‘I told them exactly what we agreed.’
I feel rather than hear the relief-filled sighs behind me.
‘But,’ I take a long, hot gulp of my coffee and brace myself, ‘today, I’m going to DI Barnes and I’m telling him the truth.’
I turn to see Jackson off his stool, his body rigid with anger, his eyes crazed. ‘You?—’
‘Jackson!’ Gregory snaps. ‘Calm down. Scarlett, come over here, please.’ He’s got his business face on and he’s speaking with authority. This is the version of Gregory Ryans people don’t refuse.
Jackson’s temper doesn’t wane. ‘Calm down? Are you kidding me? The bobbies should’ve never been involved in the first place.’
Gregory slams the side of his fist on the breakfast bar, making me jump. ‘Jackson, calm down or get out.’ They glare at each other, tension palpable, until Jackson takes a seat.
‘Then you talk some sense into her.’
‘Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,’ I say more confidently than I feel and sliding onto the stool beside Gregory. ‘I understand why you’re annoyed, I really do. We had a deal and I’m breaking it but last night, I wasn’t thinking straight and now I am.’
Jackson shakes his head.
‘I did this. I killed him and I might be going to hell but I won’t be dragging anyone down with me.’ I drink down the rest of my hot coffee and straighten my back. ‘I took the law into my own hands and I should be punished.’
Gregory puts a hand on my thigh and turns me on the stoolto face him. ‘Scarlett, you don’t deserve to be punished for what you did. You saved my life. Do you understand that?’ His brown eyes burn into mine. ‘I wouldn’t be here right now if you hadn’t picked up that gun.’
I wince at the thought. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘It’s the truth. And I’ll never be able to repay that debt to you.’
‘Gregory, you don’t owe me anything; you never will.’
He holds my gaze and lifts a hand to my cheek as if we’re alone in the room.How can he tell me to move on in one breath and treat me like I’m the centre of his universe in another?‘I owe you my entire existence, Scarlett, in more ways than one.’
‘And I won’t let it be taken from you. Not now. Not after everything.’ I bring his hand down to my lap, the breakfast bar shielding it from Jackson’s view, and run my fingers over the scars on his wrist. ‘You’ve fought long enough to be free.’
He turns his arm, concealing his scars, then pulls me towards him, nestling me between his thighs. ‘You amaze me, Scarlett Heath,’ he says, tucking my hair behind my ear. ‘Everything I’ve put you through since we met.’
‘And as ever, you’re giving me whiplash, Gregory Ryans.’
‘While I hate to be the one to spoil the party,’ Jackson interrupts, ‘this just can’t happen.’
Gregory lets his shoulders sag. ‘She knows that.’
‘No. She doesn’t,’ I say, pulling away from him.
‘What if you go to prison, Gregory? Have you thought about that? I would lose you and you might as well have died!’
Gregory jerks his head back, startled.
‘I’m sorry, I… I don’t even want to think, I can’t even think about that. My point is, I couldn’t stand to see you go to prison and more to the point, I won’t let you to go to prison for something I’ve done.’ The pressure behind my eyes is climbing again and tears are beginning to obscure my vision.
‘Hey, come here.’ His soft eyes have returned and he pulls me, leaving me no choice but to fall between his thighs again. ‘I’m not going to prison. It was self-defence.’
‘You don’t know that. In the end, the CPS will prosecute. They can’t let a gun murder slide in London. They’ll pull your reputation to the ground. You could lose your companies. You could lose everything.’ The tears come and fall like Niagara. ‘I won’t let you.’
‘I’m not giving you a choice,’ he says, wiping my cheeks with his thumbs. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong. You’ve done everything right.’
‘It’s not right.’I saved you. You were my primary motivation in the moment. But what about the part of me that killed in the name of my dad and that little boy from my subconscious?‘I need to be tried and if a jury thinks I did the right thing, they’ll protect me, but that’s not your job.’
‘Damn it, Scarlett, no!’ He darts up, forcing me to stagger backwards. ‘I won’t go to prison and this case won’t even be tried.’
