Aria frowned and glanced back over her shoulder. Diego wouldn’t be happy if he saw Nash hanging around here. But she couldn’t bring herself to turn him away, either. She nodded while she groped for words.
“Um, okay. I mean, yeah. Sure.” She grabbed her door keys off the little table next to the door and stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind her.
“How did you find out where I live?” she asked as she followed Nash to the bottom of her front yard, sneaking a quick glance at the upstairs windows. Diego’s room was round the back, but she could never quite shake the feeling he was watching her. “Did Cole tell you?”
Nash sighed. “No, I didn’t get your address from Maya and Cole.”
That got her attention. Her head snapped back round to the abashed looking shifter. “Then how?”
He winced. “I work for the FBI, remember?”
“Oh, right.” She narrowed her eyes at him, and barely managed to keep from planting her hands on her hips. If Maya had told him about her…situation… “Are you here on official business?”
Nash’s eyes widened. “No, no, not at all. And if they find out that I got your address using FBI resources, I could get into a lot of trouble at work—probably even lose my job.”
Aria frowned. That didn’t make a lick of sense. “Why would you risk your job to come and see me? I told you I’d be all right, didn’t I?”
“I know, but I had to see you again—I had to speak to you. It’s important.”
“Okay, well, go ahead.”
“Aria, I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to come out with it. You’re my mate. Do you know what that means?”
“Yes.” Aria couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Wait. I mean, are you sure?”
A sad smile tugged at his lips, and she had the sudden urge to reach out and smooth them out with her thumb. “Yes. It’s not something we can mistake.”
“Wow, that’s... Your mate? I don’t really know what to say to you, Nash.” She flushed and ducked his gaze, speaking instead to her feet. “I’m, well, I’m married, you know that.”
“I do know that Aria, I do, but he’s abusive to you. You can’t tell me that you’re happy with him.” His voice crackled with anger, but she didn’t think he was angry withher.It softened until her heart ached at the sound. “Do you love him?”
She shook her head. “No, I…”
“Then leave him. Come with me now. I can make you happy. A shifter wouldneverhurt their mate. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe. I would cherish you. Every single day.”
Aria wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the sting of tears forming behind her eyes. She believed every word of what Nash was saying to her, and that just made it worse. Because in another time and place, hearing the words that Nash was saying would have been a dream come true. And it didn’t matter. She’d made her bed and now she had to lie in it. When you’d made a deal with the devil, you didn’t get to have a happily ever after.
“I’m sorry,” she said, avoiding his eye again, “but I can’t leave with you.”
Her heart broke as she took in the crestfallen look on Nash’s face.
“Butwhy? You’ve already admitted you don’t love him, so why would you choose to stay? Is it out of some sort of sense of duty? Is it for religious reasons? Do you think that because you married him, you have to stay with him?”
“No, it isn’t anything like that.”
“Then what is it? Tell me, please.” He made to take a step closer to her and pulled himself up short. “Make me understand what’s going on in that head of yours.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“I married Diego for money!” Aria blurted. Her head swam. What had she done? That wasn’t something you could admit to an agent. Not ever.
Nash blinked. “Okay, I’ve gotta say, I didn’t see that one coming. I don’t understand. Diego hasn’t got any money, has he? Earlier, outside the bakery, he was the one taking money off you.”
She couldn’t believe she’d just told him that. She was such an idiot! He was FBI, there was no way this could end well. He had a duty to the law. But whatever was going to happen, she didn’t want him to think badly of her.
“My mom was sick with cancer,” Aria explained in a whisper. “She didn’t have health insurance and we couldn’t afford all her bills. Diego wanted a green card.”
