Page 43 of Stolen Salvation

“And after?”

Charlie crossed her arms over her middle as if she could protect herself from more pain.

Noah shoved a hand through his hair and turned away from her. “I’m not sure I’m at the after stage yet. There was a lot. Losing Freddie, your misplaced guilt, your fear for me, the mole inside the agency, the secrets, Charlie. So many secrets.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

He strode toward her, and she waited for the moment when he said he couldn’t do this anymore. Taking her hands, he held them to his chest, trapping them against his heart. “I know you are, and you don’t have to keep saying it. As perverse as it is, I understand why you did it. We’d lost enough and you were terrified of losing me, so you pushed me away first.”

A sob broke free and her eyes stung with tears. Noah wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest. Keeping her together when all she wanted to do was fly into a million pieces.

“I was so scared, and I shot you.”

“I know, baby. It’s okay.”

“No, I shot you.”

“Is that why you won’t touch my scar?”

“Every time I see it it’s a reminder of the worst thing I’ve ever done, after climbing on that damn chair. If I had missed, or Jack had been a minute late, you’d be dead.”

“Charlie, you never miss and if I’d died it wouldn’t have been from getting shot.”

That only made her sob harder.

“Did you find the mole inside the agency?”

Charlie lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “It was Carson.”

“That bastard.”

“Yeah, seems he got into debt, and they extorted him. He was killed before we could arrest him.”

“I can’t believe we worked side by side with that asshole.”

“Yeah, me either. He even came to our wedding.”

“Well, at least he can’t do any more harm.”

Charlie went to move away but he held on tighter, his gaze roaming her face before coming back to her eyes.

“Listen, Charlie, I know you don’t want to talk about the future, but I need you to know that I want us back. You drive me fucking crazy sometimes, but I love you. I’ve always loved you and always will until they put me in the ground.” He must have felt her stiffen because he rushed on before she could respond. “I’m not saying we go back to how we were, but I’d love it if we worked on us and see if it’s possible.”

She was about to respond to tell him that she wanted that too when the sound of breaking glass had them both looking toward the house and reaching for their weapons. The first pop of gunfire had Noah grabbing her arm and rushing to the tree line for cover. Hitting a button on his smartwatch, he shouted an alert to Watchdog that they were under attack.

“We need to get inside and find out who sent them.”

Fear pricked at her skin at the thought of Noah going into that fight. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

“We don’t have a choice if you want to find your sister, Charlie.”

“Fine, but don’t die.”

With that, she rushed ahead of him, firing the first shot as a man in black fatigues and a ski mask rounded the back hallway of the small, two-bedroom semi-detached property. He dropped before he could raise his firearm. Jumping over him, she motioned to the front of the property as Noah headed upstairs.

With her back to the wall, she could hear the sound of someone in the kitchen as she moved forward. A bullet flew past as she poked her head around.

“Drop your weapon.”