What She Couldn't Bear

The lightning storm that evening felt personal, as if the sky itself was exposing what she'd spent three years hiding. Elena pressed her forehead against the cabin window, watching the black bear lumber through the perimeter of the property, its massive shoulders rolling with each step. She'd been sent here to retrieve the prototype, but instead she'd spent three months falling in love with the man she was supposed to betray.

Three years as a corporate spy, and she'd never broken protocol. Until Marcus.

The bear paused, looking toward the cabin with small, intelligent eyes. Elena felt like it could see right through her—like the animal knew she was the reason Parallax Solutions had acquired half his competitors. Marcus called her his dearest friend. He'd asked her to move in next week.

Her phone buzzed on the counter. Her handler: 'Hand over the prototype tonight. Final warning. If you can't bear to do it, we'll send someone who can.'

Elena deleted every copied file from her secure drive. Then she typed: 'I'm out. Send whoever you want. But Marcus gets to keep his work.'

She pressed send just as Marcus walked through the door, carrying groceries from the storm. He set them on the counter, studying her face. Lightning flashed across his features—dark hair, generous mouth, eyes that had somehow learned to trust again after his first wife left.

'You all right?' he asked, and the tenderness in his voice nearly broke her.

'I need to tell you something,' Elena said. 'And you're probably going to ask me to leave.'

The bear appeared at the edge of the yard again, silhouetted against another lightning strike. Marcus moved to stand beside her, watching the animal.

'That old bear,' he said softly. 'Third time this week. You think he's lost his way too?'

Elena looked at him—really looked at him—and realized she had a choice. She could keep lying, keep being the spy who'd infiltrated his life, or she could become the woman he believed she was.

'No,' she said, taking his hand. 'But I think I finally found mine.'