“Before long he was dropping by my place just to chat or bring Chinese. He liked jazz and was a well-respected businessman in the community. I thought I’d finally gotten lucky and met one of these nice guys I keep hearing so much about.”

Jackson stood and put his hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, it’s okay. I should tell someone. I need to tell someone.”

As he gazed down into her big, brown eyes, Jackson had a feeling he was going to be sorry he asked.

Mainly because the more he got to know her, the harder it was to leave her alone.

Chapter Five

SHE BIT HER lower lip as Jackson eyed her curiously. He was being so sweet to her, even after she’d all but told him to kiss off. He’d done nothing but show her kindness and she’d responded with distrust and sarcasm. He didn’t deserve that from her. Not after he’d been so nice.

I need all the nice I can get right about now.

“He was a real gentleman. He seemed a little flirty at times, but never made a move. I figured he was waiting until after he wrapped up my case before asking me out. But for the longest time he said he was hitting nothing but dead ends. Then last week, he came by my house one morning and told me he was on to something big. This was before the accident.” She lowered her eyes.

“The accident?” Jackson asked gently.

He fell silent but kept his hand on her shoulder. Such a small sign of support but it made it a little easier for her to talk knowing he was on her side. She’d spent the past two hours trying not to think about how her life had recently gone up in ashes.

Literally.

Maybe if she talked about it, she could get past the mind-numbing fear.

“He asked me to hold this for him.” She pulled the pendant from beneath her shirt. “I thought it was a little odd. After all, if he was worried about it being stolen where he was going, why didn’t he just leave it at home? But I was on my way to the bank anyway, so I decided to just put it in my safe deposit box. I ended up on the road behind him. I saw when his car skidded and went through the guardrail.” She swallowed, just the memory of it enough to steal her breath.

Jackson shook his head. “That must have been scary.”

“I called the police and then tried to climb down to get to him. I didn’t know how steep it was and I fell. When the police arrived, they helped pull me back up.” Unconsciously, her hand fluttered to her wrist, where the bruises were still visible. “I could see him in the car. I kept asking the police to get him out but they couldn’t. The car was already on fire by then. We had to wait until fire and rescue arrived.”

“I am so sorry.”

Their eyes met and she couldn’t look away. He raised a hand to her face and pushed a stray curl behind her ear. But he didn’t step back after that. He seemed fascinated by her hair, rubbing the strands of a fat curl between his fingers.

“Raina —”

“My name is Ridley. Ridley Wells.”

He released her, reluctantly. “Wait, what?”

“I just wanted to tell you, that is…” She twisted the bottom of her shirt in her fist. “Raina Winters isn’t my real name. I changed it.”

It was silly, actually. Almost borderline neurotic that it bothered her to hear him call her by her sister’s name. This doesn’t absolve you, she told herself. After all, she was still lying to him. But this evening with Jackson was one of the best she’d had in a long time. As stupid as it was, she wanted him to know her. The real her.

She stepped closer and placed her hand on his chest right over his heart. “I like you, Jackson. I just want you to know the real me.”

“I want to know the real you, too. Ridley.” He whispered it as if testing out the sound. “I like it. It fits you. Beautiful, strong and as unique as you are.”

“Thank you.” She exhaled. Maybe she could just tell him the whole story? He actually seemed to understand.

“I’m glad you told me. Most of the women I meet are so fake. They just lie to get what they want but you are so different from what I expected.”

Oh, wow. Ridley cringed. So much for that. She wasn’t sure how to even respond to that. How was she ever going to explain what had happened? He’d probably just think she was a pathological liar and throw her out.

After a few moments of awkward silence he asked, “So, what happened after that?”

She pulled away and walked over to the window to look out into the night. It was dark, and she couldn’t see much other than the shapes of the trees in the backyard.

“When I called the FBI agent on the case today, he told me that David was involved with some pretty sketchy people.” She smiled weakly.

Jackson crouched down until she couldn’t avoid his eyes. “Hey, hey. It’s going to be okay.”

“But it’s not okay. That’s why I ran yesterday.” At Jackson’s puzzled look, she continued, “I didn’t tell them that David was killed because of my case. He’d found a lead on my father. The FBI saw David meeting with a member of the Moreno crime family. What if that was his lead? What if Alberto Moreno is my father?” Her voice broke and she covered her mouth with her hand.

He pulled her against his chest and rubbed a hand up and down her back. It was a completely platonic move but it warmed her, inside and out.

“We don’t know that. It could be completely unrelated.”