Long Road Home(51)

“Starving,” she lied. But how better to convince him she was a-okay than to shovel down a decent meal?

She sat down at the small table and he set something in front of her that resembled spaghetti. She dug into it with false gusto and forced it down her throat. He took the seat across from her and nodded approvingly as she ate.

They ate in silence for several minutes. Finally Manny set his glass of water down after a big gulp and looked over at her.

“What happened, baby?” he asked quietly.

Her cheeks burned under his scrutiny. How was she supposed to explain something she didn’t know herself? She didn’t try. “I don’t know.”

He reached across the table and laid his hand over hers. He squeezed lightly. “When this is over, Jules, you and I are going to go somewhere. Somewhere you can rest.”

She nodded, mildly surprised his statement didn’t send a tsunami of guilt crashing over her. Yep, she’d lost it. Maybe what she had to look forward to was a psych ward complete with an I-love-me jacket.

She looked down to see most of her food gone, much to her relief. She put her fork down and leaned back in her chair. “Thank you.”

He smiled. “Why don’t you go into the living room? I’ll clean up and join you. We can watch a movie or something.”

Domesticity at its finest. She returned his smile and stood up. “Sure you don’t want some help?”

“No, you go ahead.”

She shrugged and walked into the living room. She sank down on the couch and curled her feet underneath her. The remote to the television was just a few inches away, but she left it, preferring the silence.

Manny arrived a few minutes later holding two glasses of wine.

“I thought we could both use a relaxing evening,” he said as he offered the wine.

She took the glass and sipped obligingly. He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against his side.

For a while neither spoke. Manny seemed content to simply hold her and sip the wine. She relaxed against him and let her mind soar above her impending preoccupation. These were the last hours she’d spend in his arms.

“Jules, I wanted to talk to you.”

She shifted so she could look up at him.

“This probably isn’t the best time, but time isn’t something we have a lot of.”

She frowned. “What is it?”

He sighed and leaned forward to set his glass on the coffee table. He sank back and stared up at the ceiling.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought. If for some reason…if for some reason things don’t work out with the senator, I want us to go away.”

Her brow wrinkled. What he suggested couldn’t have surprised her more. “What do you mean by away?”

“Out of the country,” he said, turning his gaze from the ceiling to her. “Someplace you’d be safe.”

She shook her head. Despite the fact she could agree to anything and it wouldn’t matter, the mere idea of Manny doing something so contrary to his nature made her ill.

He placed a finger over her lips before she could voice her objections. “It’s not up for debate, Jules. There’s no way I’m leaving you, and no way I’d keep you somewhere you’d be at risk.”

She sighed. She wasn’t going to argue with him on their last night, and certainly not over a moot point. She wouldn’t be around to leave the country, though that was precisely what she planned to do. Alone.

She glanced at the clock and mentally calculated how much time she needed Manny to be out. If she gave him the drug now, she should have plenty of time to leave the townhouse unnoticed.

“Want some more wine?”

“I’ll get it,” he said, sitting forward.

She shoved him back then leaned down and kissed him. “I’ll get it. You stay here.”

She collected his glass from the coffee table and walked into the kitchen. She glanced back to make sure he hadn’t followed her then dug out the vial from her underwear.

She dumped the liquid into Manny’s wine glass and then poured wine on top of it. A flick of her wrist and the liquid swirled around the glass, effectively mixing the contents. She refilled her own glass then returned to the living room.

He took it from her and took a sip. She sat beside him, and he looked at her with warm eyes.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

He leaned forward and kissed her before sitting back and sipping his wine again. She relaxed and waited for him to finish. She’d suggest they go to bed soon. After all, they had a big day tomorrow. Their meeting with the senator was to take place in the afternoon. A meeting that would never happen.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jules woke at four a.m. She immediately turned to see how solidly Manny was sleeping. The drug she had given him shouldn’t wear off for a few more hours yet, which gave her plenty of time to make good her escape.

She dressed in silence, donning black jeans and a black T-shirt. She collected the items she needed from her bag—the phone, her Glock and an extra gun clip. Shoving the gun in her waistband, she slipped into the bathroom to check her e-mail once more.

It wasn’t like Northstar to be so coy about her target. She waited patiently as she went through the necessary channels to ensure the security of her connection then clicked on the waiting message.