A Merger by Marriage (Las Vegas Nights 2)

Dread collecting in the pit of his stomach, JT opened the file and stared at the top sheet. It was the police report on his mother’s death. They’d ruled it an accidental overdose but right there in black and white was JT’s darkest secret.

How long had Violet pretended not to know what he’d done? Had she played him for a fool from the start? Acted as if it was important that he confide in her when she’d already known every agonizing truth of his childhood. Bile rose in JT’s throat at her betrayal.

Below the police report was a copy of the psychiatrist’s initial assessment when JT had been hospitalized for a severe concussion and broken ribs after trying to jump his bicycle over his father’s yellow Ferrari convertible. He’d attempted the risky stunt a month after his mother’s death. Based on the timing, the doctor had determined he was depressed and put him on medication. But no pill had been capable of taking away JT’s guilt.

A knock sounded on the suite’s front door startling JT. For a long black moment he’d been twelve again, hearing the news that his mother was dead. Lightheaded, he backed away from Violet’s desk and those horrible childhood memories.

His heart pounded madly as he shook his head to clear it. There was a second knock on the front door. Rousing himself, JT made his way through the living room and let in the waiter. The smell of the food turned his stomach as it passed and he stood in the doorway while the man unloaded the dishes onto the dining room table. Moving on autopilot, JT signed for their dinner and was about to close the door when Violet stepped off the elevator and headed down the hallway towards him.

“It smells wonderful,” she said cheerfully, lifting on tiptoe to press her lips to his.

JT stood with his hands at his sides and didn’t return her kiss. She pulled back with a frown and surveyed his expression.

“What’s happened?” she asked, closing the door.

“You have a file on me.”

Guilt flashed across her lovely features and drove a spear into his heart. “Tiberius had a file on all of us.”

“All this time you’ve been lying to me.” A heavy note of sadness weighed down his voice.

“That’s not true.”

“You’ve known everything all along and pretended you didn’t.”

“Scarlett gave me the file,” Violet explained. “But I’ve never opened it. If I’ve done anything wrong it was in not handing over the file to you as soon as I got it.”

“You really expect me to believe that you didn’t satisfy your curiosity about me by reading what my uncle dug up about my life?”

“If I had, why would I bother to ask you to share your past with me?”

“To make me believe you were the perfect woman for me. It’s all in there, you know. The psychologist’s report explains that before my mother’s death I badly wanted her love and when she chose my father over me I retreated into belligerence and bad behavior. The more I acted out, the less likely it was that anyone would love me. And then you came along, and knowing what I most wanted was what I most feared, you did everything you could to make me trust you.”

Viol

et looked stricken. “You don’t know me at all if you believe I would ever manipulate you.”

“No? You suggested we get married. You claimed my father threatened to sue us if we didn’t act like a real married couple.”

Now it was her turn to get angry. “I married you to help you.”

“You married me to help yourself.”

The part of him she’d touched with her compassion and optimism wanted very much to take her at her word, but he’d been protecting himself against being hurt for so long. It was a compulsion he couldn’t resist.

“I spoke with my father tonight and he let me know he’s selling Titanium. I’ll be leaving Las Vegas to pursue some investment opportunities.” He hadn’t intended to present the situation so bluntly, but in lieu of what he’d discovered here tonight, he wasn’t capable of being sensitive.

“How long will you be gone?”

“This is a permanent move. I’m going to sell the ranch and resettle elsewhere.”

Violet recoiled as if he’d struck her. “Just like that without discussing it with me?”

“What would be the point? As per our original agreement as soon as the annual shareholder meeting is over, I’ll be filing for divorce.”

“Can’t we talk about this?”

“There’s really no point. Your life, your career is here. I have no reason to stay.”