A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(6)

"Thank you so much for the vote of confidence. Technically, yes, I’m only called in when it’s absolutely necessary. But I volunteered to do this job when it was first brought to my attention," he admitted quietly.

Parker searched his eyes, trying to see what was going on inside his head. He was nervous. And it scared the hell out of her. Garrett didn’t get nervous. He was a rock, stable and steady, never losing focus or faltering in any way.

"You said you weren't going to drag this out," Parker reminded him irritably.

Garrett’s jaw clenched and he wanted more than anything to go back in time and not volunteer for this assignment. But he couldn't do that. This was something he had to do. If the military ever taught him anything it was that you never leave a man behind.

He left a man behind. His man. His best friend and Parker’s fiancé. When Milo first got that assignment almost a year ago, Garrett went to his superiors and practically begged for permission to accompany him. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and didn’t want Milo to go to the Dominican without him there to watch his back. His Commanding Officer refused his request though. They needed him there for more pressing technical concerns. The Dominican mission was supposed to be a quick, easy intel gathering job, nothing out of the ordinary that would require Garrett to leave his desk job and go back on an op.

This was his chance to ease his guilty conscience for not being there for his friend and for Parker losing the man she loved. Garrett and Parker could find out the truth once and for all.

"I'm going to the Dominican Republic. I leave tomorrow at oh-eight-hundred."

Garrett watched the color drain from Parker’s face and wished like hell he wasn't doing this to her right now. She'd been through so much, and this was just another burden she was going to have to deal with.

Parker shook her head back and forth in denial when Garrett told her he was going...there. He couldn't. Why would he do this to her? She couldn't lose him too. She'd never survive it.



"I have to go on assignment to the Dominican, Park. I just found out this afternoon," Milo had told her over dinner.

It had been the first night in a long time they hadn’t fought. They were actually having dinner together and talking like a normal couple.

"Well that's shitty timing. When do you leave?" Parker asked as she scooped a slice of lasagna onto both their plates.

"In three days after briefing. Parker, I have to be there at least a month," Milo regrettably admitted.

"Shit! We're supposed to meet with the caterers next week to finalize the menu. And you still haven't been fitted for your tux," Parker complained.

"I know, I know. I promise the day I come home, I will do every single thing that's left to do."

She pushed aside the feelings of hurt and confusion that always surfaced when Milo put off doing something for the wedding, which had been happening a lot lately. She knew there was nothing he could do about being called away for work; she just wished it wasn’t happening at the worst possible moment ever. They were getting ready to take the biggest step of their lives together, and she couldn’t get Milo to talk to her about anything of importance, including why he’d been so distant and troubled lately.

More often than not she had felt like they were drifting away from each other, and she had been plagued with doubts about the two of them getting married. She couldn’t ignore the problems they had any longer. When he got back from his assignment, she would force him to talk to her and hopefully they could get back on track.



Three months later he still wasn't home and neither she nor Garrett had heard from him in almost a month. When two naval officers knocked on her door on that cold morning in February and offered their condolences, she berated herself for ever doubting him, regardless of the problems they had.

Right then, standing on the sidewalk looking at Garrett, she hated herself for being more scared about losing him than she ever was at the prospect of losing her fiancé.





Chapter Two



The day Parker met Garrett and Milo was a moment in time she'd always play over and over in her head. She would never give up the time she spent with Milo, but just like in any relationship, there were always “What ifs?”.

What if she hadn't walked into that room at that exact moment? What if he didn't go to class that day? What if she hadn't seen his best friend first, and what if every time they had a fight or she found yet another piece of damning evidence against Milo, she hadn't wished that his friend would have asked her out first?

Garrett and Milo had been best friends since the third grade when Garrett’s family moved from New Jersey to Cleveland, Ohio. Milo Roberts had showed up to school on Garrett's first day with a black eye, a busted lip, and dirty clothes. When Garrett had walked out onto the playground after lunch and saw several of the boys from their class teasing Milo, he marched right over to the crowd and punched the leader of the gang in the face.

Garrett was nine years old and his punches didn't pack much heat, but they still got him into a world of trouble. Back then, teachers didn't care who was right or wrong. If you were caught fighting, you'd get a week's detention.

Milo was shy, never spoke up, and was used to getting pushed around. Kids at school, his alcoholic father, you name it, people were always taking their shit out on him. His father abused him because Milo was the reason his mother left, and he cost too much damned money to feed and clothe. The boys at school didn't like him because he didn't dress like them or play sports like them.