You Only Love Twice Read Free Page A

Ten? Are you ready to
send me to Iraq? Because I’m ready to go.” It was everything she wanted. She
could find the group that killed her husband and rain hellfire on all of them.
    But it was harder than that. She was a woman. She’d worked
in intelligence for years but she’d been in Asia and Europe. Her father had
kept her out of the real war zones. She’d lived on and off for years in China,
working on the political situation there and in Japan and Korea.
    For the spy it had been a cushy assignment. Despite tensions
with China, they always played the game. She ’d been caught
once and spent a few nights in a Shandong prison . Her interrogation had
included a nasty bit of torture, but it hadn’t been long before they’d traded
her for a Chinese spy. She’d been back at work two weeks later. The Middle East
was different. There were no rules to the spy game there, and she’d always
known that Jamie was in danger.
    Jamie had gone with Ten. Their father had sent the boys into
danger time and time again even as they’d protected her. When Ten took over
their father’s job, Jamie had insisted on keeping his assignment despite the
fact Ten had given him an out. She’d married Jamie five years before and every
moment they’d had together had been precious. Every private day had been a
blessing.
    Now she knew that Jamie had the easier road. He didn’t have
to live knowing he wouldn’t see her again. He didn’t have to move forward
knowing he wouldn’t love again. God, he’d likely died thinking that he was leaving
a son behind. The last time she’d talked to him she’d thought she was pregnant.
By the time she realized her mistake, he ’d been taken .
    Stupid girl. She was still the same stupid girl who screwed
up everything good in her life.
    Ten got to one knee, his deep green eyes seeking out hers.
Her young adulthood rushed back in and she couldn’t help but remember all the
days she and Jamie and Ten had spent together. Every good day of her life had been spent with them. Ten was her family.
    “I can’t possibly feel what you feel, sister.” He put a hand
on her knee. “I know you miss him. I do, too. God, I miss him. My whole damn
life I’ve had you and Jamie. I can’t lose you, too.”
    His words started to play at her conscience. Jamie had
adored Ten. It had been the three of them for so long.
    What would Ten do if they were both gone? He’d been alone
for years—just like she had, and then he’d had a family. She still had a
brother. She still had Ten.
    “I don’t want to go on.” It felt good to admit it.
    Ten lost his perpetual cool. His handsome face screwed up
and tears flushed from those gorgeous eyes. “Please don’t leave me. I can’t be
alone again, Phoebe. I love you. I know I’m not Jamie and it’s not the same,
but I do love you. You’re the only person I love in the whole damn world now
that Jamie and Dad are gone.”
    It had been the three of them burying their adopted father
when his fierce heart had betrayed them all. God, she missed Franklin Grant.
    Did she owe it to them all to go on? Because it would be so
much easier to take a few too many sleeping pills and float away. It was so
easy to get them. Everyone wanted her to sleep and rest and not feel. Everyone
except Ten.
    Days she’d spent in this purgatory, but Ten was getting to
her.
    “What would I do?” She didn’t know a life outside of the
Agency.
    “Work for me. I have a place for you to go. It’s a long-term
undercover op. It’s cushy, sweetie, but it’s so necessary. It could be years
you spend there.”
    She didn’t want to do it.
    “Please, Phoebe. I don’t trust anyone else to take on
Taggart.”
    She couldn’t help but sit up a little straighter at the very
name. “Ian Taggart?”
    He was a legend. He was a problem. He was a fine balance
that she would have to walk. Intriguing. Even in her grief, she found the idea
of playing the game with Taggart deeply intriguing.
    “Yes. He’s got