I can’t let him storm out of here. I can’t let this go on another second. So when Jett’s accountant starts to explain the investigation that’s about to happen—the investigation, Jesus—it starts to spill out of me.

“Wait.” My voice is choked, tight. It’s the first thing I’ve said since we entered the office.

Jett looks down at me, eyes narrowed, mouth slightly open. I can feel the accountant’s eyes on me, but I don’t dare look at him, because...

“What is it, Angelica?”

My eyes fill with tears.

“I can...I can help you with your investigation.”

Jett drops back into the chair, forehead furrowed. The accountant clears his throat.

Jesus, this is so much harder than I thought it would be—and I thought it would be terrible to begin with.

I want to erase the confusion from Jett’s face. I want to calm his anger with an explanation that will make everything clear. I want to make the accountant’s job easier.

But I don’t want to lose Jett.

My heart thrums, Don’t do this. Don’t lose him. Don’t do this. You’ll lose him.

I know I will, and I can’t back down.

Not now.

My mind casts around for a solution, any solution, but it comes up blank...because there isn’t one.

I take a deep, shuddering breath and blink back the tears. They’re waiting for me to speak. Tick tock, Angelica.

“I want you to understand that...” It comes out as a pathetic whisper. Jett shakes his head. He couldn’t hear. I swallow the painful lump in my throat and start over.

“I was the one who...who got access to your computer.”

The color drains from Jett’s face. When he leans toward me, it’s with a slow, deliberate movement, as if it’s all he can do to keep his muscles under control.

“You did what?” His voice is deadly soft.

“You know—you know that all of this started...well, almost four weeks ago now. It started then because that’s when they sent me to install a program on your computer.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m the one,” I cry, a couple of tears spilling over onto my cheeks. “I’m the one who’s been feeding information to an outside group so they can steal your money. All I know is one name.”

Jett raises his hands to his hair, runs his fingers through it, and stares at me like I’m speaking a foreign language.

“My brother—he was in trouble. He owed money to a man named Charlie. He threatened to—” I shake my head. All this sounds like an invented excuse, and in the end, does it matter why I did what I did? “I did it, Jett. Every week I’ve been downloading information from your computer and giving it to Charlie. He’s got to be in charge of a crime ring, because he’s got people—”

“Angelica,” he says, the word a razor that goes straight into my heart. “What the hell were you thinking?”

My chin quivers.

I hate myself.

“I was protecting my brother.”

“Is that all?”

Jett’s question hits me like a meteor rocketing through the atmosphere and slamming into the earth’s surface, causing destruction across the planet.

“In the beginning...”

“That’s enough,” he says, holding his hand in the air. “That’s more than enough.”

There’s a heavy silence in the room.

I can hardly breathe.

Then Jett looks at me with disgust in his eyes. “I should have known.”

I lick my lips, try to find the words, but he continues.

“I should have known that you were up to something pathetic that night. Who sneaks out like that in the middle of the night? Jesus, Angelica, are you some rebellious teenage bitch who doesn’t want to own up to what she’s really doing behind the scenes?”

If you hadn’t been such a stupid bitch and installed the program correctly the first time...

Charlie’s words, echoed by Jett’s, ring in my ears so loudly that I can’t hear what he’s saying. It doesn’t matter what he says. The hurt—the rage—on his face is so palpable that it makes my hands shake.

“I wanted to stop,” I say, and Jett shakes his head, his lip curling.

“At any point,” he says, his tone soft and sharp again, “you could have come to me. I have the resources to deal with...” His jaw works. “I don’t even know what to say to you, Angelica. I can’t believe you would do this.”

“I know.”

“Was it all a lie, then?”

Jett’s accountant has his eyes glued to his desk, and the man is holding perfectly still. I can imagine he wants to get out of here as quickly as possible, but there’s no graceful way to make an exit—not at this point. My face goes hotter. If Jett would cool down and listen to me, then maybe...

“Tell me.” His green eyes are flashing, locked on mine, burning me up from the inside. “Was it all a lie?”

“It wasn’t—”

“The elevator. That first day. Was that a lie?”

“It was the first time I ever saw you.”

“Were you there to steal from me?”

“I was doing what I had to do.”

“And that flood at your apartment? Another lie, so you could get closer to me?”

It’s an effort to relax my jaw enough to speak. “My apartment didn’t flood. But that doesn’t mean it was all—”

“Stop.”

I take a shuddering breath and pinch my lips together. I want him to know that I love him. I want him to know that I was afraid, I was doing this because I was afraid, because there was never a moment when my family’s lives weren’t at risk. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to do?

“If I could suggest something, Mr. Brandon,” the accountant interjects, his voice soft, appeasing. “It’s probably time that we contact the authorities. And your attorneys.”