Todd sounded so formal.
Crap. She’d probably done that while I was making out with Cash.
“They discussed plans for Rabbit One and Rabbit Two’s rehearsal tomorrow evening,” Agent Todd informed Cash. “The subjects are planning to conceal the fact that the rehearsal will be the actual ceremony. They plan to leave for their honeymoon tomorrow night. Jade is aiding Rabbit One and Rabbit Two.”
I had to put my hand over my mouth before I said something. What was Lexi thinking? No wonder they’d done the first look today. Not only was she involved in something dangerous, but she was being just plain rude. The amount of money my parents had spent on this wedding, not to mention the time Mia and I had already put into the cake, would be wasted. And what about all the guests who were flying in to be here on Saturday? Had my sister lost her ever-loving mind? I was about ready to march over there and make her confess her plan to my parents. What kind of hold did Soren have on her? This was Lexi’s dream wedding—how could she just skip out on it? Maybe the better question would be, Who or what was Soren afraid of?
“Damn it.” Cash shoved the device back into his pocket.
I stared at him in disbelief. “What does this mean? What do we do?”
“I’m sorry, Sabrina; we have to let this play out. We need those diamonds before we can do anything.”
“What if I tell Lexi that I found out from Jade what she’s doing, and I stop her from leaving?” I cried.
Cash let out a huge breath that danced in the cold air. “It might make the situation more volatile. Izan is coming unhinged. If you disrupt his plan, there’s no telling what he might do.”
I shuddered to think of the possibilities. “You have to follow Lexi. You promised me you would,” I reminded him, even though I couldn’t stand the thought of him leaving me.
A pained expression spread across his beautiful face as he reluctantly nodded. “But I won’t leave you or your family unprotected.”
I threw my arms around Cash, recognizing the need to feel protected now. I already missed him.
Cash wrapped his arms around me so tightly, I could feel the pounding of his heart against his chest. “I won’t fail you,” he promised.
“I believe you. Maybe your people will find the diamonds tomorrow in the caves. You sent them screenshots of the maps, right?” I said, like the silly woman who’d believed Cash had been in a coma three years ago.
“I did. But, Sabrina, it’s a long shot.”
“I know. I’m just not ready to say goodbye.”
“Me either.” He stroked my hair, letting his hand fall down the length of my back.
I wanted to ask him if we would ever see each other after tomorrow, but I knew he would only reply that he couldn’t promise me anything, that his life was not his own. I had to wonder if it ever would be. Would we somehow get a happy ending?