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“I don’t think I could love you more for supporting me, Elvis. I’m so excited, and yet completely terrified I’ll mess something up.”

“You won’t.” His belief in her was unwavering, and it meant a lot to her. “So, what happens next?”

She ran a hand through her hair, still feeling a bit dazed by all that had happened over the past twenty-four hours. “I’ve scheduled for some shots tomorrow. Then I’ll have three days of orientation and we head out.”

“For the Brazilian rainforest.”

“Yes, for the rainforest. We’ve been given permission by the Brazilian government to access remote villages to test the vaccine. Vaccitex is on an accelerated timeline, so we aren’t wasting any time getting there.”

“Why the accelerated timeline?”

She didn’t want to worry him, but she didn’t want to hide the truth either. “The attacks on the infrastructure are getting worse and more vicious. Not to mention the ugly turn the demonstration outside their office took today.”

Elvis’s face clouded in concern again, and she hated that she kept putting that worried look there. “Defineviciousfor me.”

“Well, physical offices being attacked, like what I interrupted today. It appears someone or some company is spreading false information about the vaccine in order to incite orchestrated media assaults on Vaccitex and their research. Also, the cyberattacks have become more frequent and concentrated.”

“Did they contact X-Corp and Lexi yet?”

“Yes, and I added my voice in strong recommendation of Lexi. They have a meeting with Finn and Lexi tomorrow morning.”

“Good, then at least they can rest assured that part is in capable hands.”

“As am I.” She rested one hand against the side of his cheek. “I know you’re worried about me, but don’t be. What could possibly happen in the middle of a rainforest?”

“I wish you hadn’t said that.”

She kissed the tip of his nose. “I’ll be back before you know it with tons of really interesting photos and stories to tell. Then one day, we’ll go back together on vacation. Okay?”

She was pretty sure she hadn’t erased his concern, but at least he didn’t say anything. Instead he pulled her in closer and nuzzled her neck. “That had better be a promise.”

She closed her eyes in relief. At least he wasn’t going to try to stop her from going, not that she had expected him to do that. But the fact that he hadn’t meant everything to her. It meant her instincts were right about the kind of guy he was, and she loved him even more for it.

“That’s a promise,” she confirmed. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “So let’s celebrate.”

Chapter Seven

Lexi

There are many truths in life. One ofmytruths is I’m not a morning person.

By nature, I’m a night owl. I do my best thinking when the world is dark and I have few distractions. I’d recently read a report that scientists now believed night owl tendencies are hardwired in our genes. A study of several families of night owls supposedly found there’s a gene mutation, CRY1, that’s common in families of night owls, which causes our circadian clocks to run behind. I’m pretty sure my brothers and I get the gene from my dad, because my mom is the only one in our family who is a morning person, which annoys the heck out of the rest of us.

Unfortunately, my current job as Director of Information Security at X-Corp in Crystal City, Virginia, requires me to be at work by eight. Slash, however, seems able to work on less sleep than a normal human and is both a night owl and a morning person, which you’d think is scientifically impossible, but somehow he does it. He goes to sleep when I do, which is late, and almost always wakes up before me, spending at least thirty to forty minutes in our home gym—running on the treadmill, lifting weights or doing tai chi. Personally, I’m lucky if I can make it down the stairs in the morning without breaking my neck before coffee.

This morning when I awoke, his side of the bed was empty. I brushed my teeth and pulled on a dark pair of pants and a white blouse, adding a black pullover sweater. After sweeping my hair back into my signature ponytail, I stuck my head in the upstairs room that serves as our gym and saw Slash on his back on the bench, lifting hand weights.

He saw me and smiled. “Buongiorno, cara.”

“Good morning, Slash.” I strolled across the mat and bent down to give him a kiss. “What do you want for breakfast?”

I used to skip breakfast, or consider coffee an acceptable substitute, but Slash makes me eat healthy. I appreciate it, but sometimes when he’s traveling, I sneak Pop Tarts and a bowl of Frosted Cheerios. I try to be better about it because my health is important, but I’m still learning.

“I already made breakfast,” he said. “Let me finish these reps and I’ll join you.”

When I got to the kitchen, I could smell the coffee that’s always set to brew automatically. Slash had already cut a honeydew melon into chunks and added a few raspberries. He’d also toasted a whole grain bagel and smeared it with almond butter. A glass of orange juice sat near my plate on the counter.

Yep. He’s a keeper.