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Connor shakes his head. “I knew it would come back to bite me either way.”

“I take that as a yes.”

“Millie, do you really think this is a good idea?” Maddie asks.

Honestly? I don’t know. But Caleb has been gone for so long, I’m desperate to find a reason to bring him back to me. “Do you have a better one?”

They exchange another look. It lasts longer this time, but they seem to come to a conclusion with their eyes.

“Keep your phone on, and don’t gamble away all your money.” Connor sighs.

“I was hoping for a bit more positivity, but I’ll take it.”

“Just…be safe,” Connor says, coming to wrap me in a hug.

“That’s practically my middle name.”

Chapter 3

Caleb

Amelia’sgoingtokillme. That’s the only thought going through my mind as I spread sunscreen on Katerina’s nearly bare back. Is this cheating? It feels like cheating.

The minute I got back from talking to Amelia the other night, Katerina informed me the business event we would attend was in Las Vegas. We’ve been here ever since and let’s just say, it has been two long days pretending to be someone I’m not while avoiding the advances of a woman who has paid a fortune for cosmetic surgery. According to our intel, she’s well over forty. But I’d never know that by looking at her. And I’ve had to look at her for averylong time.

I miss Amelia’s pure soul, her wild and witty mouth, especially her mouth. I just miss her. Hopefully, I can get the info we need at this meeting tonight because I’m dying without her. If there’s one thing I've learned being away from her, it’s that I don’t want to live a life without other people. I want all the people. I want normalcy and friendship.

I also want to put bad guys away and take down this particular trafficking ring.

“A little lower.” Katerina purrs.

I’m not getting paid enough for this.

I clench my jaw and do as I’m told, my sunscreen-soaked hands making their way lower down her tanned leathery skin.

Twelve hours. This could be over in twelve hours.

I finally finish and settle back in my beach chair, wiping off the remainder of the sunscreen on my towel, hoping to get rid of the feel of her skin as well.

“Don’t you want me to put sunscreen on you?” Katerina asks, righting herself in her chair.

I’m so sick of playing the strong but flirtatious boy toy. I’m ready to be taken seriously to gain the information I want.

“I was thinking of buying us a drink. I’d hate for you to get dehydrated.” Because then she would have to stop flirting for a full second, and what would that be like? “What would you like?”

“Gin and tonic,” she says, slipping her glasses into place and leaning back in the chair. Once her eyes are off me, I am free. I’m finding I don’t enjoy being undercover as much as I thought I would. It’s not exciting. It’s dangerous. That fact never used to scare me, but now I have Amelia. Should anything happen to her because of my undercover work, I’d never forgive myself. And I miss the people who have become my family.

I approach the bar situated in the middle of a small pool, raised on a platform.

There are only about fifteen people on this very exclusive fake beach, two of them standing as sentinels ready to serve Katerina anything she could want. Another two are bodyguards here to protect her.

The woman demands this kind of treatment everywhere we go. And everywhere we go, I dream of the way Amelia talks with strangers as if she’s known them her whole life. I love watching her play with kids and make a fool of herself to get a smile from them. She’s living. Katerina is…I don’t know what Katerina is doing.

“Gin and tonic, and a water with lime,” I tell the bartender, whose sole purpose is serving the elite rich on this fake beach.

He nods and gets to work. I lean back against the bar and take a full breath. If I were here with Amelia, things would be different. I would enjoy the calming sound of the wave pool and the solitude of the bungalows. I’d throw her in the pool, then apologize with kisses when she yelled at me.

I miss her so much I have been seeing her everywhere. As the hostess from check-in, the maid I passed in the hallway. And that girl halfway hidden behind the towel stand. She’s everywhere.