A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)(70)

Never, in his entire career, had Garrett felt the lack of courage, strength, and abundance of doubt in hisbrotheras he did right at that moment while he slowly handed the photo to the woman, pointing to Milo’s face as Brady asked her if she recognized him.

The room was shrouded in silence while Garrett and Brady held their breaths as the woman stared at the picture.

One word was all it took for Garrett’s faith in everything he believed in to come tumbling down.

“Sí.”



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Parker had just ordered her third dirty martini when another shot glass filled with murky brown liquid was placed in front of her. Parker shook her head and raised one eye brow towards the bartender. He shrugged his shoulders in a friendly manner and waited for her to down the shot.

For some reason each time Parker asked for extra olives, it got lost in translation and she was instead given a shot of the moonshine looking stuff.

“I see you’ve been introduced to Mamajuana,” a deep voice said beside her.

Parker turned to see Cole standing next to the empty bar stool to her left, motioning to it with his hand, questioning silently if he could sit down.

Parker smiled and nodded and Cole sat down, motioning to the bartender for a drink.

“So this rotgut is called Mamajuana?” Parker asked as she held the shot glass up in front of her face and stared at the dark liquid, making sure she didn’t see anything floating in it. She’d seen the bartender pull the bottle out from under the bar and didn’t miss the leaves and other sediment floating in it. She’d been to the Dominican enough to know that it would be considered rude to turn down a drink when it was given to her.

“That is correct,” Cole said with a laugh as a bottle of Presidente beer and another shot of Mamajuana was placed in front of him. “It’s made with rum, red wine, and honey. They let the liquids soak in a bottle with tree bark and herbs,” he explained as he held the glass up in front of him, mirroring Parker.

“Ahhh, so I was correct when I thought I spied a tree branch in the bottle earlier,” Parker joked.

It felt good to laugh after feeling sorry for herself for the past two hours. She wouldn’t let herself feel guilty it wasn’t Garrett she was laughing with. She was pleasantly buzzed but nowhere near drunk enough to forgive him yet.

Cole leaned in closer to Parker and spoke softly, “They say Mamajuana is considered the Dominican aphrodisiac.”

Parker laughed at the absurdity that something that tasted like dirt and church wine could be a turn on. She could feel Cole’s eyes on her and the heat from his body warming her arm, but she ignored it. Cole was sweet and made her laugh on the few occasions they’d been in each other’s company, but that was all. Parker could see out of the corner of her eye that Cole was still staring at her. She shifted her body slightly away from him, hoping he wouldn’t be offended. She had no intention of giving him the wrong idea, even if she was still incredibly upset about the night's events andwas well on her way to being so drunk she felt like reenacting that rainy night long ago with Garrett, where she stripped in front of him, as soon as she saw him again.

She turned to face Cole and raised her shot glass a little higher.

“Well then, to the Dominican. Let’s hope they find a better aphrodisiac soon,” she said with a laugh as she choked down the shot.

Cole laughed with her and swallowed the drink with ease. He could sense her distance and that was alright with him. He could tell from the first time he was in the same room with Garrett and Parker that Garrett would probably knock him out if he attempted any kind of move on her. He always wondered why he never got the same vibe from Milo but just figured he was more of a laid back kind of guy. Parker was beautiful and smart and a total bad ass CIA agent, but he was in no mood to get his face rearranged over a woman.

Cole and Parker spent the next hour drinking and sharing stories.

Parker never noticed the eyes that had been watching her from the moment Cole sat down next to her at the bar.



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Garrett yanked open the mini fridge in the room with so much force it slammed into the wall, denting it with the handle.

He shoved aside the old fashioned bottles of Pepsi and 7UP and reached in and grabbed the complimentary bottle of Barceló Imperial Rum from the top shelf. Kicking the door closed with his foot, he unscrewed the cap and took a long swig.

All Garrett wanted to do after the woman at the hotel confirmed she had seen Milo there on several occasions over the years was to race back to the resort and apologize to Parker. All of the awful, ugly things he said to her played on a loop in his mind. The look on her face after she smacked him popped up every time he closed his eyes.

Parker had been right to suspect Milo, and Garrett should have kept an open mind with her. She lived with him and spent more time with him than Garrett had. He’d been one person with Garrett and another with Parker. And obviously, he’d been a third person with both of them. Garrett had no idea which Milo was the real one. All this time he wanted Milo to be the same man he grew up with, slightly troubled but with a big heart, willing to do anything to make a better life for himself than the one he had growing up. A good friend and partner, someone he could trust with his life and always depend on. He’d given up on any dreams he harbored towards Parker because he knew Milo was perfect for her. He knew Milo would take care of her.