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“Or that Chance killed Hunter.”
“Yes.” My stomach knots. “Whatever the case, I showed whoever is behind this that I’m with you. They can’t divide us.”
“You didn’t show them that you stood with me or Chance,” he says. “You showed them that you thought one of us was guilty. That’s why you destroyed the evidence.”
“That’s not where my head was,” I argue, but quickly concede. “But—right. I can see how it seems like that. I screwed up.”
He takes my hands and leans in closer. “I did not kill Hunter. I loved Hunter. And I didn’t want, or need, what was his.”
“I know that,” I whisper.
“You thought one of us was guilty.”
“You just won’t let this go,” I say. “My brother isn’t a killer either.” But I’m also thinking of the threats Randall made. He wanted me out of here in a bad way and that doesn’t sit well. I need to talk to my brother. I try to pull away from Jax, but he holds onto me. “Let go.”
“Emma—”
“Let go.” My voice lifts. “Let go now.”
He releases me, and I stand up. “I need to go.” I try to turn away.
He pulls me back around to him. “You need to go? Go where?”
I press on his unmoving chest. “I need to see Chance.”
He cups my face and forces my gaze to his. “We need to take a deep breath. We need to think. We need to fact gather.”
My eyes start to burn. “You think he did it.” I don’t give him time to reply. “He didn’t kill Hunter. He didn’t—” My voice cracks and the tears pooling in my eyes infuriate me. I don’t cry. Crying is for “little bitches” as my father often said. I’m angry. I’m angry at whoever put this between me and Jax. I’m angry at whoever is playing this game. “He didn’t do it.”
Jax catches an escaping tear with his thumb, wiping it from my cheek. “Easy, baby. It’s going to be okay.”
I catch his hand. “Would Hunter commit suicide?” I ask.
“No.”
“You’re certain?” I challenge.
“With every fiber of my being. I knew my brother.”
“And I know mine. He didn’t do this, Jax. I know he was asking about the castle. I know he had connections to your brother but our families have been connected for years. He didn’t kill Hunter.”
“But someone did,” he supplies. “You get that, right?”
“I get that. I believe that. But if you think it was Chance, really think it was Chance, there’s no way that’s not a problem for us.”
“I didn’t say Chance killed Hunter. This is a game someone is playing and if it divides us they get what they want. Because clearly that note and DNA test were left for you to turn you against me.”
“It feels like it’s working. It feels like the end of us.”
“No, baby. If you think I’m letting you go that easily, you’ll soon know better. Someone took my brother from me. They don’t get to take you, too.”
There are footsteps on the porch, and his hands come down on my arms. “This doesn’t end us. You don’t get rid of me that easily, woman. Someone is afraid of what we know. They’re afraid that together we can figure it out. And they’re right. We will.” There’s a thunderous knock at the door.
“Obviously that’s Savage,” I say, because the man explodes into the middle of everything.
“Yes,” Jax agrees. “That will be Savage. Whatever he says—”
“Don’t drown him like I did the DNA test?”
A hint of a smile plays on his lips, a stark contrast to the torment of moments before, that gives me hope. Hope for what, I don’t know. Just hope. “That,” he says, even his tone is lighter now, “would be interesting to watch you attempt, but no, let’s not drown Savage.” He kisses my forehead and tries to walk away.
I catch his hand. “Randall was here tonight. He used the company invitation to get in. He threatened me. He told me that if I didn’t come back, he’d come at you. He gave me seventy-two hours.”
A sharp, hard energy crackles around him but his voice is low, controlled. “You mean your brother gave you seventy-two hours.”
“It doesn’t feel like something Chance would do. I really do need to see him, Jax.”
There’s another knock on the door and Jax responds with a lift of his voice that cracks like a whip. “Wait, Savage!” before softening his voice to speak to me again. “What else?”
“Randall said you had a secret that could destroy us. Can’t you see that I need to talk to Chance?”
“We need more time to talk and think,” he counters. “Promise me. Wait. This feels dangerous to me.”
“It is. He said he’d hate for me to end up dead.”
Jax’s lips thin. “Did he now?”
“Yes, but—”
He cups my head and kisses me. “Nobody is going to hurt you, Emma. Nobody. We’re not done talking about this but I need to get rid of Savage.”
