Tainted Evidence by Rachel Grant

Author:Rachel Grant [Grant, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781944571344
Publisher: Janus Publishing

The knock shouldn’t have startled Maddie. She’d half expected it after seeing Josh in the lobby, but still, it did. It wasn’t as if she’d given him her room number.

Like that would stop a Raptor operative.

She sighed and reached for the door. Might as well get it over with. She wasn’t quite braced for the gut punch of seeing him again. But there he stood, broad shoulders, stiff, almost military stance. Rigid. So handsome, it made her guts ache.

His expression was neither hot nor cold. But upon closer look, she could see something, some spark of emotion in his eyes. She just wasn’t sure which emotion.

She waited, saying nothing. He closed his eyes as if searching for a place deep inside that would tell him what to say.

“There’s only one thing you can say to me right now, and if it’s not the first words out of your mouth, you can leave now.”

“I fucked up.”

“That’s actually pretty close, but not it.” She shut the door.

“I’m sorry!” Josh shouted. “I’m so, so sorry, Maddie.”

Her heart pounded as she stood next to the closed door. Should she open it? Should she hear him out?

“Please, Maddie,” he said, his voice suitably pleading. “Please let me apologize. Let me explain.”

Slowly, she pushed down on the bar and opened the door a crack.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

She pulled the door open wider and stepped back, allowing him to enter.

He stepped into the room and turned to close the door. With his back to her, he repeated, “I’m sorry.”

“Face me when you say that.”

He turned as she commanded. His face was flushed, and his eyes burned with intensity. “I’m sorry. I fucked up.”

“Yes. You did.”

“You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?”

“No. Why should I?” She crossed her arms. “Do you believe Ava?”

“Honestly? I think I did, but never a hundred percent. I just believed it was possible she was telling the truth. With that in mind…I—I didn’t know what to do.”

He ran his hands through his hair. “I told you the night we met that she has to come first. Ava has to be the number one on my priority list, and if there was any chance that you said what she claimed, I had to be there for her. She needs me. Needs one adult to count on.”

“She also needs discipline. And letting her manipulate you is about the worst lesson you can teach her. But aside from that, I don’t really know what she said about me. So as much as I’m sympathetic to your reasons and maybe might even understand a little bit, I’m not quite there. The time for you to confront me with this was Sunday night.”

She took a deep breath and turned to pace the room. She couldn’t keep staring at him and maintain her sanity. “When I offered to take Ava for a few days to help you both out, I told you there was nothing she could say that would hurt me. And that was true.

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