The Art of You

Bella stared at me in shock, chasing away tears with the back of her hand as her wobbly bottom lip caught a few, too. I had to admit that wasn’t the reaction I’d expected after telling her my truth. That I not only now knew I loved her but felt it deep in my bones. Breathed it like air. Was starved for it, too.

I pushed away from the wall, arms falling dead at my sides. Did I just fuck everything up? Speak too soon?

Sure, I’d pushed the envelope a bit with my not-really-a-joke comment about her birth control yesterday. But this was different. It was serious and honest and as unplanned as the heart attack I was about to have if she didn’t speak.

“Say something, please.” I caught her wrist, preventing her hand from erasing the evidence of her emotions.

Blinking her way from my lips to my eyes, I locked our fingers together, on the verge of shedding my emotions in liquid form, too. “I, um⁠—”

“Hey, we need you.” Goddamn Alessandro and his motherfucking knock cutting her off. “It can’t wait.”

No, but the words I wanted to hear more than anything in the world would now have to.

Bella’s shoulders collapsed, and I brought our clasped hands between us and brushed my lips over her knuckles while meeting her eyes. “Later,” I mouthed.

She lightly nodded, brows drawing together.

“We’re coming,” I called out as she used her free hand to discard her tears.

Her brothers would probably think I was in here breaking their sister’s heart once they set eyes on her.

Freeing her hand, she turned to face the door. But before she opened it, she peeked back at me and whispered, “Remember what Patrick Swayze liked to say to Demi Moore in Ghost?”

Ditto for love. I nodded in understanding.

“Well, that.” She’d said it so damn softly and sweetly I about fell the fuck over at what she was telling me.

You love me, too.

When she faced forward, my palm landed on the door like a knee-jerk reaction, keeping it closed.

I encircled her waist with my other hand, and she relaxed her back against my chest and angled her head to the side. Leaning over her shoulder, I bent forward and kissed her, needing to taste her love on her lips.

And I felt it in that kiss.

She’d done what I’d never thought possible. She freed me from my past. Regardless of who was behind this mess we were in, I didn’t care. Not about their reason or motivation. Fuck it all. Everything that mattered from that moment on was right there in that room with me.

I knew I was finally ready to find a way to forgive myself and let go of the guilt that’d been weighing me down for a third of my life. Now that I had her, I’d do everything in my power to never lose her. And I meant every word. If there was ever a day when her heart wasn’t beating, mine would officially stop.

It took all of my energy to free her from where we stood, hating to walk away from the sanctuary and serenity the space had provided, even for that brief moment. But it was time to once again focus up and switch gears. Find a way to put all of this chaos to bed, so we could all move forward.

Once we were back in the living room, Alessandro wasted no time chucking a phone at me. Thankful my arm was finally healing, I caught it mid-air. Bella and I looked down at what was displayed on the screen as he announced, “We know who’s behind this.”

“The accountant?” Bella asked. “That woman’s date from across the street?”

“Yeah, but the name we had was an alias,” Constantine told us. “Facial recognition software provided his real identity. He’s Rose’s husband. His wife was one of the Marines who died in the embassy attack.”

And just like that, my world flipped upside down. For a split fucking second, I felt sympathy for this guy. Because I’d kill every last son of a bitch I believed responsible if anything happened to the woman standing next to me.

“He works at the Pentagon. The house on Long Island was a diversion to throw us off. He lives in Virginia. And he’s not a spy or an analyst,” Alessandro rasped, drawing my eyes, “just an unassuming IT guy.”

Constantine crossed the room, exchanging a quick look with Roman at his three o’clock in the process, prompting Roman to speak.

“My people are looking into Rose’s background, as well as his. If there’s a connection between you and them, they’ll find it, I promise,” Roman shared.

Before I could offer my two cents, my phone in my pocket buzzed from a text.

I handed Alessandro’s cell over to him and decrypted the message on mine. My eyes shot straight to the window as I revealed, “Alfie’s here. In the lobby.”

“You told him where we’re staying?” Constantine asked in surprise.

“Of course not.” He must have tracked us from JFK to here. “He wants to come up.” I went over to the weapons bag on the couch and retrieved a Glock, tucking it at the back of my jeans.

“Mind taking Izzy to one of the other suites down the hall?” Constantine asked Roman. “I don’t want her in here when we talk to him. Have our two operators out in the hall go with you.”

“You sure you don’t want some backup here, too?” Roman asked, looking back and forth between us.

Constantine went for a weapon as well. “The three of us are good.” In a steady voice he added what I sure as hell hoped to be true, “Just having a conversation.”

Roman eyed Constantine’s rifle, shaking his head. “Yeah, well, those are the only kind of conversations I usually have.”