“No, that’s not it. I remind him of his baby sister who drowned when he was a kid. He’s always felt responsible for what happened to her. He said he’s sure it’s why Skeeter assigned him to look after me. Skeeter knows Jed will go above and beyond to keep me safe.” I paused. “Jed is loyal to me. Even more so than he is to Skeeter.”

“And Skeeter tolerates that?” He sounded incredulous.

“After last week, yes. Skeeter had a conniption after he found me questioning Dirk Picklebie at his pool hall. He told me I was to warn him before I questioned anyone on my own. I told him what I did on my own time was my own business and I quit. He flipped out and sent Merv to find me.”

His body tensed. “Carter Hale told me one of Malcolm’s men was loitering outside of your office last week.”

“That was Merv. But Jed had called to warn me, and when I finally talked to Skeeter, he told me he knew that Jed had turned on him. He was going to punish Jed, so I convinced him that it was a good thing. That I had to have someone I trusted completely to make sure I was okay. And Skeeter agreed.”

“That someone was supposed to be me, Rose.” The pain in his voice was like a knife in the gut. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“I was in too deep. Besides, I knew you’d make me stop, and while I didn’t really want to do it in the first place, I knew it was the best way to save you. Even your momma said so.”

“My mother?” He stiffened and leaned away from me. “My mother knows about this?”

I shook my head. “No. But she knows I’m up to something. I snuck out to meet Skeeter while I was staying with her, when you were in protective custody in the hospital.”

“Please God, tell me that she tried to talk some sense into you.”

I cringed.

“She didn’t?”

“She loves you, Mason. You’re all she has left. It’s like I told you, she sensed that you were in danger and your future was tied to someone else. She was sure that I was the one who would save you both.”

“So you set up this meeting with Gentry’s backer, whom you think is Simmons.”

“Yes.”

“And Jed? He’s been tailing you?”

“I had no idea he was watching me that closely. But if he hadn’t been, I would be dead. I’m certain of that.”

Mason shuddered and held me closer. “I’m having a hard time buying that Malcolm would give one of his men to protect you. And his right-hand man, at that.”

“You know Jed is Skeeter’s right-hand man?”

“I make it my business to know as much as possible about the criminal elements in the county.”

“Oh.”

“So why would Skeeter make his most trusted man your bodyguard?”

“I think it scared him that Lowry figured it out. After that, he became much more careful.”

“But why? What makes you so valuable to him?”

“My visions. Working for him has helped me fine-tune them. He said he didn’t think I grasped their full potential, and he was right. I’ve been forcing visions a lot more lately, and I’m learning how to use them to find out what I need to know. I think I’ve been having a lot fewer spontaneous ones as a result.”

“It sounds like he came to trust you and has given you plenty of leeway. Why?”

“I told him I was a woman of my word, and he saw me live up to that again and again, as difficult as it was. But I also have a good head for business. He began to trust my intuition about who to question and what to ask. He tried to intimidate me at first, but I convinced him that fear is a terrible motivator. That our partnership had to be based on mutual need, but maybe I was wrong.” I put my hand on his cheek. “Fear is the most powerful motivator in the world.”

I lifted my mouth to his, needing to know he still loved me. That he could find it in his heart to forgive me.

He hesitated, but then it was as if I’d opened and unlocked the door to his emotions. Still kissing me, he tugged me backward onto the bed. He quickly dispatched with his pants as I tugged off my panties, but then he slowed down, his hand caressing my cheek.

I could barely make out his face, but his eyes looked haunted as he stared down at me.

“I keep seeing it over and over in my head. That video. I know you’re okay, but it could have been real. It almost happened.” His voice broke, and he kissed me with a fierceness that stole my breath.

I kissed him back, my hands sliding under his shirt as his reached between my legs. Soon I was whispering his name between pants. “Mason. I need you.”

He was inside me in one deep stroke, and I arched up to meet him, desperate to hold onto to him. My need for him wasn’t just physical. I loved him with everything inside me, and I couldn’t help thinking he was slipping through my fingers, despite the fact that he was here with me now.

Chapter 27

I fell asleep plastered against Mason’s side, his arm around me, protecting me.

But it was an illusion.

I had been the protector all this time, and now I was scared I would fail. Talking about facing J.R. Simmons was a lot different than actually doing it. J.R. had intimidated me the last time we’d encountered each other. Would this time be any different?

When I awoke, I was lying on my side, Mason’s stomach pressed against my back, his arm still wrapped tight around me.

The sight of the faded blue wall confused me at first, but then it all came crashing back in. A moment of panic washed over me, and I forced myself to calm down.