Page 58 of Silver Secrets

And that’s when he noticed it. She wasn’t wearing her contacts. And for the first time, Gage got to see her eyes.

They were stunning. One eye so blue it looked as if she’d taken the Caribbean sea and bottled it up. Her other eye was mossy green. Deep and rich like a pine forest. It made him think of rainy days spent curled up on the couch.

Her gaze bounced around the apartment. “Are you sure you want me to stay here? I’m really fine with staying in my office, or I can ask Mae if I can stay with her and Hawk for a while.”

“There’s no way in hell I’m having my girlfriend stay anywhere but right here with me. God, Sloane, you have to know this is right where you belong.” He patted the spot next to him on the couch and waited for her to sit down.

“It’s your space, Gage.” Her eyes traveled over to the table under the wall-mounted TV where Gage had pictures of Melody and Mikey displayed as she pulled up her leg and wrapped her hands around her knee. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to push through this faster than you are ready to. The one night I stayed before is a lot different than this. It could be weeks. Months. He might never be caught.”

“Sloane. I’ve been ready since the first time you let me hold your hand. I’m okay with this. I wish it wasn’t being forced upon you. That you came here because you wanted to take this step, but the fact of the matter is that you need protection, and this building is just about the safest place you can be in this county.”

“And who wouldn’t want to live in a building with a bunch of hunky former SEALs?”

Gage growled. He didn’t care. Even in the middle of everything, he wanted her to see him that way, and no one else.

“Don’t worry,” a beautiful smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I’m happy I get to stay with the most handsome SEAL of all.”

His fingers found their way towards hers.

“You told Agent Liu not to discuss any more with me than she already had.”

Sloane closed her eyes and let her back fall against the couch. She felt Gage move to sit beside her. “God, you heard that?”

“I wasn’t trying to listen in, but I was coming out to bring the drinks and you were whispering. It caught my attention.”

“I didn’t want her to tell you everything, because I know it’s important that I do it.”

“You don’t have to right now…”

“But I do. I want to. Before tomorrow when I talk to everyone else. There are some things I don’t think I’ll ever be able to share with them, but I’d like to try to share them with you.”

“We don’t have to do it tonight, Red. I know I gave you shit about keeping all of this to yourself, but if it’s too much right now, then I don’t want to push you.”

He watched as she raked her lower lip between her teeth. “I want to try.”

“Okay.”

She nodded, her eyes dropping to her lap. “My freshman year of college was normal. I had a dorm on campus and a really sweet roommate. My classes went well and I loved the freedom of being away from home. I loved it so much that when my roommate and a few friends decided to rent a house off campus for sophomore year, I fell over myself to join them. We spent the summer working and having parties, getting ready for the next year of school. But that’s also when the notes started.”

“Notes?”

She nodded. “Left on our door. On my car. At my normal seat in the library. At a table in the cafe where I worked.”

“What did they say?”

“In the beginning they were all different. Admiring the outfit I was wearing. Talking about my eyes.”

“What changed?”

“I had a friend who seemed into me. A guy in my World History class. He was so sweet and gentle. I thought maybe he was the one leaving the notes. There was nothing shocking or inherently scary about them. But one day I asked him and he was concerned. Told me to take them to the police station since I wasn’t on campus and the school couldn’t do anything about it.”

“How can you be sure it wasn’t him? It’s not unheard of that a shy man turns out to be a stalker, or that he might lie.”

“I can be sure,” she whispered. “I was there when he was murdered.”

Fourteen

Agent Liu mentioned that Sloane’s boyfriend was killed when she was taken. Gage saw the pain flash on her face before she schooled her emotions. Fuck. How could he have forgotten that?

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