Degrees of Wrong (39 page)

How could there possibly be something else? “What is it?”

“I don’t want to give you false hope. But…”

“Nicoli—”

“We think Ares has Dr. Folsom’s daughter,” he finished.

“Dr. Folsom doesn’t have any children.” But really, what could I be certain of anymore?

“She did at one time,” Ralph interjected. “And we think she still does.”

“Records show that she gave birth to a daughter,” Nicoli said. “The baby died as a newborn in an auto accident just weeks later. We believe Dr. Folsom falsified records to hide the infant from Ares. We’re confident the child actually lived.”

“Why would you think that?” My stomach somersaulted.

“We’ve tracked some of Dr. Folsom’s old communications records. She called an orphanage in the United States frequently enough to raise suspicion. She also made several visits there. Then, out of nowhere, the calls stopped. Shortly after that, she started making calls to The University. Her bank accounts show regular transfers being deposited there.”

“She had a daughter old enough to attend The University?” I breathed.

Nicoli nodded. “A few weeks before your parents died, a graduate student was reported missing from The University campus. She was never found. The news articles mentioned that she was an orphan.”

“But all of that suggests Dr. Folsom has been associating with Ares for a very long time. If that’s the case, why would she fake her baby’s death—go to such lengths to hide her—if she was
already
working for Ares? That makes no sense.” Not to be overlooked was the fact that I didn’t want to believe any of it.

“In all honesty, we’re not sure,” Ralph said. “Obviously she and Ares had a past, the specifics of which are unclear at this point. She may have been trying to break things off with him. Or it could be that she simply didn’t trust him. Whatever the reason, she appeared to anticipate some kind of danger to her child.”

“And she was right,” Nicoli said. “We believe Ares located her daughter at The University and took her in order to ensure Dr. Folsom’s cooperation in arranging the meeting with your father. And since she continues to do his bidding, I think it’s reasonable to assume he’s still holding her daughter somewhere.”

“So she had to do it,” I said. The details flooded and overwhelmed me. And so did my ignorance. Yet, as horrible as it all was, it made me feel better to know she had the best possible reason for doing what she did. “What happens now?”

“The safest place for you is still the
Bellator
,” Nicoli said quietly. “We’ve already begun arrangements for our departure.”

“Oh. I see.” I couldn’t argue with him. He had apparently done his research. Besides, I trusted him with my life.

Nicoli cleared his throat. He turned to Ralph and Ryon. “Do you mind giving us a moment of privacy, please?”

They nodded in unison. Before Ryon left, he tossed something to Nicoli who caught it and clenched his fist over it. Ryon leaned closer to him and whispered something I couldn’t hear.

Nicoli snapped his head toward me. Before Ryon shut the door behind him, he grinned at me and made the motion of slicing his throat with his index finger.

I glowered at him.
He told on me.

Nicoli strode toward me. “It would seem I have not been absolutely clear in convincing you that I’m in love with you. Have been for a long time. Probably since the day you told me I was unqualified to run my own ship.”

“The first
day
? I was…horrible to you…” I choked out.

He shrugged, grinning. “I deserved it. You were mean and hateful and gorgeous. And you put Frank Horan in his place within the first five minutes of meeting him. I will
never
forget the expression on his face when you took that step toward him.”

“You can’t love someone in the first day of meeting them.”

“Well, I was
something
. Intrigued, maybe? At any rate, my father had asked me to set a date for my wedding that same day. I never returned his call. You know the rest of the story.”

“I…I never had a chance. From the first day.”

He shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, neither did I.”

I wanted to laugh, but my chest felt too compressed, too heavy to. “It does make me feel better. At least
some
good can come of this.” I motioned around us, as if all our problems were surrounding us in the empty room.

His face grew serious. “Speaking of that… Er, we were supposed to be having dinner tonight…but those plans have changed irreversibly…but it wasn’t really dinner that I had…” He ran his hand through his hair again. Something was wrong. Again.

“What’s wrong?” I tried not to panic.

He cursed under his breath.

“What? What
is
it? Start talking, Nicoli Marek.” Although I really didn’t think I could take anything else.

He snorted. “This is not how I wanted this to happen.” He showed me his fist. When he opened it, he revealed a tiny red box. I took in a sharp breath.

“This is horrible timing,” he blurted. “The circumstances couldn’t be any worse… I don’t know when it will be safe to port again…but tonight at dinner… Marry me, Elyse. Please.”

He was right, of course. The circumstances couldn’t have been any worse—and I couldn’t think of a better light at the end of the tunnel than a marriage proposal from Nicoli Marek. That ring box and everything it meant felt like a life preserver in a hurricane-churned sea, like a barrier protecting me from the debris of my life crumbling around me.
I’ve wanted him for so long, thought I’d never have him.
I let out a gust of air that I felt I’d been holding since I first smacked into him on the docks.

Nicoli took it the wrong way. “I should have waited. It’s just that you’re the one thing I’m impatient to have—”

“Yes,” I interrupted him.

“Yes?” He opened the box and pulled the most ridiculous diamond ring from its grasp. Then he took the ridiculous diamond and reached for my hand.

But I pulled back. “Wait,” I breathed. “Your father made me promise… Your father…”

“Will have the rest of our lives to forgive us,” he finished without hesitation. “May I?” he asked irritably, reaching for my hand again.

I giggled and surrendered it to him. He slid the ring on and pulled me to him.

“I don’t know when, or how though, love. I’m told it takes years to plan a big wedding, and that’s without all the other complications we have at the moment.”

A big wedding?
Years
? I had forgotten he was practically a celebrity. I shuddered at the potential size of the guest list. I swallowed, looked at the walls behind him, as if to peer into the room of five hundred I was about to address just moments earlier.

“Uh…I don’t do well with crowds, Nicoli. A big wedding really isn’t necessary.”

He grinned. “My mother will be furious. And my sister.”

“Might as well make everyone mad at the same time so they can all be comforting each other,” I suggested. “And besides, I’m free right now. My previous engagement has been indefinitely cancelled…”

“I was hoping you would say that, love,” he breathed. “Because Ralph is waiting just outside that door. He can marry us. Right now.”

“Go get him.”

His mouth covered mine. The only reason I allowed him to pull away was that I knew it was to get Ralph. He strode to the door and ushered him in. Ralph smiled at me.

“But…” I said to Nicoli. “What about Ryon?”

“What about Ryon? Are you having second thoughts already?”

I rolled my eyes. “No. Why did Ryon have the ring? That’s what he threw to you before he left, isn’t it?”

Nicoli grinned and took my hands in his. “Yes. He had been picking it up for me in Paris. The idiot got caught doing it, hence all the headlines. I had to cover it up. Otherwise, my mother would have worried herself sick with the details. Always the details.”

I laughed. He pulled me to him. “Now, let’s focus. We’ve got a plane to catch.”

“Yes. To a submarine,” I said.

Ralph rolled his eyes.

“But how can we be assigned to the same ship?” Dr. Folsom and the admiral had been waiting to marry so they could stay together.

Nicoli raised a brow. “Correct me if I’m wrong, love, but you didn’t haul off and join the UOC without my knowledge, did you?”

“What he’s trying to say, Dr. Morgan,” Ralph interjected, “is that you’re not actually enlisted, as Dr. Folsom was. You’re still under witness protection, as a civilian. And I’m not terribly inclined to look into all the rules and regulations regarding that scenario, are you, Nicoli?”

“Not terribly, no.” Nicoli winked at me.

Later, warm lips brushed my ear as my husband eased me down into the transport pod. The glass shield came over us, and we began our descent into the depths together.

I was glad we wouldn’t have to bother neglecting any breathtaking scenery during our extended honeymoon on the ship. All I could think about was the close confines of the captain’s quarters. Truthfully though, I was already sizing up the transport pod and trying desperately not to attack my husband.

“If you keep looking at me like that, we might not make it back to the ship on time, love,” he said softly. I recognized the burning in his eyes. And obviously, he recognized it in mine too.

I unbuckled and scooted closer to him. “The ship wouldn’t leave without its captain, would it?” I kissed his neck, climbing onto his lap.

He inhaled sharply, stopping the pod. “For God’s sake, Elyse. I’m barely in control as it is.” He pulled my arms from his neck and placed me gently on the bench seat next to him. The pod regained momentum as he maneuvered us through the depths.

“We’ve only been married for three hours and you’re already rejecting me?”

“I swear you’re going to be the death of me, Dr. Marek,” he said through clenched teeth. A thrill ran through me at the sound of my new name. “What about last night, when
you
rejected
me
?” He looked at me sideways. “In favor of sleep?”

“That’s not fair. I had to do it. For the greater good.”

“Exactly. Which is the very reason you’re still dressed.”

“I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand. To me, the greater good would be for you to stop the pod and—”

“If I stop the pod, they’ll come looking for us, even if I tell them not to, because of the extenuating circumstances with Ares. But, if I can hold out for ten more minutes—which by the way, you are making almost impossible to do—then we will be aboard the ship and I will finally, finally get you out of those clothes and into my bed. I swear I will never, ever reject you again, just give me ten more minutes.”

I hadn’t thought about that. Turning away from him, I peered into the abyss folding around us, looking for a distraction, anything to take my mind off the man sitting next to me, whose presence filled the entire cabin.

After a minute, I did think of something, and I felt bad that I hadn’t asked about it before now. “How is the admiral doing?” The admiral had returned to the ship before my presentation. Before Dr. Folsom’s kidnapping. I had no idea how he would take the news. “Does he know?”

Nicoli nodded. “He does. He was blown away at first, and understandably so, but he seems to be putting up a good front. Of course, we haven’t boarded the ship without her yet. Reality might set in when we do.”

I knew “blown away” was the understatement of the millennium. For all the shock and panic I felt for Dr. Folsom—not to mention the thin residue of betrayal still clinging to me—I couldn’t imagine how the admiral could even form a coherent sentence. To have spent every day of his life with her, not knowing she had a daughter. Not knowing she worked for Ares.
Or did he?
But I knew if
I
harbored the tiniest suspicion that the admiral could have been involved,
Nicoli
would have already exhausted the possibility. And apparently, he hadn’t found anything to suggest it.

In the reflection, I saw Nicoli glance at me. “But he knows we’ll find her. Like I’d find you. No matter what.” What he didn’t say in words, he said with his eyes. They held pain, raw determination and a promise. A promise that he would do everything he could to bring Dr. Folsom back—and her daughter. A promise to always keep me safe. A promise that he loved me.

And I believed it. All of it.

Seven minutes later, we exploded into the captain’s quarters of the
Bellator
, and I couldn’t help but feel that an old life ended and a new one began, right then and there. A life with Nicoli.

About the Author

Anna’s first published work was a letter to the editor of her local newspaper complaining about stingy tippers—she was a seventeen-year-old waitress. The letter got her a free dinner at the restaurant where she worked and dirty looks from all the stingy tippers. Now that her mother has passed away, Anna feels it’s safe to reveal that she also wrote other students’ term papers for prom money in high school. Her favorite pastimes include reading, writing, drinking wine, and reading and writing while drinking wine. She can shoot a slingshot, speak with a Southern accent and take a nap in the middle of the day, any day of the week—at a moment’s notice, no less. She cannot rollerblade, apply liquid eyeliner or find her keys. Ever.