Page 49 of The Billionaire's Marriage Dare

Fact #1: The security breach stemmed from the backup servers he had purchased, which consequentially yielded private information about H’s players to a still-unidentified third party.

Fact #2: A subsequent investigation revealed that a pre-loaded script in the backup servers had been the source of the breach.

Fact #3: Since Christian had made sure that the company he bought the servers from wouldn’t have any time to tinker with its programming, the script could only have been loaded if someone had insider’s knowledge prior to his acquisition.

Insider’s knowledge that could have come from Jane, Christian thought harshly. She was the only other person that had been with Jared and him during their business dinner at Keine Rückkehr Casino’s restaurant. That was the only time they had spoken about his backup plans for H, and not even the other party, Norman Caruthers, had known Christian was thinking about purchasing servers from him.

Jared cursed under his breath when it was obvious that was everything his friend had to say on the subject. “We both know it’s not her—-”

“The facts state otherwise—-”

“Bullshit. That’s fucking bullshit, and you know it.” Jared turned to face Christian, grating out, “How many times have you told me that your instincts are never wrong?”

“Aren’t you the same person,” Christian exploded, “who told me that I was insane to listen to my instincts about marrying Jane because I barely knew her?”

“And you proved me wrong! I wish you fucking hadn’t, but you did. You showed me your instincts were fucking right again – so why the hell are you choosing this one time not to listen to them?” Jared shook his head in frustration when Christian’s jaw only clenched. “Why don’t you just fucking admit it to yourself? All this is because of one thing, and it’s the fact that you can’t accept you love her.”

Christian’s powerful form jerked, and his gaze swerved to where Jane sat so still inside the interrogation room.

No.

Jared laughed humorlessly at the way Christian’s fists clenched. “There’s no point denying it.”

Christian swung away from the window.

“You love Jane,” Jared repeated ruthlessly. “You’ve probably fallen for her from the start, and I wish to hell I didn’t know that, but I do.” His own gaze went to Jane—-

Funny, lovely, sweet Jane who couldn’t be his—-

And he, too, turned away.

“She made you human,” Jared muttered under his breath, “and as your friend, I wanted that for you. It’s the only reason why I’ve never gone after her the way I could have—-”

“If you want her so fucking much,” Christian heard himself say, “then she’s yours—-”

He stopped speaking.

Ah, fuck.

Even without hearing Jared inhale sharply, even without turning around, he already knew—-

She had heard him.

“THANK YOU FOR AGREEING to talk to me in private.”

Christian only nodded, leaving Jane unable to say anything else. She turned away and fumbled for the key in her purse while struggling to keep her composure. It seemed like so long ago, Jane thought numbly, when they were okay.

Was it just the other night she had last glimpsed his smile?

The answer to it made her hands tremble, and she suddenly had a hard time fitting the key into the lock. A full minute passed, and she heard Christian walking towards her.

“Let me do it.”

Christian’s curt voice made her flinch, but what hurt her more was the way he took the key from her. He was meticulously careful not to touch her, painfully so. It made her feel like she had an awful contagious disease, and as soon as he had possession of the key Jane couldn’t help shakily stepping away, lest he be infected.

A moment later, and Christian said, “It’s open.” He opened the door for her, and she walked past him. Even without looking back, Jane could feel his presence changing the very air around them, and she sucked in her breath. It hurt that his mere presence left her feeling so raw, but it hurt even more, knowing that it wasn’t the same for him.

Placing her purse down on the mantel, she asked stiltedly, “Can I get you anything?”

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