When Gabby and Markus pushed the door open to the honeymoon cottage, it was dark. At first glance, it looked like their place had been ransacked, but it was just their mess. Clothes were strewn around from getting dressed for their parties in a hurry. There was the blue dress she had almost worn slung across the bed.
“Do you think it’s weird that my mom and Sheridan changed rooms?”
“It’s probably fine,” he said. “And we have bigger problems than that at the moment.” He caught her eye. “What are we going to do about all of these deals you offered? We can’t back them up without Valentina.”
Gabby started tidying up just to give her something to do with her hands. “Before we call her, what about iMoan? Naomi is clearly involved and I offered her a deal too.” Gabby groaned. “Jasmine won’t talk without her.”
Really, she had nothing solid. Not even Markus. It’s not like he’d explained himself when she’d confronted him about meeting behind her back with G.
Why had she been worried about professional boundaries? The only person she had an effective boundary with was the one she had been trying to let in. Just going through the motions, same as she did at the end of every night, she started tidying up.
“Pull it together, Gabby,” Markus said. “You got this. We got this.”
She wanted to believe that, but could she trust him? Texting G, meeting with G, dropping Sheridan’s phone off when he knew damn well it was providing her with a means of delivering classified news to the outside world. Gabby hung an unworn dress in the closet and lined shoes up neatly against the wall. The room might be clean, but her mind was still cluttered and dark, and she was dead on her feet.
“Do we got this, Markus? Are you working with me or…” She let the words trail off.
“I got this” had been the refrain in her head since she took this job, which kept pushing her into “Be More, Do More” territory because she wasn’t enough. God, it was almost like she was repeating all the mistakes she’d made as a stay-at-home mom. Taking on too much, over-promising and underdelivering. Different job, same problems.
Markus sat down next to her. “We need backup. This rogue-cop thing only works on TV.”
“I really thought I had it for a minute,” Gabby said.
“And at this point, we need to tell Valentina so she can save her own ass. If there’s a disaster down here, she’s going to take the fall right along with us.”
Oof. Gabby hadn’t been thinking about that. A rogue agent’s supervisor probably didn’t get a promotion when things went sideways. Not to mention, Markus. He wasn’t just admitting failure tohis boss but to his ex-wife. The EOD was such a mess. It was like a reality show with spying. She had made it even messier.
It was time to admit defeat. She hadn’t gotten the job done. If anything, she’d made it worse.
Valentina answered the phone on the first ring. After Markus and Gabby explained, Valentina took a deep breath and said, “You’re fucking kidding me. What am I supposed to do with you two assholes?”
Gabby and Markus remained silent. They both knew when to shut up.
“Neither of you can offer anyone immunity. You’re supposed to be locked in your rooms awaiting evac.”
“It’s my fault,” Gabby said.
“This is a group project, Agent Greene. You share a grade. Agent Parks knows that.”
Gabby flashed a look of apology Markus’s way.
“I’ll be there tomorrow. I’m not sure what time, but as soon as I can possibly get there.”
Gabby gasped.
“What should we do?” Markus asked.
“Don’t fucking offer anyone any more deals. No espionage.”
Gabby said, “Tomorrow is our wedding. Should we call that off?”
“No, don’t change anything. At least you’ll be too busy to get into trouble.”
The engaged-to-Markus assignment had officially changed from a fantasy to a punishment.
“When I get there, you better be married and acting like newlyweds. If either of you does anything that could be construed as espionage, I will personally arrest you myself.”
The wedding day, the honeymoon cottage
