He tried calling Ally a couple of times, but her cell went straight to voicemail. She was probably busy, but the silence was getting to him by the time he finally caught up with her late Wednesday evening.

“Sorry I haven’t called you back, things have been hectic here.” She didn’t elaborate, and there was a touch of strain in her voice.

“I’m missing you.” The words every friend of his would advise him not to say, because looking needy, putting yourself out there, wasn’t the way to go—according to mancode. Fuck, he didn’t care. Sometimes you just take a dive into the great unknown and hope you swim, instead of sinking. And he’d spent too long burying his feelings to hold back now.

“I miss you too.” Her voice was a husk whisper. “I wish I was back in Shepherd’s Crook.”

His heart leaped. “So what’s stopping you?”

“A lot of things. You know, work, my apartment, stuff.”

Work. Right. “Have you seen Crystal?”

“She wasn’t in the office when I visited. She’s away.” She paused for a moment. “Tell me about you. How did everything go with Rory?”

He hadn’t told her about Amanda, but couldn’t keep toxic secrets any longer. Jace rearranged the pillows behind him, and scooted up to rest his back against the headboard of his bed—a bed that felt damn empty without her in it. “We talked. It was good. I think we’re going to be okay. There’s other stuff going on.” He pulled in a deep breath. “Rory’s mother contacted him on Instagram. She left us the moment she was well enough to walk out of the hospital after giving birth to him and we haven’t had any contact since, so that was a shock.”

“Jesus! A shock for both of you! When did this happen?”

“Before you came to Shepherd’s Crook. I found out about it the last day we were together.”

“Oh, Jace.” Her voice shook with emotion. “You mean he was dealing with this on his own?”

“He told Kenna. I think it’s why they’re so close. You were right, she’s been there for him.” His chest burned with suppressed pain. “I wish he’d told me sooner.”

“He probably didn’t want to hurt you. What did she say?”

“She told him she wants to see him. She asked him not to tell me she made contact.”

“God, poor Rory. He must have felt so hurt and confused. If he was leaning so heavily on Kenna, no wonder he didn’t want to leave.”

“Yes.” Jace hadn’t actually put it all together, but she was right. Rory had become more withdrawn, spending more and more time in his room. Then he acted out of character, not wanting to go away with his friends, and choosing to go drinking with Kenna instead. He displayed all the signs of someone troubled, and Jace failed to see them.

“It’s not your fault.”

How could she know what was troubling him, without being told? Without being able to see his face? Her heartfelt reaction on hearing of Rory’s problems was poles apart from Crystal’s indifference. “It’s hard not to feel as though I should have seen it.”

“I know. But you’re talking now, right?”

They hadn’t stopped talking; he’d forgotten how bright, how outgoing and fun his son could be. For such a long time, he’d been what Jace had thought was moody, but now realized was worried.

“We had Kenna over for dinner last night. Actually, it was more that Kenna and Rory had me over for dinner in my own house. They cooked.” The sound of the two young people laughing and messing around in the kitchen had been great. “I really like her. I brought up Amanda over dinner, and we talked the whole situation through. Kenna had a lot to say about it.”

“Amanda’s Rory’s mother?”

“She’s married now. With kids. Rory has half-sisters. He wants me to call her and set up a meeting. She can come here, and we can provide backup. I don’t want Rory meeting her alone; I have no idea what sort of shit she might decide to tell him to excuse her abandonment. He doesn’t want to meet her, but he is interested in knowing her kids. He always wanted to be part of a bigger family.”

“He can be.” For a second, Jace thought she might be telling him something. That she was pregnant. But before the thought could be put into words, he’d dismissed it out of hand. There hadn’t been enough time since they had sex to know if she became pregnant. And he’d always been careful—always stuck to his iron rule of using protection. Except for that last time...

“You want to have kids?” Jesus, thought-to-mouth. When had his filter been turned off so thoroughly?

“I want to have kids, yeah.” Her voice was soft. “I’d love to be a mother.”

A mental vision floated. Ally, with her stomach swollen with his child. A baby in her arms, looking an awful lot like baby Rory. A chance to share the wonder of being a parent with a partner rather than alone. And the diapers. The endless diapers. “I want you here, I want to see your face right now.”

“Oh, believe me, you don’t want to see my face right now. I’m a mess.” She laughed. “What about you? Are you through with the Daddy thing?”

“I thought I was. After the number Amanda did on me, I figured I’d never be able to trust a woman again. But hey, things change. I reckon I have it in me to go again.”

The sound of her laughter put an answering smile on his face. “Sex Ed 101: it has to be in me, if you’re going to become a father again. Bare.”

His body reacted to her words instantly. He placed a hand over his stirring cock. “You’re turning me on. I’ve been nursing a semi from just the sound of your voice. Now...well, let’s just say it’s lucky I’m alone.” His cock hardened.

“Where are you?” Her voice was husky, aroused.

“Lying on my bed.”

“Light on?”

“Light on.”

“Turn it off.”

He reached across to the bedside table and plunged the room into darkness.

“I’m in my bedroom too. I’m taking off my clothes, but leaving on my bra and panties.”

He slid down his zipper, and his cock sprang free. He shoved down the soft jersey fabric of his boxers, taking his cock into his hand.

“Lie down. Describe your underwear.”

“I’m wearing a red bra, the fabric is sheer, I can see my nipples through it. They’re hard.”

“Touch them.”

She moaned, and he gripped his cock tighter. “Panties. Take them off.”

He heard her moving around on the bed, doing what he demanded.

“Suck your fingers, make them wet, and then put them on your clit. That’s my mouth.” He moved his hand up and down his cock. “I’m on top of you, my tongue is in your cunt, and your mouth is taking my cock.”

“Jesus.” A barely heard sound.

“Put your fingers into you. Two. Now three.”

“I want you here.”

“You have me. You have me.” His hand moved faster. “You’re sucking my cock, and driving me wild. I’m going to come down your throat while I’m fucking you with my fingers. Licking your clit, loving the taste of you. Jesus, Ally, you taste so fucking good.”

“I feel you in my mouth. You’re so big, but I can take you all in. I’m running my tongue up your cock, I’m sucking hard.”

The noises she made, the delicious sounds of her losing control, barely audible, buried in the sound of both of their fevered breaths, made Jace clutch the cell tight to his ear, as his hand brought him closer and closer to orgasm. “I’m fucking coming.”

“Oh, god. I am too. Fuck me. Fuck me hard.”

His eyes were closed. He wasn’t in his bed alone, he was there, with her, her body below his, lost in her taste, buried in her delicious cunt, jackknifing into her mouth. Totally in the moment. Totally in Ally.

As the pressure built in his balls, and finally exploded out of him, it was the sound of her scream as she orgasmed that filled his ears, filled his head, filled his heart.

* * *

She’d meant to tell him. Even though confiding in someone, letting them share her troubles, was an alien concept, she’d meant to bust right out of her comfort zone, and tell Jace just what was happening with her.

But the moment their conversation took a different turn, it was so much easier not to.

She’d used sex as a distraction—an old pattern that was impossible to break. When they’d both reached orgasm, and the sound of their breathing in the dark night was all that remained, she luxuriated in the warmth that filled her. She relaxed and let all the endorphins flooding her system lull her into a sleepy twilight world, where nothing mattered but his soft words in her ear before the call ended, and she snuggled down in bed and surrendered to sleep.

That was then. This is now.

She hadn’t been bluffing when she spoke to Chris in the elevator—there was no way in hell she was taking being sacked lying down. Shock had propelled her from the building, carrying her possessions in a cardboard box, but time had given a different perspective. She was ready to fight. The first thing she needed to do was to talk to a lawyer.

Luckily, she knew one. A previous client—one of the rare few, whose husband had been incorruptible. She called to ask for a meeting, and Natalie had found a spot in her busy day at short notice. She needed to get a professional’s eye on this. Needed to know her options, her chances of getting some sort of resolution, before proceeding further.

Natalie met her at reception, and walked her into an office straight out of one of those glossy house-beautiful magazines.

“Good to hear from you, Ally.” Natalie was one of those rare people who didn’t have malice anywhere in her body. She’d been worried that her husband might be unfaithful and so grateful to discover that her suspicions were unfounded that she and Ally had formed a friendship. “Tell me what’s going on.”

There was no benefit in holding anything back. Ally took a deep breath, and told Natalie everything. From the first meeting, the magical night that followed, and the assignment she’d been given by Crystal.

“She wanted this off the books?” Natalie looked up from her desk, where she was jotting down notes.

“Yes, she said it was something private between us.”

“Okay. Continue.”

Ally told her how once she’d discovered she knew Jace she’d wanted out, but that Crystal had told her she had to continue with the assignment or she wouldn’t get a reference, should she leave the company.

“That’s blackmail, right there.” Natalie put down her pen. “And unethical to suggest that you continue when you knew him.”

It had been, and shame filled Ally that she’d not been strong enough to resign right then. Or had the power to fight Crystal’s demands.

“Reputation is everything in this job. Being with Jace…” She paused for a moment. “Something was happening between us. I fought it, but just finding each other again changed everything for him. He set up a meeting with Crystal to clarify things, and she told him I worked for her. She told him to screw me and get me out of his system, and come back to her.” Bitterness filled her gut, made her nauseous.

“Okay, well, that’s understandable, I guess. Not right, but understandable. She was angry, feeling betrayed. Lashing out in the only way she knew how. What happened next?”

By the time Ally told the whole story, she was wrung out, exhausted.

Natalie looked through her notes, underlining relevant sections. Then she leaned back in her chair, and her gaze flicked up to hold Ally’s. “The way I see it, there are a number of factors here. She should have removed you from the case the moment you asked. And, as I’ve said, forcing you to continue by threatening to withhold a reference was blackmail—pure and simple. You only slept with Jace after you learned he was free. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“He told me he broke off his relationship with Crystal, but she led me to believe they were back together. She hadn’t exactly told me so, but she’d insinuated it on the phone call.”

“So you believed him, rather than her?”

“I made that choice, yes.” But had she? Or had she been the same as everyone she previously condemned and made the decision based on her own desires rather than what was right, or what was wrong? Had she been so caught up in the need for him that she’d selfishly decided to take what she wanted, regardless of the consequences?

“Maybe it wasn’t the right decision. Maybe I wasn’t sure, and I decided to get swept up in the moment anyway.”

Natalie looked at her, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “You agreed to return to the office after a few days break. What was your intention when returning?”

“I couldn’t work with her again. I had decided to hand in my resignation, and to get a reference from the company so I could find another job. I’ve worked hard and been a good employee. As I said, she offered me her job, if I did this assignment for her in a private capacity, and told me that she and Brian considered me the best candidate for the position. I’ve earned a reference.”

“They wanted a report for the Jace investigation.”

Ally nodded. “One I refused to give.”

“So they could say that you refused to do your job.”

“And in that case, they’d be correct. Because the way everything went down, I wouldn’t throw him under the bus. Crystal lied to both of us. She acted through malice, and tried to manipulate events. There’s something else: Margaret in the office forwarded the bill for the house they rented in Shepherd’s Crook. They say as I didn’t complete the assignment, I’m liable.” She opened her bag, found the letter, and shoved it across the table to Natalie.

Natalie smiled as she read the page. “By sending you this, they’re transferring this assignment from their books to you. They’re saying that the job, which was previously something the company had asked you to complete, is now your responsibility. Settling this, and receiving no salary covering the time period, means that you were working on your own, without direction from them.” She rubbed her chin. “If you pay it, and agree that you are owned no money for the time you were out of the office, they can’t refuse to give you a reference. But they might come after you for taking time off without agreement. That could be cause for a reference refusal, or worse, a bad reference.”

“So I’m screwed if I do, and screwed if I don’t?” It was as if a black cloud descended, sucking her in, and making it impossible to find her way.

“Let’s look at it again. You were told by Brian that you acted unethically. That you slept with Crystal’s fiancé. She told other people in the office that untrue information as well. You have been slandered. And decisions were made based on that slander.” She glanced at her watch. “I have another meeting in a couple of minutes, let me look at this in more detail, and work out a strategy for proceeding.”

* * *

There were enough funds in Ally’s bank account to pay the rent for a couple of months, but beyond that, she’d need to make some decisions. The investigation business was tight knit—any ongoing disputes would cause problems finding a new job at the level she’d been used to, and any shade thrown on her reputation—proved or not, would make getting a new job difficult.

She’d started as an accountant; maybe it was time to consider a change of career. In all honesty, the appeal of honeytrapping was on the wane, big-time. What had previously been black and white in her mind: that people cheated, and deserved to be slammed for it, had shifted over the past few weeks. She’d lost her zeal for the process. Lost her urge to right other people’s wrongs, break other people’s hearts.

Honeytrapping was a hard profession, and she’d had her fill. In retrospect, she’d been disillusioned by the business before she even set foot in Shepherd’s Crook. She’d always behaved ethically. She put herself in a target’s path, and evaluated them to see if they would approach her and make a move. Who was to say if the other operatives did the same? The way Crystal had been willing to twist the game plan to get the results she wanted gave Ally pause.

Some clients wanted more. They wanted their partner to cheat, and photographs to prove it, in order to come out on top in a divorce. Ally’d stopped short of actually approaching a mark and seducing them, but she couldn’t be sure that Crystal hadn’t crossed the line when she was an operative in the field.

They had a cadre of satisfied clients who used photographs of operatives entering hotel rooms with marks in divorce cases. What if those clients had been entrapped?

She speared a hand through her hair. It was all so complicated. For the first time, the profession she put so much of her heart and soul into held the possibility of being sordid. Manipulative. Everything Belle and Lewis had accused it. Dirty.

Rent was high in Seattle. What did the city have to offer, now her job at Honeytrap Inc. was gone?

Her family was in Portland. And the renewed relationship between them, the healing that had happened in her visit, gave her hope for a different future. Maybe it was time to consider cutting her losses, and leaving Seattle?

She tamped down thoughts of moving straight to Shepherd’s Crook to be with Jace. He filled a hollow spot in her soul she hadn’t even realized was empty. But there were too many unknowns to land up at his door. Without a job or a place to live, it would seem as though he was her only option—rather than the choice she wanted.

She needed to be self-sufficient. Needed to give their relationship time. He had so much stuff going on in his life, it wasn’t fair to make this all about her. She made a cup of coffee, and sat at the kitchen table to drink it. Glad she hadn’t told him, hadn’t forced him to respond when he wasn’t ready.

They hadn’t made any commitments to each other. They hadn’t said ‘I love you.’ Yes, he wanted her to move in, but that was before the whole thing with Rory blew up in both of their faces. He’d called the previous night asking when she was coming back. She kept things neutral, and asked for some time. Had more or less told him, ‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you.’

Her finger was hovering over Belle’s number when the cell phone rang.

The caller id was shocking. Crystal.

Her lawyer might tell her not to answer, but curiosity mixed with naïve hope nixed that idea.

“Ally.”

“Crystal.” She waited, cautious.

“I know we shouldn’t speak under the circumstances. You betrayed me, and you’ve suffered for it, but as a woman who has been the victim of Jace Carter, and due to our previous relationship, I thought you should know what he’s capable of. Check your email.”

She hung up leaving Ally openmouthed.

After a couple of seconds, she shook off her shock, and flicked open her laptop to read the email.

An attachment. Making sure her virus protection was on and primed because she wouldn’t put it past Crystal to crash her system with an infection, Ally opened the files. They were photographs, and the date stamped on the corners showed they had been taken in the past few days. Since she left Shepherd’s Crook.

Jace, walking down the street to the diner, laughing with a woman by his side. A familiar woman. Ashley. More photographs, of him entering the diner with his hand on the small of her back. Of them climbing into his car; Ashley’s head thrown back as she laughed at something he said.

The accompanying email was brief and to the point.

‘If he’d cheat with you, he’d cheat with anyone. I knew you wouldn’t believe it without proof, so here it is. Ashley was dispatched to test his fidelity this week, and I’ve just had her report. She, in keeping with our company’s ethos, stopped short of taking him up on it, but this man’s file is now closed. With Cheater stamped on its front cover. The pictures speak for themselves.’

No signature. Nothing else.

Pain sliced through Ally heart to stomach, like the blade of a samurai sword.

Fuck.