She waved a hand toward the food on the table. “Lunch arrived right after you left.”

His gaze dropped to her empty plate. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“I knew you would be back soon.” She lifted the cover off a dish. “Patrice sent us chicken-and-mushroom crepes.”

“Sounds good.” Levi sat beside her.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I don’t know. You seemed distracted.”

“I got some unexpected news from home a few minutes ago.”

“What kind of news?” Cassie asked.

“My ex-girlfriend is getting married,” Levi said.

A flare of jealousy surfaced, but Cassie fought against it. “Were you together long?”

“A little over a year.” Levi picked up a spatula and lifted her plate. He transferred a crepe onto the plate and proceeded to serve himself.

“Tell me about her,” Cassie said. “Why did you break up?”

Levi took a bite, and Cassie suspected he was delaying his answer. He chewed, taking his time before swallowing. “We used to work together. She had an accident, and she blamed me for it. We were never the same after that.”

“Was the accident your fault?”

“No, it wasn’t. And she knows that now.”

“That’s good, right?”

“Yeah, it is,” Levi said. “I hadn’t realized how much it bothered me that she blamed me all this time. It’s nice to have that chapter closed.” Levi scooped up another bite with his fork and nodded at Cassie’s computer. “Any progress while I was gone?”

“Not really.” She poured herself a glass of water from the carafe on the table. “I feel like I’m going in circles.”

“Maybe we should go for a walk after lunch,” Levi suggested. “It would be good to clear our heads.”

“I’d like that.” She took a bite, savoring the mixture of crepe, chicken, mushroom, and cream sauce. They ate in silence for several minutes, and Cassie looked at Levi again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine.” Again, he put his hand on hers as though to reassure her. “Just a lot on my mind.”

“I hope that changes for you soon.”

“Me too.”

CHAPTER 22

Levi paced across his dark bedroom, moonlight spilling onto the carpeted floor. He had managed to make it through dinner with Cassie, but every time he thought of what he had done, what he had almost done, he wanted nothing more than to put some distance between them. He had feigned a work emergency after dessert to give him that distance as well as time to regain some clarity.

He considered what her reaction would be if she learned he was CIA. Another wave of regret and apprehension crashed over him.

Cassie had left his office an hour ago, taking her laptop with her. Levi thought of their plans to meet for a walk in the garden and hoped he could chase away the worst of the guilt before then. He wanted Cassie to trust him. He needed her to trust him.

He forwarded the latest list of suspects to Director Palmer, and his phone rang a few minutes later.