Page 33 of Protecting Vera

“How certain are you that he didn’t get on the plane?”

“Very. I was in the eighth row. All the first-class seats were filled when I got on. I watched everyone board. Then I walked to the back of the plane in the middle of the flight, looking at each person, making sure he wasn’t there.”

“And he wasn’t?”

She shook her head. “No, he wasn’t. I’m so sorry I screwed up.”

He pulled her close, not liking how stiff she felt in his arms. “This actually helps.”

“How does it help?”

“Well, we know whatever we’re doing to watch him isn’t helping.”

“How does that help?”

“We know he isn’t over this fixation he has on you. And you saw him in the airport. I need to check my email, but I don’t think anyone noticed. I mean, we weren’t paying anyone to watch him, and it has been a while. Whoever was keeping an eye on him, they must have stopped. But we can’t expect someone to keep doing stuff like watching Logan for months without compensation. We need to do better.”

“I’m sorry I screwed up.”

He cupped her cheek. “You didn’t screw up.”

“But I shouldn’t have gone.”

He shrugged, not sure she was right on that account. “How long are you supposed to live under this cloud? Maybe tell your boss about everything so they understand you can’t go to Texas, but I don’t know what that will do to your job. You might need to start looking for something around here.”

She shook her head. “Any job will require travel. At least with this job, I know how much travel is needed.”

“How much?”

“Not so much now. It’s rare. This account is problematic. I should have pushed back.”

“Maybe. I should have made sure you knew to call someone. We could have made sure where you were going was safe. It’s my fault, not yours.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not. I screwed up.”

Hop wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Fear for her filled him. The bastard was still after her, and they needed a new way to track him. He had an idea but wasn’t sure it would work. First, he needed to make sure Vera knew he loved her.

“I know you’re hurting. I get that you feel you messed up. I love you. Even though you should have told someone. I don’t know who. We need to find someone.”

“You aren’t going to kick me out?”

He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “No. I need you in my life. We’ll figure this out. This Logan guy is dangerous, and we need to keep track of him. I said I would protect you, and I didn’t do a good enough job of it.”

“I should have been more careful.”

“Going forward, we can both be more careful.”

She wrapped her arms around him and held on. He held her, wishing she hadn’t traveled, but he should have prepared for this. He’d slipped up, which wasn’t okay. He was a SEAL and should have known she would need to travel, but he hadn’t even thought about it. It was up to him to keep her safe, and he failed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Vera couldn’t believe Ben forgave her. She thought for sure he would yell and scream, but he’d only raised his voice once, and he hadn’t really been that loud. It was so different from what she knew in past relationships.

She leaned back and met his gaze. “You’re so nice.”

He shook his head. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t yell at me.” A look of disappointment crossed his face, and she wondered if she’d said something wrong.

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