Page 104 of Possession

“I don’t want a protector. I want a partner. I want you to treat me like an equal. Is that so hard to ask?”

His hazel eyes were greener than gold in the diffused light of the moon. “I’m trying, Ms. Co—Grace.”

My shoulders eased a little. There were no games behind his words when he actually called me by my given name. All too often, he saved it for moments of skin-on-skin intimacy. But there was a world of secrets between us. I was tired of swimming through them to get to him.

He stepped closer until his warmth was as encompassing as his scent. “Be patient with me.”

“You’re asking a lot.”

“I know.” His voice was whisper soft against my lips. “But the thought of losing you…” His eyes narrowed. “It can’t happen.”

Then his mouth was on mine, the heat explosive and intense.

Was Jack still there?

Did I care?

My nails curled into the short hairs at the nape of his neck. He bent me back with the force of his kiss, his tongue swirling into my mouth like the tide. Each pass eroding all my anger and hurt.

I knew he felt something for me. I even dared to hope it was as intense as the love I had for him. But could a real, lasting love be built on the lies we kept telling each other?

Or did how we truly felt cancel out our lies?

As quickly as the lust threatened to drown me, he stepped back and it was gone.

Jack’s over the top clearing of his throat dented even my lust-addled brain. Blake’s as well, if the flush of red up his neck was any indication.

He twisted his fingers around mine as he drew me back into the kitchen where Jack stood in front of his trusty laptop.

“I’m sorry, Blondie. I don’t want to lie to you. Iwon’tlie to you. I know what it’s like to be in the dark all too well.”

I nodded. Jack didn’t talk about his past much, but I knew that he’d worked in the darker pockets of government, thanks to his time with the Rangers. “Just tell me what you found.”

By the time Jack filled me in on all the things he’d learned, my head was swimming. Fatigue and sadness dragged at me until I was numb.

This woman who had been like a second mother to me was supposed to be a criminal mastermind? Phil could barely hold a show together without me lining up all the pieces.

“All right, Blondie. I think that’s enough.” Jack closed the laptop and the scrolling spreadsheet with so many damn names on it. Names of businesses, names of clients, names of people she knew in Marblehead for most of her life.

Bishop, Stanwick, Gregory, and of course, Stuart. The damning proof was literally in black and white. Even if it was buried under corporate shell companies that belonged in a Grisham novel rather than my life.

My home.

Marblehead, for fuck’s sake.

“Do you really think it is possible someone broke in for this? That they could possibly know what kind of information we have?”

Jack shrugged. “I think that this is a town full of rich people who wouldn’t want this kind of information made public. And not just because of fines or jail time.”

“No.”

My little corner of the cove was filled with people who valued their public persona, their reputations, even their yards more than living within the boundaries of the law. And still this information was even more damning because my family had perpetuated it.

And I’d perpetuated it by proxy.

The chipped polish at the corner of my nail blurred. The shell pink color I’d started wearing because I didn’t have time for manicures, or even time for my workroom.

Even I was wearing a veneer these days. The corporate assistant who thrived on building something within the confines of another’s dream.

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