Page 68 of Rescuing Erin

“I don’t know.”

With everything that had been going on, I hadn’t begun to think about planning a wedding.

“Big? Small?” Violet asked.

“Small. Just us. I don’t want any publicity. No reporters or gossip rags. I don’t want anyone outside of this room even knowing. Except Colin’s family, of course. The media has made my life hell, I won’t let them ruin this.”

“Small then. Would you like a long engagement?” my mom inquired.

“No. I want to marry Colin as soon as possible.”

“Your dad and I would like that very much. We discussed it last night. Of course, you can have any size wedding, and at any venue you’d both like, but we knew you’d want a small gathering. We were thinking the Blue Room would be nice—”

“No. Not the Blue Room. I want to get married here, in this room.”

“Here? In the living room? But there are so many places—”

“Here is perfect. Here in this room where you are simply my mom, and dad is just dad. Here, where we’re a normal, everyday family. This is where I want to do it. I’ll talk to Colin tonight.”

“You don’t have to, he says yes,” Jasmin said as she rocked one of the babies.

“No, he doesn’t. I have to ask.”

“No. You don’t. Zane said Colin said he’d marry you any time, any place. So, he says yes to getting married here.”

“There sure is a lot of he said, he said going around the office for a bunch of badass commandos.” I laughed.

“Please. They gossip more than any women I know. There are no secrets with them.” Ivy shook her head. “So, now that we know the where. Let’s plan. You need a dress, flowers, a cake . . .”

Ivy prattled on, but I no longer heard what she was saying. Not because I didn’t care, but because it was like I was living in a dream world. A world I never thought I’d have. I had friends. Real friends who liked me for me. A handsome, strong, smart man who loved me despite our rocky start. And my mom. She looked so happy I couldn’t stop staring at her. If I end up living my life half as well as her it will have been a life worth living.

Chapter 24

“What’s with all the extra security?” Zane asked when he entered the situation room where the president and I were waiting. “How’d Erin’s appointment go?”

“Good. She’s all clear.”

“That’s good news, Olivia’s been worried,” Leo said.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Once everyone was in the room and the door was closed, Tom tapped a brown folder in front of him. “This is why.”

He slid the folder in my direction. I opened it and cringed. It was an eight by ten image of a man lying dead from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

“Who is this?” I pushed the picture toward Zane.

“My informant, Brent Benzo. A man I’ve told no one about. Not even the five of you knew who’d given me the information on the Angel program. Not a single soul knew.”

“When did this happen?” Zane asked, shuffling through the pictures.

“This morning. He was entering an NSA black site. The building is in Richmond, Virginia.”

“What’s the note say?” I asked, scrutinizing the image closer. There looked to be a piece of paper in Brent’s hand.

Tom shuffled through the file until he pulled out the pictures he wanted.

“Any place. Any time,” Zane read the message. “Tex any closer?”