Page 96 of The Truth of Our Secrets

“But these aren’t in our system,” he says, holding the papers up as if he’s trying to decide if they’re forgeries.

“We need to determine how this happened. I’m sending this to IT to investigate. But do not shut down the gallery until we have more information. I can’t see where the violation generated from either.” Laura’s all business.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The rest of the conversation blurs. I’m using yoga breaths, but my panic isn’t fading.

As the inspector reaches the door he pauses. “I almost forgot. Your friend Peter was doing some work for us and said to say hi.” He waves and exits, leaving the shrapnel from the missile he shot.

“Motherfucker!” Jayce drops his head back as he yells.

“Could he do this?” Peter works for the city, not the NYFD.

“Could he hack the system? Absolutely.” He clenches his jaw and his face muscles ripple with the motion. “He can’t get away with this.”

“Laura will take care of this. I thought having the fire commissioner as a client was cool, but I never thought I’d need her help.” I collapse onto a couch in the seating area in the middle of the gallery. “We have to be smart about Peter.”

“I regret the day I met him and every single day I spent with him.” Jayce sits next to me.

Perspective matters. Jayce drops everything when I need him. I hate what he did to me and Emmet. But he’s my rock and had good intentions. He loves me.

I’m still hurt, but he’s my man. Peter won’t drive a wedge between us.

“Are we going to be okay?” I ask, crawling into his lap.

“I’m going to fight like hell so we are.” He kisses me.

Chapter thirty-three

Jayce

Emmet hasn’t come home the last few nights.

Home. The place is empty without him. His laughter and teasing made our apartment a home. Now I have these holes where he should be. I don’t want to live without him.

Madyson’s in the kitchen and I need to face her. Instead, I’m standing in our bathroom, staring at Emmet’s toothbrush. Pathetic.

She lets me comfort her but sleeps alone.

I’m the reason he’s gone. I have to figure out how to deserve him. To fix things with Madyson.

When I enter the kitchen, she’s staring at her phone. “Alec hasn’t read my messages.”

This shit storm has turned into a fucking hurricane with an earthquake. Which disaster should I tackle first?

“I never should’ve interfered with them. I saw this heartbreak when they met, but I thought Von hurt him.” She chokes up. “He loves Alec so much and I prevented them from getting together. I hate myself right now.” Her body shudders.

“You thought you were protecting him. No one wants to see the people they love hurt.” She lets me hug her, and I’m grateful when her arms hold me close.

“Yes, but we’re all adults and sometimes we have to experience pain to appreciate the good things. We can’t protect each other from life. That’s not living. That’s living someone else’s version of what your life should be.” Her words literally hit me in the chest as she speaks.

We’re talking about her, but we could be talking about me. That’s what I do all the time. I keep hurtful things from her, but she’s right. I can’t protect her from pain.

All the more reason to fix my shit so it doesn’t hurt the people I love.

“I’m going to fix this with Peter. I swear.” The promise sounds empty.

“How are you going to reason with a self-absorbed narcissist?” she asks.

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