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center of his being. If Steven found out, if he’d already discovered Ryan’s true identity…
    No. He couldn’t bear to let his thoughts go there.
    It was time to let Makayla in on the entire operation. Time to tell her who he was and how their first meeting years ago at the airport rental counter had been no accident or because of his macho code of ethics.
    But first he needed to take care of security. His fingers shook as he punched in the numbers Harrington had given him all those years ago and he kicked over the trash can in frustration.
    “It’s time,” he said. Then he shook his head. “No. Right now! Her location has been compromised.” Pausing, he waited for instructions. “No. We need full surveillance. 24-7. She can’t leave the premises without protection.”
    Finally, with his point made, he hung up the phone with a heavy sigh. He hoped as long as Makayla was safe, Nicholas would be too. Makayla was the true prize. She was what Steven really wanted. Nicholas was only the bait. Once Steven managed to get his hands on both of them, he doubted either would walk away alive.
    His gut twisted into an intricate circuit of tiny knots as the truth tore at the lining of his stomach. He truly loved Makayla and the life they had made. Now it was all on the line. All in the hands of a man that didn’t deserve to breathe, much less be allowed to walk this green earth without chains.
     

Chapter Six

    Shocked beyond belief, Makayla sat at the kitchen table in a paralyzed state.
    “Sweetheart, are you gonna be all right?” Ryan couldn’t stand to watch the expressions running across her face. The first was confusion, but that quickly turned to surprise. And then the final one ripped at his heart. Her eyes glazed over, as if she’d checked out.
    After several brutal moments of silence where the ticking of the clock made a bullhorn sound quiet in comparison, her focus lifted to him.
    “All right? Is that what you asked me?” She paused, and he held his breath. “How can you even be so bold after what you just told me? Our entire marriage has been nothing but a lie, some kind of freaking undercover operation. You honestly believe I could come out of this lie all right?”
    Makayla sprang up off the chair like a toy Jack in the Box, and he shuddered as the chair went crashing to the floor. The thwack of wood hitting the tiled floor echoed around the room. He’d never seen her like this. She was always calm, slow to anger, and completely composed. Now she stood before him with fire in her eyes, having to take slow deliberate breaths of air.
    “We are both guilty of lies, Makayla.” He couldn’t stop the words. They just slipped out and he instantly regretted his mistake.
    “Oh, no, you don’t. Apparently, you knew my problems from the beginning. Shoot. Probably understood my predicament better than I did. It’s not the same. So don’t even go there.” She paced up and down, struggling with every word.
    “I told you the truth from the beginning. That I was running from my husband,” she said, stopping to pin him with a glare, hands on her hips.
    “That wasn’t the entire truth.” What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he goading her like this? The last thing he wanted was to upset her further. The most important issue here was to find Nicholas. But his raging emotions were in complete charge of his common sense. Was he striking out at her in resentment or fear for his son’s life?
    “I can’t believe this!” She’d never looked so angry. “All this time, all these years, I felt sorry for you. Felt like I was doing you an injustice by putting your life in danger each and every day that passed. I actually worried about what satanic torture Steven would put you through if he found us together.”
    “Yeah, me too.” Ryan managed to duck just in time to avoid a plate flying at his head. One of the very plates they had bought for that first Christmas together over ten years ago. But he held his