Undercover Husband

by Rebecca Winters

  “Is it true, Yuri? I have to know.”

  His eyes were shuttered. “Did Roman deny it?”

  “He didn’t say anything. I did all the talking. Then he left, a-and I’ll never see him again.” Her voice was shaking all over the place.

  “Is that what he said? Goodbye?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t give him a choice. I told him anything would be better than having a relationship with a man who can’t tell me the truth about where he has been, who can’t call his life his own.”

  A shadow crossed over his distinctive features. “I’m sorry, Brit. Jeannie and I had hopes that you and Roman would work things out.”

  She sat forward, her mouth so dry she had to take another drink. “How can we work anything out if there isn’t total honesty between us?”

  The enigmatic expression in his eyes told her nothing. “All I can do is give you this.” He reached in his top drawer and pulled out a book. “Read it on the plane when you fly back.” He opened the cover and wrote something with his pen. “Be assured that no one will know you were here, or that we ever talked. All right?”

  What on earth? Yuri was being so mysterious. With heart hammering, she took it from him and put it in her purse.

  “When do you fly back?”

  “My ticket is open because I didn’t know how soon I’d get to see you.”

  He nodded. “There’s a late-afternoon flight to Salt Lake. I’ll put you on it myself.”

  “Thank you, Yuri.” Her heart swelled with gratitude for his concern.

  “My pleasure. As far as I’m concerned, your marriage was valid and I consider you my sister-in-law, whatever happens. Let’s get out of here and head for the airport to make certain you get on that flight.”

  Two hours later Brit hugged Yuri goodbye and boarded her jet. When the plane had reached cruising altitude, she opened her purse and pulled out the book he’d given her.

  “No Regrets.” She mouthed the words quietly to herself. A true story by Conrad Noonan, ex-CIA.

  Intrigued, Brit turned to the flyleaf, curious to see what Yuri had written, but there was no writing. Only the blurb from the publisher.

  CIA agent Conrad Noonan’s soul-searching journey to find himself took him from the jungles of Vietnam as a decorated Marine, to South America, to the Kremlin, to Beijing, to Israel and Palestine. Each assignment revealed corruption at the highest levels, and all roads led home to the bowels of an even more corrupt group at the White House.

  Travel with him along his journey of disillusionment—agonize and thrill with him as he reaches his turning point and gets out of the CIA with No Regrets while he can still call his soul his own, while there’s still time to claim the woman so long denied him.

  She blinked. This had something to do with Roman, but he couldn’t have written the book. It had a 1980 copyright. Roman would only have been twenty years old.

  Yuri had underlined the entire second paragraph.

  Brit read the marked passage again. Suddenly illumination filled her being. Yuri knew the truth! This was his way of telling her Roman had gotten out of the CIA! Otherwise he wouldn’t have hoped that she and Roman could work things out.

  She pressed the book to her chest, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

  “Thank you, dearest Yuri. Thank you.”

  She reached up to switch off the night-light. Later she would read the contents. Right now she needed to savor this moment and laid her head back to gaze out the plane window and make plans.

  “Denise? It’s Roman.”

  “Hi! To what do I owe the honor of another phone call this soon?”

  “Do you know where Brit is?”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t.”

  “She didn’t go in to work today, and her parents have no idea where she is.”

  “You sound worried.”

  “I am. She told Mr. Dunlop an emergency had come up so she wouldn’t be in.”

  “Is her car there?”

  “Yes. As a precaution, I let myself in her condo in case she was ill, but there was no sign of her.”

  “Maybe she had to go out to a site with one of her clients.”

  “Maybe.” He practically growled over the wires. “But it’s almost midnight.”

  “I’ll tell you what. If she calls me, I’ll get in touch with you. Where will you be?”

  “At my office. I’ve been here all day!”

  “Ok. Give me your number. I’ll phone you if I hear anything.”

  “Thanks, Denise.”

  Roman got the dial tone, then phoned Sid. “Any sign of her?”

  “Nope. I’ve cruised past her house a dozen times.”

  He inhaled deeply. “Keep cruising!”

  “Got ya.”

  After clicking off, he contacted Phil. “What did you find out at the small airport?”

  “No one matching her description has been seen all day or night. Sorry, Roman.”

  “Just keep on the lookout.”

  “Right.”

  Roman levered himself from the chair to pour himself a cup of coffee. Where in the hell could she be?

  He shouldn’t have left her alone last night. She was too upset. He should have stayed there and told her the truth. “Secrecy be damned!” he exploded to the empty room.

  The other P.I.s were all out on other cases or he would have sent them in a dozen different directions to locate her. For another half hour he paced the room, then decided to go home. Clouseau needed to be fed.

  En route, he informed Sid and Phil where he was going, consciously searching the faces in every car in the hope he might spot her. It was a gesture in futility, but he felt desperate.

  In the distance he heard sirens and shivered because it reminded him Brit could be in trouble. What if she needed help? Dammit, Brit! Why didn’t you tell someone where you were going?

  He turned the corner onto his street and was so deep in tortured thought he didn’t realize that a police car behind him was flashing his lights for him to pull over. Another one passed in front of him so he’d be forced to stop.

  What in the hell?

  Roman decreased his speed, then stood on his brakes and got out of the car. Four officers converged on him at once, their hands on their holsters.

  “What’s going on, gentlemen?” he demanded icily.

  “May I see your driver’s license, please?”

  Enraged, he pulled out his ID. “I’m Lieutenant Roman Lufka. What is this all about?”

  “Is he the man who broke into your condo yesterday, ma’am?”

  “Yes—that’s my ex-husband,” sounded a husky feminine voice, directly behind them.

  Brit?

  Roman fell back a few steps, incredulous.

  “Where have you bee—”

  “All right, Lieutenant,” he cut him off. “Turn around and put your hands on the car. You’re under house arrest.”

  “House arrest?” Roman didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he decided he’d better find out a little more before he gave the police grief with a few tricks they didn’t know about.

  He was frisked, then hand-cuffed. “You have the right to remain silent, to retain legal counsel. Anything you say could be held against you in a court of law.”

  “I want to see my accuser,” he demanded. Thank heaven she was all right.

  “All in due time, Lieutenant. Get in the back of the police car.”

  Brit Langford... when I get you alone...

  The trip to his house only took two minutes. Out of the periphery he saw Brit drive his car into the garage, then emerge from the front door seconds later. The officers escorted him into the house, all the way to the living room where he was ordered to sit down on the couch.

  “Are you going to be all right alone with him, ma’am?”

  “Yes, officers. Thank you.”

  “Good night.” They tipped their hats and left.

  Everything was quiet except for Clouseau’s meowing coming from the kitchen a
rea.

  Roman stared up at Brit who was dressed in a softlooking blue cashmere sweater and wool pants. Their color enhanced the blue of her exquisite, dark-lashed eyes. The shape inside those clothes was a living miracle.

  He swallowed hard, taking in her flowing ash-blond hair which gleamed in the lamplight.

  “Do you want to tell me what this is all about?” he murmured thickly.

  “Not yet,” she whispered.

  As she sat down on his lap, he had this suffocating feeling in his chest.

  Without the use of his hands, he was at her mercy. She smelled heavenly.

  Her palms cupped his jaws and she gazed deeply into his eyes before covering his face with feather-light kisses, purposely avoiding his mouth.

  This was agony of a completely different kind. Brit thought she knew what she was doing to him, but she had absolutely no idea. His body ignited at the first touch of her lips.

  “Don’t do that,” he half groaned as she ran her hands over his. shoulders and chest.

  “You don’t like it?” she asked, biting his earlobe gently.

  “Brit—so help me—”

  “Shh—” She quieted his lips with hers, but didn’t allow him total access. He wasn’t going to be able to take much more of this. “I’m in love with you too, darling, but you already know that.

  “It’s the reason I was so awful to you last night,” she murmured against his throat, running her hands through his hair. “Because I couldn’t bear the thought of you putting your life at risk. If anything ever happened to you, I’d want to die,” she confessed on a little half sob, throwing her arms around his neck.

  “That’s why I flew to New York this morning, to talk to Yuri.”

  So that’s where you were. Oh, Brit...

  “I asked him if you were a secret agent. He didn’t say anything, but he gave me a book to read. No Regrets.”

  You’re amazing, Yuri.

  He felt her nestle against him until he was in literal pain because he couldn’t reciprocate.

  “Without betraying your confidence, it gave me the answer I was seeking. I swear the subject will never come up again. I’ll never pry or beg you to reveal anything. I want to pretend that tonight is the beginning of our relationship.

  “Darling?” She lifted her head from his neck, her eyes so haunted, so lovely, Roman could have drowned in them. “Please say you’ll forgive me for being cruel to you.” She brushed her lips against his, sending his blood pressure soaring. “Promise me that if I free your hands, you won’t drive me home and tell me it’s all over.”

  There was real pain and fear in her eyes. “I couldn’t stand it if you did that. Life wouldn’t be worth living.”

  Oh, sweetheart. The plans I’ve made for us. There’s a judge waiting in Nevada. Our family and friends are going to be there. All that is required now is our presence.

  “Undo the cuffs, Brit.”

  Terrified because she didn’t know what Roman was going to do, she got up from his lap and pulled the key from her pocket.

  “Can you turn around?”

  “I can do better than that,” he assured her, getting to his feet in one lithe motion.

  It had been one thing to have him tied and sitting down where she was on an equal footing with him. But it was quite another to stand next to all that hard-muscled strength, knowing that within seconds he’d have his freedom to do whatever he wanted.

  If she had miscalculated...

  With trembling fingers she inserted the key in the lock and turned it the way she’d been shown. There was a click. In a heartbeat Roman had the use of his hands once more. Brit backed away from him as he tossed the cuffs on the nearest chair.

  While he rubbed his wrists he said, “Would you let Clouseau outside for a few minutes while I freshen up?”

  That low, controlled masculine voice filled her with increased apprehension. “Yes. Of course.”

  He walked down the hall ahead of her and disappeared inside his room.

  “Oh, Clouseau.” Her voice shook as she cuddled the kitty who purred noisily. “What will I do if Roman can’t forgive me?”

  She let him out and made sure he had more food and water, then shut the kitchen door again and started down the hall to the living room.

  Roman stepped out of his room at the same time, blocking her path. In the shadowy light she couldn’t see his expression, but felt the tension between them like a live wire.

  “If you’ll get your purse, we’re leaving.”

  “All right.”

  The despair in her voice tore him apart. He knew she had misinterpreted him, but after what she’d done to him on the couch—the way he was feeling right now—he wanted to devour her. The only solution was to get out of the house, away from the bedroom, where he could think.

  She’d never made love with a man before. It thrilled him that he was going to be her one and only lover. But she deserved a wedding ring on her finger first, the same one she’d given back to him when the case was closed.

  He locked up behind her and they went out to the BMW. Afraid he would lose his resolve if he touched her, he let her get inside the car before he shut the door and went around to the driver’s seat.

  “I went too far, didn’t I?” she cried out. “But I was afraid that if I didn’t have help to make you stay in one spot and listen, you might never give me the opportunity!

  “So I phoned Eric from the airport as soon as I flew in and asked him if he could arrange for some off-duty policemen to pick you up after you left your office. I knew you could have taken them all on. But I was counting on your noblest instincts to understand the trouble I’d gone to, a-and hoped you would cooperate until we could be alone.”

  So now she had Eric wrapped around her little finger.

  Roman turned onto the freeway. “I would imagine you’re tired. If you want, climb in the back and go to sleep for a while. Two plane trips across the U.S. in one day are a little much for anyone.”

  “Why would I do that when we’ll be at my condo in a few minutes?” That little quaver in her voice almost defeated him in his purpose. Any second now she was going to figure it out.

  “Roman—we’re going the wrong direction!”

  “Very observant of you.”

  Her head jerked around. “Then you’re not taking me back to my condo yet?”

  “Does it look like it?”

  “Then w-what are we doing? Taking a drive to help me deal with the pain when you tell me you didn’t mean what you said last night?”

  “You are tired.”

  She jerked her head around. “Where are you taking me?” The anxiety in her voice pleased him.

  “You’ll find out when we get there.”

  “Will it take long?”

  “Why?”

  “Because Clouseau is all alone.”

  “I’ve made arrangements so there’s no need to worry.”

  “But as long as I’ve come back from New York, I should be at work first thing in the morning.”

  “You told Mr. Dunlop you’d be out of the office two days.”

  “How do you know that? Oh—never mind.”

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw her bury her face in her hands. Then it bobbed back.

  “My parents—I haven’t phoned them to tell them I got back.”

  Roman smiled secretly. “Technically you’re no longer in Salt Lake, so it would be pointless. However, Denise will be there to reassure them you’re all right.”

  “Roman—I swear I’ll never play another trick on you again. Your brand of revenge has cured me. Please—”

  “I was hoping you’d fall asleep, but since you’re too overwrought, maybe you ought to read for a while. Do you still have the book Yuri gave you?”

  He could feel her astonishment.

  “Yes—It’s in my purse.”

  “Did you finish it?”

  “I—I didn’t even start it. I just read the flyleaf, but it told me everything I needed to know.
”

  “For once, humor me and turn to page three hundred twenty-four. Here. I’ll turn on the map light.”

  “Roman—” She spread her hands. “I promised you that I would never discuss this again.”

  “Now that you’ve been to see Yuri, we have to discuss it.”

  “Are you angry with me for talking to him?”

  “No,” he answered emotionally. “It meant you loved me enough to go to the one person I trust most for answers. How could I be upset about that?”

  One covert glance at those glistening blue eyes and he knew he couldn’t keep this up any longer.

  “I was wrong to have walked out on you last night, but there were reasons.” His voice sounded gravelly, even to his ears.

  “I know that now,” came her mournful cry, but she turned to the page he’d referred to and read the part where the man in the story has come to a personal crisis because he had been keeping secrets from the woman he loves.

  Roman sucked in his breath. “But what you don’t know is that as soon as I got home, I had to admit the truth to myself. No power on earth should be more important than the sanctity of marriage. God ordained that a man and woman should cleave unto each other. That means there’s nothing standing between them. Nothing.

  “I was awake all night. If my plan worked out, I was coming over to your firm at lunchtime to take you away where I could tell you those things in private.

  “But you had disappeared! I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  He grasped the hand she extended and held on tight.

  “I’m not. I’m thankful you went to him. You see, Yuri put two and two together before you did. That night at the house he begged me to walk away from it. He could tell I’d fallen in love with you and urged me to reach out for you before it was too late.

  “Long before I had met you, I’d already been contemplating such a move, so he could have no idea how ready I was to do just that.

  “But then you stumbled on to the truth and I was in a total quandary. Both my brother and the woman I adore knew about my past. It shouldn’t have happened. You weren’t ever supposed to know about it in this lifetime.