“And I thought there was a good chance you were in trouble. Pretending to go to Cleveland but instead running off to some cult-y island withthat guy.” He choked out “that guy.” He’d met Markus once, and they’d had a pissing contest over a small home repair. Markus’s presence had inspired Phil to change a lightbulb that Gabby had been asking for help with for about five years.
“Now I’m here, and I…” He shook his head. “Look at this.” He gestured to paradise. “Look at you.” He gestured to her.
Phil looked beaten. He dropped his head to his hands. It must be hard to see your ex do better than they did with you. Maybethe divorce was finally sinking in. Hopefully. Seeing her get fake married to Markus might be just what the doctor ordered.
Then Markus strode onto the patio, tall and handsome with a freshly exercised glow. He looked right at Phil, clearly confused as hell and rightfully so. He blinked as if to clear Gabby’s ex-husband from his vision. She’d already tried that.
“Phil?” he said. “What the hell?”
At which point, the patio door opened, and Elena poked her head out. “Is this George?” she asked. When Gabby ignored her, she looked directly at Markus and asked, “Are you George?”
Without answering or saying anything to the family, he made eye contact with Gabby. “We need to talk. Now.”
Only 0900, but it feels like a full day has passed, the honeymoon cottage
While her family sat on their private breakfast patio, where she and Markus had enjoyed ube pancakes and macadamia nut lattes only an hour ago, they walked to the beach, far enough away so that they couldn’t be overheard but close enough so that they could keep an eye on the Worst Family Ever. It was official.
And Markus—she couldn’t forget that he’d lied to her this morning. Fooling around in the woods with Genesis when he said he’d be working on Sheridan’s evacuation.
The wind kicked up and blew her hair across her face. Gabby sputtered to get her windblown strands out of her mouth. Markus’s shirt clung to his abs.
“Did you talk to Sheridan?” Gabby asked, pulling the hair from her mouth.
Markus raised his eyebrows. “Really? I think we have bigger problems at the moment. What the fuck is your ex-husband doing here? And your mother?” He looked absolutely flabbergasted. Heshook his head and blew out a breath like he was trying to get a hold of his emotions.
But she was mad too. Hands on hips, Gabby stared him down. It was questionable what their biggest problem was: her mother or Markus’s lying.
“Why are they here?”
“I sure didn’t invite them,” she said, seething with rage. Had a family ever followed an undercover agent on assignment before? It sounded crazy, but she was two-for-two.
“If you didn’t invite them, then why are they here?” Markus looked frustrated beyond belief. “Our jobs are on the line. The mission could be jeopardized, and Phil is here acting jealous about a fake relationship.”
The way he emphasized “fake” hurt.
“They’re here to stop the wedding.” Gabby couldn’t believe she’d just said that out loud. But that’s what had happened. Her nosy mom and her jealous ex had crashed her undercover wedding.
Markus looked like he was going to melt the sand into glass with his glare.
“How the fuck do they even know there is a wedding? I heard you tell everyone we were going to Cleveland. And here they are—”He gestured to the beach. “How?”
A crab skittered by on the sand, unaware of the human drama unfolding above.
“Kyle put an AirTag in my stuff and informed everyone in the house that we were not in Cleveland. Granny apparently called to warn me, but the call dropped, and then I lost the phone.”
Markus started laughing. But not a joyous laugh. More like a we’re-so-fucked-there’s-nothing-to-do-but-laugh laugh.
The crab found another shell. Gabby wished she could hide under something and skitter away.
“At least the kids aren’t here. I think there’s a good chance we can get rid of my mom and Phil without causing a fuss. I’m sorry. I’ll tell Valentina everything. You shouldn’t take the fall for this. I should have known something was up when Kyle gave me a pair of Crocs.” Hindsight.
But she knew that, if this mission failed, they’d both go down, especiallythismission. You couldn’t use a fourteen-year-old as an excuse. Agents were supposed to plan for all contingencies. Although she would have needed a psychic to predict today.
“What happens if we report this?”
“We’ll be fired.” With a grim look, he said, “We have to report this and request an evacuation. Your family can’t be here. Our covers are most likely blown or will be any minute.”
They hadn’t even gotten around to talking about Sheridan. They were supposed to be evacuating her from the resort. Instead, they were dealing with Gabby’s drama.
