Indebted - Piper Stone Page 0,90

need to be able to trust you, Liam. Do not fuck with me. I will not tolerate it.” If there was someone else involved, I would scour the ends of the earth until I found him.

He placed his hand on my shoulder, his grip firm. “You can trust me, but if you decide that my treachery all those years ago was too great, I will walk away from Masters Enterprises entirely. You have my pledge. For what it’s worth, I believe the car crash was an accident and not because you’d had a few drinks.”

The question had been raised in response to Christina’s family demanding murder charges, an accident declared the official cause. That was because of my father’s influence and nothing more. The decision had nearly destroyed her family.

Only I’d known the truth.

I lifted my gaze, respecting his conviction, although I would never trust him completely. I walked out onto the pool deck, amazed that sun actually felt good against my skin. There would be no more hiding, even though my reputation had been ruined. While I continued to believe Jefferson was responsible, my thoughts also shifted to Stephen Cantor. I knew he had performed some work for various members of the network of men on a few occasions. I couldn’t put it past him that his ah-shucks demeanor was nothing more than a front.

At this point, I was ruling nothing and no one out. I would carefully detail my options, searching for whatever secrets they’d managed to hide from me and more. Men who kept them always made mistakes, including myself.

My weakness.

My affliction.

Alessandra.

She didn’t budge when I walked toward her, didn’t glance in my direction, but I knew she was watching.

I sat on a chair near her, keeping my gaze locked on the water.

Several minutes passed.

“What you endured was more than I could imagine. I wish I had the right words to comfort you,” Alessandra said with such clear intonations that a shiver oozed down my spine.

“There is nothing that needs to be said. That was the past.”

“Don’t do that, Gabriel. What your father did was horrible, and it shaped you.”

“What happened turned me into a monster. That’s just fine with me.”

I heard the creak of her chair as she shifted in my direction. “You’re not a monster.”

I laughed, finding it difficult to even look at her. Maybe I’d used my guilt to accept my behavior, treating her like nothing more than an object. “You were right all along. I have no problems destroying anyone who gets in my way. None. Have I been ruthless in my business tactics? Absolutely. Did I callously accept your father’s offer without thinking for a second about your welfare? I did.”

She placed the book on the pool deck then dropped to her knees, crawling toward me. When she placed her head on my knee, a strangled sound erupted from my throat. All the years of anger and shame came rushing to the surface. “Listen to me,” she whispered. “If you really believe that then only you can change such ugliness into something else, but I know better.”

“I will never let anyone hurt you, including myself.” I ran my hand over the top of her head, tangling my fingers in her long strands. She was such a beautiful flower, a precious jewel.

“I love you.”

Her words were just as haunting as before. “I... adore you, Alessandra, but I can’t keep you as my prisoner.” Love. The word was so damn difficult to say.

“What if I want to stay?”

“Then I’d consider you a fool. You know what I’m capable of.”

Sighing, she caressed my legs, allowing tingling sensations to drift all throughout my body. “Yes, I do. You don’t scare me.”

My God, I should. I should terrify her.

“There are things you need to know, including the fact Bobby Rivers was murdered.”

“What?” She lifted her head, shock crossing her face. When I didn’t say anything, she shrank back. “They think I did it, don’t they?”

“That’s easy to answer to, but there is some fear you will be forced to return to jail. That’s not going to happen.”

“Then what do we do?”

I’d tasked Jefferson to find who framed her in the first place. I could only imagine what he was doing with news of Bobby’s murder. I closed my eyes, fighting the nastiness rearing its ugly head. “I will find the asshole responsible. We are going away for a few days if necessary. No one will touch you.”

“We can’t run from this, Gabriel. We just can’t. I want