“Please continue to suck her face while I’m present. I don’t mind at all,” Stone said in his deep voice, sounding unamused.

Jasper rolled his eyes and gave me a crooked grin. “Ignore him.”

That was hard to do. “I’ll get to work,” I said again, then hurried out of the room to the filing closet.

“Are you always going to be an ass around her?” I heard Jasper ask him.

“More than likely,” he replied.

I closed the door between us and let out a relieved sigh to be away from him. I hoped Stone wasn’t back to stay at the pool house. I didn’t think we’d ever be okay together. He wasn’t going to approve of this. Not the way the others had.

I’d had a wonderful morning with my sister, and I wasn’t about to let Stone ruin my mood. I sat down and began working on the messy pile that I had barely made a dent in. The time ticked by, and it was lunch when the door opened and Jasper came walking inside.

“I’m starved. Come eat with me.”

I stood up and straightened my skirt. “Sounds good. I’m getting hungry too.”

He held out his arms and I walked into them. I liked this. Feeling like I had someone.

“Stone will thaw eventually,” he said into my hair as he held me against him. “One day, the two of you will get along just fine.”

I doubted that, but I hoped it was true. “If you say so.”

Jasper laughed, then pulled back enough to kiss me. That was enough. Having him. His friends didn’t have to like me. He did.

He held my hand as we made our way to the elevator. He wasn’t hiding this. Whatever we were now he was making sure everyone knew. Brandy Jo would throw me out of a window if she got the chance. At least the pure hate in her eyes as we passed her in the lobby said as much. I would need to watch my back around her.

“Where are we going?” I asked and Jasper paused. His eyes fixed on something straight ahead. I followed his gaze and saw Portia stepping out of a black limo outside the entrance. This was going to mess things up. She would be even less thrilled about me than Stone.

I expected Jasper to let go of my hand, but his tightened around mine. I thought we were going to stand there like a wall to keep the evil out for a moment, but he began to walk moving us forward. It wasn’t until the doorman opened the door and we stepped out into the sunshine that she saw us.

Her steps halted. Her eyes went from both our faces to our hands joined. I expected fury. Outrage. Or even a dramatic fit. But instead, there was fear. That, I didn’t understand.

“I didn’t think of this. I should have. She’s gorgeous. Her gene’s are excellent. You’re a man and I left you alone with her. I just . . . I expected more of her. More determination. More pride.”

Jasper was tense before, but his grasp on my hand was so tight now it was bordering on painful. I didn’t say anything. “I won’t allow you to hurt her or say anything to upset her. You’ll be out without a dime. Do you understand me?” his tone was so cold it made me shiver.

Portia didn’t look concerned. Her shoulders remained straight. Her head held in that lofty way I was accustomed to from her. “You’ve made a grave error, son. One that you’ll no doubt blame on me, but one you were going to find out eventually. Secrets can’t be hidden forever. I’ve learned that the hard way. But this secret? The lies? They have to come out now. It won’t just hurt her, it’ll hurt you both.”

My heart began to beat nervously. There was something she hadn’t shared. I knew there was a secret she was hiding. It was the only thing that made sense about her taking care of Heidi and me. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“What the fuck are you rattling on about? I’m not going to waste time listening to your bullshit.” Jasper looked unamused by Portia.

Her chin lifted and she sighed wearily. “I’ll meet you both at the house in an hour. I have things you both need to see,” she paused and looked from me back to her son. “So you can see I’m not rattling on about bullshit.” Even when she cursed it sounded polished.

She turned on her heel, the chauffer opened the door of the limo, and she climbed back in. We didn’t move until she drove away.

Jasper’s body was wound so tight, he reminded me of a bomb about to explode. “We don’t have to listen to her. Let’s eat,” his tone was hard and the anger was there sizzling.

“I want to hear what she has to say. This is about my mother. I know it is. I’ve always known there was something Portia hadn’t told me. The reason she had helped us. After hearing all that, I think we should listen to what she has to say. I think we have to, Jasper. You hate her, but that doesn’t make it okay to ignore this.”

He took my hand and tugged me to him. Then he held me there tightly as if I were about to evaporate. Like I would leave him for good. “I don’t trust her. She is going to try and end us.”

I didn’t think that was what she was doing. “Let’s see her proof. That’s all I’m asking. Hear her out.”

He sighed and continued to hold me. We stayed that way for several moments. When he finally let me go he nodded once. “Okay.”

Jasper

NOTHING HAD EVER TERRIFIED ME like this . . . this unknown. Not even when my father had a heart attack. I had never been so wracked with despair over possible impending doom. I fought the urge to turn the car south and drive until we were in the Florida Keys. Or west until we got to California. Or even further away. Further from this. From my mother.

It wasn’t her lies that scared me. I told Beulah it was, but it wasn’t. It was her secrets that I was afraid to face. She hadn’t been furious. She hadn’t acted as if us holding hands was distasteful. She’d been . . . different.

I didn’t let go of Beulah’s hand as we drove home. I needed to feel her and to now she was there. That I hadn’t lost her. This wasn’t over. It hadn’t had a chance to really begin. We hadn’t spent a holiday together. We hadn’t danced. We hadn’t been on a date.

I wanted to take her to Paris, Italy, and Spain. Show her my favorite places. Experience life with her. Maybe we should drive to the airport now and fly away. Leave. Protect what we had. What we had found. Nothing my mother could tell me would change my love for Beulah. My need for her.

“I love you,” she said softly.

“I love you,” I repeated.

“This will be okay,” she told me.

I wanted to think that too. But deep down the dread was there. I’d never been happy. She had been my first real glimpse at happiness, and I’d been stupid to think I’d keep that. I wasn’t meant to have that in my life.

After I pulled into the drive, I parked the car and looked straight ahead. This was it. I had to trust what we would find out. Trust that Beulah loved me enough. That whatever horror my mother unveiled inside, we could withstand it.

“Let’s go,” I said, looking at her.

She nodded.

We walked into the house. Our hands no longer joined. The heaviness and ache of loss was already there. I couldn’t fit the darkness that was already washing over me. It was going to be something that my mother had done. Something I was afraid Beulah couldn’t forgive. A reason for her to run from here.

I stopped and grabbed her hand. “Don’t hate me because of her. Whatever she’s done, please love me. We will go far away from her. We don’t ever have to see her again. Just . . . don’t let her sins be mine.”