didn’t she? I hate to ask, Adam, but I have to know.” I paused, the silence deafening. “Was Chelsea blackmailing you?”
He dropped his hands listlessly to his sides and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “I was wondering when this was going to come up,” he said, bitterness creeping into his tone.
Time ticked away slowly, Adam silent as he continued to stare up at the blank ceiling.
“Adam?” I said at last, my voice shaky. “Are you going to say something?”
He sat up abruptly and fisted one of the many pillows on the bed. With his blue eyes stormier than I’d ever seen, he leaned forward and held my gaze. “Why, Madeleine, would I tell you something that I definitely do not want to see exploited in some book?”
His harsh words cut to the quick. “I’d never publish anything like that!” I protested loudly.
Adam laughed derisively. “Really, Maddy?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the sole reason for you even being here?”
It was, but it was no longer the only reason. Yes, I was here to research the mystery so I could write my next novel. But now that I was involved with Adam, I knew adjustments would have to be made. I wouldn’t be able to just recklessly recount everything I’d discovered. After all, I was starting to care for some of these Harbour Falls Mystery players. Especially one in particular…and it hurt to realize he trusted me so little. Because, really, all he’d told me up to this point were things I already either knew or suspected.
“I’d never write anything that would end up hurting you,” I said quietly, biting down on my lip and looking away.
My words were true. I had no intention of divulging secrets that could destroy him. Maybe I’d have to reconsider, go back to writing a work of fiction. I could use the information I’d obtained but change the details, fictionalize it. After all, I was a fiction writer.
Adam suddenly cupped my chin, urging me to meet his eyes. Deep, deep blue, the darkest blue, tormented. Did he want to tell me? What was holding him back?
With his hand in place, I couldn’t turn away. Adam said very slowly, “Ask me the question. Again.”
My heart raced. “Was Chelsea blackmailing you?”
“Yes.” Adam paused, releasing my chin but keeping his eyes trained on me. “There’s your answer. Are you happy now?”
I shook my head. “No, of course not.”
I felt queasy. It was difficult to hear him confirm what so many had suspected.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what it was?” Adam chuckled, though it was an empty action, devoid of humor. “That’s always the next question.”
“Um, was it something illegal?” I croaked.
Adam looked at me like I was an idiot. “Hmm, you could say that.”
His eyes were so intense that I dropped my gaze to focus, instead, on a light smattering of freckles that peppered his right shoulder. I cleared my throat. “Did you hurt somebody?”
I was terrified to hear his answer, so I counted freckles in time with my beating heart. One, two, please say no. Three, four, please say no.
“No, Madeleine, I did not hurt anyone.” Adam paused, and I released a whoosh of air I hadn’t even realized I was holding. “In fact, I can assure you it’s probably none of the things you’re thinking.”
Relief and gratitude washed over me in the knowledge that whatever it was, at least he hadn’t injured—or done worse to—God forbid, some innocent person. Throwing caution to the wind, I wrapped my arms around him, the heat of his bare skin permeating through the thin material of my camisole. “Thank you,” I whispered.
I wasn’t exactly sure why I was thanking Adam. I guessed it was because he had actually answered my questions, and so far it didn’t really sound like he’d done anything too horrific. Maybe what he’d done wasn’t even anything illegal? Or maybe it was something that had been illegal at the time? Then again…
Relieved and lost in thought, I brushed my lips over that peppering of freckles on his shoulder. Adam lay back once again, absently curving my body to his while resting a hand on my hip.
Between butterfly kisses down his shoulder, over his bicep, I decided to press my luck and push for more information. “So Chelsea knew this secret…and she threatened to expose it…if you refused to marry her?”
On my hip his hand flexed. “Uh-huh,” he mumbled wearily.
I really was incredibly intrigued. How had Chelsea uncovered this terrible secret?