"What if it doesn't work out? Us?"
"Then it doesn't. But we won't know unless we give it a shot."
"It will be different if we get married," Selena said.
"It could be better."
"Or not. We get on each other's nerves."
"Yeah, but then it's okay again. Isn't that how it works?"
She sipped from her glass. "I suppose so."
Nick studied his glass, looked up. "You don't want to do it."
"Honestly? I do, but I'm afraid it will change things in a way we don't like."
"We spend almost all of our time together anyway,"
"Yes, but it's not the same."
He picked up the bottle of wine and topped off their glasses.
"I wasn't thinking about anything except how much I wanted you when I asked you. Then later it seemed like you were having your own doubts. It's why I put off getting a ring."
"I was having doubts," she said.
"Do you still have them?"
"I'll probably always have them."
The food came. They stopped talking until the waiter had left.
She looked at him. I love him, she thought. He's not going to keep asking forever. You'll never know if you don't try for it.
"All right," she said.
"All right what?"
"Let's look for a ring."
Acknowledgements
My wife Gayle. Being the wife of a writer is not an easy task. She patiently listens to me struggle with the plot line and deals with the mood swings that accompany good writing days and bad ones.
Neil Jackson, who designs the covers for the Project series.
Special thanks to Michelle Briere. Also to Nancy Witt, Paul Madsen, Seth Ballard, Eric Vollebregt and Gloria Lakritz.
Notes
I like to mix fact and fiction together in the PROJECT stories.
In The Eye of Shiva, some things are true and some are not. The story of the treasure looted by Naher Shah during the sack of Delhi in 1739 is true. The treasure eventually reached Persia and was so large that all taxes were suspended for three years in the kingdom. Among the treasures taken was the Peacock Throne, a fabled construction of solid gold built for the Mughal Emperor Akbar Khan. The throne was decorated with precious jewels and golden peacocks. But nothing more is known about the throne after it left Delhi. It disappeared from history. What happened to it?
The jewel in the story, the Eye of Shiva, is fiction, as is the prophecy attributed to it. The Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Timur ruby are real. Abdul Afridi's terrorist group ISOK is a fictional equivalent of a real group called Le T, short for Laikshar-e-Taiba. Le T is responsible for many murders and deadly attacks in India and Kashmir and is closely tied to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence Agency. Abu Sayaaf in the Philippines is real. These are bad people. Like ISIL in the Mid-East, they are fond of beheadings, robbing banks and murdering civilians.
The mosque at Hazratbal in Srinagar is a real location and does indeed house a relic of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Agni III missile described is far too real. So is it's bigger, more destructive brother the Agni VI. Pakistan and India are both armed with enough nuclear weapons to obliterate a significant part of the planet. Hindu and Islamic fundamentalism make a bad mix and tensions are always high in the region.
The Research and Analysis Wing is real. India's CIA has its headquarters on Lodhi Road in New Delhi. Ashok Rao bears no resemblance to the real Secretary of Special Operations, whoever that person is.
I've been to India, an amazing, dynamic country. The incident with the truck that almost wipes out the team is based on personal experience. Driving in India is not recommended.
As to AEON, it remains to be seen if it is real or not…