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“I can fix this, Claire. I can make it all go away, and we can right the wrongs your grandfather devoted his life to up until you came along. He stopped once you were in the picture, didn’t he? That’s why there’s a break in the pattern, and why no one connected them.”
“He didn’t stop at first—not until I found his stash and he had to tell me what he was doing and why.”
He nodded. “I wondered if it wasn’t something like that. None of that matters. I can keep your grandfather out of it, as well. But you need to believe me. You need to trust me. I can fix all of this. I just need the Grenadine Necklace and whatever else you haven’t disposed of.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is, if you trust me. The insurance companies just want the jewelry back. The cops just want the thefts to stop. When you walk away, we’ll make sure there’s nothing to connect back to you and Mia. I’ll persuade Lloyd’s to remove the bounty from your head. Once they withdraw their money and support, the rest will follow. Trust me, Claire, we can have the life we want.”
“How am I supposed to trust you when you refuse to understand…”
He drew her back in his arms. “I do understand. I understand what drove your grandfather, and I understand he passed that legacy on to you. But it doesn’t have to take over your life. Even your grandfather walked away when he realized it would hurt you.”
“You can have everything but the Grenadine Necklace.”
He shook his head. “No, baby, you made the Grenadine Necklace too showy. It was all over the news. The insurance companies need to save face, and recovering the Grenadine Necklace allows them to do that.”
“Do you know its history?”
“You mean about Mussolini and Clara Petacci? Yes, I know. But her descendants are not only huge clients of Lloyd’s but also of the biggest insurance company in Switzerland and one of the Swiss banks. Yeah, I know, and I get it.”
“I don’t know that you do. Poppi believed that Sir Godfrey’s father had my parents killed. The old bastard was so invested in making sure what he did never saw the light of day that he forced them off the road. It’s a miracle I wasn’t killed. Poppi forced Sir Godfrey to take him on as his horse master and driver. Part of his compensation was a place for us to live and for me to have everything their ill-gotten gains had given Evangeline.”
“Trust me, you are way out of Evangeline’s league, and I mean that in a good way.”
She looked as if he’d slapped her in the face. “You know Evangeline?”
“I used to.”
“Does she know about Mia and me?”
“No. We broke up more than a year and a half ago. I hadn’t even started putting the pieces together.”
“You and Evangeline were together? You didn’t think to share that little bit of information with me, and you expect me to trust you?”
“You’re going into a jealous snit over a woman I haven’t seen in more than eighteen months? I could never understand the jealousy she had about the horse master’s daughter. But I get it now.” He laughed. “She always referred to you as the ‘chubby urchin’ or the ‘chubby ragamuffin.’ For the record you are neither chubby, an urchin, or a ragamuffin. In her dreams. She doesn’t have your luscious curves, bold spirit. and keen mind. She doesn’t hold a candle to you, but then, I suspect she knows that. She hates you, by the way.”
“Trust me, the feeling is mutual.”
“None of that is important.”
“It is to me.”
“Quit behaving like a child and listen to me. The most important thing is your and Mia’s safety and extricating you from this nasty web you’ve entangled yourselves in. Babe, I need to know where the Grenadine Necklace and the rest of the stash are.” She shook her head. “Don’t tell me no, Claire; we will find it.”
She laughed, the sound bitter instead of her usual joyful noise. “You tried the other morning and never even came close.” She laughed again. “That’s not true. You were so close to the Grenadine Necklace. I had it in my pillowcase. It isn’t there now, but you had no idea how close you were.”
He watched as her open face and body posture began to shut down. She was trying to cast him in the role of the bad guy, so she didn’t have to admit she loved him; admit that they belonged together and walk away from everything she’d known. It was a big ask and he knew it, but he would make sure she was safe, no matter what.
“Come take a shower with me, Claire. Let me show you how good having a positive dominant male in your life can be.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready for another round with you and your big dick.”
He chuckled. “It’s time you learned I’m good for more than my abilities with my big dick.”
Fletch dragged Claire, only semi-protestingly into the shower. He fisted her hair, tugging her head back and brushing her lips with his. His cock came back online with her naked body so close to his. He’d never believed he could feel this way about anyone, much less someone he hadn’t known all that long. Maybe that was a good thing. This way they’d have more of their lives to spend together. Well, as long as he could keep her from getting herself killed.
She was the most beautiful, sexy, sensual, intelligent woman he’d ever known. She was his lighthouse that kept him from the jagged rocks and pointed him toward safe harbor. He grabbed the large, natural sea sponge and the soap. Once the sponge was warm and soapy, he began to wash the excesses of the past few nights from her body.
