Lessons in SECRET (19 page)

So well in fact that
the target didn’t even see it coming. I got the Secretary of State
alone by practically climbing onto his lap in his favorite pub here
in Dublin. Once we were in his room, I just had to start stripping
before he told his guards—who are actually here with me—to wait
outside. A single shot to the head was all it took. I should be on my
way back to the States already. But it’s hard to do that when
someone’s pointing a gun at you.

I underestimated the
lengths Liz Mason would go to in order to make sure I stay away from
her son. She already told me he doesn’t love me, so I don’t know
why she thinks I’d come around again. But apparently she does
because two from this special team of hers pulled guns on me when
they came in the room. The third is setting up the scene the way we
had planned. Although there will now be two bodies for the local
police to find, instead of just one.

If I give in, that is.
Which would be so easy to do. But I’ve never been one to take the
easy way out. I’m working through all the possible scenarios in my
head, when a phone starts to ring. The guy in charge, the one who’s
setting the scene, answers while looking at me.

“Everything went as
planned. I’m just setting the scene.”

He listens for a moment
and then responds.

“No. We’ve got guns
on her, but she’s not dead yet.”

I want to hear the
other side to this conversation. I wish he would put it on speaker.
He doesn’t, of course, but I really wish he would.

“What? Are you sure?
You sound like you’re under duress. Is someone making you say this,
Ma’am?”

Now I really want to
know what’s going on.

“What? Oh hey. How’s
it going?”

The smile slips from
his face, and his eyes goes wide as he listens.

“Shit. I’ll take
care of it. No worries, man. See you soon.”

He hangs up and tells
the other guys to lower their guns. “We have a change in plans,
guys. The beautiful Isabelle here is Jake’s woman. His mommy didn’t
like that, so she was going to have us take her out. After she did
the dirty work for her. Which she knows how to do because she’s
also a member of the infamous Society. And like a little sister to
Matt Corrigan, Aiden Ford, and Nate Anderson.”

“Fuck. Jake, the
Society, and the Triple Threat? We’d have no chance at staying
alive no matter where we tried to hide,” his friend says.

“That would depend on
whether the guys or the girls found you. They guys would probably
kick your asses a little, and then kill you. The girls would hurt you
bad, but keep you alive. If it helps, though, I’m not Jake’s
woman anymore. He’s back with his ex. So he wouldn’t care,” I
tell them, trying hard to act nonchalant about this whole situation.

“That’s not what he
said on the phone. We’re to get you safely back to Virginia. And
I…we…well, we’re sorry about all this. Taking your phone, and,
you know, the guns.”

“You were following
orders. I get that. Just don’t expect us to be best friends after
this.”

“Got it. Although,
you’re a pretty cool chick, Isabelle.”

“Thanks.”

They finish up with the
room, and then we all head to the airport. They give me a wide berth
on the plane, leaving me to my own thoughts. Number one of which is
why Jake would say I’m his woman. He didn’t need to do it to save
me. The Society and the “Triple Threat” would’ve been enough. I
guess I’ll ask him when I see him.

I also think about
what’s been going on at home while I was gone. Once I got my phone
back, I called Reina to check in and see how everything’s been
going. A lot has gone on since I was fully functioning, and I feel
bad that my friends had to do it all without me. Reina told me that
everyone was happy to help.

After the raid, Tegan
got her punch for Kurt in, while I was a little too distracted to
care anymore. His father tried to buy him out of jail time, but it
didn’t work. He’s being tried as an adult, and bail was denied
while he waits for his trial. He sang like a canary while trying to
work a plea deal. Working with Al and Cathy from the local PIT team,
authorities in all the other cities were able to shut those
organizations down.

My friends got Max and
Grace into counseling. When the school found out what was going on,
they granted Max her scholarship for the next year without question.
If they hadn’t, I would’ve just paid her tuition. But it’s the
least they can do. Literally. I also asked Reina to use some of our
connections to make sure she gets a place at one of her dream schools
once she graduates. She assured me that Max is all taken care of in
that department.

The high school wanted
to kick Grace out, but Ellie intervened so they’re allowing her to
stay. She’s on strict probation, and from what I was told, she’s
okay with that. Her mom was horrified by what happened and has vowed
to pay more attention to her daughter.

We saved a lot of girls
this time around. I should be dancing and celebrating. But I can’t.
So I do the only thing that will make me stop stressing about what’s
going to go down once we land. I fall asleep.

Isa

While I was sleeping,
someone placed a blanket over me. I know this because it shifts on
top of me as I’m being gently shaken awake. “We just landed,”
the guy in charge tells me.

I thank him and stand
up. As I’m walking to the cabin door, I hear a string of
expletives. When I step outside, I see why. All the girls, as well as
the guys, are here to meet me. I run down the stairs and am quickly
engulfed in a giant group hug. I’m so glad to see all of them.

Matt’s voice, which
sounds like it could cut ice, rings out next to me. “Which of these
bastards held a gun on you, Isa?”

“Look, Matt. We were
just following orders. You have to understand that. I know you
haven’t agreed with every assignment you’ve been sent on.”

“It’s not their
fault, Matt,” I tell him.

“Fine, but look at
all of these women very closely. And know that if you were to ever
hurt one of them, I’d hunt you to the ends of the Earth.”

“We got it. We’ll
stay away from them. If you want to know the truth, they scare us
more than the three of you do.”

“Smart men,” Reina
says with a laugh.

“What now?” I ask
after they leave us alone.

“We’re going to go
to the house here and get you all prettified so you can go see your
man and his evil mommy.”

“I don’t have a
man, Stella.”

“Talk to him, Isa,”
Reina says.

“Is that an order?”

“If it has to be,
then yes.”

I just want to go back
to Vegas and hide, but since I can’t do that, I let Stella have her
way with me. I must admit that the dress she picked for me is kind of
perfect. And she just pulls my hair back into a sleek ponytail. The
shoes are black and white with high heels that I can actually walk
in. I’m dressed to kill after almost being killed.

The irony isn’t lost
on me as I ring the doorbell after being let through the gates of the
Mason family estate. Last time I was here didn’t go so well for me,
and I’m expecting today to be even worse. The butler lets me in and
shows me to the same office I sat in last time. And just like that
time, it’s Liz Mason waiting for me inside.

“Nice dress, Isa.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.
I like it.”

Her mouth quirks up
into a little smile at the small dig I just managed. “Please sit
down.”

“I’d rather stand.”

“Okay. I…well, I
need to apologize to you.”

“For?”

“Everything that has
happened since I met you. I meant what I said about you being worthy
of my son. I just never planned on letting you be with him. I blamed
you for him being in danger because I didn’t want to admit that I
actually shouldered much of that blame myself. When he came to me, I
shouldn’t have been so encouraging to him about playing along. I
know he would’ve done it anyway, but if I’d objected, he might
have been more careful.”

“Or he would’ve
done exactly what he did with your support and encouragement.”

“There’s always
that. But I blamed his love for you, when I should’ve been
celebrating it. He loves you so much, Isa. It scares me because I
never want my son to put himself in a position where he could lose
his life because he’s sacrificing it for someone else.”

“And that’s what he
did with me.”

“Yes. Then you saved
him, and I just wanted you gone. You’re a strong woman, Isa, and I
didn’t like that. I didn’t like that you’d stand up to me.”

“But you like it
now?”

“If I’m being
honest, it’s going to take some getting used to. But like I said,
my son loves you. And I like you very much. You’re one hell of a
woman.”

“Your husband might
hate me.”

“No. Jake talks about
you non-stop. He has his father thinking you’re the greatest thing
since Google.”

“You told me he
didn’t really love me,” I say.

“I lied.”

“And the ex? Vicki?”

“She’s no one for
you to worry about.”

“Can I see him? I
need to hear all this from him. I believed you once, and it kind of
destroyed me. Forgive me if I can’t trust you again.”

“There’s nothing to
forgive on my end. I really am sorry, and I hope we can be friends
one day.”

“Maybe one day.”

“Jake is in the
sunroom. Just go straight down the hall and you’ll run into it.”

I nod and head down the
hall. I push open the door and stop short. I knew I couldn’t trust
Liz. Because Jake has his arms around the girl she just told me not
to worry about. I don’t even realize I’ve made a noise until they
quickly break apart and look towards me.

“Isa,” he says as
he stands suddenly. “This…it isn’t…it’s not what it looks
like.”

“It looks like you
were holding your ex-girlfriend.”

“Well, yeah. But it
was nothing.”

“I guess our
definitions of ‘nothing’ are a little different.”

“Are you going to
introduce me to the great and wonderful Isa, or do I have to do it
myself asshole?”

Well that’s
different. I hold out my hand. “Hi. I’m Isa. Not great or
wonderful, just Isa.”

“I’m Vicki. And
honey, you need to own the adjectives because from what I’ve been
told, there aren’t enough in the English language to describe your
awesomeness.”

“He shouldn’t talk
about me like that when he’s dating you.”

“’He’ is right
here, and Vicki are I are definitely not dating. She’s my best
friend. Has been since we were five.”

“You never mentioned
your best friend.”

“I didn’t tell you
a lot of things I should have. I’d like to remedy that if you’ll
believe me when I say my mom lied to you. I never doubted my love for
you. And I never will.”

“She told me she
lied, but I wasn’t sure what to believe.”

“He loves you. Like
fall on his sword loves you. Which he apparently already did, or
tried to do before you saved his sorry ass,” Vicki tells me.

“My ass is very nice,
and it doesn’t appreciate you disparaging it.”

“Your ass speaks for
itself now?” she asks him with a laugh.

“I’ve never heard
it talk, but it
is
very nice,” I say.

“On that note, I’m
going to leave the two of you alone to compare asses or whatever.
I’ll also find another date for the ball tomorrow, since I’m
expecting you to take my new friend here.”

“Ball?”

“It’s torture, Isa.
Save me from the torture.”

I look at Vicki with an
eyebrow raised. “They do tend to be pretty awful, but we’ll make
it fun for ourselves. I love your dress, by the way.”

“Thanks. I wore it in
honor of my favorite teacher.”

The dress is a blank
tank style that goes past my knees. It’s covered in what looks like
chalk drawings, words, and equations. It really does remind me of the
man who’s now sitting in the chair in front of me. I wore it
because I will always remember our time in Vegas, even if things
don’t work out here. Which I now think maybe they could.

* * *

Jake

She’s here. Thank God
she’s here. When my mom called her guy and he said there were guns
on her, I almost stopped breathing. If we’d called even five
minutes later, this extraordinary woman in front of me would be dead.

“I wouldn’t
necessarily be dead, Jake.”

“What?”

“I can see on your
face that you’re thinking about what would’ve happened if you
hadn’t called. Yes, I might’ve died, but I wasn’t going down
without a fight, so I might’ve lived.”

“You shouldn’t have
ever been in that position.”

“No. I shouldn’t
have. She’s very beautiful.”

Huh? Who? Oh fuck. My
mom needs a new hobby. “Just a friend, Isa. My best friend, but
that’s it. I swear.”

“I saw her leaving
the hospital with you, holding your hand.”

“That should’ve
been you. I wanted it to be you.”

“You didn’t call.”

“My mom kept all the
phones from me. I threatened her into giving me one yesterday.”

“I-I thought you
didn’t care.”

“Never. There could
never be a time when I don’t care. When I don’t love you. I’ll
love you until the day I die.”

“You almost did.”

“Until my sexy,
badass girlfriend rescued me.”

“I wanted to keep you
around a little longer.”

Just a little? “How
long?”

“I was thinking about
forever.”

Oh yeah. We’re on the
same page. “I love your dress by the way. Not as much as I love
what’s underneath it, but I had to tell you that.”

“I want to kiss you,
Jake.”

“Good. Because I
might die right here in this chair if you don’t.”

She takes those
precious steps over to where I’m sitting, and I pull her down onto
my lap. Her arms go around my neck, but she pulls back when I lean
in. I rub her hips with my thumbs as I wait for her to be ready.