All that mattered was that she leaned a little harder into my chest and tightened her grip on my waist.
“Thanks for this. I needed it.”
Me too.
I kissed the top of her head and dropped my cheek so it rested on the spot I’d kissed.
My heart threatened to break.
I might be making the biggest mistake of my life.
What choice did I have?
I’d found someone to love.
Someone who wasn’t scared off by my wild ways or the fact that I enjoyed sharing with my best friends.
I couldn’t just give that up on a whim.
Noelle would have to prove herself untrustworthy.
And if she did, it might just break me into too many pieces to ever be whole again.
30
NOELLE
The lies kept piling up.
At this rate, I was going to get lost underneath them all and end up a giant failure.
But wasn’t that bound to happen anyway?
If I found out they were smuggling illegal goods, I’d have no choice but to arrest them, and my heart would be broken.
If they were not smuggling illegal goods, I lose my job.
Heart. Broken.
Not as much perhaps as in the first situation, but still a devastating blow.
I’d never work in law enforcement again.
Hell. I might not work there even if I did arrest the Steel Vipers.
Captain Delaney knew I was compromised.
One word from him and I was done for.
Permanently.
I sat on the bottom of the steps, with my knees drawn up to my chest, as I bemoaned the changes in my life.
Was I being an ass?
Yes.
Did I have the willpower to pull myself up right now and take charge of my life?
