Read Online Diamonds Are Truly Forever: An Agent Ex Novel 2 by Gina Robinson - Free Book Online

finding out what Drew really did for a living years ago, Staci had left the lying to her mother to him. Drew made up the stories. Staci nodded along and gave vague answers when her mother pressed her. “Drew’s out of town on business. No idea what he’s up to. He never talks much about what he does,” was her standard answer. All too true.
    After Ciudad, she’d simply clammed up, claiming shock and saying she couldn’t face the memories. Her mother and Sam believed she’d been accompanying Drew on a business trip when, as an innocent tourist, she got caught crosswise in a drug-war battle in a crowded tourist area.
    Ever since her screwup and the torture in Ciudad del Este, the thought of lying sent Staci into a state of panic. She paused midreach and wiped her hand on her paper napkin. The pizza was greasy, but her palms had gone clammy on her, too.
    Drew shook the phone at her with the impatience of kindergartner ready for recess.
    She grabbed it away from him and tried to cover her fear with defiance. “Mom’s more of a wine-bar girl. I’ll take her to Red.”
    Drew shrugged again, acting too nonchalant. What was he up to?
    She took the phone from him and stared at it for a second before looking back to him for help. “I’ll never pull this off. You know I can’t lie to my mother. ” She took a deep breath and sighed, resigned. “I never could.”
    Drew pulled his chair around next to her and plunked into it. He put a hand on her shoulder. A hand that was warm and sturdy, and squeezed with strength and confidence. A touch that ignited a longing in her for what used to be. And damn him, a longing for him.
    She would have shaken his hand off, but his touch felt surprisingly reassuring. Under the assault of panic, she couldn’t afford to turn away his help or comfort in any form, no matter how casual and self-serving.
    “On the phone should be easy,” he said.
    For you, maybe.
    “I’ll give you some pointers. What do you say to some role-playing? I’ll be you and you be your mom. Sound good?”
    She looked down at the table and shook her head. It sounded hideous and made her pulse shoot up by about a hundred beats a minute, not to mention made her blood pressure rise.
    Be my mom! Right. If she had any inkling what her mom would say to her, the kind of grueling, grilling questions her mom would ask, she wouldn’t be this nervous. Mom had a way of throwing curve questions at her without warning, all with a deceptively calm smile on her face.
    Breathe easy, Staci told herself. Stay calm. Don’t throttle Drew.
    They’d been over this territory before. Again and again. Drew had been trying to teach her how to lie convincingly since she’d found out he was a spy. Without any measurable success.
    Her lack of skill at lying gave fodder to speculative gossip among her friends and family. It was why so many of them seemed suspicious about her relationship with Drew and about what Drew did for a living. And about the real reason he traveled so much. Think conspiracy theories gone wild.
    Staci had relatives who were convinced he was a bigamist with another family squirreled away somewhere. A real family, implying children were part of the equation. If they only knew Drew’s opinion on children. The man wasn’t ready for them. But her family not-so-secretly wondered how she could compete with babies. Others of her blood-is-thicker-than-water family thought he was running drugs or involved in some kind of complicated Ponzi scheme.
    Fortunately, none of them had ever placed a wager on whether he was a secret agent. One of her cousins had, however, given her a book on how to tell if your husband was having an affair. And her aunt professed to be an expert on spotting lipstick, and other things, that shouldn’t be on your husband’s collar.
    Every day Staci stayed with Drew she put him in more danger. A quick memory flashed through her mind.
    Beto Bevilacqua standing in front of her. “Where is your