Page 57 of Sinful Negotiations

Tessa glanced out of the window, lost in good thoughts from another time. “The only place I’ve genuinely loved and felt at home, at peace, was the time I spent at Alex’s cabin on Lake Cumberland. Do you think that’s crazy?”

“I don’t think it’s crazy, but I have to ask if it was the location or the man that made you feel that way?”

Her gaze quickly returned to Lexxa’s. “I never thought of it like that.”

“Something to think about while we find you a new home.”

Chapter 47

“I’d like time to myself. It’s not you. I don’t even know your real name.”

Alex Cross. Aidan Cross is my brother.

“Twins?”

“Yes. Identical. We used to fool teachers in school.”

“Where is your brother and why did you take his place?”

“Extortion. Alex contacted me when he noticed falsified documents from your uncle’s attorney and received a threat from an outside source, we can only assume was Marco Dentzi. He was beaten after refusing the demand.

Your uncle embezzled from the company, used the company to move Dentzi’s dirty money, and stole from Dentzi. That was his worst mistake. In the criminal world, Dentzi’s world, what Chandler James did was unforgivable. When he couldn’t return the money, Chandler James offered his niece, you, as payment, and planned to disappear. Your uncle knew about your grandparents’ wealth, tried several times to gain access to it, but couldn’t find a way. Marco Dentzi wanted the land, your land, to establish himself in this country. With you as his wife, he would’ve gained everything he ever wanted.

Alex was admitted to the hospital, moved to another for recovery, and I assumed his role in the company. During the transition, you were hired.”

“And we happened.” Tessa filled in the blanks without looking at him.

“Yes, we did. I had no idea the lengths your uncle would go to, or I would’ve placed you in a safehouse long ago.”

“I see.”

Tessa appeared so frail and tired, and she avoided the reasons she wanted time to herself. He understood it but didn’t like it. She barely made direct eye contact, picking at her blanket. “I don’t know everything that happened in Marco’scompound, and don’t want to know. You did what you had to by whatever means necessary to survive, Tessa.”

Her lips had twitched, and her eyes finally lifted. “So much has happened. I don’t feel like I know what’s real, and don’t know myself anymore. I don’t want to be my aunt.”

“You are nothing like your aunt. She was a drug addict and a prostitute. Never think it.”

“I feel weak and dumb. My aunt and uncle? What they did? For money? For drugs? I loved them.”

“You are one of the strongest women I know. Look what you survived, Tessa.”

“The shamrock necklace is in the top drawer. You should take it, Alex.”

“Keep it. I gave it to you, and the tracker has been deactivated.”

“It was your mother’s. I can’t keep it.”

Her eyes watered, and he saw the insecurity, the rawness in their beautiful, hazel depths. This wasn’t a battle he could fight for her. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, hold her, make her believe it, but now wasn’t the time. “Keep the necklace. Take the time you need, Tessa. Remember the confident woman I met. Find her again. Build a new life for yourself. I’ll be around. When you’re better, and if you still want, return the necklace.”

“How will I find you?”

“Ask Lexxa.”

He’d risen to his feet and moved toward the door, hating to leave her, not knowing if they’d ever be together again, his heart clenching in his chest.

“Was any of it real? Were we real?”

She softly asked the question to his back, and he paused with one hand on the door. “All of it Tessa. Everything between us was real. Don’t confuse it with anything else and don’t tryto minimize it. A different name doesn’t change what happened between us.”

---