Page 44 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

“Thanks. I wanted you to be the first to know.” He cocked a sarcastic eyebrow at me, like I had somehow broken a best friend’s blood oath of getting engaged and not telling him first.

“Sorry. Caiyan didn’t ask me. He sort of blurted it out at family linner.”

Jake stopped with his mug halfway to his mouth. He lowered it slowly, placed it on the desk, and walked to the door. He shut it with a gentle click. He took a moment to gather himself and turned toward me. “McGregor was at Sunday’s family linner?”

His tone had changed from excited, engaged Jake to the snitty, Boss Jake he’d been on the phone at six a.m. I chewed my lip, wondering how much I should tell him.

“And he just decided you were engaged?”

“Uhm, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

“Jen, getting married isn’t a spur-of-the-moment anything.” He paced the room, fists clenched, eyes squinty. “When I catch up to him, I’m, I’m, I’m—going to punch him in the face.”

Jeez. He’d have to stand in line behind me.

He stopped in front of me. “McGregor’s an irresponsible, unpredictable criminal.”

“First of all,” I held up my finger, “didn’t you just ask Angel spur of the moment? Second,” I added another finger, “if you punch him, won’t you lose your job?”

“First,” he held up a finger, “I’ve been thinking about asking her for months, and second,” he added a finger, “it would be worth it.”

“Third,” I shoved three fingers in his face, “You can calm down. It’s not a real engagement.”

He dropped his hands to his sides. “Not real?”

“My mom was doing herwhen are you getting marriedguilt trip thing and Caiyan pacified her.”

“And you went along with it? Are you nuts?”

“Probably.” No, definitely. “But you’ll be the first to know when it’s a real engagement.”

“I hope so. And I hope it’s to someone worthy of you. Because Jen, you’ve got a heart of gold. It’s the reason you’re always getting into trouble.”

“Not this time, Agent McCoy. I didn’t cause any trouble.”

“True.” Calmer now, he picked up his coffee, took a drink. “The problem is Angel’s insisting that Marco be the first to know, and she’s upset he’s not answering her calls.”

“It’s hard to receive calls in 1718.” I paused, and my eyes grew wide. “You haven’t told your mom that you’re engaged?”

“And take away your mom’s time in the spotlight? Never.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“What’s nice of me is not telling my second favorite mom that her daughter is lying her ass off.”

“I know you don’t like Caiyan. And I know he took his key and hasn’t been working with the WTF. But why all the anger? Why now?”

Jake sat behind his desk. “He broke out of jail, stole his key, and keeps valuable intel from us.”

“This isn’t new. Caiyan’s always played his cards close to his chest.”

“Jennifer, the guy is a loose cannon. He runs every chance he gets, and he tears you apart when he does it.”

“He’s avoiding you because he doesn’t want to end up in shackles.”

“He’s twisting you up in one of his half-baked schemes.”

“No. He’s searching for Sasha.”

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