Page 128 of My Beautiful Sin

“Yes,” I promise. “And there are I things I want to know.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” he assures me. “And I want to hear everything you’ve been thinking. Right now, though, I need to focus on keeping you safe. So I have just one question.” He tips up my chin, then brushes a kiss over my lips. “Are you mine?”

“I’m as much yours as you are mine,” I whisper, then sigh as his arms tighten around me.

“In that case,” he says, “you’re mine completely.”

We pull apart long enough to come together for a kiss, long and deep. The kind that would usually lead to the frantic stripping of clothes and wild sex on the kitchen table.

Sadly, we have company. Not to mention a plan to work out.

We meet Ronan in the living room, and he nods slowly, looking around. “There’s a reason you live here. This place is like Fort Knox. That’s good. I think this will work out well,” he says, then lays out his plan.

Devlin asks a few questions, then nods. “That should work.”

“I’d prefer having Reggie here with us, but I don’t want to leave Brandy unprotected.”

“And we do have three,” Devlin says, looking at me. “You’ll be armed, too.”

“You better believe I will,” I say. “But are you sure we don’t want to pull Anna and Tamra into the loop?”

Devlin shakes his head. “Standard protocol for the Angels. Mission specs are need-to-know only, and neither of them work in the field. They don’t need to know. Plus, they know the subject personally, and that’s not something we’ve dealt with before. They’re not tested in that kind of deception. If he talks to either of them and gets even the slightest wind of our suspicions…”

I nod. “I get it.”

“With luck, this ends tonight,” Ronan says. “You ready to make the call?”

I draw in a breath, then nod. I pull out my phone and dial Christopher, then curse when it rolls to voicemail. “Hey, Christopher. It’s Ellie. Can you call me back? Thanks.”

I end the call and look up at the guys, then shrug.

They exchange a look, then Devlin pulls out his phone and dials.

“Anna, hey. Are you still at the office? What, no, just one thing. I need to fly to Vegas. Can you call and let them know to get my plane ready? Thanks. Actually, there’s one more thing. I was trying to reach Christopher. I thought he might be working late in the research room.”

He meets my eyes, then Ronan’s. Then he smiles. “Great. That’s perfect. Give him a message for me. I just need to check something out. Okay. Right.”

Another pause, and then he continues, his gaze shifting to me, hardness fueling his voice. “Someone tried to run Ellie off the road, and I don’t want to leave her alone. But I have a theory I want to explore. Right—that’s why I’m going to Vegas. Listen, I’ve been trying to reach Brandy, but I’m not getting an answer. Can you ask Christopher to get in touch with her and ask Brandy to drive up for the night? Yeah. My house. Give him the alarm code to pass on to Brandy. Yes. Be sure to tell him it opens the door and turns off the alarm. That confuses some people. And tell him that Ellie might be asleep. I gave her something to relax her. What? Yes—yes things are fine between us now.”

He meets my eyes, his smile slow and sweet. I love you, he mouths.

I know, I reply, happiness flooding through me.

Humor dances over his face before he turns serious again. “Oh, yes. Yes, of course I will. Thanks, Anna. I knew I could count on you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

He ends the call, then sits beside me. “She says to tell you she’s sorry and hopes that you’re doing okay.”

“You’re having them get your plane ready?”

“Got to make the illusion look good.” He taps out a text. “Marci will make sure the log shows that I was on the plane. And I’m sure she and the crew will have a lovely night in Vegas.”

I almost point out that faking the log is illegal, but I stop myself. Hardly the point.

“And now?”

“Now we wait,” Ronan says. He looks at me, and there’s so much concern reflected on his face, that I’m not sure how I ever thought he had it in for me. “You doing okay?”

“I’ve got the two of you here with me,” I say. “I’m doing just fine. And thank you,” I add. “Everything before is such a blur. If I didn’t already say thank you for coming to help and for taking care of Shelby, then I’m saying it now.”