Page 39 of Devlin

His nearness was suffocating. The warmth of his body and the quiet confidence in his posture was too much. It stirred something deep in her, something she had buried beneath layers of bitterness and self-preservation.

“Let me have it,” he said softly.

Her gaze snapped to his. “What?”

His expression didn’t waver. “Let me have it. Yell at me. Cuss me out, up one side and down the other. Tell me how you feel and how you felt back then. I didn’t give you the chance to do that. I let you walk away, and I’ve asked myself why I didn’t explain for years. Why I didn’t fight for us. The problem was, I was too fucked up to do any of those things. So I let you go.” His voice roughened. “But I’m not fucking letting either of us walk away right now.”

Mia trembled, the shiver starting deep and spreading like wildfire throughout her body. She opened her mouth, ready to scream at him, to unleash every ounce of pain she had swallowed for a decade. But nothing came out.

Her entire life had been about fighting—for justice, for others, for what was right. But now, with the man who had once been her whole world sitting barely a foot away, the words stuck in her throat. Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes.

The bed shifted, and she thought that he was getting up to leave. Instead, warmth brushed over her shoulders. She startled,eyes flying open as he gently pulled the blanket around her again, his fingers lingering for half a second before retreating. He leaned back, resuming his position as if nothing had happened.

The tenderness of the gesture made her stomach twist painfully. It was such a small gesture. After all these years of nothing, why did he suddenly decide she deserved comfort? Where was this care and thoughtfulness when she had been breaking apart from the inside out?

Some might say it was too little, too late. Perhaps, years ago, it would have been. But they weren’t those same people anymore. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs before exhaling slowly. His scent filled her. When she opened her eyes, he was still there. Still waiting.

“Why did you leave the SEALs?” she asked. The question surprised even her. Of all the things she could have said, those were the words that came out.

Devlin didn’t hesitate. “Four years after you and I… after I let you go, I was on another mission that went fubar. I was shot in the chest?—”

She gasped, one hand flying to his knee as though anchoring herself to him. “Oh my God.”

He didn’t react to her touch. He didn’t acknowledge the way her fingers curled against him like she could somehow turn back time and undo what had happened.

“I went down before reaching the helicopter. We were under enemy fire.” His lips pressed together briefly before he sighed. “Logan turned back for me. He managed to get me up and carry me toward the bird, where Sisco and the others waited. Then there was an explosion. Logan took the brunt of it, and I crashed down on top of him. He tore his knee to hell, but the others dragged us in.” His expression tightened, eyes distant. “Sisco went to work, shooting Logan up with enough morphine to keephim comfortable. Then he worked on me. He saved my life. They both did.”

A breath shuddered from Mia’s lungs, but she couldn’t stop the tears that slipped down her cheeks.I could’ve lost him. I could have lost him without ever having this chance—to argue, to talk, to figure things out.For ten years, she had hated him, resented him, tried to forget him. But if he had died? If she had never gotten the chance to see him again…Oh God.

She pressed her free hand against the ache in her chest, her other still gripping his knee as if she could tether herself to this moment, to him.

“I’m so sorry, Jim,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

He shook his head but hesitantly reached down. His hand covered hers, warm and solid. He squeezed, just barely, before letting go.

Mia exhaled slowly, trying to steady the riot inside her.

“Logan had to get out, too. His knee was never going to let him jump from planes again,” he continued. “He moved to Montana and started flying rescues over the mountains. He… also started running a few under-the-radar ops. After I healed, I spent time with my family, but every day in Kansas, I kept vigilant, terrified I’d see your parents, and I didn’t want to see the disappointment in their eyes. It was bad enough from my parents.”

Then I started using my skills to help people. I ended up working with a man in tribal security. Eventually, I followed him from Kansas to Montana, not far from Logan. He came looking for me and practically discovered me in his own backyard. We found Sisco in El Paso, and he and I were the first two hires. I’ve been with Logan for about two years now.”

For several minutes, neither of them spoke. The thick silence pressed against Mia’s chest as though a tangible weight.Thoughts stormed inside her mind, a chaotic tangle of emotions and memories, each vying for dominance. She lifted a trembling hand from where it rested against her heart and rubbed her temples, squeezing her eyes shut as if that would still the chaos within her.

The bed shifted again, the small space amplifying even the slightest movements. Then she heard footsteps. Opening her eyes slightly, she turned just in time to see Devlin disappear into her tiny bathroom. She frowned, listening as he rummaged around, followed by the unmistakable rattle of pills. A moment later, he emerged, crossing the room with steady steps.

He held out a few ibuprofen tablets and a bottle of water.

“If I thought a shot of whiskey would help, I’d try to find some for you,” he said, his voice low and edged with something she couldn’t quite name. “But I spent too much time at the bottom of a bottle to recommend that. Water and pain relievers will do the trick.”

A soft, unexpected snort escaped her. Shaking her head, she took the offering, swallowing the pills and finishing the water. When she lowered the bottle, she saw that he was still waiting, his hand extended. Silently, she passed it back to him, and he returned it to the nightstand before resuming his spot on the bed, facing her once more.

The air between them felt dense, filled with the past decade's unspoken words. There was still so much to say, so much she needed to process. Everything he had told her tonight had already altered the foundation of what she had believed for years.

She could hold on to her anger, demand that he leave, and vow never to see him again. But out of everything he had said, one fact lodged itself deep into her mind—the sheer impossibility of them meeting in a refugee camp in Uganda. What were the odds? Perhaps it meant nothing. Or perhaps, itmeant everything. She owed it to herself and to him to think before making any life-altering decisions.

Had she been too hasty all those years ago? Should she have fought harder for the truth? She had made an assumption, and he had let her believe it. But the man she had loved with all her heart—the man she thought she knew—would never have cheated.

She sighed heavily, rubbing her temples again, unsure if her headache would ever go away.

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