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He had gathered up the debris and now dropped everything into a canister. “Yep.” He took off the gloves, dropped those in too. “All set?” He found a smile.
But inside, a hole had opened up, and along with it, the strangest urge to...No.She didn’t need to know the sordid, broken past.
He’d come here to start over. Not weep over what could have been.
When he turned back, she’d slid off the table, headed out into the hallway.Wait?—
“Tia—”
“Oh!”
Shoot.
He swung into the hallway, spotted her staring into the wreckage of the room. She shook her head, looked at him. “When were you going to tell me?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Now?”
Her mouth tightened. “I’m going to get everything back.” Her eyes found his. “Including Jamal.”
“No, you’re not.”
She gaped at him.
He stepped toward her. “Sebold is an evil, ruthless man. He will kill you.”
She blinked at him. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Doyle, but... you’re not the boss of me.”
Aw.
She pushed past him, out into the reception area, then into the night.
He closed the door, then locked up the clinic.
And as he watched her disappear into the monastery, he knew he couldn’t watch another woman he cared about die.
* * *
He wouldn’t sleep anyway.
Stein checked the lock on the gate of the compound, having walked the perimeter and checked the two other entrances—one by the kitchen and one at the church.
Now he folded his arms and leaned against the building, one foot on the wall, looking out to where Declan’s house perched on the hill.
He had already texted the security lead there—a man named Zeus—and updated him on his overnight stay at Hope House, as well as secured reinforcements.
In the valley, along the harbor, the homes of Esperanza lit, tiny lights against the curve of the sea, under the vault of night. He liked it here—the salt in the wind, the smell of the sea, the heat on his skin—and he’d started to unwind, finally, from the chaos in Barcelona, where he’d nearly, inadvertently, let his boss get run over by a Vespa.
A Vespa ridden by a woman he thought he’d forgotten.
Okay, in truth, he’d never really forget Code Name Phoenix, if that had truly been her back in Caledonia. Hard to forget someone who saved your life.
Then left you for dead.
Maybe it wasn’t her. He’d started to think he’d dreamed up the entire thing—the girl named Avery who possessed the same mysterious green eyes as Phoenix, who’d made friends with Declan. A woman who looked very much like someone he’d met at his sister’s wedding.
His brain was playing tricks with him. Especially in the wee hours of the night.
So, better to not sleep. Tomorrow, he’d reach out to Jones, Inc., a private security team in Minnesota that his cousin worked for, and see if they could send down support. At least until Stein figured out how to get the S-7 crew off the backs of Hope House.