Not like she loved the thought of him with anyone else, either. “I wasn’t in cold storage after our breakup.” An important point. “You chose the breakup.” She’d just tried to learn how to live without him. Tried so hard that she’d been forcing herself to marry a man she didn’t even love. A man who wanted her dead. So, obviously, that had worked out well.
Nash’s eyes narrowed. “You are the only person I ever want.”
“Look, don’t pretend that you weren’t with other people in the last eight years!” Because she would not buy that story.
“When I closed my eyes, they were all you.”
She did not have a comeback for those words.
“But when I opened them, they weren’t. You weren’t there, and I was fucking disappointed every time. Disappointed, and I hated myself because they weren’t you.”
Enough of this. Enough, enough, enough! “Why did you do this to us?”
“I thought you were over the why questions.”
She had been. She was. She… “Damn you.” Real anger. Anger that had been inside of her for a long time. “Are you just playing a game with me?”
“Never.” His nostrils flared as he kept caging her between him and the wall.
“Then don’t lie to me. Don’t ever lie to me again.” She hated lies. “Kurt was nothing but a liar. I don’t want to be kept in the dark about anything. You have a secret? Tell me. Share it with me. No holding back. No worrying about hurting me. Just tell me. I can handle anything that you throw at me.” She wasn’t some delicate flower that would get battered by too much rain. Couldn’t he see that?
He leaned in closer.
She thought he was going to kiss her.
“We’re married,” Nash said.
Her breath huffed out. “I know, Nash. I was there for the ceremony, remember?” She put her hands on his chest. His bare chest.
Such a bad idea because sensual awareness immediately surged through her body. Delaney’s gaze dropped to his chest, and she frowned because there were so many marks on his skin. On him.
In the heat of the moment, in the steamy shower, she’d been focused on pleasure. Hers. His. And she hadn’t stopped to notice the changes that had occurred to his body in the years that they’d been apart. “Oh, no.” Sadness. Horror. Her hands began to fly over him. “You have so many scars.” Her fingers slid over a slash on his stomach. A rough ridge on his side. A trio of cuts across his abdomen. “Nash.”
His hands caught hers.
Her head lifted. She blinked away tears. “How did this all happen? You were supposed to be a doctor. What changed?”
“I changed.” Deep. Dark.
“Nash—”
The ringing of a phone cut through her words. A shrill, fast cry. She jerked at the sound.
He pulled in a deep breath, and he stepped back. One step, then another. He grabbed for the phone that was on the nightstand, and she had zero recollection of him putting that phone on the nightstand. When had he even done that?
“Have to take the call. Could be about Ryan. Could be about the mission.” His finger swiped over the screen. He pressed down with his thumb to put the call on speaker. “Hello?”
“You’re supposed to be attracting attention.” Jezebel’s voice.
Nash’s gaze never left Delaney’s face. “Figured we had his attention, seeing as how Ryan took a bullet not too long ago.”
A quick inhale. “You blame me for that, don’t you?”
“Someone in the CIA leaked the location of the chapel. Or maybe someone deliberately fed that intel to Kurt in order to attract attention. Tell me, Jez, will it be easier to convict Wellington if he’s tied to the murder of two agents? Me and Ryan?”
“I didn’t do that.” Sharp. “I did not give up your location at the chapel. I would not put you straight in the crosshairs. Yes, yes, dammit, I believe there is a leak. Which is another reason why I want Wellington stopped. But I am not selling you out. I’m doing my best to protect you—you and Delaney. That’s why I’ve called in new backup.”
His brow furrowed. “Just who is this backup?”
