Truly Madly Deeply Boxed Set

With her heart lodged somewhere in her throat, Chelsie watched him go. Though she had expected this reaction, she couldn’t say his attitude didn’t hurt. But she’d lived without him before, and she would do so again.

Even as she’d realized that Griff’s silence didn’t bode well for their relationship, she finally felt a measure of self-worth that had nothing to do with her status as an attorney. Chelsie now accepted her mistakes. She had atoned for them as best as she knew how.

She would learn to live without children of her own, without hiding in a crystal palace that mocked her infertility and represented her poor judgment. If anything, that apartment now reminded her of Alix and the joy children could bring anywhere, even a place they weren’t meant to be.

She had Griff to thank for her new attitude. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to want to be a part of her life. When she let herself feel, the pain was almost unbearable. She knew she would have to deal with that, but first she needed to reestablish one other important relationship in her life. After flipping through her calendar, she placed a call to her parents at their vacation home in Florida. Minutes later, she’d booked a flight.

She spent the next few hours scrambling to organize her caseload, cram as much as she could into the coming week, and free up her weekend.

She glanced around her cluttered desk, but piles of manila folders blocked any productive search. “Where would I put those files?” she muttered.

If she managed to interview a few extra potential witnesses this week and postponed a messy divorce that was destined to carry on forever anyway, she could take three days off with no problem. But not if the expert witness file didn’t turn up sometime soon.

After ransacking her office and badgering their secretary, Chelsie went to Griff’s office, hoping h

e’d borrowed the list for Amanda’s case. She silently blessed him for his share-with-your-partner policy. The man didn’t care if she went through his desk, his books, or his papers, as long as she returned things so he could find them later.

As her partner, he had turned out to be great. As her lover... she shook her head, refusing to travel that path until she had time alone to think things through.

Unlike Chelsie, Griff kept the top of his desk meticulously clean, so she knew immediately she’d have to search the drawers. She opened the top one, hoping she wouldn’t have to search every file cabinet in the office.

She had no idea what order the files were in, so she flipped from the beginning. “What the hell?” The header on one contained her name in bold type and she withdrew a sheaf of papers.

She sifted through the assorted documents, sinking into his chair mid-way through. “Thorough background check, driving record, marriage license, divorce decree, hospital records, documentation of miscarriage and nurses’ notations of possible spousal abuse,” she read aloud.

Chelsie had discounted her ex-husband’s words, but obviously Jeff had been right. Someone had been digging into her past. The list of documents went on and on. Not a single aspect of her life had been untouched or considered sacred.

She pressed the folder to her chest feeling well and truly violated by the man she’d given her heart.

“Chelsie,” Griff called out, striding into his office. “Gloria said you’re looking for the list. I must have stuffed it into... What’s wrong?”

She raised her head and looked at him. “You ought to lock up private documents, or at least not be so liberal about sharing your office.” She tossed the file onto his empty desk, watching as the papers scattered across the dark wood. “Anything you wanted to know, all you had to do was ask. I never once lied to you. Omitted facts, maybe, but I never lied.”

Slowly, he lowered his briefcase into the nearest chair. His expression revealed nothing. “Anything I learned, I wanted to hear from you first.”

“So explain this.” She jerked her hands towards the documents, lifting one in her hand.

“A concerned friend.”

“Ryan,” she muttered.

He nodded. “But not my idea.”

“So you didn’t ask your best friend to dig up all the dirt on my sordid past?”

A muscle twitched in his cheek. “That hurts, Chelsie. I thought you knew me better than that. I turned down an opportunity to have Ryan investigate before we became partners.”

“So you had an attack of morality. But that didn’t stop you from reading the information when you had the chance.” Given the curiosity inherent in human nature, Chelsie wouldn’t be surprised if he had. She also wouldn’t blame him. He’d gone against his initial instincts.

Despite her mistake in suing for custody on her parents’ behalf, he’d taken her into his home and practically shared custody of Alix. With her family’s track record and his niece’s welfare at stake, Griff had a right to delve as deeply as he wanted into her life.

“It sure as hell did.” His dark eyes narrowed. Anger emanated from the arrogant tilt of his head to the hand he slammed against the desk. “Think about it.”

She paused. When she tried to view yesterday’s revelations from an unbiased perspective, she had no choice but to believe him. If he had known of her infertility, the information wouldn’t have thrown him as it had. There would have been no reason for him to take off or for him to need time on his own. Certainly, he would have had an opportunity to anticipate how to respond should she choose to confide in him. On the other hand, if he hadn’t known, he’d be shocked and react accordingly. And he had.

Only one question remained. How did Griff feel about her now? She’d laid her heart out for him, and he hadn’t accepted her love. But he hadn’t rejected it either.

“And now that you know everything?” she asked, her eyes never leaving his.