Shattered (Hostage Rescue Team #11)(10)

Well the first part was true. When she’d woken up a few minutes later she’d made a valiant effort at pretending she hadn’t been asleep at all by continuing to eat as she fought to stay awake. The jet lag must still be hitting her, as she’d just come off another cross-country speaking tour with talks in three cities on the West Coast over the past week. Taya was in huge demand as a speaker on women’s rights and her horrific experiences in Afghanistan.

Nate had never met anyone as strong as his wife, and he was damn proud of all she’d accomplished. Including how well she’d dealt with all the trauma she’d suffered. Somehow, she’d found a source of inner zen that always radiated her inner beauty and calm. Knowing how tired she was, he should have bundled her into the truck right after they’d eaten. “That trip really took it out of you, huh?”

Her smile was a little drowsy, and full of a quiet joy he could practically touch. That air of serenity she always carried with her was one of the most attractive things about her. It seemed like no matter what life threw at her, Taya just absorbed it and kept moving forward, always choosing to look at the bright side of things. “Sorry. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open a second longer.”

“Don’t worry about it, no one minded.” He squeezed her hand, still in awe of all the miracles she’d brought into his life. “You need to start getting more rest. Slow down more.” He’d tried to get her to stay home today to catch up on her sleep, but she’d insisted she come to the barbecue to see everyone.

She sighed. “I know I do. It’s just hard. I’ve got so many requests for speaking engagements I want to do.”

“Well you won’t be able to do any of them if you get exhausted and make yourself sick.”

She aimed a tender smile at him. “I’m not fragile, Nathan.”

“I know that.” He knew it better than anyone, having seen her actions under fire, and while wounded. And then again, in the aftermath of that disastrous day at the courthouse when she’d gone to testify against Qureshi. And in a million other little ways since. “But I’m your husband, so I’m still allowed to worry about you.” He couldn’t help it. She was his world.

“I love that you worry about me. But just try to remember I’m only six years older than you. Not sixty.” She raised a dark eyebrow. “I’m not on my last leg yet.”

He laughed. “I never think about our age difference until you bring it up. Cradle robber.”

Taya pulled her hand free and jabbed her fingers in his ribs, making him chuckle. “Watch it.”

He caught her hand again, raised it to his lips for a kiss. “What was it you wanted to tell me, by the way? Before, on the way over there.” She’d started to mention something on the way to DeLuca and Briar’s place, but he’d received a phone call and they hadn’t resumed the conversation.

She was quiet for a minute. So quiet he looked over at her in surprise. Then she cast him a sidelong glance, and her hesitation in answering made him frown. Taya never withheld anything from him. “What?” he asked.

She turned a little in her seat to look at him. “So…your sister contacted me.”

The quiet admission blindsided him, bursting the warm, happy bubble he’d been floating in since Taya had arrived at the airport last night. Anger and denial punched through him, an instinctive and unstoppable reaction to the news.

He clenched his left hand around the steering wheel, suspicion coiling in the pit of his stomach. “When?” he demanded, jaw tight. Maybe he’d heard wrong.

Her expression turned worried. “Yesterday morning, just before checkout. She emailed me.”

She’d looked up Taya’s email address? “What? How the hell did she even find out about you?” They’d only been married a couple months, and he sure as shit hadn’t told Dara.

“She said she saw an interview of mine on TV and looked me up. She contacted me through my website.”

His jaw flexed. He didn’t like the feel of this. “What did she want?” There had to be an angle. With his sister, there always was, and always would be. Three years older than him, she’d been raised from the cradle to be a master liar, manipulator and user. A carefully trained carbon copy of their mother.

“Nathan,” Taya chided at his harsh tone.

“No.” He didn’t care if he sounded like an asshole. Taya didn’t get it. Always the peacemaker, wanting to smooth everything over, fix it all. Well, some things couldn’t be fixed. Or forgiven. And never forgotten. He pulled in a steadying breath and fought to hold onto his patience. “What did she want?”

“She wanted to verify that I really was your wife, and then she asked about you.”

“What about me?”

She shrugged. “Just general things. How you were doing, where we were living.”

He shot her a look, rattled at the news. “Tell me you didn’t answer that last one.”

“I just said we were in the D.C. area. Okay, I shouldn’t have told her even that much, but I didn’t think it was that big a deal since it’s vague, and she knows you must be close to here anyway because of your job.”

Nate sucked in a deep breath through his nose and tried to calm down, but it was no use. The last time he’d heard from Dara was when their mother had died last year. Because she’d had no way to contact him she’d reached out to the FBI to pass along the message that she was looking for him.