Page 85 of Unveiled

FORTY-SEVEN

Jaxon slipped in the front door and cocked an ear, listening. A floorboard creaked upstairs from the vicinity of Jaclyn’s room, and he ached to go to them. Somehow, he refrained and made his way to the kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, he tossed down the manila envelope he had agonized over bringing with him. But it was the right thing to do.

He heard her footsteps come closer, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes—not yet. He didn’t want to see the anger, the condemnation, the reproachful glare he knew would be there.

Her footsteps faltered, then drew closer. The chair across from him pulled away from the table, and she moved fully into view as she sank into it.

He closed his eyes, envisioning a scene from two years ago. This was so like the morning they had spent in the coffee shop in Vegas. It was as if life was forcing him to replay the biggest mistake of his life all over again. Only this time it was so much worse. It was like déjà vu as he glanced up and met her steely eyes.

“You came.”

Her voice was soft, but he couldn’t deny the faint thread of accusation beneath, and he cringed. He should have manned up and responded to her text message earlier. But he hadn’t been able to. For both of them, he had to do the right thing.

Her face was unreadable as he studied her, and his eyes flitted to the space just above her temple. A small patch of hair had been shaved away, and a one-inch square of gauze had been taped over the wound.

Though he had seen it every day for the past week, it still made his stomach clench. He wanted to pull her into his arms, bury his face into that sweet spot between her neck and shoulder, and hold her close, never let her go. He swallowed down his need and straightened in his chair. He reached out and spun the manila envelope until it faced her, then slid it across the table.

She eyed him warily but didn’t say a word. Finally, she broke their gaze and dropped hers to the envelope. With a trembling hand, she reached for it and extracted the sheaf of papers within. Her pretty eyes skimmed them, but she never said a word. Her expression never changed. It made him want to scream that she was so controlled.

She flipped to the back, and her gaze lingered for a long time on the page. He knew exactly what she was seeing, and he could see the weight of it in her eyes. He wouldn’t keep her tied to him, not anymore. If she still wanted the annulment, he would give it to her.

Her face contorted in pain, and his heart twisted. If it killed him, he would do what was right for her. Guilt from the past few days ate away at him, exacerbated by the look of disappointment on Adalyn’s pretty face.

She should be happy. She should want a husband better than him, someone who could protect her and their little girl. He had let Adalyn down, let Jaclyn down. They had both depended on him to protect them and keep them safe, but he had failed. Not only that, he had brought this whole situation down on them. If it weren’t for him, this never would’ve happened.

With a shudder, he turned his mind to the situation at hand. Adalyn looked fragile and lost sitting across from him. There was an undefinable emotion in her voice, one that nearly broke him. “Is this what you want?”

He shook his head. “No. But I won’t blame you if you do.”

Her head tipped to one side as she contemplated him. “What if I don’t?”

Hope curled through him, immediately followed by regret and self-loathing. Didn’t she know she was too good for him?

“Don’t you understand?” he seethed. “You deserve better than me. I was supposed to keep you safe—keep both of you safe. Instead, I brought her right to your door. She came after you because of me.” He jabbed his chest with his index finger. “Me. I should have known, should have seen it coming. But I didn’t, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop her until it was almost too late.”

He pushed out of the chair and ran both hands through his hair as he spun away from her, refusing to acknowledge the disappointment he knew he’d find in her eyes.

He flinched as a hand landed softly on his back. “Jaxon, look at me.”

Her voice was firm, insistent, but he couldn’t… He just couldn’t do it. If he did, he would break. He didn’t deserve her.

He shook his head. “No, Adalyn.”

“Jaxon.”

More forceful this time, he shook his head, trying to drown her out. But she wouldn’t be ignored. Her hand trailed along his side, as if she couldn’t bear to lose contact with him for even a moment as she ducked beneath his arm and stepped in front of him. Curling her tiny hands into the fabric of his shirt, she began to speak.

“You didn’t bring this into our lives—Jenn did. She devised this horrible scheme by herself—not you. None of this was your fault. You can’t be responsible for everything that happens around you. And you especially can’t rationalize someone like her.”

She tightened her fists, pulling his shirt more tightly across his body. “She had everyone fooled—you, me, the police—every single one of us. I worked with her every day, and I never would have guessed she was behind it.”

The entire time she spoke, he kept his gaze fixed to the wall above her head. He couldn’t let her see the guilt he felt swirling inside him. But somehow, hearing her try to justify it helped. She had forgiven him when he hadn’t been able to forgive himself.

Dropping his gaze, he lowered his hands to his sides. He ached to pull her into his arms, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not yet. “Addy…”

“Jaxon. Listen to me.” Gray eyes peered up at him, a fierceness in their depths. “You were amazing. Even when I lost my mind, you stayed calm and did what needed to be done. I’ll never be able to thank you for that.”

He swallowed hard. “You never should have had to go through that.”