Was it obvious? Couldn’t they believe Jamie just happened to be behind Tabby on the drive over?

  Yeah, they all knew that was garbage.

  “I don’t know. I just drove up and these men were trying to pull her out of her car. I just reacted.”

  That moment had terrified Jamie. He wanted more than anything to wrap Tabby in his arms and hold her. But he didn’t have that right.

  He climbed the stairs and glanced down the plane, his gaze going directly to where Tabby sat in the back.

  Besides his team, the same two presumed CIA agents sat together while Zora stood. Each of the others were dressed in slacks, polos and looked neat, whereas his clothes were rumpled and he knew he had to have a bad case of bedhead.

  “Sit, please?” Zora gestured to the aisle. “This morning has been quite the ordeal and it’s not over yet. We’ll take off soon and I want to get everyone up to speed.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Jamie went straight to Tabby and sat next to her. Screw being discrete. He’d nearly seen her taken.

  He looked her over, all while she stared straight ahead. Other than a few scratches on her hands and an unnatural paleness, she looked okay. She glanced at him and sucked down air.

  “Hey,” he whispered and reached for her hand. “I’m okay. You?”

  She nodded.

  “We’re headed to New York City,” Zora said. “Port authority spotted Gazi unloading crates late last night. We don’t know where he is now, but we have people looking for him. Things are developing quickly and we need to be in place to act.”

  Right. Because they had things to worry about that didn’t involve Tabby’s near kidnapping. That was a problem for later.

  He let go of Tabby’s hand and picked a piece of glass out of his shirt.

  Jamie sucked in a breath and did his best to mentally flip a switch, redirecting himself to the problem at hand.

  Finding and capturing Gazi.

  “Why didn’t port authority stop him?” Logan asked, settling into his seat.

  “It’s complicated,” Zora said without batting an eyelash.

  Tucker snorted. “I’ll bet it is.”

  She ignored his comment. “When we land, we should know more.”

  Zora sat by herself, offering no further comment nor inviting questions.

  Evan leaned forward and thumped the back of Tucker’s head. “What’s your deal?”

  Tucker swatted at Evan and glared back at him, but didn’t answer.

  Jamie pitched his voice lower and leaned across the aisle toward Evan. “Did I miss something?”

  “I think we all have.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Evan nodded at Tucker’s seat in front of him. “He knows something.”

  Jamie rolled that statement around in his head. Evan might be the quiet guy on the team, but at least he showed up, hung out, and did shit with them. Tucker, on the other hand, showed up for work and that was it. Jamie knew he could count on Tucker, but no one knew much about him. It was a fact they’d all accepted, that working with Tucker meant accepting his silences, but Evan was right. This was all different.

  Harper leaned back from his seat in front of Tabby and caught Jamie’s eye. “Nice of you to join us, Silva. You do know how to make an entrance.”

  He smiled, but his insides tensed up. “Thanks for holding the plane for me.”

  “Your new girlfriend probably didn’t like you running out on her first thing in the morning.” Harper winked at Tabby.

  Because that’s what she wanted to hear right now. They had more important things to worry about.

  Jamie grit his teeth. He wasn’t in the habit of sharing his sex life with the guys normally, and especially not now. Tabby was right there, no doubt listening to everything Harper said. Jamie couldn’t make any sort of reply she wouldn’t dissect.

  “What’s this one’s name?” Harper asked.

  “I’m not dignifying that question with a response.” Jamie stared straight ahead and imagined a dozen ways to kill his friend.

  “So there is a girl?” Evan asked.

  “Of course there’s a girl. There’s always a girl.” Tucker chimed in.

  Great. Now Jamie sounded like a man whore.

  “Will you guys give it a rest?” Jamie knew he shouldn’t make that request. It would only bait the guys more. He just didn’t want Tabby to feel the pressure of their teasing.

  “Does he have a little black book, too?” Tabby asked Harper. Her attempt at humor was brittle, forced. But she was trying.

  Jamie hated that she had to and loved her for trying.

  Harper twisted to face her. “Oh, no. No, our boy here can’t juggle girls. He doesn’t have that skill.”

  “Will you shut up?”

  Harper kept going. “See, Jamie here is always convinced this next girl will be the one. He’s constantly changing girlfriends as soon as they bore him because this next one might be better.”

  Jamie glared at Harper. “That’s not true. It’s not like that.”

  Tabby leaned closer to Harper. Her color was better. She was more at ease. “He sounds guilty to me.”

  “So guilty.”

  If punching his ego made her feel better, he’d put up with it, so long as when they were alone he got to hold her. Because he still wasn’t okay with what he’d just seen.

  The captain came over the loudspeaker, announcing their takeoff, which seemed to cut off conversation. Jamie kept staring straight ahead, not looking at Tabby once.

  Yes, he was guilty of having a lot of relationships. More often than not, he wasn’t the one doing the breaking up. Why was Harper busting his balls about it now? In front of Tabby?

  Tabby leaned toward him and whispered, “Zora said the agents were going to look into it.”

  “Logan said the same thing.”

  “Why? Why would that happen?”

  Jamie took her hand in his once more. “You’re a wealthy, powerful woman.”

  The cabin lights dimmed as they reached cruising altitude. Evan was already passed out and Tucker was outright snoring.

  Zora rose from her seat and met Jamie’s gaze. There was purpose in her stare. He sat up a bit straighter than glanced at Tabby, and found her watching Zora, too.

  Tabby pulled her hand from his, solidifying the idea that they weren’t exactly ready to show any kind of affection in public quite yet.

  The agent made her way to them then knelt in the aisle. Tabby leaned on the armrest between them, her shoulder pressing against his.

  “We got these pictures in,” Zora said softly. She held out her phone, swiping through a few new snapshots. “Does this tell you anything?”

  Jamie just saw more crates. To him it was more of the same.

  Tabby blew out a breath. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  “You think it’s the drones?” he asked.

  She glanced at him. “Yeah.”

  “Are you both prepared to deal with them?” Zora asked.

  “He could, but he’s not ready.” Tabby paused. “I think I can talk him through it?”

  “We need you both ready,” Zora said.

  Tabby glanced up at him. “Think we can talk through it and stay awake?”

  “I can if you can.”

  “Thank you, and please know, our agents on the ground are looking into what happened. I by no way want to minimize this morning—”

  “But there are priorities, I get it.” Tabby waved Zora away

  “Thank you for being understanding.” Zora rose and returned to her seat now that she’d dropped that little bomb.

  The others settled in to sleep, losing interest in Jamie and Tabby now that they had actual work to do.

  “I didn’t know you were sensitive about your dating history,” Tabby said in a low voice for his ears alone.

  “Let’s just not talk about it?” He wasn’t keen on discussing how they wanted different things.

  She regarded him for a moment, her expression thoughtful. “Is that what you want to do? Not talk about it?”

  It being them? Last night? What they were?

  Hell yeah he wanted to, but he knew he wasn’t going to like the answer. He licked his lips and leaned closer. “You tell me. You were the one who said it wasn’t going to happen.”

  Her chin dipped. Was that an acknowledgement?

  “I think last night was probably a bad idea,” she said so softly he barely heard her.

  Yeah, that’s what he thought she’d say.

  “Well, it happened.” He wasn’t about to ignore that reality. “If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been there this morning.”

  Tabby slid farther down in her seat, the implications coming full circle. If she hadn’t called him, if they hadn’t taken things over the line, she could be kidnapped or worse right now, and no one would know.

  9.

  Monday. Hotel, New York City, NY.

  Tabby paced the small hotel room. Everyone else had gone straight to where the photos of Gazi with the crates had been taken while she had a conference call with two CIA agents who wouldn’t give her their names and asked a series of weird questions about the morning.

  Someone had tried to kidnap her.

  It was surreal.

  She wished she was with Jamie and the others. She knew there was nothing for her to do there. It made sense for her to go to the hotel rather than tag along with everyone else. And yet she wanted to be there. Because Jamie made her feel safe. He’d faced off against men to save her, and she wasn’t quite ready to be on her own yet.

  She pressed her hand to her chest, as if she could force her racing heart to calm the fuck down.

  Harper’s good natured joking around on the plane was revealing, but she wasn’t sure what it told her. It was clear to Tabby that Jamie was good with women. He’d charmed her in minutes. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was a love-them-and-leave-them kind of man. What was surprising was how Harper talked about Jamie looking for the one.

  Tabby’s phone buzzed and the picture of a woman cradling a baby with a blonde man in the background making a silly face popped up. Tabby’s heart thumped against her ribs. She scooped it up and tapped answer.

  Next to Jamie, the only other person Tabby wanted to talk to right now was her best friend.

  “Yvonne? Hey.”

  “Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t replied to anything.” Yvonne’s soft voice was barely above a whisper.

  “It’s fine. Baby asleep?”

  “Yes, for like a minute. How are you? I need to talk to an adult.” The notes of distress in Yvonne’s voice had Tabby pausing.

  Telling Yvonne about today, any of this, wouldn’t do anything good for her friend. If anything it would only give her something else to worry about.

  Tabby couldn’t tell her.

  She gentled her voice. “Oh, honey. Are you going stir crazy there without Nolan?”

  “Yeah. I hate to admit it, but I am. It was one thing before, when it was just me. But now? I don’t like being this needy.”

  “You aren’t needy. It’s like you’re in a group project and you’re the person doing all the work.”

  “Nolan helps.”

  “I’m not saying he isn’t.” Tabby chuckled. “I’m talking about that adorable deadweight over there.”

  “Oh. Well. Yeah. You’ve got a point. All she does is eat and sleep.”

  Tabby bit her lip. There were a dozen things she wanted to talk to her best friend about, but Yvonne’s time was short and Tabby had to prioritize. In the grand scheme, the drone theft was being handled, people were looking into her attempted kidnapping and everything else was above her security clearance. She also wasn’t certain Jamie would stick around very long. Besides, did she want to tell Yvonne she was dating another Aegis Group guy quite yet?

  “Can I run a potentially crazy idea by you?” Tabby sat on the edge of the bed.

  “When do you ask? Is it really crazy?”

  “Maybe.”

  Tabby stared at herself in the mirror. “What if I had a baby? On my own? Is that crazy? Am I crazy?”

  Silence stretched on for a few moments.

  “Wow... Okay. I don’t think it’s a crazy idea, I mean...” Yvonne’s voice trailed off.

  For a moment neither spoke.

  “I told you once that was my biggest regret in life,” Tabby said. More like whispered.

  “Yeah.”

  Outside of Tabby’s family, Yvonne was the only person who knew her secrets. They were the most unlikely of friends. Yvonne was quiet, straight laced, introverted, she liked order and rules. Tabby had grown up as the center of attention, groomed to lead. She knew her default settings were loud, assertive, the complete opposite of her friend. And yet, they’d formed an attachment early on that only grew when they’d gone to the same college, but it hadn’t been until that spring break when Tabby really knew the value of her friendship with Yvonne.

  It was afterward, when Tabby couldn’t stand to be around her family while her body processed the change that she’d discovered just how far their friendship went. Yvonne had been there for all of it. She knew the pain and agony Tabby had gone through. Yvonne had held Tabby when she cried and had never questioned her showing up at any hour.

  “If you want to do it, I’m not going to tell you not to,” Yvonne said after they’d been quiet for several moments. “It’s a lot of work, but you’ve never been one to avoid that.”

  Tabby envisioned Yvonne’s little girl and her heart melted. “Is it worth it?”

  “I think it is, but I’m biased.”

  “You should be.” Tabby chuckled. “You’re a great mom.”

  “You would be, too.”

  Emotion clogged her throat. Was this Tabby’s best chance at the life she wanted?

  “Okay.” Yvonne cleared her throat, switching into planning mode. “So let’s talk this out. How would you do it? What’s the plan?”

  Tabby chuckled. “Are you taking notes?”

  “Of course,” Yvonne scoffed. “Would you go with a sperm bank or would you want to pick someone you knew?”

  “I don’t like the idea of not knowing the father, but let’s be real here. I don’t have a great track record for picking good guys. If I did, I wouldn’t be asking you these questions.” Jamie’s face came to mind. Someday she figured he’d make a good dad, too. The question was, was that what he wanted?

  “Maybe there’s some kind of boutique program? I’ll research it.” Yvonne hummed as she paused to write notes. “Now, what about your parents?”

  “That’s going to be the hard part.”

  “Yes. You know how your parents used to feel, and I don’t think their views have changed at all in the last ten years.” Something about Yvonne’s voice was...off.

  Tabby frowned at her reflection. Was she hearing things?

  Yvonne spoke in a rush, her words nearly tripping over each other. “Okay, look, I don’t want to start things, but if you’re considering this, you should know.”

  “Know what?”

  “When I announced I was stepping down and the baby and everything, your mom called me...”

  “She did not.” Tabby’s stomach dropped. “What did she say?”

  “The usual stuff. I was making a mistake, think about the family, our reputation, what would people say. You know.”

  “Vee, I am so, so sorry.” Tabby’s face heated with shame.

  “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I don’t think either of us have ever thought of your mother as warm and fuzzy, so I was expecting her to say something. My concern is that if you decide to have a kid, what is she going to say to you? What could she hold over you?”

  Tabby nodded even though Yvonne couldn’t see her. “You mean, would Mom get me fired or would she withhold my trust fund to try to get me to...to abort it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t need the money, so that’s not a concern. Losing my job would...it would suck. But let’s be honest here, they lose more if I’m gone. Would Dad be willing to sacrifice the future of the company because I want children?” Tabby’s gut quivered. She didn’t honestly know. In her mind it could go either way.

  A sharp knock on her door brought her out of those thoughts. Tabby rose to her feet and crossed to peer through the peep hole at the face of Agent Zora Clark.

  “Vee? I’ve got to go, my next appointment is here.” Tabby opened her door and met Zora’s gaze.

  “Oh, go,” Yvonne said. “I’ll work on this and get back to you.”

  Tabby stepped back to allow Zora into her room. “It was so good to hear from you. I miss you.”

  “You’ve got to come visit the next chance you get,” Yvonne said.

  Tabby shut the door. “Maybe we work it out so I’m there right before Nolan leaves then a bit while he’s gone?”

  “That sounds perfect. Have a good meeting. I promise I’ll text more.”

  “Do what you can, Vee.” Tabby hung up the phone before turning to address her guest. “Sorry about that.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Zora held up her hands. “Thank you for dropping everything to come with us. And this morning...”

  “Did they find out anything? Do you know?” Tabby still felt like that whole thing had happened to someone else. Someone who wasn’t her.

  “No, nothing yet. There’s just no evidence. Even the casings, they’re not giving us any leads.”

  Tabby set her phone down. Wouldn’t it be nice if Zora was here to say it was all wrapped up? “What about here? Did you find anything?”

  “Nothing, really. It looks like Gazi crashed in one of the warehouses for a night with the merchandise before he was picked up. The team is breaking for a bit of food before we meet to prepare for tonight.”

  “We still think the exchange is happening tonight? How do we know this?”

  Zora held up a hand. “I wish I could tell you. I really do, but I can’t.”

  “Then how do we know it’s credible?” And could Tabby convince Jamie to tell her?

  “Let us handle the details. All you need to worry about is the merchandise. Be downstairs at seven. I’ll see you then, okay?”

  Tabby crossed her arms over her chest and watched Zora walk briskly out of the room.

  Yet one more thing Tabby couldn’t know. She didn’t like how this was being handled. But on the other hand, what difference would it make if she knew all the details? She wasn’t used to being kept in the dark. But that was with her company and their projects. This wasn’t her sandbox. She didn’t get to make the rules, so maybe the lack of information did make sense.

 

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