What I wouldn’t have given last night—and even this morning—to make love to her, but she needed the rest, and I’d have the rest of my life to do that.
It’s been more than twenty-four hours now since we tied the knot. Still, I don’t have a single fucking regret about it. I thought that might come at some point, but, so far, I’m glad we did it. Someone could argue with me until they were blue in the face, but I’ll never believe for a single moment that we weren’t already destined to arrive in the state of holy matrimony at some point.
I’ve been at Jameson since seven-thirty. Jaime thinks I left early to head to the airport for the “car auction” in Georgia. Now that lie I do regret, same as the others, but there’s somewhat of a balm over it in that I had intended to tell her the truth this weekend. It’s just with me going away for several days on a mission, well, I could not drop that bomb on her and leave.
It will, however, be the first thing I do when I return at the end of the week. Or, at least, that’s hopefully when I’ll return. If the mission goes longer, I don’t know what I’ll do.
After a long workout, a quick shower, and a quicker breakfast, which was downing a protein shake, I head down to the second floor. We’ll have a logistical meeting in a few hours with the team that will be joining me in Colombia. It will be Malik, Jackson, and one of the other agents who is fairly new here, Ladd McDermott. We’ll also have the backing of the Colombian army as well.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spy Anna coming out of her office.
“Anna, Anna, Anna,” I call out to get her attention, weaving my way through desks over to her.
“Hey,” she exclaims, a bright smile on her face that says she’s happy to see me.
I look around the second floor, noting most agents are at their desks with heads bowed over laptops, then grab Anna by the elbow to lead her back into her office.
“Hey,” she grumbles, trying to pull away.
I hold her firmly. “Sorry. But I really need to talk. It’s an emergency.”
Once in her office, I release her arm and pull the door shut behind us. Because I’m vibrating a bit with nervous energy, I start pacing back and forth. Her office is so small that I only get two steps before I have to turn around again.
“What’s wrong?” Anna demands.
I jerk from her words, my head snapping her way. She’s not going to like what I’m about to tell her. My gaze moves to the door. Maybe I should just leave.
“Cage,” she snaps, and I can tell she’s lost her patience. “Tell me what it is, and I’ll help you fix it.”
The expression on her face is pinched and worried. I bet she thinks I robbed a bank or something. Better disabuse her of that. “I got married.”
“You what?” she exclaims.
“I got married,” I repeat, a little softer as I drop into a chair.
“Got married,” she says slowly as if she doesn’t quite believe she’s heard me straight. “To whom?”
I roll my eyes. “To Jaime.”
Anna crosses her arms, one eyebrow cocked. “You told her the truth about what you do, right?”
Christ, every time I’m reminded of my lies, it’s like a knife twisting in my chest. I shake my head in response.
“What in the hell were you thinking?” she screeches.
I jump in my seat, hoping never to hear that sound from her again.
She lowers her voice to almost a hushed whisper, bending to get in my face. “You cannot marry a woman unless you are in love with her, and she knows the absolute truth about what you do for a living.”
My grin is lopsided, half well-intentioned, half wry. “Well… I got half right.”
Anna straightens in surprise, blinking at me with wide eyes. “You love her?”
Sighing, I rub my forehead. “Regrettably, I do.”
“Why regrettably?”
“Because she’s going to absolutely hate me when she realizes I’ve been lying to her this long, and then let her tie herself to me legally while I’m leading a double life.”
Anna’s hand shoots out, latches onto my arm, and she pulls me bodily from the chair, which is no easy feat as I’m a big guy. “Which is why you need to get your ass out of here right this moment, go to her, and tell her the