Page 36 of Hidden While In Sight

The truth of the statement lifted the hairs along Diego’s arms as he lashed down his rising urge to kidnap her.

“But once he’s arrested—”

His harsh laugh startled her. “My clients don’t want him arrested. They plan on blackmailing him.”

“Oh,” she whispered, but she didn’t pull back the file.

“I’m not a good man, Hannah. Not at all.” Diego watched her rock in place as if she’d taken a blow.

“Ashford isn’t either,” he reminded her. “And when he realizes you gave him up, his fury will be worse than anything you’ve seen.” His breath shuddered as he imagined it. “Much worse. And I’ll have to kill him, even if you beg me not to.”

“You’d kill him?”

Diego moved toward her, his hand shifting into her hair to tilt her face up to his. “I’ve been dying to snap his fucking neck since the first time I watched him with you.”

“But—” She searched his eyes as she swallowed. “But you said your clients—”

He kissed her, unable to soften the hard taking of her mouth.

When he lifted his head, she’d stiffened in his grip, but he couldn’t let go, not yet.

“I don’t give a fuck what my clients want,” Diego admitted, trying to imprint every second with her onto his mind. “They want to blackmail him. I want to kill him. None of that matters. Hannah?” He forced himself to release her. “What is it that you want? You want him arrested? Punished?”

“That’s what I thought…” Her voice trailed off as she struggled not to cry.

If she gave in, if tears dripped down her face, Diego would take her and the kids. Fuck what she wanted if she was going to cry either way.

No tears left her eyes. Her face tightened back to blankness, and she pushed the papers into his chest. “He should be judged.”

Diego forced his hands around whatever proof she was giving him. If he didn’t leave now, he’d throw the papers at the wall, grab her, and toss her over his shoulder. He turned away, the damn papers feeling so fragile in his hands, just as Hannah had. Her words of gratitude chased him to the door.

He paused, the air he dragged into his lungs thinner than ever.

“I would have offered you so much more,” he told her, and then he forced himself to leave her.

Chapter 18

Diego’s arms flagged as he strained to do another pull-up. He was fucking weak if he dropped. He was fucking weak anyway.

Too weak to protect Hannah. Too weak to steal her for himself. Too fucking weak.

And out of his goddamn mind, but that part was easier to accept. He’d been accepting that for a while.

Even Naz had hesitated to approach him when he’d come to pick up the papers, and Diego had snarled at him like a wounded animal.

He was bleeding inside. Deleting the proof of what he and Hannah had done shredded him, and he regretted not saving a copy of the most perfect moment of his life.

But if he had watched it, his control would have disintegrated completely.

Hannah made her choice. She belonged to herself. She didn’t belong to him.

No matter how fucking right she’d felt in his arms.

His sweating hand slipped from the bar, and he dropped to the ground with a grunt, not aware enough of his surroundings to catch himself. He’d been living on the monitors ever since he’d left Hannah’s side, terrified that Ashford would realize what his wife had done.

Not how she’d fallen apart beautifully in Diego’s arms. No, that was a dream, and the selfish prick probably wouldn’t even care.

Ashford would care that his careful veneer was being peeled away, though. Of that, Diego was certain.

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