My Bad Boy's Secret: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (44 page)

              When I got out, I couldn’t return to my old apartment and live like I used to. I was now a new person. People stopped me on the street and in coffee shops and restaurants to thank me and take a photo with me. I met the President, who awarded me over a dozen citations and medals. Every senator and representative shook my hands. I got invitations from presidents, prime ministers, dictators, and other foreign leaders to meet and dine with them. They wanted to award me as well. Some even proposed to me. The media weren’t allowed to report much on me. The government made sure of that in order to protect my identity and life, but everyone in the government now knew who I was and what I did. I was an international hero, and this stage actually felt weirder than when I started my mission and met Jake and McKenna for the first time.

              I had no choice but to leave my old apartment and move to a new place. With my new job and salary, I now owned the entire floor of one building. My new job, with all its meetings, reports, and assignments, kept me extremely busy. I was on the road to a very prosperous and bright future in Washington. I was told that if I played my cards right, in a few years I could become an agency director, Cabinet member, or even run for office.

              Through all of this, I couldn’t forget about Ada. I brought her up and pestered everyone in positions of power about releasing her. I would’ve quit my job if that meant that Ada’s name would be cleared. The Justice Department wouldn’t budge. They wanted someone to pin blame on, and they insisted that the evidence that had irrefutably proved that Ada was a defector. To them, having people see that Ada was helping McKenna fight me, hearing about how enthusiastic she was working for the Crew, and noticing her dark skin were all proof that she was evil. No matter what I said and how hard I tried, they were intent on crucifying her.

              Everything went on like this for months. I was enjoying the fruits of labor Ada and I did together, while Ada, who should’ve been free and prospering like I was, was forced to waste away her life in a prison cell. She had at least recovered somewhat; doctors told me how surprised they were to see her walking and moving so quickly and effortlessly. Knowing Ada, this wasn’t shocking. That woman could do anything she put her mind into. She had a strength that most people never got to experience.

              After about five months, I received a call from the ATF. It was the director.

              “We need you to come meet us,” he said before I even got to ask why he called. “It’s an emergency. We’ve got a problem with Ada.”

              “What happened? Is she hurt?” I demanded to know. If she was dead, I’d kill whoever was responsible.

              “Not exactly,” replied the director. “Just come over to the correctional facility and we’ll show you. We’d like your input.” He hung up.

              I’d been giving them input nearly every day about not convicting an innocent woman. However, I wasted no time driving over to the private military prison. I blazed through the security checkpoints and saw the directors, along with some politicians and government attorneys huddled together and looking puzzled and worried.

              “So what happened? Is Ada dead? Are you finally going to let her go?” I wasn’t in the mood for polite conversation.

              “Please come with us, Secretary,” said the DEA director. I followed her and the other people into the cell, which was windowless with padded walls and hardly any furniture. The room was sparse, but surprisingly large. Ada was lying on bed, her eyes closed and her hands over her stomach.

              It took me a moment to register what was so unusual. Ada’s belly was engorged and swollen. It rose above the rest of her body and stuck out to observers. While the rest of her looked skinnier than I recalled, her belly was fat and round. She looked like how I used to look due to the pills. She looked...pregnant.

              I kept staring. Ada wasn’t asleep like I thought at first. She heard people walking in, opened her eyes, and saw us. Her eyes darted and fixed onto me. She smiled widely, and it almost looked like her smile couldn’t fit on her face. “Hey, Ada,” she whispered. She couldn’t hide her amazement. “What are you doing here?” I was worried about how weak her voice sounded, but I tried not to show it.

              I sat down by her side right away, and grabbed her hands. I bent down to hug her. “I haven’t seen you in ages,” I whispered back into her ear. “How are they treating you?”

              “I’m still alive, at least,” she said in the irreverent tone that was so Ada. “I can move around now. Can’t bust open doors and walls anymore, or I’d be out of here, but hey, what can you do.”

              I put a hand over her belly, which felt soft yet hard. “What is this? Are you, well, pregnant?” I was scared to hear the answer.

              Ada massaged the prominent bulge and made a grim smile. “Is not getting my period and throwing up every day a bad sign?”

              This made no sense. How did Ada get pregnant? More directly, who was the father? Immediately, I had an idea, but I dearly hoped it wasn’t true.

              I had to ask. “Is it…you know…him?” I looked at Ada.

              Ada didn’t say anything. She avoided my eyes and looked down, burrowing into her belly and the baby in it. “It could only be him. He’s the only possibility. I mean, there were no other guys around, so…” she sighed. “I did the math. It adds up. He must have been the one. There were precautions, but obviously, they didn’t work one time. And now I’ve got this.” She wasn’t looking at anyone.

              Someone cleared his throat. I turned and saw that it was the FBI director. “As happy as you must be to be reunited, Secretary Valdivia, I’m sure you now see why we called you here. This is a very serious situation, and one that we never even anticipated. We need to figure out what we’re going to do with this development.”

              “What are we going to do?” I responded in disbelief. “Here’s a good first step for you to take. How about releasing Ada and telling everyone that she didn’t do anything wrong, that she deserves a promotion as much as I do, and apologizing for locking her up?”

              The FBI director frowned. He clearly didn’t like my suggestions. “After all this time, are you still seriously suggesting that Ms. Bose is innocent? Are you still ignoring the evidence we have demonstrating that she was aiding the Crew?”

              “She was undercover!” I shouted. “She was about as devoted to the Crew as I was. When she fought me, she had no choice. If she didn’t keep up the façade, we’d both be dead, and the Crew would still be ruling the world.”

              “I’ve told you a gazillion times, I’m not guilty,” Ada piped up. She was struggling to sound louder. “I hurt Sabina. But like she said, I had to play along. Those people who saw me didn’t see the full picture. They’re full of shit. You think I want to be like this? You think I admire Jake for launching those missiles and blowing up half the world? I wanted to stop him. I tried. But I couldn’t. All I managed to do was get the chips out of my body and put them in him. I knew that they could track him. There was no way I was letting him get away again.” Suddenly, Ada lost control and stopped talking. She was quick enough to tilt her head to a waste basket and vomit into it.

              I stood up straight and looked at the crowd of government officials harshly. “I’ve had enough,” I declared. “We’re getting Ada out of here, and we’re clearing her name. You better do that, or I’ll step down. I’ll tell everyone in the media the truth, and I’ll have you all resigning. Understand?”

              Some of the people fidgeted. The FBI director was lost for words for a minute, then tried to smile and look like he was in control.

              “Let’s go to another room and talk, Secretary,” he replied. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

              After a couple days, we did work it out. According to the terms I negotiated, Ada would be released and cleared of all charges immediately. All of the crimes she was accused of would be permanently wiped, and she would receive the same honors I did. For my part, I had to regularly supervise Ada and act as a sort of parole officer. The government insisted on this. Even after clearing her of all charges, they still didn’t fully trust her. I got to hire Ada as my new Vice Secretary and work with her every day. She would move in with me and be my new roommate. For all the effort it took to haggle the deal, I was pretty pleased with it. I couldn’t rest until my best friend was free.

              Even though we both looked healthy, Ada and I had plenty of physical and emotional scars from our mission. It was our first case, but we weren’t sure if we could ever do one again. During our free time, both of us preferred staying at home and doing some quiet reading, TV and film watching, and talking instead of going out and meeting people. Even a trip to a store or museum was tough. The mission had given us more excitement than we ever anticipated, and we weren’t ready for any more new twists for a long time.

              Both of us were very quiet around each other. Being in prison left Ada changed. She seemed more cautious and less optimistic. She spoke less and ate less. I worried for her, but I didn’t say anything about it. I hoped that when she got comfortable enough, she would talk about it.

              The pregnancy was another looming issue that neither of us were quite sure how we would deal with. Ada thought about getting rid of it. For a long time, she was certain about it.

              “It’s basically a demon baby,” she remarked one night after dinner, which she barely ate. “I mean, how are we going to raise it? What’ll we tell it about the father?”

              I didn’t know what the right thing to say was. “Are you really sure? I hope so, because you don’t have much time left to decide.”

              “You think I don’t know that?” sighed Ada in frustration. “I never even wanted kids that much to begin with. And it’s not like I think abortion is murder. I’m fine with it. In fact, when I first realized I was pregnant, all I wanted was to abort it. But the longer I’ve been pregnant, the more I’m attached. I’ve been thinking about what it’s like to be a mom. I thought about spending time with Jake, and what his kid would be like. And you know the scary thing I feel? I actually think I’d like having his baby.”

              I sat down beside her on the couch. The TV was on, but it was quiet and neither of us were paying attention to it. We’d been debating what to do with the baby for ages. We were also still trying to work out our feelings on Jake. As much as we couldn’t admit it, his impression on us was deep. We had never met a man this magnetic.

              “I’m scared too,” I responded. “Whenever I think about it, I get scared about how close we came to crossing over. All those times when we thought about defecting. We were almost traitors. We could’ve ended up like McKenna.”

              Ada nodded solemnly. She clutched at her belly and made massaging motions with her hands.

              “But we didn’t,” I said, sounding more confident. “We didn’t do it. We kept our bearings. We had each other to support, and we had our families to remember. Our lives back home. Those are all things McKenna didn’t have. She depended entirely on Jake for love. She lost her soul to reach her goals and find someone who loved her. And we’re better than her in that respect.”

              I placed my left hand over Ada’s stomach, trying to feel something. Right now, the baby wasn’t kicking.

              “We had each other for balance,” remarked Ada very calmly, “but we still were in danger of falling for Jake. I can see why McKenna left her life behind for him. So did hundreds of other women. We almost became those women. And when I think about what could’ve been, I feel like screaming from the fear.” She put her face in her hands.

              I was silent together with her, and then I shared my fears. “And even though we were working together, we almost didn’t make it. We almost lost each other. I was thinking about defecting, and so were you. We almost hated each other for a time.”

              Ada lifted up her head. “For a while, I liked McKenna more than I liked you. I cared for her. I wanted her to like me and I wanted to protect her.”

              I flinched. “And I liked Jake. No, scratch that, I loved him. I actually wanted to be with him. He just has that way with every woman. Our friendship was almost ruined because of all we went through.”