Page 186 of What Started In Deception

She nodded emphatically because she’d like that, too. “Yes. I want that with Mac. She’s my best friend, and she’s in the dark about so many aspects of my life. The case is over, and I still feel like I’m lying because to some degree, I am.”

He sighed. “I’m really sorry about that.”

She shook her head, hearing his regret. “It’s not your fault.”

He huffed out a laugh as he took the left, stopping at another red light. “Yes, it is.”

She shook her head more adamantly. “My family was under investigation. You were doing your job.”

He exhaled another long breath. “Everything about this situation is tough. I’m not entirely sure what to do about any of it because I’ve never had this problem before.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Typically, in an undercover operation, I get the information I need, my team makes the arrests that they need to make, and I don’t see any of the subjects again until I testify against them at trial—and that’s if they don’t take a plea deal. In that case, I never see them again. Obviously, none of that happened with this case.”

She nodded as he accelerated again. “The reality is you were FBI. You were undercover when we met. That’s part of our story. We can’t pretend it away or ignore it.”

“That’s the thing, Lyd. I don’t want to pretend it away or ignore it. We wouldn’t be sitting here right now if things hadn’t happened exactly the way that they did.”

“Yeah,” she said on a sigh as he stopped yet again. “In so many ways, I just want to wipe the slate clean. I want to be honest with two of the people who mean the most to me, so we can move on. No more secrets.”

He looked from her to the red light and back. “I think James wants us to wait for a while before we say anything.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I can. Will and Mac need to hear about this from us. It has to come from us, Ty.”

He accelerated, taking a right onto New York Avenue NW. “I agree. It’s undoubtedly going to sting when the truth comes out. It’ll be worse if the information comes from someone else.”

Her stomach immediately grew queasy as he spoke the absolute truth. “I might lose them, Ty.”

He nodded as he took another right, not far from his building now. “You might. But I don’t think you will.”

She closed her eyes as she rested her head against the seat. “I can’t live like this anymore. They need to know. Today. When I tell Mac that we’re together again, I want to let go of the rest. I want her to know everything.”

“We can talk to them when we get to my apartment.”

She nodded, wanting to find some reason to wait, but she couldn’t. Every day that she lied only made it worse. “I know Will’s staying in a hotel down by Mac’s parents for a few days. I can text her and see if they can FaceTime with us.”

“Let’s do it.” He brought her hand to his lips before he turned into the familiar parking garage right next door to his apartment. “I’ll be right by your side.”

Chapter Forty-One

An hour later, Ty sat next to Lydia on his comfy leather couch as the minutes ticked closer to the time when Will and Mac were able to meet. He opened his laptop on the coffee table. “Are you ready?”

Lydia shook her head as she exhaled an unsteady breath, all but vibrating with nerves. “No.”

He studied her stiff shoulders and her hands clenched tightly together in her lap as she sat ramrod straight. “Lyd.”

She sent him a small smile. “I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.” Tugging gently on her chin, he pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her lips. “We can wait. We can tell them we’re back together and leave it at that.”

She shook her head again. “We need to do this. We can’t truly move forward until we do.”

“I agree.” He stroked her cheek, eager to soothe, kissing her again. “I love you, Lyd.”

She sent him another small smile. “I love you, too.”

“Am I calling them?”