Page 97 of The Saint

“The fire burned itself out before we even reached the first floor,” Camden grumbled.

Beth rolled her eyes. “Don’t try to impress me with your savvy skills, Camden Brooks. You brought a lot of attention to yourself.”

“Actually, no.” Amelia hated the way Beth turned every part of this into their fault. “It was the two men knocking tables over to reach us who were the problem.”

“The two menon her guest list,” Camden added.

Beth stared at the ceiling and searched for answers. She found none and gave up. “Fine.”

Camden jumped up and squared off with Beth. “Fine, only if you agree that you or Esme fucked up.”

“You’re looking at this all wrong.” Beth ignored him and paced the living room. “This could be a great thing. You want the people who took Hailey, right? Well, now we know they don’t want to eliminate a witness. They want access to you. They’re trying to find you.”

“Tell me something we haven’t figured out on our own.”

“This could be very advantageous.” Beth crossed her arms. “Your perspective is off on this.”

Camden glowered. “Yeah, if we put on rose-tinted glasses. Just because they didn’t take her out with a sniper round doesn’t mean they’re not trying to get rid of a witness.”

“Maybe it’s sort of like how the CIA managed to have me thrown in prison,” Amelia pointed out. “To keep me quiet.”

Camden ran a hand over his face. “That would be a hell of a thing if they are one and the same. What are they scared you’ll say?”

Beth scoffed. “What? Like the CIA offed Jonathan? One of our own? Then we took Hailey? Where? Why?” Her lips sneered. “Now we want to grab Amelia? Forget that I’ve been with you and know where you are.” Restless, she paced again. “That’s a hell of an accusation.”

“Well, I’ve had a hell of a night.”

“Maybe you ought to run your theories by Jared Westin before you run your mouth and sink a partnership that is tenuous at best right now.”

“My conversations with him didn’t work out well for you last time. You sure you want me to—”

“How about this for my brilliant idea?” Beth narrowed her eyes on Camden. “You could go back to Abu Dhabi. We’ll put Amelia in witness protection. That would make my life easier. Probably hers too.”

“What?” A lightheaded panic rolled through Amelia.

Camden couldn’t leave yet, and she had no intention of walking away from her life—at least, not with some secretive relocation program.

“Enough.” She stood up. “This isn’t helping.”

Her stomach turned. Amelia already knew this, but hearing it out loud made it real. Camden would be called back to his office on the opposite side of the world. It might not be that day or the next, but it would happen. She wasn’t in the real world. They were playing pretend.

She swallowed hard. “Let’s regroup in the morning with cooler heads.”

Neither agreed.

“I’m the one they’re chasing, so my vote trumps both of yours.” She turned around with a lump in her throat. The best-case scenario would be rescuing Hailey. Camden would still leave. She’d always known that their temporary fling was just that. But apparently, she’d forgotten, or worse, she’d fallen for him. Amelia called good night and didn’t look back.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Camden would break Amelia’s heart if she let him. That couldn’t happen. She’d started their wholedynamic, as he liked to call it, and she’d presented herself as mature enough to manage her emotions. Theirs was a workplace fling. It couldn’t go anywhere.

Amelia peeled off her eyelashes and stepped into the hot shower, determined to wash away the night’s shimmer and glimmer. But the shower didn’t erase her stress. The certainty of future heartache weighed down her arms and legs. If only she could separate the here and now from the future. She should—would—enjoy her time with Camden.End of story.

They would find Hailey. Life would return to normal. Honestly, Amelia was lucky to have met Camden. He opened her eyes to how humdrum and monotonous her life had been. Everyone around her loved their jobs, their lives. Amelia had been coasting.

A hollowness carved deep into her chest. She was too tired to luxuriate under the hot water. She gave up on the shower, toweled off, and climbed into bed. Her arm reached for the opposite side of the bed, his side. Not for the first time, she wondered what his home was like, what it would be like to lie in his bed and smell his scent on the sheets. The dull hollowness expanded. Amelia pulled the blankets under her chin.

Camden knocked on the door and cracked it open. The hall light flooded their room. “Can I come in?”

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