Page 25 of Secrets in the Deep

Suddenly, her palm pressed at his chest. “Put me down, Ryan.”

“What’s wrong?” He lifted his head to look at her.

“Put me down.Now.”

Gently, he set her on her feet, making sure she was steady, particularly on the left side, before letting go.

She didn’t look at him as she slipped from between him and the wall. “I’m going to go.”

Again, he wanted to stop her. But she didn’t live here. She had a bigger life than Deep River could offer. Thanhecould ever offer.

“Thank you for the food.” They were her last words before she stepped outside.

And he just stood there, like an idiot, watching her leave. Walk across his yard to her car. Even after she drove away, he didn’t close the door. He just watched the road, wondering what the hell his plan was.

But he already knew the answer to that.

Therewasno plan. No next step. She’d leave, and he’d have to figure out how to live without her…again.

Emily waiteduntil she’d turned onto the next street. Only then did she let the first tear fall.

He was sorry. But not for breaking up with her. Not for pulling the ground out from beneath her feet and letting her fall into nothing.

He was sorry for the crash. For her knee. For the physical scars that night had inflicted.

But what about the other scars? The ones that couldn’t be seen from the outside. The ones she felt every second of every day.

She swiped a tear from her cheek.

She’d loved him. She’d loved him with her whole heart in a way she’d never known possible before him.

But while she’d been planning a life with him, creating a world centered around the two of them, he hadn’t even wanted her to be asmallpart of his.

She hated that night. She hated everything about it. And yet, it would forever live inside her.

Emily stepped into the apartment, an immediate smile curving her lips at the sight of Ryan in the center of the room, phone to his ear.

He was back. He was finally back.

He turned to face her, and her heart thumped. Because God, looking at him, being in the same room for the first time in over a month, finally allowed her to breathe again.

“Hey.” She crossed the distance between them and threw herself into his arms.

He was warm and hard, the muscles in his chest flexing against her. It had been too long. He’d been gone with his team, away in some unknown country for weeks.

She waited for him to hold her back. To wrap those powerful arms around her waist and tell her he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.

Five seconds passed. Seven.

When he never did, she lifted her cheek, her brows coming together. “Are you okay?”

She studied his face, noticing things she hadn’t seen at first glance. The crease between his brows. The pale shade of his skin.

She stepped back. “Did something happen on the mission? Are the guys okay? Oh God, is it Nora?”

“Nora’s fine. So are the guys.”

There was something about his voice. A heaviness that sat between them. “What is it?”