Page 56 of The Billionaire's Marriage Dare

Jane.

The thought of her registered out of the blue, and he jerked to a stop.

Jane.

It was the longest that he hadn’t seen her, and Christian closed his eyes.

Jane.

During the days he had been in lockdown, he had been able to shove away all thoughts outside work, knowing what was at stake. But now that it was all over, and his company was no longer under threat of being shut down—-

Jane.

He remembered the last time he had seen her, and his chest constricted. God. She had been crying, and it had been his fault. He had been the one to make her cry, and as he recalled all the things that he had said—-

Jane.

It was like a demon had taken over him that day, and self-loathing filled him as he allowed more memories in. God. He had been so fucking callous with her. Yes, the stakes had been high – his company going south, twenty million Americans’ information compromised, and national security placed in peril. That he had been under stress was a vast understatement, but even so – it hadn’t been reason enough to push her away like that.

Jane.

He took his phone out and tried to call her, but she didn’t pick up. He hesitated for a moment and then thought, Fuck it.

Christian: I’m sorry, Jane. I was an ass. Could we talk?

He hit Send and his iPhone sent out the message. He waited, staring at his screen, but the text only remained delivered but not read. He forced himself to put his phone away. He would try to give it a couple more minutes, but if nothing happened—-

The doors to the lab suddenly burst open, cutting into his thoughts, and Christian frowned when he saw Jared come in, a harsh look on his friend’s face.

“Have you seen the news?” Jared asked abruptly.

“No.”

Without another word, Jared grabbed the remote control from its wall-mounted holder and as soon as the digital screen came to life, he switched to the news channel.

Christian was stunned to see Agent Thornton on live TV, escorting a handcuffed Norman Caruthers. “So he’s really the one behind this,” he realized grimly.

“And yours isn’t the only company he’s targeted apparently.” Jared paused. “Does the name Ray Reiner ring a bell?”

Christian gave his friend a curt nod. “He’s on my I.T. team. He was the one who informed me about the breach.” It was easy enough to add one and one together, and he said tautly, “He hasn’t been to work since I came back. Did Caruthers bribe him?”

“It’s worse than that. Apparently, those two are religious extremists, and all this was part of an elaborately planned terrorist attack.”

Fuck. Christian had to close his eyes for a moment, remembering how he had forcefully insisted that Jane was to blame.

Even when she was right and he had known from the start it couldn’t be her.

“When was the last time you spoke to Jane or heard from her?”

Christian breathed heavily. “Since the day I had my head up in my ass.”

Jared swore.

His head jerked up. “Did something happen to her?”

Instead of answering him, Jared demanded, “And you haven’t left this place since that day either?”

He shook his head impatiently. “You know how I work under lockdown. Now what is it about Jane? Is something wrong—-”

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