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"You can’t feel sorry for me, Garrett I made the choices I did, and I’m responsible for the consequences I just need you to understand that none of this--none of the lies, the pretenses, the sneaking around--it had nothing to do with our friendship oryou safe Keeping both of you safe"

Garrett closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Parker’s He should feel like the biggest asshole for being happy she hadn’t kept all of this from just him It seemed like Milo had been asthat angered him the most in all of this was that h to tell him the truth Garrett should have known better, and he ad like that about his friend Everything she’d done had been to protect them, and he threw it in her face the first time she’d been honest

Garrett eased his head away fro of freckles on her nose, her full lips, and her long, dark lashes that frareen eyes he had ever seen as she opened them up and looked at him This was his friend, for better or worse She’d lost soto mess up the bond they shared He pro he did, he would find out who the hell had beenwith her life when she joined the CIA When this ht now, Parker needed hi else A friend that wouldn’t let her down, a friend that would keep her secrets and understand the decisions she made

But most of all, a friend that wasn’t ue darted out to wet her lips or the way she seemed to lean into him Parker’s hand rested on his chest, and Garrett wished she would take that hand and push hi pulled towards her, so close their noses grazed against each other

Garrett shouldn’t have wanted to kiss her right then He shouldn’t have wanted to know if her lips tasted like sugar or her tongue felt like silk inside his mouth He felt like he had no control of himself when he was near her, and he didn’t understand why she was letting hiet this close

Parker sed and tried to slow her breathing, tried to force her chest to stopup and down so quickly with each drawn breath She felt the excitement in her stoht then made her think he had his own secrets He stared into her eyes and down at her lips like he wanted to kiss her, like he wanted to devour her

She wouldn’t make the first move, of that she was certain Parker wouldn’t be able to take getting shot down by the oneher no All she had to do was tilt her chin forward and her lips would be on his, but she couldn’t Garrett had neverfor her other than friendship, and she refused to make a fool of herself no ue against his

"Anna," Garrett whispered as he looked back and forth between her eyes

He rarely, if ever, called her by her first name unless it was in jest The way he said it now, like he was aching inside, made it impossible for Parker todifferent about this moment, maybe it was the fact that Parker had opened up to Garrett and shared soht theed the air with electricity and ing of the phone on the bedside table

Chapter Nine

Saved by the Bell had never been a more apt description for a moment than the one Garrett and Parker currently found the, the spell had been broken They ju a second ti on their door Garrett let him in and Brady took a moment to look back and forth between the two roo?" he asked with a smile

"No!" Garrett and Parker both shouted at the sa We were just…" Parker paused, her brain flashing to i around on the bed, hands touching, clothing dropping, and rabbing the papers that had been shoved aside when Garrett first sat down earlier

"We were just going over soone today," Garrett finished for her

He tried as hard as he could not to look at Parker’s toned ass as she bent over the bed to scoop up the reports, but it was right there, and the movements she made as she leaned over the mattress reminded Garrett of what she would look like if he had her bent over that same bed, chair, couch, or kitchen table, and pounded into her fro Garrett to breathe a sigh of relief and groan in frustration at the saetting down to business, fantasies of her friend pushed aside for the moment

Garrett looked between the two in confusion, and Brady juave me a list of the shell corporations she uncovered that lead back to Fernandez She wanted me to look into the that didn’t look right"

Garrett nodded in understanding and o on

Brady walked up to each of thees he printed out

"At first, everything on that list seemed on the up-and-up, even questionable businesses that you would nore parlors, tattoo shops, saunas, insurance sales--things like that Every single one had spotless books and records Every penny is accounted for, complaints that had been filed were disputed and proven false, and eanized"

Parker and Garrett scanned the pages while Brady spoke He was good at what he did, that was certain He dug as deep as he could and got the infores he printed

"What’s Agencia de Destino?" Parker asked, looking up froency," Garrett said with a s Parker didn’t The big, bad CIA agent obviously didn’t speak Spanish

Parker narrowed her eyes at hinifica que culo Deja de ilipollas Tenehed and Garrett’s jaw dropped

"I believe she just called you an ass, McCarthy And et dickhead," Parker retorted "What I meant, before I was so rudely interrupted, hat kind of a business is The Target Agency?"

Brady flipped through some more of the papers in his hand until he found the one he wanted and handed it to Parker Garrett, finally recovering the ability to function, stepped over towards her and looked over her shoulder

"According to tax records, The Target Agency doesn’t exist Not on paper at least The phone nuoes directly to voicee if they are interested in working for The Target Agency Very vague, no other infor to the Doency is listed as a teency," Brady explained

"Why wouldn’t a teency have tax records? Is it a new company?" Garrett asked

Brady shook his head

"Nope According to the Chao"

Parker looked up at Brady suddenly Soo hen I was first brought in to keep tabs on Fernandez It was my first job and his first ter his presidential terovernment heads here and in the US were shocked when he won that first election There were ru all over the place for years that he was involved in shady dealings He covered his tracks well though; we never found anything that tied him to the rumors"

Garrett looked down at Parker’s face

"Your first assign into Fernandez?" he asked in astonishment