Page 30 of Keeping Her Secrets

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They sat eating steak, salad, and potatoes while the laptop loaded an email from the secure server. Ash had received a text from Nick saying the information was ready and Moody was holding his own.

“What’s it say?” Mari asked, and he looked at her as she sat cross-legged on the couch, a fork halfway to her mouth. She was sexy as hell; even eating she managed to look hot. He was still in awe of all she’d survived.

He’d known the second he’d laid eyes on Leonie that she was Mari’s daughter. She was the absolute image of her. Hearing their story had gutted him in a way he knew he would never forget. He had seen and heard all forms of pain in his job, but what he felt coming from Mari, as she retold her horror, had torn him to shreds. At that moment, he had fallen in love with her and knew he would do anything to stop her from ever feeling that way again. “It’s loading still—the encryption makes it a little slow.”

Her face was flushed from sex and crying and the emotional onslaught, and yet he had never seen her look more beautiful. She looked perfect in every way, her love and commitment to those she cared for was so pure, it hurt to witness.

The laptop dinged with a notification. “Here we go.” They were both silent as they read it, side by side, taking in the intel and analyzing it. Trident had undoubtedly come through for them with this.

“Am I reading this right?” Ash looked at Mari who’d put down her plate and was re-reading the information. “If this is correct, it opens up another avenue we hadn’t considered.”

Mari tilted her head to him, and he could imagine the wheels turning in her head. The email included an image of Moody picking Lois up from the front of the hotel, just like she’d said, but Brody had found it in a deleted file on the hotel’s backup server. Moody had been set up, but that wasn’t all; Mari’s German contact had been found dead from a suspected drug overdose.

Trident’s geek had also found footage of a man called Henrique Verwoerd known for taking contract killings for a low price. The man wasn’t that good and that was why he wasn’t in the big leagues.

“This doesn’t add up. My contact sold the product, but he never used it himself. He wasn’t an idiot, so there’s no way he died from an overdose. Secondly, if Henrique Verwoerd is the shooter, it begs the question as to whether all this is connected to me somehow. The fact he’s from South Africa feels like quite the coincidence.”

“Maybe we should tell Jake and Nick about the possible connection?” Ash knew his suggestion might not go down well. Her eyes flashed to him, and he saw fear and pain in them. He reached for her, and she pulled her hand away. He moved, pinning her with his body so she couldn’t get away. “Mari, don’t do that; don’t shut me out.”

“You promised!” Her eyes looked ravaged again, and he hated he’d even suggested it.

“I know, and I meant every word. It was just an idea and a bad one. Forgive me?” Ash held his weight off her but kept her beneath him, so she couldn’t physically run. He palmed her cheek and held his eyes locked on hers, so she could see the genuine regret in them.

“Please, baby? I would rather cut off my own arm than hurt you. I don’t know what’s happening between us, but I know it means more to me than anything that came before, and I would never jeopardize that by betraying you.”

“It took a lot for me to trust you, Ash. You asking that frightens me.”

“I know, and I won’t ask again. I was thinking of the mission, not what we’d shared.”

Mari pushed up, and he let her sit but kept her close. “That’s just it, you’re right. From a mission point of view, it makes sense to share my past, but I just don’t know if I can.”

“Then don’t. Why don’t we go and talk to Hanley first thing and see if he can tell us more? The event is in two days, so we have a little time.”

Mari looked unsure, and he hated that. He waited, giving her time to make her own mind up. “Okay, but I think I need to do some investigating of my own from this end and make sure Ben is still locked away where he should be. He’s the only person in SA that hates me as far as I know.”

“This may not even be linked to you. It may be a pure coincidence.”

Mari tipped her head, smiling sadly. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.” Unfortunately, she was right, but he didn’t confirm that.

Mari surprised him by kissing him softly, her lips molding to his. He returned the kiss, tasting her, feeling the passion and feeling inside her.

She pulled away and cupped his cheek. “Thank you.”

Ash frowned. “What for?”

“I feel free for the first time in fifteen years. Free to mourn or talk about Leonie, and you gave me that by showing me I matter.”

“You do matter, Marisol. You matter to me more than you know.” He stopped himself from saying the words, wanting more time with her before he dropped the L-bomb. She gazed in his eyes as if she too was battling with what to say to express her feelings.

“I need to get to work.” Her voice was languid.

“Best get on that then,” he replied with a grin when she didn’t move.

Eventually, he rolled away knowing if she stayed so close to him for much longer, he would have her naked. Standing, he held out his hand. “Time to work; we can play later.” Her eyes grew dark with desire, and he almost changed his mind, but with so little time and so much at stake, he knew they couldn’t get side tracked.

With the mood broken, Mari retrieved her laptop and a burner phone. She dialed a number while he watched, wondering who she was calling. “Will, it’s Mustique.”