Page 69 of Killing Me Softly

“But it could work?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“It’ll bring the memories forward, but in a way that keeps you grounded. No forcing. Just retrieving.”

“I want you to do it.”

“Aaron…”

“Please.”

A clearing of a throat from behind made Kenny glance over his shoulder. Jack shifted uncomfortably near the door, arms crossed.

“I’ll…head off.” Jack gestured toward the exit. “I’ve got a lot to do.”

Kenny straightened. “We don’t have to do this now.”

Aaron shook his head. “I think we do. I can’t think straight until this is out. Can’t help you.”

“You don’t need to help. You have other things to focus on.”

“Like what?” Aaron scoffed. “My dissertation? My degree? None of that means anything if I’m standing in the middle of a storm without knowing what’s coming.” He balled his hands into fists. “I can’t be in the dark, Kenny. I want to help you figure out who’d want to smother your mother.” Aaron closed his eyes, rubbing his temple. “I am so fuckingsorryabout the rhyme.”

Jack lingered, gaze flicking between them. “Do it now,” he said. “But you know if you find something, it’ll be inadmissible in court. I’ll go.”

“Actually.” Aaron peered around Kenny to Jack. “Can you stay?”

Jack furrowed his brow. “Why?”

“If I’m letting him loose in my head, you need to be there to pull him out if he goes too far or doesn’t let up.” Aaron held Jack’s gaze. “Keep him from drowning.”

Kenny drew in a breath at their shared understanding.

Jack waited a beat. Probably weighing the situation, the ethics gnawing at the edges of his hesitation.

This wasn’t just a grey area. It was a minefield. Hypnosis was already a shaky ground in investigative work, often unreliable, easily influenced. And here was Kenny, about to use it on someone he wasin love with. Someone he wasfucking. Who he’d already broken every professional boundary for. The power imbalance was undeniable. Kenny had spent years dissecting minds, pulling apart trauma, untangling the very things Aaron was desperate to retrieve. But could he do itwithoutleading him? Could he step back enough to avoid pressing for the answershewanted?

Jack was asking himself those questions, too. Kenny could see it.

And even if hecould, would it hold up if this informationdidlead somewhere? If Aaron dredged something up that cracked the case wide open, how would Jack explain it?“Oh yeah, the key piece of evidence was pulled from a hypnosis session conducted by his lover, the bloke with everything to lose if Aaron turned out to be implicated in something bigger.”

That wouldn’t fly. Not with a jury. Not with crown prosecution.

But Jack, Kenny knew, wasn’t just worried about that. Because he knewKenny. How he worked. Knew how he gotobsessedwith the truth. How he pushed, even when it wasn’t safe. He’d seen Kenny’s fixation bleed into his work before. And now, with Aaron—a man Jack knew he’d move heaven and earth for—Kenny wouldn’t stop. Not until he hadeverything.

Jackshouldshut this down. Should tell Kenny to get someone else to do it. Someone neutral. Someonenottangled up in Aaron’s body and mind. But Aaron wouldn’t let anyone else in. And Kenny wouldn’t let anyone else touch him.

So that lefthim.

The last line of defence.

Jack exhaled, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “Fuck.” Then, reluctantly, he nodded. “Okay. Do it.”

Kenny stood and held out his hand to Aaron. “You need to be somewhere comfortable. Somewhere you feel safe.”

“In your bed,” Aaron said without missing a beat. Then, glancing at Jack’s raised brow, he sighed. “Fine. The sofa.”

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