Page 117 of No Mistake

“I believe so, yes.”

Chloe frowned. “Sophie, what’s going on? You’ve barely mentioned him these last few days. Every time I ask about him, you change the subject.”

“I told you, I asked him to give me a bit of time, so I could focus on you.”

“Yeah, you said. But I get the feeling there’s more to it than that. That spark you had has gone.”

Sophie raised her eyebrows at her sister. “What?”

“Sister, I love you. When I was in the hospital before you got taken, I have never seen you so happy. Your eyes literally sparkled. What happened?”

“It’s nothing, and you have enough to deal with.”

“And I will deal with it with Claire. But that does not mean I’ve stopped caring about you. You’ve been through hell, too. Please talk to me. You promised after Mark, you wouldn’t keep things from me.”

“It’s complicated.” Sophie waved her hand dismissively, rummaging in her purse for her car keys.

“Sophie Summers, sit your ass down here now and explain.”

Sophie glanced at her sister, about to tell her she had to leave when Chloe cut her off.

“Sophie, I mean it. Ryan is the best thing to happen to you, I’m not going to let you ruin that.”

“You don’t understand.” Sophie knew her voice was weak.

“Try me.” Chloe patted the cushion next to her. “Are you going to make me hobble over there, or are you going to come and sit down?”

Sophie sighed and joined her sister on the couch.

“You really like him. And you were so upset at the hospital when he was hurt. What happened?”

“What he does, Chloe, it’s dangerous. You didn’t see him in the hospital. He almost died.”

“OK. But you knew that about him. What Mark did was dangerous, too, it didn’t stop you dating him.”

“This is different. Seeing it happen, seeing him injured. How am I supposed to handle that every day? No knowing if he’s going to get hurt or killed.”

Damn it was killing her. She missed him so much it physically hurt. She’d barely slept without him. But the thought of having him and losing him was even worse.

“You told me he was a SEAL. How long has he been in the Navy?”

“He enlisted at eighteen.”

“And what is he now—thirty something? So, for over ten years he’s been serving his country, been on deployments, been part of a SEAL team, or black ops team, undertaking the most dangerous operations, and he’s still here. Alive. What does that tell you about him?”

Sophie looked at her quizzically.

“It tells you that he’s damn good at what he does.”

“He still got hurt, came so close to dying.”

Yes, he was good. He was part of some kind of super-secret team. But he still got beaten, stabbed, and left for dead.

“Sophie, he didn’t die, and he’s going to be fine. A man of that skill, with a team around him like he has? Christ, there’s probably more risk of him dying from being hit by a bus here at home. You said you’ve treated him over the years. Has he ever been this badly hurt before?”

“Not that I’m aware of, no.”

“Then once in over ten years is good going, don’t you think?”

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