Page 95 of Unlawful Seduction

Seeing her suffering and doing nothing had been the most reprehensible act of my entire worthless life.

Had my thinking been based on good intentions? Hell, yes.

Or so I’d thought. Maybe my actions had been selfish instead.

Nothing had prepared me for seeing the little boy peering up at me with the same green eyes. Fuck. I’d forbidden Mike to even ask questions about her existence, refusing to pull her into the limelight. Leaving her very much alone had allowed the woman to return to her life. Now what the fuck was I doing?

And considering?

I paced the living room, memories of the last time I’d been in the house shoving me to a dangerous edge. The estate had been kept in my name through power of attorney, locked down in probate. While I’d had a lengthy discussion with Mike after vanishing from the town that had included ensuring he understood what would happen should he be the traitor, my instinct had finally accepted he’d had nothing to do with allowing my location toslip to anyone. It had taken months of returning to a hole in the wall hiding until he’d discovered his computer system had been hacked.

Of all the fucking things to have happen.

Oddly enough, that didn’t sound like something the Valenti clan would do or any of their offshoots.

New security measures had been put into place without tipping anyone off. That had taken time.

It had allowed me to maintain the ruse, including with my real family.

I’d done my best to protect them as well. My aging father had no clue I was even alive, all but disowning me the moment he’d discovered I’d gone to work for the Valenti family. To the world, I was dead. I’d preferred it that way.

Or so I’d forced myself to believe.

But I’d returned to the little town three months after my death, my need to make certain Mallory was okay allowing me to get too close. Jax had almost given my existence and arrival away, ultimately joining me. I’d not only stripped her of believing I was alive, I’d also taken the single source of comfort she’d had at the time.

That was something I’d never forgive myself for doing.

Now this?

What the fuck had I actually believed? That I could arrive in town without being noticed, sell the property without the real estate agent spilling the beans? Sure, my attorney had forcedher to sign an NDA and she’d been paid extremely well for her silence, but I’d forgotten how tight the community was.

And maybe, just maybe I’d been stupid on purpose when the agent had asked me to meet her at her office. Before agreeing, I’d made a few phone calls, learning Mallory was supposed to work at the clinic all day. I’d gone out of my way to stay as incognito as possible, including dying my fucking hair.

Fuck. Fuck.

I’d muttered the word about fifty times since running into Mallory.

I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her all over again.

Lie.

I couldn’t take the extreme pain a second time. I’d nearly lost my mind after walking away, faking my own death. All I’d wanted to do was shut down the past. I’d seen the look in her eyes once recognition had set in. She’d been horrified and shocked, her emotions drifting into pure anger.

Rightfully so.

“What the fuck am I going to do, buddy?” I moved away from the window, scanning the room. The furniture was still covered in sheets, boxes lining almost every room.

I leaned against the wall, taking a sip of my drink and closing my eyes. The little boy’s face was firmly planted in the forefront of my brain. There was no mistaking his features. Or his eyes. They were exactly like mine.

My chest ached more than it had after staging my death and the subsequent months after that. I jerked out my phone, forcingmyself to admit both she and her boy would be better off without me in their lives. I no longer had any fear of retaliation. I’d seen to that. Anyone even remotely associated with the Valenti family had been erased from this earth.

That didn’t make me a good guy. Quite the opposite.

I dialed my attorney, even more anxious than before. “Mike, it’s Beckett.”

“How are things in snowy Vermont?” he asked. “Is the agent behaving?”

“Betsy’s fine. Just doing her job.”

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