Page 51 of Secrets in the Deep

He could count on one hand the hours of sleep he’d gotten over the last few nights. It wasn’t enough.

The op had been… God, he didn’t have words. Exhausting. Dangerous. And the closest to death he and the team had ever come.

Safe. The word whispered in his head. He was safe.

But just because he knew it, that didn’t mean his body or mind believed it. Not yet.

He closed his eyes, but the op played over in his head, darkening his world. A world where days bled into nights. Where every step had him expecting a land mine to explode beneath his foot or a bullet to hit his skull.

But he wasn’t there anymore. He was here. In California. In Emily’s apartment. Alone.

Quiet slipped into his bones, almost feeling wrong after the noise he’d grown used to over the last month.

He sucked in a long breath, Emily’s floral scent filling his nose.

Safe.

The word repeated again.

The ringing of his phone pulled him out of his head. He grabbed it from his pocket and, without looking at the screen, answered…that was how fucking dead on his feet he was.

“Yeah?”

“I need to speak to you.”

He straightened and pulled the phone from his ear to make sure the name matched the voice. It did. “Melanie, is something wrong? Is Emily okay?”

“No. She’s not.”

Dread shot him to his feet and had him taking three long strides toward the door before Melanie spoke again.

“She turned down the part.”

Ryan stopped. “What?”

“They offered her the role. Lead actress in a multimillion-dollar Hollywood blockbuster. The one she’s done nothing but prep for and talk about for the last six months. And she turned it down.”

“She wouldn’t have done that.”

“She did. For you.” Melanie spat the last two words like they were acid on her tongue.

“What the hell are you talking about? Why would she?—”

“Because she wants to be home with you between your missions. Because she wants to be close to you.”

The mission flashed back in his head. The chaos and terror. The bullets. The near hits to his skull.

Emily wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t give up her entire life for him. She knew he was a Navy SEAL. She knew what that entailed. He wasn’t a safe bet.

“If you love her like you say you do,” Melanie hissed, “let her go. Let her live her dream. Don’t take this away from her. She’ll never forgive you.”

Exhaustion tugged at his limbs, mixing with confusion, frustration, and anger.

Itwasher dream to become an actress. It was all she ever talked about. And she was good. Really good. When she slipped into character, shebecamethat person. She embodied someone completely different.

And she loved it.

The door behind him opened. He hung up and turned.