“I do, which makes me question everything I thought I knew about the accident.”
“How so?”
“If Niall lied about your death, what else did he lie about? Did he lie when he said my cover was burned? I’d been working off the assumption Erik Murray and his people planted the IED because he found out I was an agent.”
Sloane flinched, pulling out of my hold. Then her eyes widened almost comically.
“Time out. Rewind. An IED?”
Shit.
“You didn’t know.”
“That someone tried to”––she mimicked an explosion with her hands––“uh, kill us? Not directly. I knew we didn’t blow out a tire like your guy at the hospital tried to convince me, but a bomb? No. I didn’t have a clue.”
“I have a theory.” Thankfully, she didn’t object when I recaptured her hand, needing the contact to ground me. “My theory’s beyond fucked up, so just hear me out, okay?”
“You just told me someone blew up our car, Duncan. It doesn’t get any more fudged up.”
Sloane listened intently while I laid out every detail, from my conversation with Niall the day before the crash to my decision to leave the FBI if it was the only way to keep her in my life. The timing was too coincidental. I registeredthe look of shock slide across her features when she understood where I was going.
“You think someone inside your organization was responsible.”
“At the very least, they used the accident to their advantage.”
“How was my death advantageous?”
“Without you in my life, there was nothing shifting my focus off Murray. They didn’t expect me to wash my hands of the whole operation and bug out.”
“Where do we go from here?”
“I’ve spoken with my team. If the answers are there, they’ll find them.”
“No, you misunderstood. Where dowego from here? Once upon a time, you swore we’d be okay. Is your promise still on the table?”
“Fuck, Sloane.” I yanked her into my chest, wrapping my arms tight around her back. “Isn’t it obvious? I want you. Always.”
“And the twins? Do you want them too?”
“More than my next breath.” I pulled back, dipping down to look straight into her sapphire eyes. “Why aren’t you yelling at me or telling me to take a hike?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Fuck no. I guess I just don’t understand why you aren’t mad.”
“Oh, I’m mad, fuming, actually. But what good would come from staying upset? We’ve suffered enough, don’t you think? The fact is, I always knew you’d come back. I planned for it. Holding on to hope was the only way I survived all those years. Well, that and the twins.”
“You are a gift, Sloane Beckington. I don’t deserve you, but I’m not giving you up.”
“Okay, then we’re what? Dating?”
“No, Sunshine. We’re living.”
“Do you fink he’s a giant, Ro?”
Her whispered voice filtered through my unconscious mind. I didn’t move, I barely breathed for fear of scaring her. Sloane and I had talked a while longer and the last thing I remembered was closing my eyes for a moment to catch my second wind before heading home. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep. From the smell of bacon cooking somewhere in the house, my guess was I’d slept through the night.
“Nope.” He popped the P.