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"So the letter quickly

Dear Ni gh, I w anted y ou to hear i t fro to w ri te i t I’bac k to B row n I tal k ed i t ov er w i th an A rmy rec rui ter and I feel that i t’ s the bes t pl ac e for me at thi s poi nt I k now y ou better than y ou thi nk I do, and ri ght now y ou’ re feel i ng gui l ty W el l , don’ t Y ou’ re happy and that’ s al l that matters to me, and that’ s the truth I’ m s orry y ou hav e to fi nd out i n thi s s tupi d l etter, but ev ery thi ng happened k i nda fas t and I di dn’ t hav e ti h I’ l l thi nk about y ou ev ery day

Ry an The letter slipped from my hands and fel to the floor, quiet and slow The nuuilt that would soon wash over me would be unbearable

"He left"

Jared touchedwel "

"Claire’s gone? " I wailed, standing up froer was always preferable to pain Jared took a step toward oodbye to her! To either of them!"

Jared’s eyebrows moved in "He wanted to do this, Nina You couldn’t have stopped hi," I said softly "You should have toldon ry

My eyes drifted to the letter on the floor "This is my fault"

"Nina, no"

I nodded "I did this I broke his heart, and he couldn’t stay here," I shookto die out there"

"Ryan made his choice," Jared said

His dry tone was hardly convincing He had a right to be angry, watching his fiancé anguish over theClaire’s Taleh ed to soht being with hier My bril iant plan had been enough to drive Ryan to join a war halfway across the world No matter what Jared said, or how o

Angry as I was, the only one to blame was me, and we both knew it

I shook et those docuhed "If I had told you, ould you have done besides worry?"

I pul edout h the address book until I found Ryan’s number, and then held the phone to my ear As I expected, his voice mail immediately answered

The sound of his voice made my insides wrench, but when the beep cued me to speak, my temper kicked in

"I need you to call ot your letter and you can’t do this You just can’t You’ve got to call ure this out Please"

Jared took the phone froet that e, Sweetheart"

"I had to try," I said, opening my purse for him to drop the phone inside "Someone had to"

Jared touched my arm "He’s the safest enlisted man in the Ar to work, exactly? Has Claire joined the Army?"

Jared smiled "No We’ve talked about this She’s keeps an eye on Ryan the same ere al owed to train We have connections"

"That’s not the point"

"I know," Jared said, opening the door

I didn’t kiss hih the door, or when he opened the passenger side for me as he always did, or before he left ize, which he only did when he felt he was right Knowing that infuriated ry," he said

I glared at him "That’s lame and you know it You didn’t tel me Ryan had enlisted in the first place! You didn’t let ry…" Iinto an unyielding foul mood When Jared didn’t reply, I peeked at hih

"This is not funny, Jared!"

His mouth immediately flat-lined "I didn’t say it was, you’re just," he shook his head as he pul ed to the curb of Titan Mercantile, "trying to be angry, with a series of annoyed expressions on your beautiful face; it’s a sorry, and start being…I don’t know! Sorry!"

A corner of Jared’s htened it again "Have a good day"

I slau how in love withand then stop I returned to the Escalade and sighed Sheepish, I opened the door "Are you co in?"

"Not today," he smiled

Jared had spent endless hours at Titan Mercantile as a child, and it was his least favorite place to go with his father It didn’t help that the other employees stared at hiure our relationship out, although most of them knew that Jared was Gabe’s son, andGabe shadow my father was just another day at the office when my father walked the hal s, but now that it was apparent that I needed protection, who also happened to beof rumors about my family

One of my fel ow interns in particular, Sasha, had an immediate interest in Jared She wasted no time with the saccharine-laced pleasantries; on the contrary, she was downright hateful to an as I walked into the office we shared She eyed his Escalade from theas she spoke

"I have a lot to do, Sasha"

"He protects you?" When I didn’t answer, she walked over to stand in front ofon it until I looked up "Fro nails clicking against the wood, and then up at her "I’ht?"

"No"

"No?" she said, her voice an octave higher

"We’re engaged"

"Isn’t that, you know, a conflict of interest?"