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“I have one other theory for you to mull over,” Oz said.
“What’s that?”
“If she did deliberately stay quiet—and I’m not saying she did—maybe it had something to do with what was building between the two of you. As soon as you learned she was your buddy’s sister, you would have friend-zoned her. Maybe she wanted more than friendship.”
Case shook his head. He knew Nyx. She would have flat-out told him and dealt with whatever happened between them because of it. She hadn’t stayed quiet because she was a liar. It wasn’t her nature to be devious. He knew that. He knew her.
“D-Ro is going to kill me for sleeping with his sister, and I didn’t realize I was breaking the bro code.”
“Dude, you would have slept with her even if you were aware of who she was. Everyone on the team knows how you feel about her.” Oz paused. “Well, maybe not Rusty, but everyone else.”
“I never should have judged her by the other women I’ve been burned by. I reacted. I didn’t think.”
“It sounds as if you’re done being a dumb fuck,” the Wizard said.
“It looks like it.”
“Good. Now how are you going to fix it?”
Case shook his head. “She’s in the air, on her way to Lima.”
“You’re going to lose the woman you’re in love with because she’s a few hundred miles away?”
“I don’t know what hotel she’s staying at.”
“BD ordered you to have her call Archer immediately. You let her use your phone, didn’t you? Archer knows where she’s staying, right? So call him and ask where she is.”
“The captain will lose his mind if I take off for Peru in the middle of an op. If I can even get over the border and into the country.”
“If you can’t make it to a hotel in Peru without getting caught, you need to find a less challenging career. This one is over your head.”
This time, he recognized the bait and avoided it.
Oz took a different tack. “You’re too scared to go after your woman? After you killed a man to keep her safe? You’re that big a chicken shit?”
You’re too scared.
Case was scared Nyx would tell him he blew his chance with her. That she couldn’t forgive him for the things he said. “What if she tells me to go to hell?”
“You’re already in hell. Chasing after her, apologizing, telling her you love her can’t make anything worse.” When Case hesitated, Oz added, “She’s in love with you. I could see it in the way she looked at you yesterday.”
Case headed for the house. “Tell the captain?—”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you. Go fix things with your woman before she leaves for the States.”
Chapter 36
Nyx didn’t cry over men and she didn’t cry in public, but that damn Case caused her to do both. At least she’d been discreet, and it had one benefit. Her seatmates on both flights had avoided talking to her.
Pushing away from the balcony railing, Nyx went back inside her hotel suite and locked the slider behind her. Archer had gone all out. An enormous suite in one of the most expensive hotels in Lima, Peru. It was too bad she wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it. It felt like a waste of space. A waste of money.
The sky was turning to dusk, and after one last look at the view, she closed the drapes. Another hour and she’d order dinner, find something on television to keep her thoughts off Case, and go to sleep. Her flight to LAX left early in the morning, so really she only had a few hours to get through.
And a lifetime once she reached Los Angeles.
Tears welled again and Nyx blinked hard, willing them away. She looked around trying to find a distraction. But the high-end living room furniture and glass dining table didn’t do it. Where was the TV remote?
As she bent over to grab it from the oversized ottoman, the necklace fell out of her shirt and swung forward. She curled her hand around the pendant, feeling the bind rune against her palm.