CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Daniel dug his hands into his coat pocket and walked toward the Maine Monument. He wasn’t surprised he couldn’t see Josh yet—it was why he got paid the big bucks.
And when he said big bucks, he meant BIG bucks.
Which was hopefully about to pay off.
A couple took a selfie, then shared a kiss. Daniel briefly closed his eyes. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to text or call Harper and tell her he loved her and was flying across the fucking planet to abduct her, whether or not she liked it.
And offer her what? Life as his lover and illegal alien in the United States?
Nice one, Daniel.
With his connections, he could probably arrange a visa for her, but Harper deserved more than that. She deserved the romantic proposal in Central Park, or on a tropical beach, with the man she loved down on one knee. She deserved the five-carat emerald-cut diamond ring from Tiffany’s and a lavish engagement party with people celebrating their love.
Our love.
She deserved the wedding dress of her dreams and to be a princess for the day as she walked down the aisle to the man who couldn’t live without her, gazing at her with wet eyes. All that stuff women wanted.
But afterward came life. Reality. And usually ended in divorce and heartbreak. He couldn’t do that to Harper, even if he could get himself out of this current fucking mess.
And he had no idea how long it would take.
Was he even capable of being a husband? A good husband?
The real question was, could he live without her? She belonged with him; he was sure of it. He could feel it in his heart.
“Dufort,” a dark voice said as it stepped out of the shadows.
He greeted Josh, and they walked along the path into Central Park where they could talk.
“Do I need to frisk you?” he asked.
Daniel let out a dry laugh. “No, but you are most welcome to.”
The man studied him, then continued.
“We have everything you need to get this fucker off your back,” he said, getting straight to the point, and a shiver ran through Daniel’s body. “And more.”
Daniel slowed, but Josh shook his head. “Keep walking. This is too sensitive to risk being overheard.”
Jesus.
“How do we do this?”
He felt the man’s hand slip into his pocket and drop something. “Listen to this tonight, then put it somewhere with your most valuable possessions. We have cut the classified government information for your protection. What you need has been left, but Dufort, it’s still fucking dangerous.”
“Got it. Thank you.”
Daniel wasn’t shocked. He’d known what it meant to tap a US senator, and he wasn’t proud of it.
Mackenzie had started this mess. What did he think was going to happen? That Daniel was going to polish his wedding shoes and smile as the man’s goddamn daughter walked down the aisle toward him?
“Let me know if you’d like our services once you listen to it. If not, I’ll send you an invoice and we are done.”
Daniel walked as he thought.
“Is he going to be taken care of anyway?” he asked, referencing the comment Josh had made during their last conversation.