Gone by Annabel Wolfe

in something.”
    “I guess it is our job then to make her believe.”
    Jack lifted his brows. “I’ve done a tough job or two in my day. How about you?”
    “I made her believe in life again after you were gone. That was pretty tough. Does that count?”
    That stopped him. “So you did. Thank you.”
    “You found her first. Thank you .”
    “This might be more difficult than when we were dropped into…oh hell, I can’t tell you the name of the country because I don’t have clearance to do it, but let’s just say the experience wasn’t perfect. We all set?”
    Nicole opened the door before he could answer, so Eric just shrugged.
    She said, “I just opened a bottle of wine. Want to sit out back?”
    Like either of them would deny her anything at this point. Jack flashed that smile the women all seemed to love. “Fine with me.”
    Already at a disadvantage. Eric said nothing. He followed his friend and mentally braced himself for whatever came next. A part of him was sure Nicole was going to choose a predictable path, but another part…
    Another part hoped she’d be as adventurous as he knew she could be.
    Yes, he’d persuaded people to spend millions on his ideas and expertise, but could he pull this off?
    He wasn’t positive.
    “You get to do the talking,” Jack said under his breath as they walked through the door. “I’ll do the shooting if that proves necessary, but when it comes to any other kind of persuasion, you are better qualified. Deal?”
    “Kind of makes me nervous,” Eric muttered back. “But yeah, your skills in negotiation probably involve deadly force. Fine, I’ll talk.”
    “Agreeing on that is probably not a bad start.”
    Nicole stepped back as they came inside, her face a little strained; they weren’t the only nervous ones. Jack went first and Eric followed, both of them going straight behind her to the doors to the back deck. As promised, three glasses sat out, and a bottle of Merlot was breathing. Eric said, “Shall I go ahead and pour?”
    Nicole nodded. “Be my guest.”
    Both he and Jack stood politely while she chose a chair. The evening had mellowed nicely into a deep indigo sky that matched her eyes exactly, and when he handed her the glass, Eric felt the small quiver of her hand. “Nikki, relax. We all knew this was going to be one tough afternoon.”
    She took a quick, compulsive sip of wine. “I’m not uptight,” she said after a quiet moment. “I’m just torn in about a thousand different directions.”
    How ironic was it Jack wanted him to handle this? Somewhat, but it was important to all three of them.
    “A thousand? I thought there were just two of us.”
    It was Jack’s turn to get a lethal look from Nikki. She said, “Templeton, don’t push your luck.”
    “We know.” Eric spread his hands on the small glass table. “So…it seems like the question everyone was asking themselves at the party is something we should probably just go ahead and address ourselves. Everyone knows you were dating Jack and it was serious, and then we thought he was dead, and that was painful for all of us, and then you did as I suspect pretty much everyone you know told you to do, and you started to heal. Am I right?”
    “I think,” she said tightly, “we all know what happened.”
    “I just want you to see the situation with perfect clarity.”
    “Eric, if you talk to me like I’m a two-year-old, I’m going wring your neck.” She looked adorably irritated.
    “Actually, I’m going to talk to you like you are a very grown-up, sophisticated woman.”
    “What the hell does that mean?” Nicole’s eyes drifted shut briefly and her voice was hushed. “I know I need to make this sort of choice everyone is expecting, but it really is not that easy. I love Jack, I have all along. I love you too, and the whole thing is driving me crazy. I can’t see how I can possibly hurt either of you. I don’t want to destroy your relationship either—”
    “Nikki, we