Pushing past Cage, I stomp over toward the wall, next to the broken window my husband came crashing through like Rambo or something, then move even farther away so no one can overhear us.
Cage follows. When he’s close enough, I demand in a harsh whisper. “I need to know right now… who are you?”
“I’m an agent for a private security firm called Jameson Force Security,” he says, his eyes pinned on mine.
I shake my head, confused. “What does that even mean?”
“It means we provide a wide variety of services for the private sector. It could be something as simple as providing security for a VIP to contracting with the government to going into foreign lands to battle terrorism.”
My eyes go round as I gape at him. Cage fights terrorism—that’s about the farthest thing from a used-car salesman as possible.
“I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to tell you for a very long time,” he says.
“Bullshit,” I snarl. “You’ve been keeping this a secret for a very specific reason.”
“Because I was afraid of losing you,” he insists. “That’s the only reason.”
“I don’t buy it.” I cross my arms over my chest, trying to think back over the last several weeks if there were signs I missed. Then an idea strikes. “You married me with this lie between us.”
Cage’s face flushes. “I’m sorry.”
“You absolute son of a bitch,” I yell, and it’s loud enough to carry so everyone hears it. “You tricked me. Deceived me. I don’t know what your end game was in all of this—”
I stop, a sudden idea horrifying me.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, taking a step back from him. “You used me to get to my brother, didn’t you?”
To my surprise, Cage rolls his eyes. “Your brother isn’t high enough on the bad-guy scale to even interest my company.”
“I don’t believe you,” I reply, because how can I believe anything he says?
“Look,” Cage says, his voice sounding tired and defeated. I have no sympathy for him because I am beyond exhausted myself. “Let’s talk when we get you back to our apartment.”
My head shakes hard, hair flying, and I hold up a hand. “Wrong. That’s my apartment, and you’re not welcome there.”
Cage’s eyes narrow and turn dark. “That’s not fair, Jaime. You’re not giving me a chance to explain.”
“You’ve explained it well enough. You’ve lied for weeks, and you were too cowardly to come clean. You think I want to be with someone like that?”
Cage just stares at me, either unwilling or unable to argue. He merely lifts his chin toward Agent Brandeis. “You better go.”
I couldn’t agree with him more. I turn on my heel, and don’t even look back as I walk away from him.CHAPTER 23CageI should be on cloud nine that we pulled off a clean, efficient, and best of all, safe rescue of Jaime. The bad guys are headed to jail, and my wife finally knows the truth about me.
And she is pissed.
I’d expected that, but what I wasn’t ready for was how much her disappointment affected me. I thought I’d be dealing with anger, but I wasn’t thinking that she might actually be hurt.
I’m a stupid fuck for not realizing it. I’m a stupid fuck for not telling her the truth sooner. In hindsight, I see exactly how stupid I truly was, even though I had Anna and Bodie urging me to come clean time and time again. The only excuse I had was the fear she’d cut me loose immediately, and I was selfishly hoping for one more day or one more week with her.
Ladd, Jackson, and I clear out long before the other FBI agents haul off the kidnappers. Brian wasn’t arrested as his crimes were on a state level, but I’m sure he’ll be answering to those at some point. Clay took Brian, along with his sister, to their FBI offices for interviews. I’m weighing whether I should go there after a quick debrief at headquarters to offer her a ride home. My gut says it’s a bad idea, and she needs a little space.
The drive back to Jameson isn’t quiet. Ladd and Jackson, riding high on the adrenaline of storming a kidnappers’ stronghold—which wasn’t all that strong—has them sharing some moments that were pulse-pounding and others that were hysterical.
Like the look on Glen’s face when I came crashing through the wood-and-glass window, which was clearly a diversionary tactic that let Ladd and Jackson deploy flash bangs to stun the others into capitulation. It worked like a dream. The kidnappers were so startled Ladd and Jackson had them down on their knees with their hands behind their heads in mere seconds.
I’m quiet on the ride back and it’s not long before they notice.
“You don’t look too happy for someone who just saved their wife,” Ladd comments as he drives one of the company vans to headquarters.