Page 50 of Avenging Angel

Bennett doesn’t shy away as he looks into my eyes, then laughs when he doesn’t find what he’s looking for. “I guess some secrets remain buried longer than they should.”

Instead of beating around the bush, I ask bluntly, “What secret of mine do you think I’m hiding?”

Bennett laughs. “Not you, Daisy. Your brother. But then again, maybe he doesn’t even know, or maybe he does and hasn’t trusted you enough to share.”

My brother? That is not the direction I saw this conversation heading. “Owen has plenty of secrets because his job demands it.”

Bennett pushes past me, likely grabbing breakfast before he joins the rest of the team back at Vinny’s cabin. When he gets to the door, he opens it but doesn’t go in, looking at me with a knowing grin as if my lack of knowledge amuses him.

“Not all secrets are work related, my dear. When you see Owen, ask him about Genesis.”

I’m not sure what the first book of the Bible has to do with Owen, but there’s only one way to find out.

Chapter twenty

Angel

After a quick goodbye to my family and their promise to assist us when the time comes, Daisy and I head up the walkway toward the cabins.

With my sister here and not yet married to Jaxon, everyone, including me, thought it was best for Faith and Daisy to share the smaller cabin. Now that Daisy has kissed me and freed me from my promise, I can say without a doubt it was the right call. I haven’t always been the “Angel” my mom believed me to be when it came to women, but with Daisy, I don’t want to mess anything up. She’s the one, and I want our relationship to be blessed by God from beginning to end. But the temptation is real, and I need to be as far away from it as I can while still close enough to protect her.

“It’s sweet that your brothers are going to watch Brad and keep us apprised of his movements,” Daisy says. “I’m sure they need to get back to work.”

“Family always comes first for the Conways,” I tell her.

Daisy stops and tugs at my shirt. “You say that so casually, like careers are disposable. Your brothers took time off to travel to Colombia to rescue Faith from the cartel only six months ago. Jordan was a new detective and still is by most standards. Taking more time off so soon could end his career before it gets off the ground, and Ben and Seth are in the same boat. Angel, we’re not still trapped in the mine, so there’s no reason for them to stick around now that you’ve been cleared by the doctor.”

“Careers are disposable; family is not. What’s important to me is important to them, and vice versa.”

I pull Daisy close to my body and kiss her jawline until my lips are near her ear. The truth comes out in a soft hush. “You are important to me; therefore, you are important to them. And what’s important to you is important to me.”

It’s not a declaration of love; it’s too soon for that. But I don’t want a day to go by that Daisy doesn’t know how much she means to me or that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to give us the chance at a future together. In order to do that, we need to get rid of the noose she keeps around her neck, tethering her to a place she’s desperate to escape.

Footsteps on the front porch of Vinny’s cabin interrupt the moment. “Is this the result of a broken promise, or did my sister kiss you first, Angel?” Owen asks.

His stance is wide, and his arms are folded across his chest as he keeps one eyebrow raised while scrutinizing how close I am to Daisy.

“Stop pretending to be the overprotective brother. We both know that you’re a softy under the polished exterior you show everyone else. You’re a closet romantic at heart, proven by the romance novels you keep hidden behind your books on guerrilla warfare tactics, counterterrorism, and survival techniques for the twenty-first century,” Daisy quips.

“It’s purely for research purposes,” Owen says in his defense.

“Research? For what?” I ask, laughing at the red slowly creeping up his neck. “Romance novels don’t depict real life, only a picture of what the perfect man should be.”

Owen walks down the steps toward us. “I’m not going to ask how you know that fact, Angel, but you’ve just proven my point. Can you think of a better way to get inside the mind of a woman than to read a romance novel written by one?”

It’s a valid argument I can’t refute. In fact, it’s kind of genius. Yet Owen is still single, so maybe his theory isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I say as much. “Then why are you still flying solo?”

Daisy doesn’t hesitate to take the opening, having figured out what I already suspected. “Does it have to do with Genesis?”

Owen’s head snaps up, and instantly his posture goes rigid. “Where did you hear that name?”

“Bennett,” Daisy and I say at the same time.

“Who is she?” Daisy asks. “Why haven’t you told me about her?”

Having heard his name, Bennett walks out onto the porch eating the breakfast burrito he picked up from the diner. It was a quick in and out, but our interaction lasted long enough for me to know that I’m really starting to dislike the man. Granted, I didn’t like him much before, but I like him even less now. He’s the kind of guy who gives the CIA a bad name for the rest of us who are actually trying to make the world a better place. To him, people are just a means to an end.

“Are you telling me that you didn’t tell your sister about the little impromptu wedding you had in Vegas five years ago?”