“Jason—”
“Whatever it takes,” he repeated flatly. “Like rekindling an old relationship to turn a man against his own brother.”
Fuck. “No. It wasn’t like that.”
His harsh laugh lacked humor. “So you didn’t take me back to the condo and come on to me to get the SD card.”
“Initially, yes. And I’m sorry. But as far as I knew, you were working for the enemy.” Her stomach knotted. She had to make him understand. “If I could go back and do it differently, I would.”
“Given the amount of money you walked away with in the end, I doubt that.”
“That went to charity.”
“Oh, you mean the ten million I helped you get, or the rest of it?”
Shit shit shit. If only she had permission to come clean. “The money I got from Renfro Warner’s account was donated.”
“What a perfect non-answer.” He scoffed. “Were you trying to set up my brother so he and Warner would kill each other?”
“What?No.” That confrontation had been an unfortunate byproduct of Dallas and Nolan’s eagerness to get the money before Renfro got wary and moved it. “I was never trying to get anyone killed.”
“Itrustedyou, Emma. I stood up for you to my best friend. I defended you to my family. I—” His voice rose, rife with anguish. “You used my guilt and my growing feelings for you to your own ends, and I can’t fucking believe that I fell for it again. What is wrong with me?”
“There’snothingwrong with you.” Her face crumpled and she pressed her forehead to the steering wheel. “Jason, I didn’t sleep with you so you’d help me. I swear. I—” She sniffed and swiped at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “I didn’t expect to fall in love with you again.”
He inhaled sharply. “Don’t.”
“I love you,” she said softly, her voice breaking alongside her heart. She prayed he could hear the truth in her words.
“You can stop now, Emma. There’s nothing more to get from me. You’ve taken it all.” His voice turned hoarse.
How could she convince him she was being honest when she’d lied to his face too many times? What could she possibly say or do that would change his mind? The ground slid out from under her. “Jason, please—”
“No. I think I’ve heard enough.” Two beeps signaled that he’d ended the call.
Emma gasped and pressed a hand to her churning stomach as a sharp sob rose from deep within her, triggering a whole set of them that rolled through her as powerful and unstoppable as the ocean’s waves.
What could she have said or done differently? Nothing. Even if she could come clean, he’d probably never trust her again.
Oh, God. She wiped her face and stared blankly out the windshield at the funeral home’s “remembrance garden,” her limbs heavy and cold.
She’d lost him.
He was everything she’d ever wanted. The one person worth giving up anything for, and she’d thrown away her chance. Worse, she’d hurt him in the process. Treated him no better than the scores of women who cared nothing for his sense of humor, his intelligence, his honor, or his dreams. Knowing she’d joined their careless ranks cut even deeper than her own heartbreak.
She covered her mouth and closed her eyes, holding in the scream clawing at her throat.
A knock on her window made her jump, eyes flying open at the sound. On the other side of the glass, a thirty-something white man stood in a charcoal suit wearing a name badge from the funeral home declaring that he was Allen. He was probably used to the sight of people falling apart in the parking lot.
Emma swiped at her eyes and rolled down the window. “Yes?”
“You okay?” the man asked, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze, and offering a benign smile.
She leaned away from his overfamiliar touch, nodding. “Yes. Thank you. I’ll leave in just a minute.”
“No rush,” he said, his eyes losing their friendly sparkle.
Her heart tripped in alarm. She reached for the button to roll up the window but he grabbed her wrist.
