Page 62 of Shadowed Agenda
“Don’t bother,” Regan said, stepping away from Pavlo. The conversation she’d overheard had shredded her heart. He’d used her. She didn’t want his help. “The kidnappers will contact me. I intend to follow their instructions. It’s the only chance I have to keep Emmeline alive.”
Regan had learned to rely on herself. She was the only person she could trust to keep her daughter safe. It had been a mistake trusting Pavlo.
She turned to walk back to the hotel. Regan hoped she could get inside using the back door to avoid the reporters camped out in front.
“Regan, don’t leave.” Pavlo grabbed her hand and pulled her back. “Please, just listen. I need to explain what you overheard.”
“I don’t think explanations are needed. It’s pretty obvious how you feel,” Regan said, refusing to get pulled into the magnetic vortex that was Pavlo Barislov. Hadn’t Pavlo warned her that all he wanted from Regan was a one-night stand? It was her fault for expecting more.
“The pocket dial… what you heard was out of context. I wasn’t talking about you. Please, just listen,” Pavlo begged, not letting go of her hand. “Drake and I were talking about my ex-fiancée, Mia. It started as a one-night stand. We hooked up a few more times. She said and did all the right things to make me believe she loved me. I proposed to her. I thought we were in love.” He snorted, and his lip curled. “She was using me. If I could, I’d explain what happened, but I can’t.”
“Yeah, right. You can’t tell me because it’s what? Classified? Good excuse, Barislov.” Did he honestly think she’d buyit’s agovernment secret?
“Yeah, actually, it is,” he said, and his face reddened. He ran his free hand through his hair. “Let’s just say finding out the truth made me feel like a fool, and I definitely looked like a fool to my superior officer. It was… bad.”
Regan studied his face, searching for any signs of deception. Nothing embarrassed the Pavlo Barislov she knew. Could he be telling the truth?
“Mia is the reason I’ve stuck to relationships with no strings attached. She betrayed me in the worst possible way. She almost destroyed me. I’ve been scared to risk being hurt again.” Pavlo took her hand in his and looked at her, his gaze softening. “Until now. You overheard Drake reading me the riot act. He told me I’d blow it with you if I wasn’t honest about how I felt.”
Regan didn’t know what to say and just stared at him.
“If I’m being completely honest,” Pavlo grimaced. “Drake told me to grow a pair, stop screwing up my life because I thought every woman was like Mia, and tell you how I feel. Finlay told me I’d blow it with you if I wasn’t honest.”
Regan’s mouth dropped open. How did Drake and Finlay get involved in her love life, or, more accurately, what she thought of as her lack of love life?
“Don’t touch my left deltoid. It’s still sore. Finlay punched me before she called me a dick for upsetting you with the pocket dial, and then she told me I was blowing it.” Pavlo shrugged, then winced.
“Finlay hit you?” Regan couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah, some idiot taught her how to box. She packs a real wallop,” Pavlo replied as he rolled the shoulder. “The point is, I love you, Regan.”
“You love me?”
It was all she could say before Pavlo cupped her face in his hands and lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was tender and light, full of promises. And ended abruptly.
“Mackenzie,” Pavlo said, her face still framed by his hands. “What time did you talk to her this morning?”
“Just before seven. She told me Emmeline was sleeping,” Regan said, and Pavlo dropped his hands. They curled into fists as the fact that had previously slipped by her hit her like a blast of lightning.
“The timeline doesn’t fit. Mackenzie was lying. The kidnappers called you before seven-thirty,” he said. “The drive from the cottage to Manhattan in the morning rush hour would take at least an hour and a half. Call her.”
Regan’s hands trembled again, this time with rage, and she tapped Mackenzie’s contact number. Her sister was part of this. She tapped the speaker button so that Pavlo could listen in. Pavlo wrapped his arm around her waist. He turned their backs to the street so the sound from the speaker wouldn’t get lost within the loud growl of the congested route. She held the cell phone up to their ears.
“Emmeline is still asleep. She wouldn’t sleep last night. I’m not waking her up. The last time I checked on her was five-thirty. She’s fine,” Mackenzie said when she answered her cell phone.
There’d been no hello. No uncomfortable chit-chat to feign they were working on their relationship. Regan had never heard her so angry. Something was wrong.
Mackenzie continued without letting her say a word. “I don’t have time for your constant phone calls. These past four days have been a disaster. The landscapers arrived an hour after you left. The baby started teething yesterday. Emmeline was up all night because she couldn’t sleep without Mr. Fluffy. I’ve been dealing with crying kids for the past three days. Don’t try calling later. Joan and Fred next door were in a car accident. They’re in bad shape. I’m taking the kids and going over to see how I can help. Next time, find someone else to watch Emmeline.”
The line went dead as Mackenzie hung up.
“What was that about?” Pavlo said, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Mackenzie’s way of telling us someone is at the cottage watching her. The kidnappers took Emmeline at five-thirty.” Regan was impressed with her sister’s quick thinking. “The cottage doesn’t need landscaping. She’s referring to the kidnappers. They arrived Sunday, an hour after I dropped off Emmeline.”
Pavlo swore under his breath and scrubbed his face. “The PI arrived on site Tuesday. I’m betting he thought it was ongoing work and didn’t check them out. Our team that replaced him yesterday would have assumed the PI had looked into them.”
“Your team,” Regan reached out and touched Pavlo’s arm. While she logically knew none of this was her fault, emotionally, she couldn’t help but wonder what she’d done to put so many people at risk. “Mackenzie’s neighbors are Karlee and Stanley, not Joan and Fred. They’re in Europe right now. She has to be referring to your team. They must have noticed something was off. From what Mackenzie said, we can assume they’ve been hurt badly. They need help.”