“Well...” Jake tried to think of a way to sound diplomatic. Then he decided the hell with it. Ace deserved to know the truth. “She’s an awful woman,” he said bluntly. “And always treated me like an afterthought or an unwanted pest. Which now makes sense. I ran away from home when I was seventeen and never looked back.”
“Yet you returned now,” Ace pointed out.
“She found me and made contact, claiming she has cancer.” Jake shook his head. “Despite everything, she was my mother. Or so I thought. So I came back. Now, I’m glad I did. I always wanted a large family, with brothers and sisters.”
“Well, you’ve definitely got that now.”
“I do.”
“I don’t remember you from school,” Ace pointed out. “Which seems weird.”
Jake grimaced. “Micheline kept me home. She signed me up to be home schooled, but I mostly learned by myself. Luckily, I wanted to learn, so I was able to not only keep up with what everyone else was doing, but I graduated early.”
“That’s amazing.”
Enjoying the camaraderie, Jake and Ace continued to share stories, talking and laughing until Ace’s phone buzzed.
“My secretary is texting me,” Ace explained. “I need to get back to the office. But I’d really like to get together again, soon.” He handed Jake his phone. “Put your contact information in and I’ll text you, so you can do the same.”
After Jake dropped Ace off at the Colton Oil parking lot so he could retrieve his car, he couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe something good would come out of this entire mess after all. He’d always wanted a brother. And family. The prospect of meeting them all was enough to make him decide to stick around Mustang Valley just a little longer.
Chapter 5
Considering Jake’s words, aware he believed her to be as big of a fraud as Micheline, hurt more than it should have. Fiona wrestled with her conscience as she paced her small room. Being undercover did mean she had to play a role, and the most important thing here was her mission. Though she’d like nothing more than sharing the truth with him, in the end she couldn’t risk Jake blowing her cover. There was too much at stake, including her professional reputation.
More importantly, if Micheline ever learned the feds were on to her, she might move up her timetable for whatever awful thing she had planned. They’d be caught unaware, and innocent lives could be lost. Fiona had no choice but to continue on playing the part of a fully indoctrinated cult member, no matter what the personal cost. Still, she ached for Jake. While she knew he would have eventually learned the truth, the fact that she’d been the one to unleash it on him, even accidentally, really bothered her.
Deep cover sometimes involved forgetting who you really were. So far, she hadn’t achieved that level, and in this situation, she doubted she ever would. First, she wouldn’t be here that long, and second, in a cult allowing oneself to actually be indoctrinated could be dangerous. Due to her intensive training, she honestly felt as if she was doing a good job of pretending. So good that Micheline and Leigh appeared to completely trust her. Everything she’d worked so hard to achieve appeared to be going forward exactly as she’d planned.
And then she’d met Jake. Talk about bad timing. One look from his blue eyes and she turned into a puddle of want and need. While she’d been attracted to other men, the way she felt about him was different. Stronger, more intense. As if she craved him with more than just her body.
The foolish, romantic notion made her scoff at herself. She’d never been a believer in sappy things like sou
l mates or love at first sight. This had to be simply an issue of overactive hormones or pheromones—something easily explained by science. Whatever the explanation, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Part of her hoped he would follow through on his threat to leave so she wouldn’t constantly be tempted. The rest of her—most of her—wanted to throw herself into his arms and let passion take her where it may.
Not merely foolish. Dangerous. She’d need to be careful. Walking a fine line between her undercover persona and herself would be difficult, but not impossible. The knowledge that Jake hated liars shouldn’t bother her, but it did. Far too much.
Jake already suspected something, though. Since she sensed the strong attraction went both ways, she figured he’d be easily distracted. Judging by the way they’d both reacted to the kiss, they’d both enjoy any distractions she decided to throw his way.
He probably wouldn’t be a problem for too much longer, anyway. She knew he planned to go back home really soon, especially if his mother—who wasn’t really his mother—continued to dodge him. Fiona couldn’t blame him for wanting to put Mustang Valley in his rearview mirror. His entire childhood had turned out to be a lie. He’d built another life, his own life, far away from here. Once he’d gotten to know his new family and explored his options here in Mustang Valley, naturally, he’d want to get back to the familiar reality of his home, his ranch, even if just to put his affairs there in order. Unless Micheline found a way to stop him. Which Fiona wouldn’t put past her.
After the incident with Underhill, Fiona had known better than to go look for Jake. After all, he’d made his feelings clear. She wished it didn’t bother her so much—really, she barely knew the man, so it shouldn’t—but it did. A lot.
Sighing, she twisted her hair into a neat ponytail and got dressed in her dressier day clothes. She wasn’t sure what Leigh had scheduled for her, but she knew she was supposed to go to the infirmary and coerce a young man who’d just been beaten for no reason into signing up for a bunch of expensive classes.
For this odious task, she chose a different cheery yellow shift dress than the previous night’s and tan heels. Bright colors helped lift her spirits. While she hated the thought of doing what they wanted her to do, it helped if she separated her true self from the person she had to be here. Cultist rather than FBI agent.
Her heels clicked as she walked down the hallway on the way to the infirmary. Perched on the edge of one of the massive sofas in the lobby, Leigh nodded and gave her a thumbs-up sign as she passed.
Fiona managed to smile back.
When she reached the infirmary, she stopped by the front desk. “I’m here to see Theodore.”
Barely acknowledging her, the middle-aged attendant gestured toward the back. “Room three.”
Here went nothing. Taking a deep breath, Fiona went to the back.
Theodore looked up from his phone when she entered. “Hey,” he said, pushing up his wire-rimmed glasses. “They promised me someone was coming to take me back to campus. Is that you?”