Until Death Do We Part (Sex and Vows 1)

I stifled a sigh. Martin had come through. “Sorry, doc. I need to get my wife to a military facility. Insurance and all that stuff,” I lied.

He looked slightly affronted, but nodded and left the room without speaking further.

We were in the air no less than twenty minutes later. I watched Evie like a hawk, alert for any signs of things being off. At last, we reached Moron and she was taken to a private patient room where I waited for her new doctor.

Dr. Pena eventually brought me the rest of Evie’s test results and completed an ultrasound. I breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed that both she and the baby would be okay. They were convinced her state of unconsciousness was simply her body healing from the trauma.

I thanked the doctor and she left me alone with my wife. I needed to call in but unable to resist it a moment longer, I crawled into the bed and held her, my hand resting protectively over the place where our baby was nestled. Sleep eluded me as I ran over the events of the last two weeks and the phone call about Evie’s burn notice.

Guilt filled me, knowing Evie had sacrificed her career for me. I realized there wasn’t a part of her I didn’t love, and that included Scarlett. I never wanted to lose my Evie and changing who she was would chip away at the woman I so desperately adored. An idea began to take root, and I mulled it over until I heard the low buzz of my phone vibrating on the bedside table.

***

I wiped blood off of my hands as I stepped into the hall outside the interrogation room. Looking down, I saw it splattered all over my clothes. I needed new ones and decided to shower, hoping to cleanse away some of the ugliness lingering over me from my interrogation.

Perry, the Chief of Station, was waiting for me and lifted a brow in question.

“My wife?” I asked first. I wouldn’t agree to leave her side for the interrogation unless she was heavily guarded and her condition monitored closely.

“No change.”

There was nothing left in me to deflate, yet somehow, I felt my body sag. “I’m going to get cleaned up before we debrief.” I stared at him for a moment, daring him to contradict me. I was in no mood to be fucked with.

He nodded and spun around, marching down the hallway. I made my way to a locker room and found a fresh pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and black Converse. Seemed he’d been expecting my demand. After a quick shower, I dressed and dragged my tired ass to the nearest conference room to give my report.

Unsurprisingly, I found my superior looped in on a secure feed, appearing on a large flat screen mounted on a wall. I lifted my chin in acknowledgment. “Donovan.”

“Seems you’ve once again proved to be invaluable, Justice. I hear you broke them both.”

I dropped into a chair, wishing I could slither to the floor and sleep. But, the sooner I got the debrief over with, the sooner I could get back to Evie.

“Heron is a weasel and it only took threats to crack him wide open. He rolled on Colin immediately. Apparently, Colin has been dabbling in unethical methods and black market sales for a while. Heron made the mistake of approaching Colin to help him with the sale of the noc list. Colin clearly never learned to share as a child because he wanted it for himself and tried to kill Heron. He went on the run and Colin came to us with his sob story, hoping you’d send me to retrieve Heron so he could interrogate and extract the noc list.”

I clenched my fist, swallowing down my fury as I relayed the next bit of information. “Colin specifically asked about the identity of Scarlett. Heron gave it up, giving Colin the opportunity to put a hit out on her life.”

Perry jumped in with a question. “And the list? Did Colin get it?”

I pierced him with a dark stare. “Colin has watched me interrogate targets for the whole of our careers. What the fuck do you think?”

“Justice,” Donovan said with reproach. I looked up, annoyed, but slightly pacified when I saw the understanding in his eyes. “What about Colin?”

I narrowed my eyes and spit, “Everybody talks.”

Colin had been harder to break, it had taken some interrogation techniques I couldn’t have gotten away with in certain parts of the world.

“Heron gave me the list of agents, Colin provided the names and locations of the hired guns.” I locked my gaze with Donovan’s before delivering the next blow.

“He had a partner.”

None of us had expected this, but I was the best there was at this fucking job. Although, as I sat in the meeting, I began to realize, I didn’t want to do this anymore. I filed that away for further dissection later.

“Leon.”

Donovan and Perry hissed matching breaths before muttering, “Fuck.”

“Pretty much,” I agreed dryly. Leon was the Chief of Station in the part of India where Colin had been working.

Donovan sighed and shook his head, then peered at me with a calculating expression.

“You seem burned out, Justice.”

Burned. The term perked me right up as I remembered the plan I’d been formulating.

“Are you ready to move on from the field?” he asked. “Because we’ve decided to offer you a promotion. If you take it, you’ll no longer be a field agent, though you will remain field rated to be one for any times it might be necessary.”

I guess my heart could take one more shock. Because instead of stopping, my heart sped up. Was it really going to be this easy? I could make the change and know I’d be coming home to my family every night, not putting myself in constant danger. But, the question was, just how much they wanted me to fill the position. I wanted something in return.

“I’m open to the change, sir. However, I’ve got a few conditions.”

Chapter 13

Evie

“C’mon, baby. Open those pretty brown eyes for me. It’s been too long since I’ve seen them.”

There was something wrong with Alex’s voice. It sounded hoarse, like he’d been crying. That couldn’t possibly be right, though. My husband wasn’t a crier. I tried to think of the last time I’d seen tears in his eyes, but my brain didn’t seem to be in working condition at the moment.

I felt the weight of his hand where it rested on my belly. His heat seeped into my skin, warming me, and I realized I was chilled. Goosebumps raced along my arms, and I wanted to pull the blankets up higher but couldn’t seem to make my arms move. There was a short buzzing sound, and I tried to turn my head in the direction from which it came, but couldn’t manage it. I started to panic, but then Alex spoke again and the sound of his voice soothed me.

“Can you bring in a warmed blanket for my wife? She’s cold and it isn’t good for the baby.”

Baby? I knew he liked to call me baby. It wasn’t something I’d ever expected to enjoy, but I loved that Alex had a cute nickname for me. Only, I didn’t think that’s how he’d used it. It was so hard to focus, but I could have sworn he meant it as in an actual baby, a life we’d created together.

Holy crap, how long had I been out of it? I fought against the exhaustion and pain, desperate to make it past the darkness. I tried to open my eyes, but it made the pain worse. It was excruciating, worse than anything I’d ever felt before, but the added pain had one huge benefit—it got my vocal cords working again as a deep moan burst from my lips.

“Evie,” Alex gasped, his hand moving from my stomach to grab my hand and squeeze tightly. “Come back to me. I’m right here waiting for you.”

His voice is filled with hope and rough desperation. I can’t let him down. Not my Alex. I gathered all of my meager strength and directed it towards the hand he was holding, making my fingers wiggle.

“That’s it, baby. You can do it.”