Page 37 of Broken Halo

Me: Something’s come up in the finalization with the Birmingham acquisition. Call me ASAP.

I put my car in reverse, anxious to get off his property.

I’m turning onto the road when my boss calls, just like I knew she would.

I press the button on my Bluetooth. “Jen—”

She’s irritated. “Tell me we didn’t hit a snag. I thought the acquisition was set to go through next week.”

“No snag. I lied to get you on the phone fast but while you’re here, maybe you can tell me why ten fucking years have passed and no one felt the need to tell me the truth—that Ellie provided my alibi, but your father and that sorry excuse of a Sheriff threatened her. Everyone—you included—led me to believe she regretted ever being with me. That she was done with me. That she didn’t give a shit if I was thrown in prison for trumped-up drug charges.”

I hear nothing but the purr of my engine as I press the gas to veer onto the highway.

“Jensen?” I spit her name, demanding something—anything—from her. No one’s closer to Ellie than her and I know she knows it all.

I hear her take a breath before evening her tone. “How did you find out?”

“Logan. I can only get Ellie to cuss at me when I ask her anything. Is it true?”

“I don’t know what all you know, but yes, what you said is true.”

I explode. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“You think I didn’t want to?” she bites back. “You think I enjoyed seeing my sister go through that after what she lost and then losing you on top of it?”

“She wasn’t the only one who lost everything that day,” I warn.

“No.” She softens her voice. “You’re right, she wasn’t.”

“You could have told me,” I insist.

“I couldn’t. Trust me, I wanted to because I knew you were the only one who could truly put her back together. But when my father makes a threat, he means it. And we were young, Trig. He warned me to keep my mouth shut and Ellie made me promise. She knew you’d be charged for being with someone underage and she loved you. She’s the one who made that deal with Dad. The only way she’d retract her statement was if they promised not to go after you for statutory rape. She did it to protect you, hoping they couldn’t prove the drug charges because she knew they weren’t true. It was your only chance.”

“Fuck me,” I hiss and feel my chest tighten. “I was so angry. When she tried to call me, I cut her out completely. I fucking cut her out, Jen.”

She lowers her voice. “I know. I was there. It wasn’t pretty.”

“Fucking-A. All these years.” I drag a hand down my face. I thought it was miserable before, but now?

Now, it’s excruciating.

“I tried to talk her into letting me reach out to you but she wouldn’t let me. You know I’ll do anything for Ellie and she begged me not to call you. Begged. After that Thanksgiving when you blocked her, she didn’t come back to Texas for two years and withdrew from our family—even me. I couldn’t do anything to lose her trust, I barely had a hold on her as it was.”

My lungs constrict this time and it’s painful to breathe. She tried to come back to me and I cut her out.

“Trig?”

I sound strangled. “What?”

“What are you going to do?”

I change lanes, cutting someone off. Horns sound but I don’t give a shit. I take the tollway and head north but don’t answer.

“She’s never been happy. Not truly. The only thing that’s brought her any joy in her life since she lost you is Griffin.”

My blood starts to churn through my veins. “Where is she?”

“I talked to her a little bit ago and she was at home—"

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