Perfect Picture [The ShadowDance Club 7] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Avery Gale

their room and then started repacking their bags. They had deliberately packed only a few things in each of the bags they’d brought along so they could stuff everything into the bags that looked like photography equipment. They didn’t want to tip off anyone that they weren’t coming back to the hotel after today’s shoot. They planned on picking up Myla and heading directly to the airport.
    Sensing the shift in Ilaina’s mood, Noah walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you alright, cara ? We can still cancel this you know? No one will think less of you if you decide not to go through with the plan.” And even though he knew his words weren’t entirely true because he knew Myla would be heartbroken he still felt as if he needed to give Ilaina an out if she needed it.
    She turned in his arms and looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. “Are you serious? Do you really think I’d leave that child to the fate we all know awaits her? Please tell me you don’t think so little of me.” Her voice had gone from incredulous to hurt and the unshed tears he saw filling her dark eye threatened to send his heart to his toes.
    “No, cara , please don’t cry.” He pulled her close and just held her against his chest trying to let the feel and scent of her seep into him. “I just thought you seemed unsettled and I was worried you were having second thoughts. This is not your usual element and I don’t want you to do anything that jeopardizes your safety. Do you have any idea how important you are? And the irony of me staying away from you for all this time in order to protect you from all of this and then putting you at the center of the storm the first time a mission comes up is not lost on me.” Taking a deep breath he just continued to hold her close.
    “Perhaps you are looking at this wrong? Don’t you think it’s possible that fate might be trying to show you that I’m stronger than you think I am?” Her words went straight through him like a flaming arrow to the center of his heart. It had never occurred to him that she might see his lame attempt to shield her from all he had been over the years as a judgment that she was weak. It humbled him that he’d been so very wrong about the most important person in his life.
    “How is it that someone so beautiful on the inside and the outside can also be so amazingly brave and wise as well? Now, let me start again. Cara, love, please tell me what you were thinking when your whole mood seemed to shift a few minutes ago.” He smiled when she just shook her head and grinned up at him.
    “Good save, Noah. I was just sad because I didn’t even think to ask you what size Myla wears. I could so easily have brought her some nice clothes for our trip home. I’m usually much more considerate than this and I feel horrible” He watched as her eyes filled with unshed tears before she added, “I didn’t even buy her a gift.” Noah wanted to laugh but he could see how sincere she was. What Ilaina didn’t realize was that being able to leave behind a life that had been nothing but one heartbreak after another was the only gift that Myla cared about. She didn’t even know what her future in the United States held because she probably wasn’t yet aware that her father’s family was coming to meet her in Climax.
    After Myla’s mother had delivered her to the Catholic mission school and then simply turned her back and walked away, the heartbroken child had handed the nuns a note with both his and Alex Lamont’s phone numbers. It had taken the women a week to get someone to a phone with international access. As Noah explained all the details to Ilaina he saw the realization light her eyes. “She’s just anxious to get out isn’t she. The rescue is the only gift she’d see anyway isn’t it? Noah, my heart breaks for her and for all the others we don’t even know about.”
    Pulling her close again he spoke softly against her hair, “Your insight