Lots of it.
With trembling fingers she opened the other envelope. This time she flipped straight to the picture.
“David.”
She scanned the criminal background check, sickened as she read the list of infractions. She closed the file and didn’t even bother to put the papers back into the desk. She left it all out on the surface. Except for her file, which she tucked under her arm.
Part of her could understand why Jackson had done it, but it still hurt that he hadn’t just asked her anything he wanted to know. He’d probably just wanted assurance that she wasn’t dangerous if she was going to be staying in his house, but she couldn’t deny it felt like a violation. Much more so than it had with David.
Mainly because she hadn’t loved him.
“I love him. And he has a security file on me.” She chuckled bitterly. Why couldn’t it ever just be simple? Meet a guy. Fall in love. Live happily ever after. Instead, she got identity fraud, hateful brothers, and a background check.
She walked out of the office and went down the hall to Jackson’s room. He stood next to the window gazing out.
“I don’t believe you. There has to be an explanation.” He put a hand to his forehead. “You have proof?”
Proof of what?Ridley wondered. She moved farther into the room until Jackson looked up.
“I guess I should have learned my lesson about eavesdropping by now.”
* * *
Ridley stood in the doorway watching him. When he turned to look at her, she held up an envelope. Jackson’s heart dropped. His brother’s voice in his ear suddenly seemed very small.
“Nick, I’ll call you back.” He hung up the phone, his brother’s voice cutting off abruptly.
“It’s not what it looks like.”
“That’s comforting, because it looks a lot like you violated my privacy and did a background check on me. I’m so relieved.”
Jackson flinched. “I know you’re angry, but I had to know what I was dealing with. You already lied once. I couldn’t take the chance of any other surprises. I didn’t even ask Eli to do a background check on you. Nick pulled your file mainly so we could find out about David.”
“I understand that part, Jackson. I know I lied to you and I’m sorry, but I only lied about my name. I didn’t take anything from you or pretend to be Raina so I could spy on you. I only did it to keep myself safe.” She shook her head slowly. “You really don’t get it, do you? I’m not mad that you have the information. I would have told you anything you wanted to know anyway. I’m upset you didn’t tell me about it. Because you had no reason not to.”
Fury, white and hot, lanced through him. He crossed the room and got right in her face. The fact that she could be angry with him for breaking trust after what his brother had just told him was the epitome of hypocrisy.
“I can’t believe you’re lecturing me about honesty after what you did. How could you do it?” he stammered. “How could you steal from me?”
Ridley shoved him in the chest. He grunted and fell back a step. “I would never steal from you. Or anyone,” she fumed.
He yanked out his phone. Nick had told him he’d send over the bank information he’d found. When he found the e-mail, he scrolled to the bottom and held it out to her. She took the phone and stared at it.
“But this is my bank account. This is not possible.” Ridley shook her head back and forth slowly. “I didn’t do this. It has to be the person who tried to kill me. I haven’t stolen anything.”
“What happened?” He smoothed her hair back from her face. “Did someone threaten you? If you needed money you know you could have just asked me.”
“I don’t understand any of this.” She grasped his arms. “Jackson, I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“We don’t have time to wait. Eli and Nick are on their way and knowing Nick, he’s out for blood. He knows I won’t press charges against you but that doesn’t mean he won’t go to the authorities with everything else he found.”
“You won’t press charges,” she whispered.
“No. I can’t see you hurt. Even after everything you’ve done. The lies. The theft. As angry as I am, I can’t see you in prison.”
“That’s because you know I wouldn’t do this,” she pleaded. She grasped his face. “Look at me, Jackson. You know I wouldn’t do this. You know me.”
“I don’t know anything,” he yelled. “Clearly, I don’t know anything because up until a few minutes ago I knew I was in love with you.”
Ridley stilled. “Don’t say that. Not now.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, his heart racing from his impromptu confession. “I definitely would have preferred to tell you that another way.”
“You don’t love me.” She held a hand over his mouth when he started to protest. “You just feel responsible for me. The truth is that you and I, we just got caught up in the magic. You were there for me during one of the most intense times in my life and I’ll never forget that. But it’s time for us to stop fooling ourselves.”
They both turned at the sound of an engine. He walked to the window and cursed. “They’re here. They must have called me while they were on the road.”
She was crying and the sight ripped at his heart. He looked down. It wouldn’t surprise him to see a gaping hole in his chest.
“What am I supposed to do?”