“I know, baby. It’s all right. I couldn’t have done better myself.”
“Elliot would’ve let her do it to him.” I sniffle. “He would’ve married her. He’s not like us. He’s not strong like we are. He would’ve been too scared to stand up to her, especially with Stella helping her.”
“I know, I know. Shh, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. I didn’t want to kill her, but I knew if I didn’t, even if I took the evidence to the FBI, her friends would still try to find a way to hurt him. I couldn’t let them hurt him.”
He kisses me again, distracting me. “It is okay, baby.” He nuzzles my nose. “Well, I guess you’ve done something I never have.”
“What’s that?”
Another sweet kiss. “I’ve never killed someone.” He presses his forehead to mine again. “I need you to talk this out with me later, when we can be alone and have time. You cannot let this fester. You protected our guy, and you’re right that she was evil. Her ‘friends’ likely saw that as a serious warning shot and backed off, because they don’t know for sure who did it, or what bombs might be awaiting them with her death. But you have to come to me to talk things out when you need to.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Do you still have the video? Of her making the threat in the first place?”
I sniffle and show it to him. When it ends, he stares into my eyes. “We never tell Elliot. Any of this. Ever. We take this to our graves. Understand me?”
I nod. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise, Daddy.”
“Do you have a copy saved somewhere safe?”
I nod.
“Delete it from your phone.”
I do, and then go into the deleted section and empty it from there, too.
Gone.
Just like Grace.
When I finish that, he pulls me back into his arms and studies me for a long moment. “I need a confessor, too.”
I sniffle. “What?”
“Just us. Only us. Never tell him.”
I nod. “Just us.”
For another long moment, he stares into my eyes. “I don’t want to do it, but I have a bad feeling I might have to kill Stella. She was Grace’s main connection to that group.” He cups my face in his hands. “There might be a time when I have to sacrifice myself for Elliot. Promise me if I do…you’ll let it happen.”
Shock and horror fill me. “But Daddy—”
“Promise me, Jordan. If it comes down to that, you can’t defend me, and you can’t lie for me. Ever. Grace was cremated and, lucky fucking blessings, no one ever suspected you of a damned thing. You look fucking innocent, and you were goddamned brilliant. But you can’t keep getting that lucky. There isn’t that much luck in the world. I will not let you put yourself in danger again.”
His grip grows painfully firm. “Promise me, Jordan. Elliot needs you. I can’t believe Stella wasn’t involved in this with Grace from the start. She might set up another run at Elliot with someone else. If she does, I’ll take care of it and her, if forced to. But if I have to, and I’m ever implicated, you cannot lie for me, cannot do anything but be there for Elliot. Promise me.”
My heart’s breaking and I start crying again. “I promise, Daddy.”
Relief makes him sigh. He wraps his arms around me, his face buried in my hair. “My perfect baby boy. If something ever happens to me, your priority is Elliot. It’s always Elliot. That’s an order. You’ll act shocked and disappointed, and say or do whatever’s necessary to turn Elliot against me, including lie to him, if you have to. You’ll never have any contact with me again, not even through lawyers or Chris or Kev, and you’ll refuse to let Elliot have any contact of any kind with me. You’ll get Elliot through it, and you’ll eventually marry him once he’s out of office, or sooner. Hopefully sooner, because it would take that weapon out of their hands. Understand? Promise me.”
The words bitterly burn my throat as I say them. “I promise, Daddy.” Except…
That’s a lie. I could never let him do that.
“Please don’t panic. Hopefully, it won’t be necessary. That’s last- and worst- case. If I ever have to resort to that, maybe I can pull off a miracle and not get caught. If I can’t, I have to know you’ll close ranks and be Elliot’s rock.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“My good boy. I promise it’s likely never going to happen. And I promise that I’d see you one more time before I do it, to say good-bye to you.”
“What if he marries you?”
“What?”
“What if Elliot marries you?”
It takes him forever to answer. “I don’t want to get my hopes, baby. If he ever decides to marry me, then it won’t matter what Stella tries, because that’s the only thing anyone will ever have on him. The pet’s honest. He’s never done anything he can be dinged for. Grace’s lie would’ve worked because of their family history, but there’s no one else with that kind of tie to him.”
He makes me look at him. “Don’t try to manipulate him into marrying me. If we can keep him safe for the next four to eight years, maybe he’ll finally de-ass his head on his own.”
“Promise me something, Daddy.”
“I’ll try.”
I sit up. “Promise me if you think it’s going to come down to…” I swallow. “Tell me. Give me a chance to move him off his fear and propose to you first. Let me try to make a change somewhere to make it unnecessary. Please?”
He sits up, too. “I told you, I won’t ever force him to marry me. Manipulating him’s the same thing. You and I both know we can ‘make’ him do anything we want. And you know I won’t do that to him.”
“Just promise me. Give me a chance. Please?”
“I don’t think it’ll come to that. If it does…” His gaze drops. “Yes. I will.”
That’s the first time Leo’s ever outright lied to me, that I’m aware of.
I won’t call him on it, either, because I know his heart.
I know his love.
We are his heart and his love, Elliot and I. We are his world. He will never sacrifice either of us.
He will always sacrifice himself to protect us. Because he always has in the past, even when I didn’t look at it in the proper context.
Now I know what I have to do.
I either need to coax Elliot into marrying Leo as soon as possible…
Or I need to figure out how to get rid of Elliot’s sister, so Leo doesn’t take the fall for it.
Because I’ve walked away from enough in my life.
I walked away from church and God.
I walked away from my parents and my home.
I walked away from Tallahassee and my master’s degree, and what had been my previous dream career.
I walked away from Leo once already, and the chance to take him from Elliot and marry him.
I walked away from any hope of ever having a “normal” life by choosing to accept Elliot’s offer to come back.
Like fucking hell will I allow anyone to take this life, or the two men I love, away from me. Not without putting up a goddamned fight.
Because I refuse to go back. I want this life, and I want these two men.
I will gladly sashay my ass into the flames of Hell with a smile on my face every step of the way to protect the men I love. Even Satan himself won’t fucking know what to do with me.
They all think I’m innocent.
They’re wrong.
And if they think I’ll let anything happen to Elliot or Leo?
They ain’t seen nothing yet.
The End
http://www.leslirichardson.com
Leo, Elliot, and Jordan’s story concludes in Incisive (Inequitable Trilogy book 3).
Please visit my website for more information on other books and trilogies set in the world of the Governor Trilogy.
About the Author
Author Lesli Richardson, who is better-known by her more prolific wild-ch
ild Tymber Dalton pen name, lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. She writes a wide variety of heat levels and genres, from mainstream sci-fi all the way to scorching ménage.
The USA Today Bestselling Author (as Tymber) and two-time EPIC award winner is a part-time Viking shield-maiden in training who loves to shoot skeet and play D&D with her friends. She’s also the author of over one hundred and sixty books and counting, including The Reluctant Dom, Cross Country Chaos, the Bleacke Shifters series, the Governor Trilogy, the Determination Trilogy, The Great Turning Trilogy, the Suncoast Society series, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Coffeeshop Coven series, the Good Will Ghost Hunting series, the Drunk Monkeys series, and many others.
She lives in her own little world, but it’s okay—they all know her there.
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Innocent (Inequitable Trilogy Book 2) Page 66