He’d been mesmerized as she talked about the expedition, even though he worried for a moment when she brought up os protetores. But he needed to know whatsheknew. Needed to know how far he had to push his interference.
And now Rafa would be personally responsible for her failure.
Fuck my life.
At least he hadn’t lied to her. Maybe he didn’t tell her the whole truth (though, what was awholetruth anyway, Jack Nicholson?), but skipping a few details here and there was fine. So long as she never found out the bits he omitted. Hehadplanned to order caipirinhas. And, yes, hehadused his accent to impress her.
But that was before everything changed.
She didn’t need to know the rest of his plan or his true intentions. Because it no longer mattered. Hecouldn’tsleep with Miri.Wouldn’t. He wouldn’t fuck her over on the jobandin her bed.
Rafa hadn’t been looking for romance before, and he certainly wasn’t in need of it now that Miri was effectively off-limits.
He took another sip, when his phone buzzed beside him with an incoming call from his dad, he closed his notebook.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Did you make it to Manacapuru?”
His father launched right in, but he was a busy man. He didn’t have time for meaningless pleasantries, something Rafa never took personally. Jean-Luc Monfils was a man with apurpose: to do great things. Whether it was serving on a committee to raise money to save baby harp seals, teaching at a university abroad as an adjunct professor for a semester to open the minds of impressionable young adults to the dangers of deforestation, or sitting on the board ofGlobal Geographyto ensure the whole world knew about the Earth’s most precious biomes and fascinating civilizations, his father never ceased to amaze him. But the one thing he always had time for, no matter where he was in the world or what philanthropic endeavor was on his plate, was Rafa and his well-being.
Even if he didn’t have time to say the wordhello.
“All in one piece,” Rafa responded.
“Good, good. And how are things with the expedition?”
“Fine. Though there have been a few changes of plans.”
“What do you mean, changes of plans? What happened at the team meeting last night?” his father asked worriedly.
“Well, I met the crew at the meeting. They put on a slideshow with information about the Moon City. Got drinks afterward with each of the new leads—”
“New leads? What do you mean, new leads?” his father asked, his voice kicked up another octave. “Socorro Mejía and Ford Matthews are supposed to be the leads.”
Confusion and another emotion Rafa couldn’t quite put his finger on vibrated through the phone.
“How did you know that?” Rafa asked, casting a curious glance at the phone. Or, better yet, how did everyone seem to know about the leads except Rafa? There sure were a lot of loose lips on this supposedly top-secret expedition.
“Your blabbermouth boss, of course. I’ve told you, Rafael, you can’t trust that man with a secret to save your life.”
Rafa rolled his eyes. Didn’t he know it. He still couldn’t believe his boss had called his dad to tattle about his resignation.
“Well, Dr. Matthews broke his arm,” Rafa explained, “so he and Dr. Mejía aren’t heading the expedition anymore. They put two other archaeologists in charge instead.”
“Who? Who did they put in charge?” his dad demanded.
Hmm…maybe it was anxiousness?
“Drs. Bradley Quinn and Miriam Jacobs.”
“Who the hell is Miriam Jacobs?” his dad asked.
The tenor in his dad’s voice threw Rafa off. Busy as he was, most of the time Jean-Luc was still an amiable old man who enjoyed reading the paper in the morning with a cup of tea at his favorite café while he chatted with other regulars. A cultured widower who everyone wanted to rub elbows with. A father who was always a voice of reason when Rafa needed to vent.
But there were two things his dad didn’t like: surprises and talking about Rafa’s mother. They brought out the worst in him—anger and sadness—and Rafa learned long ago to avoid those things if he could. Unfortunately, this expedition involved both.
“I’m sorry,” his dad quickly resumed. “This is unexpected, that’s all.”
