Page 61 of Silver Secrets

In the early morning light, she looked so peaceful. It had taken every ounce of strength he had not to call a fucking meeting with his team as soon as Sloane was back to sleep. He wanted answers. He wanted action. But above all, he wanted the sleeping woman who’d let him hold her as she fell apart in the middle of the night to finally know she was truly safe.

Over the last few minutes, Sloane’s body had slowly turned rigid against him. Her breathing was still slow and measured, her eyes still closed. But Gage knew she was awake. Maybe she wasn’t ready to face the day yet, but something told him it was more than that.

“I can hear you thinking. It’s too early for that, Sloane.”

Sloane tucked her face tighter into his chest and he sighed. Fuck, he thought he’d have more time to enjoy just holding before having to let her go.

“Morning.”

“Morning.” She stretched her neck and rolled her face towards his. A bright, big yawn swallowed up her features. “Did you sleep okay?”

“I should be asking you that. It wasn’t too much sleeping like… this?”

Her fingers moved across his chest. “No. It was nice. I haven’t slept that well in a really long time.”

“Me either,” he admitted, squeezing his arms around her softly.

“As nice as it was…” Gage’s stomach fell as he waited for her to finish. “I spent a lot of time thinking before I fell asleep.”

“Thinking about him?”

Her shiver shook his body.

“God, no. But in a roundabout way, yes. I guess everything leads back to him in the end.”

“Tell me.”

She bit her bottom lip, rolling it between her teeth. The whole act looked so painful Gage reached up and brushed his thumb against the delicate skin until she released it.

“I need to go.”

He blinked. “Go where? I can take you back to your house if there is more that you need from there.”

“No. I mean, I’ll need to go back there, but Kimi can take me. Because I have to go away.”

His heart stopped beating. There was no way she actually thought— “No.”

“Kimi gave me an out. She can get me a new…” her voice hitched and she cleared her throat. “She can get me a new identity. It might be for the best.”

“No, it is not for the fucking best.”

She pushed off his chest, sitting up with the comforter tucked tightly all around her.

“I should have waited to talk to you about it. Let’s go have breakfast.”

“You think a bagel is going to make me agree with you?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of french toast. It’s one of the only things I can cook without it turning to charcoal.”

“Red…”

“Fine. No breakfast, then.” Sloane ran her hand through her messy hair. “I think I need to at least hear what Kimi has to say about relocating and starting over. I can’t put everyone here at risk.”

“What risk is there to anyone other than you? Every single person in your life wants you to stay right where you are. We don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you.”

“If I decide to go, you have to let me.”

He shook his head. “Why weren’t you placed into WITSEC?”

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