“I just don’t think I should go. I know you explained everything to your parents, but Porter is still in a coma and barely hanging on, and well, I’m just worried if I’m at the wedding, I’ll be a distraction from the bride and groom. There will be whispers and—”
“And nothing.” He crossed the room, finally getting his feet to move to sit next to her. “I want you there. Ella Mae does, too. My family knows how happy you make me. They saw it last week. They’ll love you—hell, they’ll probably end up loving you more than they do me.”
Her palms went to her bare thighs. She had on jean shorts and a black ribbed tank top. Her hair in a side braid. And damn did she look cute. If he hadn’t just been issued the three-month mandatory break from the doc, he would’ve carried her upstairs to the bedroom since they STILL hadn’t made love since the safe house in Georgia. It just hadn’t been the right time. Not with Porter getting shot. Then the Volkov showdown. And the moment they’d returned to D.C., it’d been one work detail after another to deal with.
“Please come with me.” He shifted on the couch and snatched her hands. “I can’t imagine going there without you by my side.” He wanted to spend every second of every day with her.
“Can I think about it? Maybe see if Porter pulls through?” She wedged her lip nervously between her teeth.
He opened his mouth to speak, but at the sound of the doorbell, they both swung their attention toward the hall. “Must be Knox and Adriana.”
Knox arrived in D.C. earlier that morning from the Maldives, and he and Luke said they had news about Winters that should be shared in person.
A.J. only hoped that “news” would help put Ana’s worries to rest and not make her more uneasy.
He went to the door and checked to make sure it was who they’d been expecting.
“Hey, brother,” Knox said when the door opened, and he stepped in and gave him a manly one-arm hug since he hadn’t seen him in weeks.
“Adriana.” A.J. narrowed one eye, playing angry since she’d kept Ana’s secret, but then he laughed and pulled her in for a hug.
“Sorry,” Adriana whispered into his ear. “But looks like it worked out for you.”
And it had, hadn’t it?
“Hi.” Ana greeted both Knox and Adriana, and she offered a flustered apology to Knox for asking Adriana to lie on her behalf.
“It’s all good. Come in for a hug.” Knox smiled and reached for Ana, taking her by surprise. They were big on forgiveness in their group. Life was too short.
Adriana went to Ana a moment later and hugged her as well. “So glad you’re okay.” She looked back and forth between A.J. and Ana as if assessing the new dynamics of their relationship.
“Have a seat.” Ana directed Knox and Adriana to the couch, but Knox remained firm, and he leaned a shoulder against the column in the room.
“Maybe you should sit instead?” Knox’s focus went from Ana to A.J.
“That bad?” That wasn’t what A.J. wanted to hear, damn it.
“Just, um, it might be a lot to take in,” he answered, so Ana went to the couch, and Adriana sat next to her.
A.J. stood uncomfortably, hands over his chest between where Knox stood and the couch, mentally preparing himself for “a lot to take in.”
“I asked Luke to let me be the one to come over here,” Knox began, his brown eyes landing on Ana.
“You said Winters rolled over on the Russians, though,” A.J. commented, growing nervous.
“He did. Between his testimony and Adrik’s, plus the ledger, there will be a lot of corrupt people going down. Not to mention the fact there is a lot of intelligence in that ledger that will help the President work out some foreign relations issues with other countries,” Knox explained. All good news so far.
“But?” Ana clutched a pillow to her chest and observed Knox as Adriana set a supporting hand to Ana’s knee.
Knox pushed away from the column and stroked his clean-shaven jaw. “Winters did reach out to Porter and that other agent the day your family was at the movie theater. He gave them the job of making sure your parents didn’t make it into custody alive. And it had to be done that night. Someone else, no longer living, tossed your house for Winters that night.”
A.J. went over to sit on the arm of the couch and reached for Ana’s hand. She shifted the pillow aside to clasp his palm.
“Porter was supposed to tell your parents that if they didn’t give the Bureau a reason to shoot, they’d kill you,” Knox said, his gaze on Ana, his tone a touch uneven, the words probably painful to say. “That’s why Jessica saw Porter talking to your parents first outside the theater. He was threatening to hurt you if they didn’t sacrifice themselves right there.”
And that’s why her parents drew their guns, “forcing” the FBI to fire.
He squeezed Ana’s hand, knowing she damn well needed it. And more.
“Your parents were protecting you.” Knox huffed out a breath. But there was more, wasn’t there? “After the Russians found the ledger, well, what they thought was the real ledger, they wanted you dead even though you didn’t know anything about it.” Knox took one step closer. “From what Winters said, Porter didn’t want you to die. He insisted you should be kept alive in case they ever needed you.”
Ana released A.J.’s hand and stood. She had to be reeling from this news. She walked around him and the couch and went to the wall by the windows, bracing both palms against the glass.
“Apparently, over the years, Winters realized Porter had grown attached to you. And when Porter insisted you work for the Bureau, he began to suspect Porter cared more about you than his allegiance to the Russians.”
“What are you saying?” she asked, tears in her voice, but she didn’t face the room.
A.J. stood, trying to determine what Ana needed from him right now. Space? Comfort?
“Porter’s a bad guy, but he wasn’t lying when he said he was trying to protect you. When the Volkovs re-emerged, he realized Winters would want you dead. Porter offered to, um, use you to infiltrate the Volkov organization to find out if the ledger and key were still out there, as well as determine if Adrik Volkov was still alive.”
Adriana was back on her feet, standing beside her husband, and A.J. took slow steps to get to Ana, not sure how to read her mood. But he wanted to be there for her.
“But Winters had concerns Porter really only cared about keeping you safe, so he made his own plan,” Knox continued as Ana turned.
“Shit,” A.J. said under his breath. “Winters framed Ana and the Volkovs? Hired The Huntsman. He planned to try and get the ledger back and locate Adrik, and the money in the Maldives was his safety net or backup plan, right?”
Knox nodded. When A.J. came up alongside Ana, she turned into his chest and began to sob as he held on to her tight. “Porter didn’t know about Winters’s plan. I think, in his own twisted way, he did care about you, and he was trying to get the ledger to prevent the Russians or Winters from hurting you.”
Porter was a traitor. His actions led to the murder of her parents. And the man put Ana in danger all those years. Trying to protect her didn’t undo all the wrong in A.J.’s book, but if Porter hadn’t stepped in, and Winters had his way, things could’ve gone much differently.