Page 6 of Sweet Little Spies

Sean sighed. “Of course I mean Tris. Aidan, I wasn’t in thesame position Tris is in, but I know it’s damn hard for a man to give himselfone hundred percent to his spouse when he’s involved in the kind of job he’sdoing. My brother got out for that very reason. So did Ten Smith and Beck andKim Kent. So did Kayla Summers. You find someone you love and get out. Not theother way around.”

He wished Tristan had fucking come down here with him so hewasn’t the one who had to face down a disappointed father figure. But no, he’dgotten a call from Lou, who needed him desperately and he’d saidsorry, Ihave to go. Like always. Like Sean was telling him. The job came first.Before Aidan. Before Carys. Before anything else.

And yet he was going to defend the asshole. “It’s notforever.”

“How long are you going to put off the wedding? We’vealready done it once.”

On this Aidan wouldn’t be moved. Tristan was on a timer.Hell, Tristan had been the one to tell him it might be better if they wentthrough with the wedding because it would keep up the illusion they were nolonger together.

Were they together? Because he sure as fuck felt alone rightnow.

“We’re not moving it again,” Aidan replied. “At least that’swhat I was going to talk to Carys about. If she’ll have me, I’d like to gothrough with the wedding. It’s not like what we were planning was exactlylegal.”

“No, but I thought Tristan was the one who would legallymarry her and then they would both take your name.”

Because Carys had said she refused to be Carys Dean-MilesO’Donnell. They’d sat up late the night they’d asked her to marry them andargued about it. They’d passed a bottle of expensive champagne around as they’dlain in bed and reached a compromise.

Three kids, if possible, and their first names would beDean, Miles, and Taggart, or a feminized version of some kind. Deana. Myla. Hewasn’t sure how to make Taggart pretty, but they would figure out a way if theyhad to. And they would all be O’Donnells.

“It doesn’t matter in the end.” It was a lie Aidan hoped hecould convince himself was true. “I promise you I won’t let anything bad happento Carys.”

“I think something bad already has happened. Getting herheart broken isn’t exactly fun,” Sean said with a sigh like he’d known it wouldend like this. “Are you sure it can work without him?”

“He’s not leaving us,” Aidan insisted.

“He won’t mean to, but I know how this kind of job goes. Howlong did he say he needed?”

“Six months. Eight, tops,” Aidan said, glancing into thebar. Carys sat alone, her back to him, but there was a slump to her shouldersthat made him ache. “He wants to clear this one mission up and then we’ll begood. The wedding is months off. Even if he needs more time, we’ll be okay. Ifnot, we’ll go through with things the way we need to.”

Sean chuckled, but there wasn’t any humor to the sound. “Oh,if we’re betting, I’ll take the over.” He sobered. “Are you sure you want towait?”

Aidan wasn’t sure of anything. “Not forever.”

“I’m going to give you some advice, son. Postpone thewedding for a year. Honestly, I’ve been worried about the stress it will haveon Carys even with Grace and Serena and your mom doing most of the work,” Seansaid.

He didn’t want to wait, but it might be for the best.However, there was another problem. “The stress won’t go away. If we wait ayear, we’ll be almost through our first year of internship. It’s intense. But Iget your point. If I want this to work, I might have to be patient. I don’tthink this is about Tristan wanting to be some big spy. I think he got involvedin something, and he feels like he needs to follow through.”

“He got involved with my nieces,” Sean said under hisbreath. “I love them, but damn I worry about them. Tris will be okay. Ian’s incontrol. But I worry about what this is going to do to Carys.”

“I’ll take care of her.” He was going to shield her from theworst of it. He would convince her without dragging her into Tristan’s suddenlydangerous world. He would hold the connection so when Tristan was done therewould be something for him to come home to.

Sean put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you will. I knowyou love my daughter. I know Tris does, too, but sometimes it’s not enough. Youshould talk to her. I only have so much gin.”

Sean turned to go, and Aidan took a deep breath, gettingready. Tristan had his mission and now Aidan had his.

To keep them all together.

It was only six months. Then they could enjoy theirengagement and wedding planning and get on with the rest of their lives.

He walked through the bar to join his future wife, sure hecould handle this.

Chapter One

Two Years, Three Months, and Fifteen Days Later

Carys looked at herself in the mirror and wished her smilewas brighter.

Fuck Tristan Dean-Miles. He was ruining her wedding day andthe bastard wasn’t even here.

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