“I thought I wanted revenge on the person who framed me more than anything in the world. You took my company from me, and I planned to savor every second of watching you get frog-marched out of here in cuffs as they hauled your ass to jail. But thanks to you, I’ve got more important things to do.”
Because Jesse, and Soteria, were his past, but Vivienne? She was his future. She always had been.
Somewhere behind him, Whitfield’s voice penetrated Wes’s consciousness.
“Sherri, can you please send security to my office immediately. And then get Special Agent Behnsen on the phone. Tell her there’s been a break in the case.”
“Guess he wasn’t kidding about that button, huh?” Wes pried his hands from Jesse’s suit and adjusted his own jacket, just as two burly security guards entered the office.
“Looks like you’ll be in good hands after I leave. And Jesse?” He waited until the prick met his gaze with a seething glare. “When Max and Liam are done with you, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”
He just had to find her first.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
VIVIENNE SAT ON THE porch swing, one foot tucked beneath her, the other skimming along the painted wooden deck planks as she swayed back and forth. The rhythm of the movement was slow and soothing for her frayed nerves. She stared contemplatively through the railing at a bed of tiger lilies on the edge of the gorgeously landscaped property.
The first time she’d fled to the Phoenix Inn, she’d been young, and terrified, nursing a broken heart as she recovered from the emergency surgery that had both saved her life and changed it irreparably. Like a desperate philosopher, she’d spent hours on this very porch swing, convincing herself that a nonviable pregnancy was basically the same as not being pregnant at all. Which meant there was no real reason to tell Wes. Because there was nothing to tell.
The irony that the decision she’d made then was the reason she was here now, and that she was on the precipice of jail time because of it, was not lost on her. She’d chosen to keep a secret, which had turned septic so quickly that she couldn’t remember what it was like before it had seeped into her bones and become part of her. One more experience in a long line of experiences she’d used to justify to herself that she was better off alone. That loving people hurt too much.
But then she’d reconnected with Wes.
And she’d finally accepted that, no matter how much it hurt, she couldn’t stop loving him.
The burn of tears threatened, but through sheer force of will, she held them back. She’d given in to tears the last time, and they hadn’t helped. This time, she’d be stronger.
The back door creaked open, and Vivienne kept her eyes stubbornly forward, not quite ready to give up her solitude, no matter how well-intentioned the innkeeper was.
“I’m not really in the mood for company right now, Sally.”
“She said you’d say that.”
The sound of Wes’s voice brought Vivienne to her feet. But even though she recognized that he was standing with her on the porch where she’d spent so much time thinking about him, it still took everything she had to turn and face him. To make it real.
He was gorgeous in a light gray suit, pristine white shirt and dark gray tie. His thick brown hair was the perfect amount of mussed, and he’d trimmed his beard back from “verge of unkempt” to “dangerous bad boy.”
It was too much, having him here with her, and she turned toward the yard, grabbing the railing and focusing on the tiger lilies instead of the nerves that jittered in her stomach.
“What is this place?”
She closed her eyes, letting his deep voice wash over her. “It’s where I came after...everything.” Lost pregnancy. Lost love. Lost self. “To heal. And clear my head.”
“Serendipitous choice of flowers.”
“Not really.”
Wes joined her beside the railing, and she made herself look at him.
“I planted them. When I came here the first time.” She turned back to the profusion of orange blooms. “Part of the healing I was talking about.”
He was quiet for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was solemn. “Thank you.”
She looked up in surprise. “For what?”
“For letting me be part of that piece of your life.”
A poignant smile tipped the corner of her mouth up. She’d never thought of it like that. That planting tiger lilies had been a connection to Wes. That in some small way, he’d been here with her even as she’d been so desperately trying to push him away.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “So why are you here now?”
“The threat of jail made me contemplative, I guess. And I can breathe when I come here. No matter how bad it gets.”
“Well, it might not get as bad as you think.”
She frowned at the riddle.
“As of this morning, you’re no longer suspect number one. I’m sure Whitfield won’t press charges against you, and even if he does, you can dust off those kick-ass lawyer skills of yours, turn state’s evidence, and testify against Jesse.”
The announcement blindsided her, dropping her heart into her stomach. “What?”
“It was Jesse.” Wes’s voice was laced with a hint of rancor.
Of course, it was. All of the evidence, so inextricably tied to Soteria...everything pointing just a little bit more toward Wes and letting Jesse off scot-free. Because Jesse had his finger on the scale of justice.
The realization that someone she’d considered a friend had betrayed them both like that quaked through her. But to her surprise, the bitterness that usually rushed in when someone she cared about let her down didn’t overwhelm her. Instead, her heart was full of concern for the man standing in front of her.
“Are you okay?” She almost reached for him then, but she stopped herself just
