Chapter 2
“Yes.”
Victoria smiled.
“This table is for family and command guests.”
For one second, nobody spoke.
Then the conversations at the neighboring tables lowered.
Not enough to be polite.
Only enough to hear us better.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Mom…”
One word.
That was all.
No defense.
No correction.
No simple sentence a husband should have been able to say without thinking.
She is my wife.
Her seat belongs beside me.
Instead, Daniel said, “Mom…”
And somehow that hurt more than Victoria’s insult.
I set my clutch carefully on the table.
Victoria watched the movement.
Her smile tightened.
“Rachel,” she said in a low voice, “please don’t make a scene tonight.”
I looked directly at her.
“Then stop creating one.”
Caroline’s mouth moved.
Not quite a smile.
Almost.
Victoria saw it too.
Her face hardened.
Daniel reached for my elbow.
It was supposed to look affectionate.
It wasn’t.
He was trying to guide me away from the table.
Away from the audience.
Away from the problem.
Me.
I pulled my arm gently free.
Thirty minutes earlier, in the parking lot, Daniel had leaned across the center console of our car and said something I had tried to forget.
“Please don’t mention your old government work tonight.”
I had looked at him.
“Why?”
“My mother gets weird about rank.”
I almost laughed.
“My work didn’t have much to do with her.”
“I know. I’m just asking you to keep things simple tonight.”
Simple.
That was Daniel’s favorite word whenever the truth threatened to inconvenience him.
Keep dinner simple.
Keep Christmas simple.
Keep your job vague.
Keep Mom happy.
Keep your past private.
My “old government work,” as Daniel liked to call it, had lasted twelve years.
Two overseas deployments.
Multiple classified operations.
One extraction mission in Syria that nearly killed me.
I still carried a thin scar beneath my ribs from that mission.
It burned when the weather changed.
Daniel knew about the scar.
He knew I had worked in national security.
He knew there were years of my career I could not discuss.
But he had never asked the right questions.
And after a while, I had stopped volunteering answers.
I had told myself it was because secrecy was part of the job.
That was only half true.
The other half was harder to admit.
Some part of me had wanted to know whether Daniel could respect Rachel without needing to be impressed by Deputy Director Rachel Monroe.
For three years, I got my answer.
Victoria looked past me toward the receiving line.
“Daniel,” she said brightly, “why don’t you escort Caroline over? General Hayes asked about you earlier.”
Caroline stood before Daniel answered.
Then she touched his sleeve.
Lightly.
Possessively.
“Only if Rachel doesn’t mind.”
Every person close enough to hear understood exactly what was happening.
I looked at my husband.
Daniel looked at me.
Then at Caroline.
Then at his mother.
For one brief moment, I gave him every opportunity to make the correct choice.
He failed.
May you like
“I’ll only be a minute.”
Then he walked away beside Caroline Hayes.
