Page 239 of The Defiant Curse

Now, would they?

“Anything for you. I’m glad I was here for you to lean on me. It feels nice.”

She agreed.

Then, she blindsided him.

“Then why aren’t you sharing with me what is bothering you? Because I can feel that tension in you. There’s something you’re not telling me.”

Oof.

Well, she’d nailed that.

Clearly, she wasn’t nearly as distracted as he’d believed, or she wouldn’t pick up on it.

“Is it me?” she asked.

He sighed.

“No. It’s something not related to you, but it does affect you. It affects all of us, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

She turned and faced him.

“What is going on?” she asked. “You heard what my mother said. Secrets are a problem.”

Deep down, he knew that. He just didn’t know how to tell her or what to do about the whole Shaman situation, but he trusted her.

So, he was honest.

“I don’t want to burden you with more. You’ve carried all of my bullshit already.”

She stopped him.

“But you want me to share, but you don’t have to? That doesn’t seem productive, Mr. Blackhawk, now does it?” she asked. “We’re here to rebuild, not stay broken.”

And she had him there.

“You’re right.”

He took a minute and Ethan considered how to tell her about it.

Then, he opted to just go there.

“The new reservation chief came to us at the FBI. He’s not happy we didn’t come to him directly when Rayna and Lance were killed. He wants me to choose. It’s either the FBI or Shaman. I can’t be both. In their eyes, it’s betrayal to my people due to the issues in the past.”

She listened.

And didn’t judge.

“So, I’m here not only to be with you, but because in a way, I’m also running again, and it doesn’t sit well with me. That seems to be what I do best.”

Oh, hell.

She’d said that to him when they’d been arguing, and now, she regretted it—like he regretted what he’d said about his faith in her.

Apparently, this was proof that nothing good came out of saying shitty things when you were pissed.

Here was the reason why.