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Angie’s face brightened. “Thank you.”
“Go, sit down. Let people come to you.” Nathalie waved her toward a chair.
“Congratulations.” Caleb gave Nathalie a quick smile before helping Angie to her seat.
“I need to speak with you privately.” Ryder’s voice was a low caress in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
They slipped out of the room, down the hall to her office.
Ryder closed the door behind them. His powerful arms surrounded her, his mouth taking hers in a devastatingly tender kiss. She could feel the love flowing from him through her. When he pulled away, however, his face was serious.
Nathalie tensed.
“Lachlan rang me right before I arrived.” Ryder paused, pain flitting across his face for the briefest of moments. “Foster Hadley hanged himself in his prison cell an hour ago, shortly after he was transferred from the hospital.”
“Oh, my God.” Nathalie’s hand flew to her mouth. She studied Ryder’s face. “How do you feel?”
A part of her was relieved, however uncharitable the emotion. There would be no lengthy trial and he’d never get the chance to threaten her, Ryder, or Angie again. But a part of her was sad, too. Not because she’d liked Hadley, but because his actions were in part driven by his inability to cope with life after war.
“About Hadley?” His expression hardened. “I’m glad he’ll never have the chance to get anywhere near you again.”
He raised her hand to his lips to brush a soft kiss across her knuckles. “I’m afraid I have another piece of news you may not like. I have to return to England to take care of some business and personal matters. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Caleb will see you home.” His lips tilted in a mysterious smile. “I’ve left a surprise for you. Two, actually.”
“You’re leaving now?” Her stomach plummeted to her shoes. “When will you return?” Now that she finally had gotten him back after all these years, she didn’t want to let him go.
“Two weeks, tops, if I can help it.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry, darling, it can’t wait. I have a lot to do before I can move to the States.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “And I miss you already.”
His arm slid around her waist, molding her to his hard body. “Then I should give you something to remember me by until I return.”
He kissed her, and she eagerly opened to him, her hands locking behind his neck. His tongue caressed her with slow, languid strokes, as if he was licking his favorite ice cream rather than devouring it in one bite.
“I love you,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful. So intelligent. So strong. And so damn courageous it takes my breath away.”
“Ryder.” He was killing her, his words of praise an aphrodisiac that had her wanting to crawl up his body and take him so deep inside her she didn’t know where he ended, and she began.
He gave her another deep, seductive kiss, then released her. “Phone sex.”
She gave a startled laugh. “What?”
The look he sent her made her even wetter than she already was, his voice dripping with sin. “Video chat, tomorrow evening, your time. Wear something sexy.” Then he disappeared through her door, closing it behind him.
Damn him. He’d gotten her all worked up only to leave?
Seconds later, a soft tap sounded on her door. Nathalie yanked her thoughts out of the gutter and brushed aside the melancholy already setting in from Ryder’s absence.
“Come in.”
The door opened to reveal her mother and Lucas. “We’re heading out to dinner,” her mother said. “But before we go, I wanted to give you something.” She reached into her purse and handed a brochure to Nathalie. “I’m so proud of you, baby. Now, go live your own dreams, not someone else’s.”
Nathalie glanced at the pamphlet for the Royal College of Art.
“Mom, I—“ Nathalie’s protest died at her mother’s raised palm.
“Just think about it.”
Nathalie tucked the brochure in her purse and returned to the party long enough to make the rounds with all her employees, congratulating them again on their efforts. The software design might have been her baby, but getting the contract with the DoD had been a collective effort and she was beyond proud of the men and women who worked at Williams.