The Darkest Danger (Shattered Series Book 2) by Chloe D. Ashton Page B

that since our earlier times at Laramie Rock. Please, Jarrod, don’t disappear on me like that again. I can’t take it.”
         As he stared down at her, his words were tortured. “I don’t want to lose you,” he whispered, and tears glistened in his green orbs. “I’m nothing without you.”
         “Don’t say that,” she implored, biting her lips to control her sob. “You’re a strong man, and you’ve accomplished so much with me and before me.”
         “That’s where you’re wrong,” he muttered, grabbing her hand in his, and to her surprise, it was shaky. “I’m a better man because of you. You made me feel alive again.” As his eyes searched hers, she sensed his desperation. “Remember those nights on the yacht?”
         “Of course, I do. How could I ever forget such profound and memorable moments?” she smiled at him tearfully. “We made love and you confessed that you loved me. It was the happiest day of my life.”
     “I’ve never felt that close to anyone. Down to the deepest parts of my soul, I felt you ,” he whispered, and so much agony shone in his green eyes that it hurt. “I remember thinking, she’s got me , every fractured, messed-up piece of me, and she’s still standing here. Instead of running away from the disaster that I was, you stayed. You’ll never understand how much that means to me.”    
         “You speak of yourself as if you’re a monster. Jarrod, you’re not. I want you to stop believing that you are. I just need you to trust me completely---”
         Her words ended as he pulled away.
         Once more, he crossed the room, putting distance between them again.
         Wasn’t there an emotional distance as well, she mulled quietly, feeling her anxiety rising again.
         The tension in the room was so taut, that the air was likely to break like a string. More than likely, the truth would sever it.
         “Please, don’t shut me out,” she pleaded, staring at his stiffened form across the room. “Talk to me.”
         “I love you,” he whispered, anguished. “You’ll never know how much. My intentions have never been to hurt you. But, I have, and my next words will. The way in which I’ve approached our relationship in the beginning---it was all wrong. I should have been honest with you from the very beginning. But, I wasn’t, and I haven’t been.”
         Dear God, no , she whispered inwardly, feeling the tears wetting her cheeks.
         Had there been real truth to the words that Matt had spoken? Had her relationship with Jarrod been a ruse on his part all along?
         “No,” she pleaded, balling her hands into fist before placing them before her mouth. Still, her naked sobs broke free as the truth closed in. “Don’t you dare say it.”
         “As much as I don’t want to, I have to.” Like bright emeralds, his green eyes glistened with fresh tears. “Baby, I’ve never loved anyone the way that I love you. Hurting you is the last thing that I want---”
         “No, I don’t want to hear it!” she screamed wildly, and her words echoed in the shack. “Jarrod, I want you to stop it!”
         But, if he said nothing further, would it really matter, she thought desperately, for didn’t the truth breathe within the walls already?
         “We met at one of your gallery showings,” he continued. “I’d like to say that it was by chance, but it wasn’t. At that moment, it was ploy, nothing but a game. You were the pawn .” Avoiding her gaze, he stared at a point across the room. “Because of things that’d happened, those that I don’t want to disclose right now, I wanted revenge against Addison and his father.”
         Staying silent, she awaited the next verbal blow.
         “So, I schemed, plotted, and became involved in illegal dealings just so that I could break them financially. But, it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted them both to bleed