“I thought Adam was your only sibling?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “My Marine brothers.”
“Oh.”
“I have what they callsurvivor’s guilt. I started therapy right away to work through it, but I didn’t feel very successful at first. I felt like I’d let my brothers down. As though my leaving the Corps meant they’d somehow died in vain.”
She reached across the table for my hand. “I am so sorry. Losing your friends must have been incredibly painful.”
I squeezed her fingers and smiled. “Thanks; it still is. About a year after I was discharged, my former commander showed up at my office with a proposition. I come back as a contract worker when the government needed my skillset and specific expertise, and they’d pay me a shit ton of money.”
“What’s your skillset?”
“Counterintelligence.”
“That sounds… important. And dangerous.”
“The work is important, no doubt. And I’m not going to lie, it is dangerous. That’s why before we got married, I put my notice in. Unfortunately, my contract states that after I give notice, I have to go on at least one more mission. Two if they’re unable to replace me within six months of my obligatory mission. I wanted to get that knocked out so the clock would start running and I’d be assured to be done for good in six months.”
“What exactly is your specific expertise?”
I liked that she was pushing me. And yet…
“That’s not something I can share with you, baby.”
“Where did you go after our honeymoon?”
I shook my head. “That’s classified.”
“Does your brother know?”
“No, honey. I don’t share that with anyone. Fortheirsafety. The only reason Alan and Brian even have an idea what I do is because I helped them out when Lainey was kidnapped. They kind of put two and two together when I pulled out my fancy work computer and pinpointed Lainey’s location pretty quickly. And Lainey saw me right after Adam rescued her—I had to give her my shirt since those fuckers had cut hers off, along with her bra.”
She gasped. “You literally gave her the shirt off your back!”
I huffed out an embarrassed laugh. “I guess you could say that.”
With a long sigh, she whispered, “I wish you would’ve just told me. I felt so stupid that everyone knew what my husband was doing but me.”
“I think Jade just ended up figuring it out by default because of who she’s around all the time. I’ve never sat anyone down and told them what I’ve just told you.”
“But why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I don’t know. I think I was afraid of losing you because I didn’t tell you before we got married—and I know I should have. But I was arrogant and thought I could get in and get out, and you’d be none the wiser. I knew you’d be worried. Or maybe you’d think I was putting you and Ruthie in danger.”
“Are you?”
“Maybe. If I got caught behind enemy lines, and they figured out who I was. But I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“How can you say that?”
I grinned at her. “I’m sitting here, aren’t I?”
She mirrored my grin. “Yes you are. And I’m glad you’re back safe.”
“Does that mean you forgive me?”
Her voice was soft when she replied, “Yes.”
