Page 66 of Wrecked With You

“Holy Christ. You realize I keep a gun in that drawer. You could be dead by now.”

“I don’t think so. You’re far too good to shoot without knowing who you’re shooting.”

“Maybe I was going to shoot you for waking me up,” I retort. “I barely got to sleep.”

I prop myself up on an elbow and try to blink away the cobwebs. “Did we hear from Quince?”

He shakes his head. “No. Not yet.”

I frown, suddenly concerned. “What’s wrong?” I push myself all the way up so that my back is against the headboard. “Tony, tell me what’s going on.”

“We need to talk.”

My stomach twists at the measured and unfamiliar tone in his voice. “Oh.” I really don’t know what else to say.

“This isn’t working for me.” He scrubs his hands over his face and looks at me. “I’m so sorry.”

“Oh.” I say again. I feel sick. And I don’t understand how he can be breaking up with me a second time when we’re not even together right now.

“I could have died in Dailey’s office. You could have, too. Thank God you were there to save me, but we could have died. We survived on pure luck.”

“That’s not true, and you know it. We survived because of training. Sharp instincts. Fast reactions.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t matter.” He draws in a breath, then lets it out slowly. “The point is I don’t want to wait until I don’t have a mission. There will always be a mission.”

I frown, trying to put his words in the context of where I thought this conversation was going. But like a piece of a puzzle that belongs to a different picture entirely, nothing fits at all.

“I don’t know if I’ll find my dad tomorrow or the next day or ever. Maybe I’ll keep looking and maybe I won’t. Maybe I find him, maybe I don’t. But the bottom line is that I already found you.”

He brushes my cheek as I try not to let the hope that has started as a trickle turn into a massive flood.

“I want you there with me. I want you by my side, Emma. I want to sign on at Stark Security. I want a partner, sweetheart, and not just for work.”

I stare at him, my heart filling so that my chest feels as though it might burst. I want to say all the pretty words back to him. Words of love and passion and hope and the future. But I have no idea what words to say. All I have are these feelings in my heart.

I guess that’s okay, though, because he seems to have plenty of words.

“I’ve fallen in love with you Emma,” he says, taking my breath away. “I’ve spent my whole life chasing a goddamn vendetta, thinking that coming to the end of it would make me whole. But that’s not the answer.”

He takes my hands and the warmth of his touch flows through me like an elixir, bringing me fully back to life. “It’s you, Emma. You’re the answer. You’re what makes me whole.”

“Wow,” I say. “Tony, I—”

I’m still struggling for words, so I say the only thing that comes into my mind. The only thing that’s flashing in there like neon. “I’ve fallen in love with you, too.”

He looks at me, and for a moment I can’t read his expression. Then I see the fire in his eyes. And before I can say or do anything else, he pulls me close and captures my mouth with his.

I melt against him, so happy that this man belongs to me that I want to cry. That’s not who I am, though. I’m not a woman who gets emotional. I’m not a woman who ever thought she needed anybody except her sister.

But there’s no denying that I need this man.

I wrap my arms around his neck and cling to him, almost afraid that if I let go, he’ll disappear and this will all be a dream.

But that’s not me either. I’m not a girl who avoids reality. I’m not a woman who’s afraid to look at the hard questions. And so I slowly pull back to cup his face in my hands. “Are you sure? Because honestly, Tony, if you walk away … if you change your mind … I don’t think I’ll be able to survive.”

“You would,” he says. “You’re the strongest person I know. But it won’t ever be an issue, because I’m not leaving.”

“Good. Because no matter what, I’m stronger with you.”