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Two seconds later I’m tackled to the ground, handcuffs cinched around my wrists.

Unnecessary attention: check.

“Are the cuffs really necessary?” I ask Cruz.

A wicked gleam grows in her eyes. “Oh yeah.”

She’s having too much fun with this. My shoulder is still sore because she tackled me to the floor like a freaking lineman. She could have led me, with dignity, out the back. But instead, she announced to the whole restaurant that I’d escaped a mental facility, then marched me through the front, very slowly. Then she continued to haul me down the street to where the van was parked. I’ve been stuck in this uncomfortable chair for ten minutes now.

“Is this how you got Liam to fall in love with you? You know you don’t have to handcuff people to get them to like you. You just have to be nice—”

“I’m nice.” She cuts me off with a glare.

I tilt my head to the side. “Try saying it with a smile and I might believe you.”

“Seriously, Amelia, you can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep showing up in the middle of missions. Caleb is undercover right now. I barely even know what he’s doing. I’m just here in case things go south.”

A pit forms in my stomach. I feel appropriately chastened. “I know, I just…I haven’t seen him in a month. I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

Her scowl softens incrementally. “If you’re not careful, next time you’ll end up in the middle of a gunfight.”

That would be less than ideal. "Can I get a gun on the off chance that happens?"

She rolls her eyes.

It was worth a shot.

One knock on the door is the only warning before Caleb enters the van. His face is a mask of frustration and…more frustration.

I screwed up. I realized that twenty minutes ago, but I feel roughly the size of a grain of dirt right now.

“Want me to stay?” Cruz asks.

Caleb just shakes his head. Cruz hops out of the van and Caleb leans against the closed back doors. “I just got off the phone with my boss.”

“Your new boss, right? Not the old one that turned on Cruz?” I could kill that guy, and I never even met him. “That guy made a real mess of things…”

And so did I. These handcuffs are probably on the right person.

I sink lower in my seat. “Caleb, I’m so sorry.”

“Myundercoverboss.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you did it. I’ve been trying to get in with that woman for months, I’ve been working for her organization and everything, but when I defended her against the crazy lady—”

“Unnecessarily harsh.”

“She invited me to a private event,” he finishes.

On second thought, maybe the cuffs should be on her.

“Do I, uh,” I scrunch up my nose, “want to know what kind of event this is?”

“It’s illegal, and classified.” He pushes off the wall and stalks toward me. “What was going through your head tonight, sweetheart?” He kneels in front of me and brushes a strand of hair out of my face before releasing me from the cuffs.

“You’ve been MIA for a month! I missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” A smile creases his cheeks. “How did you find me?” He mutters a curse through a clenched jaw. “You asked Liam for help, didn’t you?”

I squirm in my seat. “A good spy never reveals their secrets.”