Page 128 of Proof of Guilt

And worried.

Gabriel had already questioned the courier and hadn’t uncovered anything new, but her brother was definitely hoping to learn something from the watch, which he’d already sent for processing. Also to learn something from August. Once the man came in, that is. August had some answering to do over Belinda’s accusations that she’d been at McKenzie’s bar to meet him.

At least Lacey and Wesley wouldn’t be around. Or rather they shouldn’t be. It was unnerving enough having August return, and Ivy didn’t especially want to be under the same roof with all three of their suspects.

The worries kept coming, too. Because the greatest danger might not be with August, Lacey or Wesley. Gabriel had mentioned the possibility of Travis being innocent, and if by some serious long shot he actually was, then God knew who’d killed her parents. But whoever it was could want her and the rest of her family dead.

Not exactly a reassuring thought.

That could explain why she and other members of her family had been getting those threatening letters over the years. There’d been details in some of those letters—such as her mother’s necklace being taken—and the police had purposely kept those out of the reports. It’d been a way of putting a lid on false confessions. So the person who’d written those threats had either managed to hack into those reports, or else he’d been there that night to take the necklace while he’d murdered her mother.

Ivy had to close her eyes a moment to shut out the images. She’d been the one to discover her parents and had actually stepped in her mother’s blood when she ran to the bodies. There’d been nothing she could do, and she didn’t even remember making the frantic call to Gabriel. Good thing she had, too, because when he’d run to their parents’, he’d discovered Jodi on the path. She was within minutes of bleeding out, and he’d managed to save her.

Something Ivy hadn’t been able to do for her folks.

There were times, like now, when she reminded herself that the horror that’d gone on that night could have been even worse. Jodi could be dead, too. Maybe even Gabriel as well, since Jodi’s attacker was probably nearby when her brother had found her. Remembering that soothed Ivy a little. But not enough to make the ache fade in her heart.

Theo finished the call he’d just made to the crime lab, glanced at her and frowned. “You can’t dwell on it,” he said.

It was as if he’d looked right into her mind—something he’d always had a knack for doing—but she didn’t care much for it now. In some ways it made it worse that he knew how much she was still hurting. In some ways, though, it made it better. This wasn’t a case of misery loving company, it was just that Theo understood how much she’d lost that night. Because he’d lost so much himself.

“How do you forget?” she asked. “How do you push it all aside?”

He stared at her, shook his head. “You don’t.” On a heavy sigh, he went to Gabriel’s fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and brought it to her. “There’s no permanent fix for grief. It keeps coming back.”

Yes, it did. Like now. It was washing over her.

“Sometimes, it helps if I think about the good stuff,” he added. He pushed her hair from her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek. “How close Jodi and I once were. The times I was with you. I just force myself to remember that there were more good times than bad.”

Good advice. Too bad she couldn’t take it. It was impossible to push away the fear. Or so she thought. But then she looked at Theo, their gazes connecting, and just like that, things were a little better.

And worse.

Because even now with all the bad memories flooding her mind, she noticed him. That rumpled hair. That mouth. Mercy, he had a way of getting right past the fear and into places inside her where he shouldn’t be. Like her heart. Of course, her heart wasn’t the only problem at the moment. Theo also knew how to stir up things in her body.

Yes, there’d been plenty of good times, and most of those moments had centered on him.

“I would ask you to go to the break room…” he said, arching his eyebrow as if that were a question rather than an attempt at a joke.

Despite everything going on, Ivy had to fight back a smile. “Probably not a good idea.”

Theo kept his eyes on her as if waiting for something more. Conversation, maybe? An assurance that she was okay?

Another kiss?

If it was the kiss, then Ivy imagined it would be the kiss that people gave each other when they were used to kissing. When that kiss would suddenly make all the bad things go away. Something that it couldn’t do. But it could cause the old heat to slide right through her. In fact, just the thought of kissing him did that to her. It also helped that Theo was so close to her that she caught his scent.

More of that heat came.

“I’ve seen that look before.” He brushed his fingers over the center of her forehead, which was bunched up.

Now she waited, because she wasn’t sure where he was going with this. Maybe he had noticed the need in her expression. Or perhaps he was picking up on all the other things—the worry, the fatigue and, yes, the fear.

He didn’t take his fingers from her face. Instead, Theo slipped them lower, to her cheek, and his touch—warm and soothing—lingered a moment there. Even though he didn’t say anything, they had an entire conversation. About this mutual attraction that was messing with their minds. About what had torn them apart in the past. Even what might bring them back together in the future.

Nathan.

Theo must have realized this wasn’t going to be something they could hash out now. Nor should they be doing this. Not with the danger still out there. And that’s probably why he stepped back. Not far enough, though. Of course, several rooms over might not have been far enough to get her body to cool down.

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