by Marie James
Table of Contents
Truth Be Told
Other Books in the Blackbridge Security Series
Copyright
Dedication
Synopsis
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Social Media Links
OTHER BOOKS FROM MARIE JAMES
Truth Be Told
A Blackbridge Security Novel
Marie James
Other Books in the Blackbridge Security Series
Hostile Territory
Shot in the Dark
Contingency Plan
Truth Be Told
Calculated Risk
Heroic Measures
Sleight of Hand
Copyright
Truth Be Told: A Blackbridge Security Novel
Copyright © 2020 Marie James
Editing by Marie James Betas & Ms. K Edits
EBooks are not transferrable. All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Cover Credit: Najla with Qamber Designs and Media
Dedication
To my own sweet, amazingly strong and mature son who
showed such courage and kind words when we had to say
goodbye to our sweet Benjamin.
Synopsis
Lies ruin lives.
Ignacio Torres, the translator for Blackbridge Security, has told his fair share and then some.
He lied more than once to Tinley Holland when they were teens.
Told her he didn’t love her.
Told her he could live without her.
Told her what they shared didn’t mean a thing.
He’s lived with those lies, lived with the loss of her for over a decade.
What he didn’t expect was going home to help with a family matter only to discover Tinley has told the biggest lie of all.
Acknowledgements
It takes a village, right?
I couldn’t do this without so many people around willing to help!
My amazing BETAs, you gals are my everything! Brenda, Laura, MaRanda, Michelle, Shannon, and Sarah, I couldn’t do this without your help!
Dani, you are AMAZING! You keep me on my toes when I know more often than not you want to throw something at my head! Thanks for sticking with me!
To my ARC team, you ladies lift me up and give me the drive to keep writing! Thank you for your kind words and being the spot checkers for my final draft!
If I missed anyone, blame it on the pandemic and my crazy writing schedule… my brain is fried!
Until next time! Keep it safe, sane, and consensual!
~Marie James
Prologue
Ignacio
13 Years Ago
“What?” I ask when Tinley looks up at me.
Bliss isn’t a strong enough word to describe how I’m feeling right now.
With sweat drying on our skin, the warm rush of her breath threatens to lead us right back to where the night started over an hour ago—her under me or straddling me, torn between begging me to go faster or slow down.
It’s not supposed to be like this. At eighteen, you aren’t likely to find the person you can’t imagine spending a day of your life without.
Somehow, Tinley and I lucked out.
She moved to south Houston just over two years ago, right in the middle of our sophomore year of high school. She was the light in my dark world from day one, although it took weeks for her to notice me, weeks of putting myself right in front of her before she even knew my name.
I did something that first day I told myself I’d never do for a girl. I changed. My time spent with my friends raising hell and getting into trouble tapered to nearly nothing. Missing school was no longer an option because lying in bed, hating my life, didn’t afford me the opportunity to see her gorgeous blonde hair shine in the Texas sun. Staying out late with my boys didn’t compare to the way she’d roll her pretty blue eyes when I’d wink at her when she walked into class.
Tinley is my everything.
“What?” I ask again when she begins to nibble on her lower lip. I curl a finger under her chin when she tries to look away. “Tell me.”
My voice is soft in the humid air of my granddad’s truck, the windows fogged from the heavy breathing we’ve been doing since I smelled her perfume as she climbed inside. All it takes is a sideways glance from this woman, and she owns me. I’m insatiable around her, and despite her lack of experience when we first got together, I’ve conquered many of her firsts, taking those gifts and appreciating the preciousness of them.
“I have several things to tell you,” she begins, her teeth working over her bottom lip. “M-my dad got a new job.”
“That’s great, Tin.” Her family moved in with her grandmother two years ago after falling on hard times, and I know they’ve been struggling ever since.
Everyone in our crappy little town is struggling. People come here and never leave. I have bigger plans for my life. We talk about our futures often. How we plan to get out and never return. There’s nothing but pain and poverty here.
But we know deep down it’s only a pipe dream. Getting out is nearly impossible. Staying away is an unobtainable goal, no matter how many plans we make for that to happen.
“It’s in Dallas.”
My hand freezes on her face for a second before I pull it away. “Dallas?”
She nods, her eyes dropping to her clasped hands now that I’m no longer holding her pretty face.
“That’s great,” I repeat, although my heart is in a million pieces and my hands are shaking as I reach for my jeans.
Wincing when I bang my elbow on the driver’s side window, I still can’t look her in the eyes.
This is her chance, the opportunity to leave.
“They have several community colleges—” she begins but my scoff cuts her off.
She knows better. College isn’t my thing. Hell, despite my name on a diploma that will be handed out tomorrow at graduation, the only reason I’ve darkened the doors at school was for her.
“You don’t want to go?”
I turn and glare at her, hat
ing the pain I see in her eyes with my staged anger. I’m ecstatic for her, but it kills me to know she’s leaving.
“Go?” I snap. I want nothing more, but logistically, it doesn’t make sense. “And do what?”
“We can get an apartment or something.”
“Are you forgetting I have no money?”
I had plenty before she showed up, but those ill-gotten gains withered away when I stopped associating with the other guys from school. Tinley’s family may be poor and have fallen on bad times, but they’re upstanding people, going to church every Sunday, spending time together as a family.
“Maybe you can stay with us until you find work.”
It’s a futile offer, and she knows it.
My reputation was impossible to hide from her father. The damage was done long before they arrived and despite changing, according to her dad, once a degenerate, always a degenerate.
“And hide in the attic?”
I can’t meet her eyes as I reach past her to the passenger side floorboard to get my shoes.
“I’m eighteen now. Dad has to understand.”
“Understanding doesn’t mean he’s going to welcome me with open arms, Tin.” I tie my sneakers with so much anger the laces cut into my fingers. This pain is nothing compared to the shattered pieces of my heart, knowing what I’m going to be forced to do.
This night started with her sneaking out of her house, something that normally was part of the thrill. Dirtying up straight-laced Tinley Holland has always thrilled me, and I know the reputation her dad despises me for was always a tick in the plus column for her. Daddy’s princess was attracted to the bad boy, and I played on that nearly every chance I got despite not doing even a fraction of the things that earned me that reputation.
We spent nearly an hour teasing and satisfying each other, unable to keep our hands off each other’s bare skin.
I was supposed to kiss her until her lips were red and swollen before dropping her off around the corner.
Tonight wasn’t meant for heartbreak and tears. Before I can even open my mouth to hurt her, her bottom lip trembles and tears stain her cheeks.
“I’ll stay.”
“No.” The word is like a gunshot in the cab of this old truck.
“Nanny needs help most days. I think my parents would—”
“You’re not fucking staying.”
“But you said you won’t go with me, so that leaves staying as the only option.”
“We graduate tomorrow, Tin.”
“I know.”
“That means our real lives start.”
Her fingers twist and tangle in her lap, the wetness from her eyes dripping onto them. She doesn’t bother to wipe them away, and the sight of her hurting is like a dagger to the chest. Tinley isn’t a crier. She’s a fixer. If something doesn’t work out the way she plans, she takes a step back, reevaluates, and approaches the issue at another angle. Hence, her suggestion of staying in this shithole town because this is where I am.
She’d throw away all of the dreaming and wishing just to be here with me. She’ll let me drag her down, change the trajectory of her life for what, love?
Not a chance in hell.
Love doesn’t last when every decision is a hard one.
Love doesn’t last when there’s never enough of anything else.
Love doesn’t last when you wake up each morning bitter and blaming those around you for your station in life.
I watched all of that unfold. Through pictures in the family photo album, I watched my dad transform from a man in love to an alcoholic who hated his life, his wife, and his son.
By the time I was six, Felipe Torres was miserable and unwilling to stay. It says a lot for the man who spent the rent money on a stolen pistol. He was out of control, hated the world, and unfortunately still so in love with my mom that he couldn’t leave this world without taking her with him.
“I’ll pick up more shifts at the grocery store,” she continues, like in my head I haven’t just replaced my father’s face in that tragic story with my own.
Just the thought of things ending that way for her makes my stomach roil, the threat of puking growing more real by the second.
“I don’t want you here.” I can’t even look at her when the lie rolls off my tongue.
“Wh-What?” The single word comes out on a sob, and my fingers twitch to pull her against my chest and make her forget what I just said.
“This was fun and everything, but high school is over.”
“And we get to start our real lives,” she hisses, angry hands finally swiping away the tears on her cheeks.
This determination and ire are exactly what I expected. Tinley is never one to roll over and not fight. Her advocacy for injustice is something she gets from her dad, despite the fact that he still sees me as the same punk-ass kid I was before she changed my entire world.
“My real life never included you.” The dagger in my chest twists, the pain searing enough that I feel the burn behind my own eyes.
“Ignacio Torres! That’s hateful.”
“It’s true,” I tell her with a swallow. “I was going to tell you tonight, in fact. The news of you moving away is just a bonus.”
“You said you loved me.” Her voice is weaker. “We were going to spend our entire lives together.”
“You were a shy virgin, and I wanted to fuck you. If lies were what it took to make that happen…” I shrug. “Don’t get me wrong, you’ve got a great pussy. Your mouth has been fantastic since you’ve learned to suck cock, but there are so many other women out there—”
I don’t turn my head when she slaps me across the face. In fact, she should’ve done it sooner.
Getting into her pants was a bonus, and if she wasn’t so angry, my lies wouldn’t make sense to her right now. I held back, unwilling to take that step with her until I knew I had a hundred percent of her heart. I was the one fearful of getting hurt.
It seems waiting doesn’t make much of a difference in the end.
“Take me home,” she snaps.
The drive back to her grandmother’s house is so silent, I wonder if she can hear the tiny pieces of my heart breaking away and filling the rest of my body. The heat in my face from her hit isn’t nearly enough pain. I deserve her wrath, all of her animosity, and as much as I want to pull over and beg her forgiveness, I know I can’t.
I refuse to put her in a situation like the one my parents were in. I won’t be her downfall. I won’t punish her for the rest of her life just because I’m selfish. I won’t tie her down and pray the little hearts in our eyes will make all the difference because I know they won’t.
Love is never enough.
My fingers itch to reach for her when I drive up to the curb outside the run-down house uncaring if her father sees me. When she shoves open the passenger side door, I can’t help but reach for her one last time.
“What?” she snaps, her tears long gone and replaced with a hatred I’ve never seen mar her beautiful face.
“You said you had several things to tell me tonight.”
She glares at me, her mouth refusing to open. Then, she tugs her arm away and slams the door without another word.
Little did I know I left more than my heart with her that day.
Chapter 1
Ignacio
“There hasn’t been a change in two days, Mr. Torres.”
I look up into the fresh face of the day nurse as she checks the machines near my grandfather’s bed.
“You should take some time for yourself.”
I scrub my hands over my face, wondering just how rough I must look if the medical staff are urging me to get out of here for a while. The bristle of hair against my hands has transformed from stubble to a wiry softness, making me realize I haven’t shaved in the better part of a week, something that never happens.
“Some people have to be forced out because they’re unable to give themselves permission to take a break,” she says as she crosses h
er arms over her chest. “Do you need that, Mr. Torres?”
If I weren’t exhausted from sitting at his bedside feeling empty for the last five days, I might smile at this tiny woman, since I imagine she’s got a little more bark than bite.
“Hmm?” I ask, just to get a rise out of her.
She breathes a long sigh, her upper lip twitching, making her look more like a cute squirrel rather than angry chihuahua. She’s honestly adorable and looking at her makes me realize there are a few things I’d be down with, included in the time for myself, she’s suggested.
I give her a smile I know has worked wonders in the past, but instead of the smile I expect, she merely cocks an eyebrow at me.
“You’re gorgeous,” I tell her, making sure to keep my voice low and husky.
We are in an ICU room, after all.
“I’ll tell my wife you said so. Now, do I have to have security escort you out, or are you willing to take a couple hours off from your vigil?”
“What if he wakes up?” I ask, my eyes darting to the man in the bed.
He may not look like much right now due to the stroke, but that man is the meanest person I ever laid eyes on. His fists, now lined with bruises from IVs, were once hard, powered by strong arms earned from the industrial work he did for most of his life. His words were few but scathing when he opened his mouth.
When I left Houston nearly thirteen years ago, I never looked back. I never came home, never visited, never gave him another opportunity to cut me with his words or hurt me with his hands. I told myself if I ever got out, I wouldn’t look back, and I held true to that promise until I got the call days ago that he’d collapsed at the grocery store. How the old man knew my information is beyond me, but the bigger question is why was I listed as his emergency contact in the first place. Granted, I know I’m the only living relative he has left, but there’s not much love lost between the two of us.
Mateo Costa saw me as my father, the very man who stole his daughter from him and forced him into raising a grandson he never wanted in the first place. He never let me forget I was an unwanted burden and look how the tables have turned.
I’m back in a town I never thought I’d step into again out of some fucked-up obligation to a man who I haven’t had a single thought about in years.