Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan November 2021
“Serena!” I wrapped my arms around my shocked older sister, locking them above the backpack she wore, and held on tight, my heart beating so wildly I half expected it to jump out of my chest. It worked. She was here. Every string I’d pulled to take Newcastle’s place had been worth it because she was here. It was almost too easy, too simple, but I wasn’t about to curse my good luck.
I was bringing my sister home.
“Iz?” Serena tensed for a second before her arms closed slowly around me, her camera caught between us, secured by the neck strap. “Isabeau?” Her hands moved to my shoulders, and she pulled back, her brown eyes wide as she scanned my face. “What the actual hell are you doing here?” she shouted, something akin to horror etching her features, two lines appearing between her brows.
“Tell me how you really feel.” There was no stopping my smile. I’d found her. Well . . . Nate had found her. She looked like she could use a solid month of sleep and might need to wash the very serviceable button- down shirt and blue headscarf I’d inadvertently pulled down by hugging her so tight, but those were all easy to remedy.
“I’m not kidding!” Her fingers dug into my shoulders, and her voice pitched higher in panic. “You shouldn’t be here!”
I blinked. Thinking she might have been annoyed at my interference and actually seeing it were two different things. “But I came for you.”
“You what?”
Okay, she was a little more than annoyed. She was pissed.
A commotion erupted behind Serena, and she whipped her gaze over her shoulder. “He’s with me. He’s my interpreter,” she said to one of Nate’s teammates. White? Gray? Brown? Whichever one it was.
The operator—to use Nate’s terminology—lowered his weapon and let a lightly bearded man in. He quickly moved to Serena’s side, looking between the two of us with surprise and obvious recognition I didn’t share.
“Izzy, this is Taj Barech, my interpreter,” Serena said. “Taj, this is the sister I’ve told you so much about, the one who is supposed to be in Washington.” She bit out every single one of those words in my direction.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said with a nod and an energetic smile.
“Likewise,” I assured him as Nate moved to my side.
Serena’s eyes widened to impossible dimensions, her jaw dropping as she stared at him. “You have to be kidding me.”
“Nice to see you, Serena,” Nate said, one hand on the rifle that hung from his shoulder. “No pictures of me or my guys.”
“I know the rules when it comes to your type.” Her gaze narrowed, and her hands fell from my shoulders. “I can’t believe you actually let Izzy
—”
“He didn’t let me do anything!” I snapped, backing up a step. “Trust me, if he had his way, I’d be on the first flight out of here.”
“If I had my way, you wouldn’t have come here in the first place,” he grumbled before addressing Serena. “She took another aide’s place. I didn’t even know she would be in country before she stepped onto the tarmac, or I would have done something to stop it.”
“Okay, well, screw you both.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m a grown woman who makes her own decisions, which is something neither of you seem to understand.”
“It was a bad decision, Isabeau.” Serena’s voice rose again. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is here?”
“I’m sorry . . . what? I can’t walk three steps outside my bedroom without Sergeant Sour here shadowing my every move.” I gestured toward Nate. “So, yes, I get just how dangerous it is here. Do you? Because I don’t see armed guards with you.”
Taj glanced between the three of us and cocked his head to the side. “This seems like a family matter. I’ll be . . . somewhere else.” He backed
away slowly, but it wasn’t like there were a lot of places he could go in the nearly empty room.
“Look, as fun as it is to finally have someone on my side regarding Isabeau’s field trip to Afghanistan—” Nate started.
“Assuming I’m on your side about anything is a gross error.” Serena glared at Nate.
“—we have to get on the bird,” he finished, completely ignoring my sister’s jab. “They’re waiting on us.”
“So, get her out of here already,” Serena countered.
“Great, then let’s go,” I said, turning toward the exit. “We can finish fighting at the embassy.”
“Hold on. Do you think I’m going with you?” Serena asked, jogging to catch up with me and taking hold of my elbow.
I stopped in my tracks, pivoting to face her as dread settled in my stomach. “Why else do you think I would be here?”
Her anger melted, but the look of pity that replaced it wasn’t much better. “Izzy, I can’t leave. I have a job to do here. It hasn’t been the full six months. I’m still on assignment for another thirty days.”
“The country is . . .” I shook my head.
“Collapsing,” Nate said, striding our way. “The country is collapsing.” “Then it’s my job to cover it,” Serena stated like that was the end of
the discussion.
“You don’t mean that.” The words rushed out in a whisper.
“I do.” She adjusted the straps of her backpack. “I’m here doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. This is the longest assignment I’ve ever been given. I fought for it, and I’m not about to end it early just because it’s getting dangerous. I’d never be able to hold my head up at the office.”
Nate lifted his hand to his earpiece and cocked his head to the side. “Working on it,” he barked in the professional tone I’d grown accustomed to before facing Serena. “Serena, I hear what you’re saying, but it’s not safe for you to stay. You know that. I know that. Izzy knows that. Three provinces have fallen in the last twenty-four hours. I completely understand your dedication to your profession, but for the sake of your sister, I’m not above begging you to get on that helicopter.”
And that tone? That wasn’t Sergeant Green. That was my Nate. I looked up at him, and my heart clenched. Underneath all the Kevlar and the
weapons, he was still the same man who’d held me after my nightmare this morning. The same man who’d pulled me from that airplane ten years ago.
“You would get my dedication to my profession, wouldn’t you?” Serena said with a sigh. “Hell, your dedication to yours is the entire reason Izzy ended up in Senator Lauren’s office. Are you going to end your deployment early?”
She. Did. Not. My head snapped toward Serena, but she didn’t catch the panicked rise of my brows because she was looking at Nate.
“What?” Nate asked.
Serena scoffed. “You seriously thought it was a coincidence that she’s spent the last three years working for the woman who’s been pushing legislation to end this war? That she took off for Washington right after you
. . .” Her voice trailed off.
A muscle in Nate’s jaw ticked as he slowly brought his gaze to lock with mine.
My stomach dropped.
Shit. It didn’t matter that the legislation had never stood a chance, or that I’d basically been beating my head against a brick wall for all the progress we’d made. I’d spent the last few years fighting fruitlessly to end the conflict that had dragged him from my arms time and again, and now he knew it.
I saw it all in those blue eyes. Shock, disbelief, denial, and an emotion too dangerous to acknowledge, let alone name. He looked at me like he used to before New York, dropping the wall he’d locked himself behind.
“Oh shit. You thought it was coincidence. You really didn’t know,” Serena muttered.
I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t confirm or deny the blatant truth Serena had laid at his feet, exposing me with nothing more than a few words. All the Kevlar in the world couldn’t protect my heart from its own foolish longing to hurl itself at Nate.
“Izzy, I’m so sorry,” Serena said softly.
Nate blinked and looked away. “I know. ETA five minutes.” He was talking through his radio, and when he finished, he looked at Serena. “Here’s the deal. I’m putting Isabeau on that helicopter in five minutes. I really hope you’re on it.”
She swallowed and glanced back to where Taj was talking to Sergeant Whatever Color. “Even if I wanted to go, which I don’t, I can’t leave him.
He doesn’t have his visa yet.”
“Has he started his paperwork?” I asked. “Because if that’s all that’s keeping you here, I can—”
“It’s in process.” She moved forward and cupped both sides of my face. “What did I tell you the first time you asked me not to cover a war zone?”
“That ignoring a situation doesn’t make it better for the people living it.” My throat threatened to close, my body recognizing my defeat before my heart.
“I still feel the same way. Me leaving isn’t going to help these people.
The least I can do is bear witness.”
“You’re not coming with me, are you?” My voice broke on the last word.
She shook her head. “I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to quit.”
I pressed my lips between my teeth and fought the immediate burning in my eyes. The very passion I’d always admired about Serena had the potential to get her killed, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
“I’ll give you guys a minute, but that’s all we have,” Nate said quietly before walking toward Taj.
“I won’t be able to come back,” I whispered. “I pulled every string I had to get here, and I have the feeling Nate did too.”
She smiled. “Only you would come searching in the first place, and I love you for it.” Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against mine. “But I can’t leave. Not yet.”
“And if the province falls before your thirty days are up?” I could barely get the words out. “Please tell me you’ll get out before then. I can’t leave you here—”
“I’ll leave if the province falls.” “Promise me.”
“Promise. I’m not trying to get myself killed. But I’m not leaving Taj. It would be unspeakably cruel to abandon the person who has done so much for me, and he won’t be safe here anymore, not after the work he’s done for me, the work he’s done for our government in the last few years. You know they’ll kill him the first chance they get.”
Hope sprung up in my chest. “I can work on his paperwork. At least I’ll do what I can to push. The State Department is overwhelmed.”
“I appreciate that.” Her hands fell to my shoulders. “Just remember that I’m here because I choose to be. What’s happening is more important than me.”
“Not to me.” I winced. “And yes, I can hear exactly how self-centered that sounds.”
Serena laughed and pulled me into a hug. “I’ve missed you. And no matter what, my assignment is up in a month. I’ll be home before you know it.”
Nate walked by, followed by the remaining operators, but I couldn’t let her go, even when the wind gusted in, somehow hotter than the stifling, stagnant air of the room.
“Stay with Nate,” Serena whispered. “That man has his faults, but there’s nothing he won’t do to keep you safe.”
“And how would you know that?” I found the strength to pull back so I could look at my sister.
A smile curved her lips. “Because I see the way he looks at you. Guess nothing much has changed there.”
I shook my head. “He’s been an absolute ass from the second I got off the plane. The only reason he’s looking at me is because I’m his assignment.” But that wasn’t the entire truth. Feeling his gaze on me, I glanced over my shoulder to see him waiting for me in the doorway, and turned back to Serena. “But there’s been a minute or two that he’s just been
. . . Nate. We’re making the best of a really awkward situation.”
“Are you, now?” She retreated a couple of steps, her fingers sliding down my arms until she held both my hands. “If I had to promise that I’d leave if the province falls, then you make me one too.”
“What promise do you want in return?” I gripped her hands and told myself this wouldn’t be the last time I saw her. If I even thought it, I wouldn’t be able to walk away.
“Promise me that you won’t marry Jeremy.” She nudged my ring with her finger.
I blinked. There was no way she knew. “Because he’s Mom and Dad’s choice, or because you’ve never liked him?” She’d made her opinion widely, loudly known the night Jeremy proposed at our family’s very renowned, very well-attended Christmas party.
“No.” Her voice lowered, and her posture softened as she grinned at me like we were back in that apartment in DC and not in the middle of a
war zone. “Because I see the way you look at him too.” She glanced meaningfully over my shoulder. “You have no business marrying one man while you’re in love with another.”
“I’m not—” I yanked my hands back, but she held tight.
“You are.” She gave my fingers a squeeze and then let me go. “And Jeremy’s never been good enough. Stop settling for less than what you deserve. Stop walking the path Mom and Dad laid for you unless it’s the one you want.” One step at a time, she backed away. “I’ll see you in a month. Let’s grab pizza from that little place near the old apartment. God, I miss pizza.” She flashed another smile, then turned away and walked out, taking Taj with her.
Somehow, I made myself walk to Nate. Somehow, he got me into the helicopter.
Somehow, I managed to breathe as we took off, leaving my sister behind in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Nate slipped his earbuds into my ears and played some of my favorite music on the flight back to Kabul, but it barely made a dent in the noise of my thoughts. I’d had her, hugged her, and now she was gone. Our flight back to the States was scheduled for ten days from now.
Was there any way I could convince Serena to leave by then? How did I let this happen?
“You didn’t fail,” Nate said quietly as he opened my car door once we reached the embassy.
I’d been so consumed by my thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed we’d arrived. “Why would you say that?” At least this seat belt didn’t stick as I got out of the car.
“Because I know you, and I know how you think.” Unfortunately, he was right.
“It feels a lot like failure.” The heat beat mercilessly as we walked toward the entrance.
“She made her choice.” We passed the marine guards, and Nate opened the door. “Serena has always been stubborn as a mule when it comes to her work.”
I nodded, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. The crisp air was a relief against my face as we entered the embassy’s foyer and started toward the stairs. I wanted to crawl into bed and sleep off the utter, heart-wrenching
defeat. Lucky for me, none of the staff was waiting, which meant I had a chance to make it to my room without being noticed.
Nate and I walked up the steps in silence.
“Is what Serena said true?” he asked as we neared the door to my room. “About why you went to work for Senator Lauren? Why you went into politics?”
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Oh. God. I’d almost forgotten that Serena had accidentally ratted me out. I opened my mouth to answer, but someone stepped out of the next room down the hall, saving me from embarrassment.
“Damn, I’ve been waiting all day for you,” a man said angrily, and Nate and I both looked down the hallway to see the figure striding our way with purpose, his face becoming disastrously clearer with every step.
Not just any man.
Jeremy was here.
My stomach hit the floor.
“I’m done hearing you don’t want to talk.” He reached for my arm and got a good grip on the upper part. “I just flew all the way—” he started, abruptly halting when Nate ripped him away. Jeremy’s body slammed against the wall beside me as Nate put his forearm against Jeremy’s windpipe.
“Didn’t anyone teach you not to touch a lady without her consent?” Every line of Nate’s body radiated threat.
Oh shit.
“No!” I put my hand on Nate’s shoulder. If he hurt Jeremy, the consequences would be dire to the career he’d fought so hard for. “Don’t. It’s okay. I’m okay.”
“Isa—” Jeremy managed to squeak out.
“You know him?” Nate asked me, his eyes narrowing with accusation. “Yes.” I nodded, trying to swallow the huge boulder in my throat.
Jeremy had never grabbed me like that before.
“Of course she knows me!” Jeremy croaked, stretching his neck melodramatically.
Nate dropped his forearm and backed up a step. Through all these years, I’d never had the two men side by side to compare before, but now that I did, the differences were startling.
Jeremy was polished, from his gelled, coiffed head of dark hair to his Armani shoes. His face was flawless, and I knew he’d flash that politician’s smile in a heartbeat with every certainty that it would sway someone to his side.
But he didn’t know Nate. Nathaniel was taller by a couple of inches, stacked with muscle, and he wielded an aura of fuck-around-and-find-out. One of Nate’s smiles had to be earned. And every scar the man carried only made him . . . more.
“I’m her fiancé!” Jeremy straightened the Hermès tie I’d given him for his birthday.
Hermès. In a freaking war zone.
The hurt that flashed through Nate’s eyes cut into me with a single glance, but he quickly masked his features as he ripped his gaze from mine, assessing Jeremy in a whole new way. His eyes caught on the badge Jeremy had pinned to his suit coat.
The badge that said Jeremy Covington. Nate’s body managed to go even more rigid.
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are,” Jeremy began, all but poking Nate’s chest.
Not a good idea.
“He’s my security detail,” I said quickly. “Let’s just . . .” Shit, this was bad. So, so, so bad. I needed to get him away from Nate before it got even worse. “Let’s just go in my room and talk.” My hand trembled as I fumbled for my room key, but Nate had his out already.
He opened the door with efficiency and stood back, holding it open so Jeremy could swagger through into my suite.
I followed after, pausing to glance up at Nate, who stared ahead with professional indifference. “It’s complicated.”
“Seems pretty simple to me.” His scoff was almost silent, but not quite. “You’re marrying Dickface.”
