Page 84 of My Beautiful Sin

He rubs his temples, clearly frustrated with me. And maybe I should drop it, but I don’t understand why he can’t see what I see.

“Ronan is not crosswise with this,” he tells me. “I trust him with my life. And I trust him with yours, too. That should mean something to you.”

“It does,” I assure him. But what I don’t say is that I still fear that his trust has been misplaced.

When he sighs, I know he understands what I haven’t said. I tense, expecting that we’re going to continue this debate. Instead, he says, “Tell me about the footage. Have you found out anything yet?”

I shake my head and explain about Corbin and the software. “It’s probably a dead end.” I grimace as I meet his eyes. “And you think that’s just as well.”

“Yeah. I do.”

I sigh, then sit up, the sheet wrapped around me. “We’re not on the same page today, are we?”

He takes my hand. “We can disagree and still be together.”

I swallow, my smile feeling a little watery as I fight tears. “You’re right.” I draw a breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. Convince me. Why are you so sure Ronan’s a good guy?”

The mattress dips as he moves to sit up, his back against the headboard. “Other than the fact that we served together? That I’ve watched him work for years? That we’ve looked out for each other for a decade, and that he’s kept my secrets without complaint?”

I sag a little. “Okay, I get it. I still think—”

“What?”

“I don’t think he likes me.”

Devlin laughs. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” I say, surprised by how much I mean it. “He’s probably the closest person in the world to you—”

“No.” He’s looking right at me. “He’s not.”

My smile comes unbidden. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. And you’ll have to trust me that he likes you fine. But he worries about me. He knows I’ve never gotten serious about anyone since I was Alex. And he knows how much it will break me if...”

He trails off, and I take his hand. “There won’t be an if.”

“No,” he says, his gaze burning into mine. “There won’t.”

For a moment, I lose myself in his eyes. It would be so easy to drop this. To slip away in forgetfulness in his arms. Maybe I should, but instead I say, “So what does Ronan do when he’s not being an ambassador for the DSF?”

Devlin exhales with a sigh and a small shake of his head. “I adore you.”

Laughter bubbles out of me. “That’s good. Because I adore you, too.” I tilt my head. “Well?”

He shifts a bit, getting more comfortable. “You know all those movies where the mysterious, quiet guy who worked in security is trying to live a normal life, then gets called in to save the day?”

“Sure. Those are my favorite kind. You’re saying that’s Ronan?”

“Pretty much.”

“Independent security consultant,” I say. “That’s what he called it once.”

“That sums it up pretty well. He protects politicians and celebrities. Investigates security breaches. Skills we learned in the service.”

“You worked in intelligence, didn’t you?”

He nods. “We both did.”