He'd rather hoped that she'd forgotten about the whole thing, what with the stress of losing their son, the disaster at Ahm Shere, and, oh yes, getting stabbed in the gut, but he should have known after nine years of marriage that Evelyn O'Connell never misses a trick.
No sooner had they returned to England, put Alex to bed and settled down for the night, had she turned to him with a flicker in her eyes and a warning smile.
"So," Evy said, a quirking her eyebrow upwards, "what's this about a belly dancer girl?"
Rick sank into his seat, covering his face with his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have let you and Izzy meet."
He inched a gap in his fingers to see Evy's expression. She was looking down at him with folded arms and a teasing look in her eye.
"Are you going to tell me the story, or I am I going to have to infer?" she said, shifting her hands to her hips. "If you don't tell me, I'm going to assume it was a terrible sordid affair."
"You wouldn't be far off," Rick admitted.
"Oh really?"
She was looking down at him with a half-smile, and he knew that he wasn't going to get away with this. She sat down beside him, putting her hand on his knee.
"You hardly ever talk about things that happened before we met," she said. "All I get are bits and pieces. You'd think after nine years, I'd know everything there is to know about you."
Rick sighed, and covered Evy's hand with his, lacing their fingers together. "I don't want you to think less of me."
"Why would I think less of you?"
He reached one hand up to touch her face, his palm cupping her cheek, a thumb swiping across her lips. "I'm not the same man that I was before I met you," he said. "You made me a different person."
And boy, had she.
The moment Evelyn Carnahan had stormed into his life was the moment his world had spun on its axis and his priorities had shifted – no longer was he looking out only for himself, he had someone else to fight for. In fact, he wasn't number one anymore – Evy was.
He still remembered his heart hammering hard in his chest as he watched her be dragged away by Imohtep, being held back by Ardeth Bay, every instinct telling him to charge after her, even though he knew it'd do no good. It hadn't taken her long to worm her way into his heart, and once she was there, she was there to stay.
"You are the best thing that's ever happened to me," he said, "and I don't ever want to do anything to jeopardise that. Especially not after Ahm Shere."
His fingers tightened instinctively around hers. He still wasn't over what had happened outside the temple – the image of Anck-Su-Namun thrusting her blade into Evy's stomach was one that was going to haunt him for the rest of his life. He hadn't just come close to losing the best thing in his life – for a moment, he had. For a moment, he'd lost Evelyn O'Connell for good, and it was an experience that he never wanted to repeat.
"You couldn't," Evy said quietly, shifting close to him. He pulled her against his chest, his arms wrapping around her as her head settled just above his heart.
"There's nothing you could tell me that would make me leave you," she said, "not after everything with been through. Not after we almost lost our son. I love you, Rick O'Connell, and that is never going to change."
"I love you too," he whispered, and then he kissed her, soft, slow and sweet.
"So, go on," Evy said as they pulled apart, a grin stretching across her face. "Tell me about this bank job."
Rick sighed, pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her hair.
"So, it all started in Marrakesh..."