jacket and turned to me.
“Take what you’ll need for a few days.”
“Okay.” I pulled a small bag out of my closet and threw in two work outfits, my pajamas, a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and some toiletries. I added a pair of flats I often wore to work and zipped up the bag. I was probably forgetting something, but there was nothing I could do about that now. I was anxious to get out of here because my apartment felt tainted now.
“You okay?” Ace’s voice was soft and I nodded, though I couldn’t look at him. I was still embarrassed about my behavior and unsure what to say.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said, lifting my chin and looking into my eyes.
“I don’t even understand what you’re doing here,” I said after a moment.
“I know, and we’ll talk about everything once we’re at the hotel.”
I took a moment to water my plants since I might be gone a few days, and he fiddled with the nanny cam after asking me where it was.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
He put a finger to his lips, so I waited until we were out on the street.
“The intruder might have left a bug, so I didn’t want to say too much. I’ll come back and do a thorough search tomorrow while you’re at work, but until then, be very careful what you say. I’m going to check your phone too.”
I shuddered slightly, even though I wasn’t cold.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I’m right here.”
“I know, but…” I glanced over at him. “Why are you here?”
“I told you, your mom called me and—”
“Yes, but why you? Why would she think of you to help with this?”
He looked confused. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“What I do for a living.”
I shook my head. “Our conversation was very brief.”
“Honey, when we met ten years ago, I was getting ready for a mission in the Middle East.”
“I know. You told me.”
“Not for a deployment.”
I blinked. “I’m confused. You mean…” I stopped walking and cocked my head. “What are you saying? Are you…”
“Intelligence.”
“CIA.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes. So many things made sense now. Things I hadn’t even articulated in my head but had confused me nonetheless. The fact that he didn’t have a social media presence. Not coming to my father’s funeral. The way he’d all but dropped off the face of the earth after our evening together. When he’d said he might not be coming back from the Middle East I’d assumed he was being deployed by the military. Good grief, was I naïve or what?
“By the look on your face, I see this surprises you,” he said as we got to his hotel and walked inside.
“A little,” I admitted. “I guess I thought you’d just moved on with your life and didn’t care enough about my dad, or me, to be at his funeral.”
He shook his head. “You have no idea how much I hated missing it. But I was in the middle of something I couldn’t just walk away from.”
“It makes a lot more sense now.” I followed him into the elevator.
We didn’t talk as we rode up to the fourth floor. We stepped out and he unlocked the door to his room. It was small but efficient, with a double bed, a desk and chair, an armchair and a small closet. The bathroom was off to the side and I excused myself for a minute. I didn’t have to go, but I needed a minute to collect myself. Everything I’d thought I’d known had flown out the window with that video. And now I was sharing a hotel room with Ace, the man I’d been thinking about for a decade, who happened to work for the CIA. I splashed some water on my face, though it probably made a mess of my makeup, and finally washed my hands.
He was at his laptop when I came out and he smiled. “Feeling better?”
“I don’t know.” I sank into the armchair and rested my chin on my hand. “I’m a little overwhelmed.”
“I’m sure.” He was typing something.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to send the video from your nanny cam to someone I work with. Can you unlock your phone and let me play with the app?”
“Sure.” I typed in my password and handed him the phone.
He worked quickly and efficiently, tapping on the keys. Now that we were alone, and I felt relatively safe, I had my first opportunity to really