Page 8 of Proof

JJ.

“Fuck,” I snapped.

I’d been shadowing JJ for a week now and every second of it had been the cruelest form of torture. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the man who’d turned his back on me when I’d needed him most, but I also couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

A week ago, I’d dreamed of what it would be like to come face to face with JJ and tell him what every single second of life behind bars had been like for me. I’d wanted him to see for himself how his lies had changed me. Not just my life, butme. I’d wanted him to know how his betrayal had changed the man I’d been the few times he and I had been together.

For about ten seconds I’d dreamed of beating the shit out of JJ, but even if Sully hadn’t become part of the equation, I’d known deep down that I never would have put my hands on JJ. Not to hurt him, anyway. Given the chance, I’d probably putmy hands on him for a whole other reason even if it was pure insanity.

Shit, I needed to get my head in the game. This was a job, nothing more. A favor for Sully. It was the least I could do for him. Truthfully, if it had been anyone other than JJ I’d been tasked to shadow, I’d have welcomed the distraction. Problem was, itwashim.

In the past week, I’d learned JJ’s routine pretty quickly. He spent his days escorting his charge to wherever she wanted to go, and he spent his nights hanging out in some gay club that didn’t appear to cater to a more discerning level of clientele.

While JJ had spent the evening partying with whatever guy had picked him up—and there was no question that one would because JJ was the kind of man who turned heads when he walked into a room—I’d been sitting in my car seething with fury and a healthy dose of jealousy. It had taken every ounce of strength I’d had not to kick down the club’s door, find JJ and whatever prick he was with, and…

And.

That was the part that was the problem.

After I punched out the prick, I wanted to do so many things to JJ.

So many things that would have left the image of us burned so deep into his brain that no other man’s touch would ever be enough for him again.

I let out a breath as I watched the black SUV leave the gated property. The car’s windows were tinted so I couldn’t see inside of it, but I knew JJ was there. He and some big guy with dark hair always took the day watch. I’d been sure to keep my distance as I followed them, and while I was glad they’d been smart enough to change up their routine in terms of routes and locations, I was pissed that neither of the men had picked up on the fact that they had a tail.

Today’s route was different as I followed them, but in truth, I wasn’t really paying that much attention to our location because my thoughts were consumed with JJ. He looked both different and the same as he had two years earlier. Physically, he was as fit as I’d ever seen him, and my cock hadn’t missed out on that fact. The black suits he wore as part of his job should have doused my physical response to him because guys in suits did nothing but remind me of my father and his entourage of attorneys, assistants, chauffeurs, and, of course, bodyguards, but JJ in a suit was as bad for my sexual health as anything else he could be wearing… or not wearing. Yet as good as he had looked physically, there had been something about the way he moved and interacted with others that had beenoff.

I was so preoccupied with thoughts of JJ that I nearly missed the sight of the man standing in the middle of the winding canyon road. I slammed on the brakes and did everything I could to remain in control of the vehicle. Thankfully, it came to a jolting stop not five feet from the man.

The man with the gun pointed directly at me.

JJ.

I was pissed and pleased at the same time. Pissed that JJ had put himself in danger of being hit by my car and pleased that it was just him. No SUV, no big guy or wailing actress in the vicinity; no one, period.

“Get out of the car!” JJ shouted. “Open the door from the outside,” he added. If anything about the situation were humorous, I would have smiled at how quickly his cop instincts had kicked in.

I ignored the order, of course. Instead, I drove around him despite his warning shouts. I didn’t go far. I drove just far enough to pull off the side of the road. I wasn’t about to put some poor soul in danger by sitting in the middle of the road just aftera sharp curve. I’d been waiting years for this opportunity, but I could wait a few seconds more.

By the time I pulled onto the shoulder and threw my car into park, JJ was striding behind me, the gun aimed at the back windshield and, of course, me. I was glad to see he was at least smart enough to use the vehicle as a shield if bullets began flying.

Jesus fucking Christ, Cass. What the fuck do you care if his instincts are working?

I ignored the voice in my head and yanked on the door handle so hard that I was surprised it didn’t rip right off. JJ continued to call out his warnings for me not to move or he’d shoot, but I didn’t care.

Just like I didn’t care that I’d left my own weapon on the passenger seat.

“Iwillshoot you, Cass,” JJ warned as I began walking toward him. His voice held the smallest of tremors in it.

Gone was the cop he’d once been and in his place was a man who knewhewas the one in danger despite the loaded weapon in his hands.

Fury overruled any pity I had for him. That voice in my head was back. It was screaming at me that this was JJ. JJ, Sully’s little brother. JJ, the kid who used to look up to me like I was some kind of hero or something. JJ, the man I’d felt dying in my arms as I’d screamed for help.

JJ, the man who’d condemned me to life in a prison cell. The man who was responsible for me needing to be aware of everyone and everything around me twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. The man who’d believed thatIwould ever hurt him.

“Not that man anymore,” I whispered to myself as I forced the reminder of prison away. JJ began taking steps backward.

“Cass, stop! Stop!”

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