Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 137176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“No, but there was still my grandfather’s missing will. It’s possible my father knew something was in there that made sure he got nothing. He and my grandfather had the same kind of relationship I had with my father. My grandfather treated me better than he did my father. If my grandmother knew what was in the will, it could have been the only thing protecting her and me all this time. If my father was certain she knew where it was, he might have been biding his time that in the hopes that, in her altered mental state, she’d reveal its location. If I’d been there, though, I could have sued for power of attorney and, given my relationship with her, I would have won. If that happened…”
“He would have lost not only his control over her but any chance at finding the will himself and destroying it. He would have lost everything,” JJ said before he hummed in thought. “Sully said the shooter was behind you. If that was true, then why not just shoot both of us? Why leave you alive?”
I shrugged because that was the part I was stuck on. Even if I’d been granted custody of my grandmother and her vast fortune and holdings, I would have only wanted enough money to adequately take care of her. I’d rejected my family’s wealth from the time I’d met Sully, JJ, and their father when I’d been fifteen. And killing me would have done exactly what my father likely wanted—to prevent me from getting control of everything with the Ashby name on it.
“Because he’s vindictive enough that he’d rather see me rotting in a prison cell for the rest of my life. The second they put me behind bars, I had no way of reaching out to my grandmother. The trust fund my grandmother had set aside for me was completely and mysteriously drained, so I had no way of hiring a competent attorney. If I had managed to get a lawyer like Asa Hutch on my side, my father still could have greased so many palms that four guilty verdicts would have been a guarantee.”
“That was when you thought I’d come to your rescue,” JJ murmured. “First when they put you behind bars and then afterwards at the trial.”
I turned over only to find him staring at the ceiling. I sighed and pulled his body against mine. “You’re right, it’s not so easy to let go of the guilt no matter how many people tell you to. I hope there comes a day when the forgiveness begins and every time it grows stronger, the guilt gets weaker.”
JJ nodded. He didn’t resist when I pulled him into my side until our bodies were touching from shoulders to toes. When I urged him to turn so we were facing each other, he did it without hesitation. I couldn’t resist brushing my lips over his cheek. As much as I would have liked to taste his sweet mouth again, I didn’t want to just sweep everything we’d fought so hard to achieve under the carpet and replace it with mind-numbing sex.
“So, JJ, tell me something about yourself that no one else knows,” I said with a grin.
It took a while before the tension left his expression and was replaced with the lightness I’d been longing to see.
“Haven’t I already told you two of those?” he asked lightly.
“Two? No,” I said with a shake of my head. “You told me about checking out books hoping you could find out more information about my Mustang because you were hero-worshipping me then and crushing hard on me now.”
JJ gave me a little shove. “I never said I had a crush on you now.”
I couldn’t help but cover his mouth with mine. He moaned into my mouth a split second before he began returning the kiss. His strong fingers wrapped around the back of my neck, and I loved it. It was a show of control that I would never would have allowed anyone to wield over me, except for the man in my arms. I trusted JJ so deeply that I knew without a doubt that he’d never hurt me. He’d never degrade or humiliate me. He’d never attempt to make me break until I was no longer myself.
I was forced to end the kiss when it began to toe over the line into the no coming back from zone. JJ and I were both breathing hard, but I remembered his last declaration before I’d kissed him. “So you’re not crushing on me now?”
“Asshole,” JJ grumbled. I suspected he was struggling with thwarted desire. My own body was demanding that I finish what I’d started, but one look at his tired face told me our first date needed to come to an end soon.