“I’m right here.” Her hand squeezed his. “Do you hear me? I’m right here.”
He turned his head. The glow of the sun was behind her, and damn if the woman didn’t look like an angel to him.
His perfect dream. Right there.
“You’re smiling.” Noelle sounded worried. “Is that because of the drugs? Because when a person takes a bullet to the chest, a smile after surgery isn’t the typical response.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I’m calling the nurse.” She lunged toward the call button.
“I...remember.”
Noelle paused at his gruff words. “You remember the shooting? That’s good. I was—I was worried you’d—”
He shook his head again, turning slightly against the pillow. Surprisingly, he felt no pain. Must’ve been the drugs. Like pain would’ve mattered to him right then. No, not when he knew. “You...love me.”
He wondered if she would deny it.
“Of course, I love you,” Noelle said as she bent close to him. Her beautiful eyes gleamed with tears. “I’m just surprised you didn’t realize it sooner. I mean, I could barely get within ten feet of you without stumbling over my words every time we talked.”
He’d thought that was fear. That he made her too nervous.
Noelle pressed a light kiss to his lips. “You’re the most dangerous man I’ve ever met, and you’re the only man who has ever made me feel completely safe when I’m with him.”
His heart ached, and that wasn’t due to the wound. “I’d die to keep you safe.”
A tear spilled from her eye and slid down her cheek. “You almost did. How about you don’t ever, ever do that again?”
He wouldn’t make any promises. When it came to Noelle, he’d do anything if it meant she was alive and happy. Her hand still held his. He lifted their joined hands, ignoring the slight burn of the IV, and he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.
“I love you.” Saying the words to her seemed as natural as breathing. He’d never given those words to another woman, and Thomas knew Noelle would be the only one he ever did say them to. She’d held his heart for so long. Her courage had drawn him in. Her intelligence. Her goodness, which seemed to shine from within her. After spending so much time in the shadows and in the darkness, he’d been drawn to the light that was Noelle.
To him, she was... Hell, she was everything.
“Marry me.”
Not the most suave of proposals.
But—
“Yes.”
The machines around him raced, and Noelle pushed closer to him. “I don’t want to spend my life without you, Thomas. I don’t want to be alone anymore. I want you.”
She was all he’d ever need.
His dreams. His hopes.
His.
Noelle pressed a kiss to his lips once more, and Thomas knew he was the luckiest damn man on earth.
Yeah, she was an angel, all right, and she was his.
Chapter Twelve
Noelle entered the interrogation room with slow, determined steps. Her heels clicked softly on the floor as she made her way toward the prisoner.
The woman sat at the table, a guard stationed behind her. The woman’s blond hair had lost some of its polished shine, and the long locks were pulled back into a limp ponytail.
As Noelle drew closer to the table, Paula Quinn glanced up, a smile on her face. “So, I finally merited an audience, huh?”
Noelle didn’t speak.
“Too bad about your partner...” Paula leaned forward. “I was out of my mind when I fired that shot, of course. Patrick had kidnapped me, and I—I just snapped.”
Cry me a river. Noelle didn’t believe the woman’s lies for a moment.
“I was aiming for Patrick. Not the agent.” Paula’s voice lowered with what sounded like sorrow. “I’m so sorry that Agent Anthony died...”
The door opened behind Noelle. She didn’t glance back. She didn’t need to. Shock swept over Paula’s face when she saw the identity of her second visitor.
“Agent Anthony isn’t dead,” Noelle said. She also didn’t think Thomas should be back to work, but since he wasn’t technically in the field, Mercer had given the clear for him to come in on the interrogation.
Noelle was back to working as a liaison, at least until the situation with Paula Quill was resolved. Mercer wanted the woman to break, and Noelle was about to make that happen.
Then, when the case was officially closed, she had a wedding to plan. After all, a woman had her priorities. And getting hitched to Thomas—definite priority. But, sending this killer in front of her to jail for the rest of Paula’s life? Current goal.
This was the woman who’d nearly taken Thomas away from Noelle. Damn straight she was going to do everything possible to break Paula.
Noelle sat in front of Paula. Thomas pulled out the chair right beside her. He didn’t even wince when he sat down. The guy was far too good at camouflaging his pain.
“He’s alive!” A wide smile broke over Paula’s face. She lifted her hands, showing the cuffs that circled her wrists. “I’m so glad! I never meant to shoot you. I meant to shoot—”
“Me?” Noelle finished softly.
The smile slipped from Paula’s face. “Of course not! I was aiming for Patrick.”
“But in order to get to him—” Thomas’s voice cut like a knife “—you were ready to shoot through Noelle.”
Noelle slanted a quick glance his way. Did he even realize his voice had softened when he said her name? That had been...sweet. As sweet as she knew Thomas would ever get while they were at the EOD. After all, the man had an image to maintain.
“I—I was so scared...” Paula’s shoulders shook.
Paula really was a terrific actress.
Noelle reached for the files that were waiting on the table. She flipped them open. “You started working for Senator Duncan over ten years ago.”
“Ah...yes. Yes, I did...”
“And when you mention Patrick Porter, you always use his first name... That’s an intimate association, so I assume you met him over the years while you were working with the senator?”
Paula’s gaze darted to Thomas, then back to Noelle. “Patrick would come to see the senator every few months. They were friends.” Her breath huffed out. “I can’t believe that he killed him! And then abducted me!”
“Oh, I think you can believe it,” Thomas muttered.