Seducing the Accomplice by Jennifer Morey

before he was arrested. The arms deal fell through, and Dharr got away.”
    Until he’d found him in Albania, ending years of anguish. Or not. How could any man put something so terrible behind him?
    “I don’t blame you for wanting him dead,” she said and was amazed that she meant it. How strange, to be talking about killing someone and not finding it in the least unwarranted.
    He didn’t seem happy about it, though, as if killing Dharr hadn’t been enough. It hadn’t brought Kate back. Or his wife.
    She almost didn’t want to ask. “Were you close to Kate?”
    “We were living together.”
    Living together but not married.
    “We talked about getting married.”
    Talked about it but never made plans.
    “She wanted to, but I wasn’t over Rachel yet,” he said.
    The scars he carried from losing his wife were too deep. He’d never stopped loving her and couldn’t marry another until he could put it behind him.
    “I should have married her, though. It hurt her knowing why I hesitated,” he continued.
    She saw his pain, the pain of regret, the worst kind.
    “You loved her.”
    He nodded. “Yes. And I would have married her.”
    “I’m so sorry, Calan.” Twice he’d fallen in love and twice that love had been ripped from him. “How long ago did she die?” she asked, even though it bothered her. She was falling for a man whose heart belonged to two other women.
    “It’s been six months.”
    Sliding her hand off his thigh, Sadie struggled with disappointment. That wasn’t very long. He’d loved his wife and, later, his girlfriend, but both of them had been murdered. Taken from him in the worst possible way. By a terrorist’s hand. She couldn’t imagine how awful that must be.
    Now more than ever she understood why he couldn’t let her go, why he had to protect her at all cost. But it wasn’t necessary. She knew that now.
    “You have a good reason to be concerned for my safety, Calan, I can never argue that. But you’re overreacting because of your past.”
    “I’m not overreacting.”
    “My father is a wealthy man. He can protect me.”
    “Would he?”
    That stopped her. She looked down. The truth was, she didn’t know what her father would do. He wanted her to grow up and handle her problems on her own. He’d left her in Albania for that very reason. And he might not even believe her if she told him what had happened since she’d last spoken with him.
    She’d met a man who had killed a terrorist and taken money. The terrorist’s business associates were after him, had seen her with him, and she was now embroiled in his situation. Would her father believe her? It was so different from her other situations. Much more dangerous. Far removed from the social scenes she frequented. She didn’t think her own father would abandon her, not once she convinced him the most outlandish story she’d ever told him up to this point was true.
    “Even if he did try to protect you,” Calan said, “he won’t have enough experienced men to do the job, and the police won’t be able to do much. The feds, either, since I’d have to deny everything.”
    Because he couldn’t talk about his current profession? He’d told her personal things, but when it came to what he did for a living he wasn’t talking.
    “Who are you?” She’d asked it before and hadn’t gotten the answer she sought. She didn’t think she’d get an answer now, but she was too baffled not to say anything.
    “Just an ex-Delta soldier trying to do the right thing.”
    Just? It was more than she expected to hear. “But you aren’t with the Army anymore.”
    “No.”
    “Is the company you work for legitimate?” She didn’t want to find out he was a mercenary or some kind of extremist.
    “The company I work for doesn’t exist.”
    That was sort of like saying he wasn’t wearing underwear when he really was. But his face showed no sign of mischief. He appeared completely justified in what he said. Righteous, but not in an