Chapter 3 #3
Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about lying to Avery, even by omission. She’d always been honest with her sister. About everything, ever since they were kids.
Not quite everything.
Okay, fine. So maybe she hadn’t divulged all the dirty details about her break-up with that asshat, Evan Hardwig. But Avery didn’t need to know about the constant lies, verbal abuse, or the numerous times she’d caught him cheating.
An embarrassing secret like that had been easy to keep. But this?
Her sister, brother-in-law, and the man’s entire team knew full-well how Alex felt about Colt. Not the endless fantasies starring him, naked in her bed, but how he was always grinding against her last teensy tiny nerve.
It was all so clear now. His devil may care attitude had merely been part of his cover. Colt’s constant goofing around and making everyone think he never took anything seriously kept them from suspecting who he really was.
After all, who would ever expect a guy like him to be in an organization like the CIA? And no suspicion meant no questions, and when there weren’t any questions, Colt didn’t have to provide any answers.
You can do this, Al. You have to help him keep his cover intact.
For Avery and Garrett, and as ridiculous as it seemed, Alex also felt compelled to do what she could to protect the man before her now.
“I can be a convincing actress.” Those words were meant as much for her as they were for him. “I’m an artist, and acting is just another form of art, right? I can do this. I act like nothing has changed.”
Are you sure?
“That’s my girl.”
Ripples of anger rolled through her, making her feel as though she were on an emotional roller coaster that would never end.
“I’m not your girl, Colt. I’m just the woman who knows the truth.
” She scooted forward against the cushion, thankful when his hand fell away in the process.
“I’m tired, and I’d really just like to take a shower and go to bed. ”
And if she felt the comfort from his touch a second longer, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep herself together.
“Oh. Right.” Colt cleared his throat, pushing himself back up to his feet and taking a step back.
“Agent Paulsen said my room’s the one next door?” Alex pointed to the wall on her left before walking over to get her things.
“Yes.” He joined her. “Here’s the key. I’ll walk you over.”
“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I can manage.” She yanked the plastic card from his hand.
“For what it’s worth, I really am sorry.”
“For what?” she challenged. “What exactly are you sorry about, Coulter? Is it the lying or the fact that you finally got caught? Or are you sorry that I now, too, have to live with this massive secret until you see fit to tell everyone we love the truth? Or maybe you’re sorry that the best chance I had at actually making a marketable name for myself in the competitive world of art dealing is gone.
” Since the questions were rhetorical in nature, Alex didn’t wait for him to answer before turning her back on him to open the door.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll book the first available flight back to Charlotte.
Good luck with your mission or whatever. ”
“Alex, wait.”
“Goodbye, Colt.” She opened the door and walked out without looking back.
He didn’t follow her out or force her to allow him to escort her the five feet from his door to hers. Tears brushed against her lashes, but she blinked them away.
Once inside her room, Alex locked the door and flipped on the lights. The breath in her lungs left in a rush. The room wasn’t a regular hotel room. It was a mirror image of Colt’s elaborate suite.
Ignoring its beauty, she kicked off her shoes and pulled her suitcase past the kitchenette on her way to the king-sized bedroom. She tossed the bags onto the bed, ignored the lights, and went straight to the en suite bathroom.
A long, hot shower did little to ease the unsettled feelings the night’s revelations had created. It did, however, allow full acceptance to finally sink in.
Colt was an agent with the CIA. Full stop. No more doubt. The evidence he’d shown her was crystal freaking clear.
For Alex that meant that, from this moment on, she would also be a harborer of his secret. A gatekeeper within their close-knit circle of family and friends, and she had to keep her new-found knowledge while acting as if nothing had changed.
There was only one problem with that scenario. For Alex, everything had changed.
Too mentally exhausted to continue her efforts to process it all, she chose to wait and face her new reality in the morning. For now, all she wanted to do was sleep.
A few minutes later, with her freshly cleaned body and hair towel-dried enough to get by, she got dressed in her comfy, cotton pajama set and crawled into bed. Her head hit the pillow and her eyelids fell shut.
Seconds ticked by, and just when she was about to finally drift away, the phone on the nightstand to her right began to ring. Assuming it was Colt, Alex let out a frustrated groan as she rolled over and reached for the phone’s receiver.
“What?” Her greeting was short and gruff.
The voice she heard next wasn’t the one she expected.
“Alexandria?”
Her heart flew into her throat. She shot up from the mattress, her stomach filling with a nauseating dread. “Gordan?”
The man Colt’s CIA team suspected of trafficking young women and girls for the sick pleasure of others had called her hotel room.
At the Maybourne.
A room she didn’t even have until an hour before.
Colt’s words from earlier returned, adding more credence to his previous claim.