Page 48 of The Billionaire's Accidental Legacy

You pushed him away. You didn’t want him. And he was happy for the excuse.

It was true.

They had both been searching for ways not to deal with each other. And they had both been happy to take the reasons they had found.

And now things had changed. And she was loath to admit it.

She wanted to solve the problem. Because she always solved the problem.

Maren was the dreamer. Maren saw things in ways that Jessie often couldn’t.

But Jessie made the plan.

If Maren dreamed it, then Jessie articulated it.

Mind palaces and file folders. That was how they were different.

And she had to admit, even if privately now, that if Maren couldn’t see a way out of their current situation, even with her dreams, even with her more naturally optimistic personality, then there was no way out.

It would be great to get their father arrested, but complicated. They knew there were a few of his men inside law enforcement and they’d agreed it was a bit too risky. They could find themselves back at the compound or in a cell.

No way in hell.

She hated that. Hated that truth with a passion, because the man standing before her was likely her salvation.

“Speak now, then,” she said, trying to sound imperious.

“What did your sister mean?”

“By what?” she said with an exasperated breath. “My sister has said a lot of nonsense today.”

“About you. Your mind.”

She looked at him from the side of her eye. “We’re card counters. You know that.”

“It isn’t that simple, though, is it?”

She decided then that not answering would just make him more interested. And she’d rather have him cheerfully skip off to Narnia.

So the truth it was.

“It’s an eidetic memory. Not the most extensive ever recorded, but it’s a lot. I can often remember what happened on a precise date. I can recall with perfect detail situations that I was in. Maren and I spent a lot of time training ourselves. So that we were not bombarded constantly with unfettered memories. You have to keep them in files, you see.”

“Really?”

He looked at her like he was interested. Not like she was a specimen, and she found that was different and notable compared to the way many people looked at her, especially men.

But even more surprising, it made her want to talk to him.

“Yes. That’s how my father has grown his crime empire. He has the same kind of mind. And he has designs on ours. We were tools to him. That’s why we ran away. We decided we wanted a different life. And that is also why we decided there was an endpoint on the con. We were made to be grifters from birth. We didn’t choose that. But using those skills, we decided to find a way out of that life.”

“He doesn’t want you out.”

“No. At least, that’s the concern. And I don’t want anything hanging over my head. Or Maren’s. Or the baby’s. The baby most of all. Maren and I didn’t ask for this predicament. But... The choices I made are why I’m pregnant.”

“The choices I made, too. So let me help you.”

She felt her expression get petulant along with her tone. She couldn’t help it. “You left.”

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