The Hidden Truths Series Box Set

by Brittney Sahin

  I take another breath as if it might be my last, stealing time as I wait for her response.

  “It’s too late for us. Lily needs a family. A better home life.”

  My fist pounds the metal desk, shaking the laptop, as I bite out, “I am her family.”

  Cindy covers her face with both hands. “I’m sorry, but we’re going to New York.”

  I stumble back a step. “What the hell is in New York?”

  Is Cindy following her old dream of being an actress? If that’s what she wants, I can sacrifice—I can do something—but dammit, the woman isn’t giving me a choice.

  Her hands fall from her face, showcasing her dead eyes. No tears. Not even a hint of sheen over her green irises. “I met someone.”

  The words are so low it sounds like a coo from her lips as chills rake my spine.

  “Say that again.” My heart isn’t beating fast like it probably should be. Instead, it’s like a slow drumbeat. So slow I wonder if it’s still working.

  She’s standing now, her arms folded over the blue sweater that has the word NAVY on it.

  My sweater. Is she fucking kidding me? She’s going to tell me she’s leaving me for some asshole while wearing my goddamn sweater? A sweater that represents what she apparently hates about me—the military.

  I can’t even look at her anymore.

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen. He’s a stock broker,” she says it casually as though she isn’t shattering my world right now. “I met him while at my mom’s, and now he’s transferring to New York, and I—”

  “Are you screwing him? For how long?” This has to be a nightmare. It can’t be real. I face monsters in the dark. Hell, in daylight too. People who blow themselves up to kill soldiers and civilians…but when I finally look at her again, she is now what I can’t handle.

  “A year.”

  I slump back into the chair, and my palms press against my fatigues.

  She cheated on me even while I was home. My stomach shakes a little, and I think I might puke.

  “He’s taking a job on Wall Street, and he asked Lily and me to come with him. He has money. He has the ability to give me—I mean, Lily, the life she deserves.”

  Thirteen fucking years.

  Gone.

  “This has been a long time coming, you know that. You don’t love me anymore. You love being a SEAL. You’d rather be off in a war zone than home with me. I need someone who can take care of Lily and me. Provide a safe and stable home.”

  There’s a high-pitched ringing in my ears, and I clench my jaw tightly as I try to formulate the words to say.

  “We gotta move.” Wyatt is back in the doorway. “Noah?”

  “Not now,” I rasp.

  “Go, Noah. There’s nothing left to say for now. You’ll get the papers when you’re portside. Call me when you’re in Virginia, and we’ll chat.” Cindy spoke as if we were discussing getting a cup of coffee together. Is she out of her mind?

  “Wait.”

  But it’s too late. She’s already ended the call, and I have to resist the compulsion to break something.

  Calm. Cool. Collected. The three Cs—the normal me. But not right now. Cindy has ripped out my heart, and I can’t even fight back.

  “You okay, man?” Wyatt comes toward me as I push my fingers to my temples, where an intense throbbing gathers.

  “No, man. No, I’m not.”

  And that means I might be putting my team at risk when my boots hit the ground in Iran.

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