Chapter 4

"Besides me, you have no one left. I have a hundred ways to make your life a living hell. I don't want to do that to you, so don't force me." Jase shoved my hand aside and left.

Later, Rachel told me Jase had his own doctor remove the bullet from Aria's leg. He held her hand through the entire procedure. The man who wouldn't even flinch after taking a bullet actually had tears in his eyes.

Once upon a time, he'd done the same for me. I'd laughed at him for being such a baby, a grown man crying over something like that.

He'd pulled me tightly into his arms. "If it means you'll get better, Fran, I'd cry myself to death if I had to."

...

Gripping the arm of my wheelchair, I slowly lowered myself to the floor.

Handful by handful, I scooped the spilled soil back into the flowerpot. Then I carefully replanted the crushed jasmine.

I sat there until late into the night, holding the pot of crushed jasmine in my arms.

Then my phone rang.

I answered.

Aria's anxious voice came through the line. "Jase, what if Francesca finds out that four years ago, you let yourself get taken hostage on that yacht because you were trying to save me? That you agreed to their little game and let her come rescue you alone? Do you think she'll kill me?

"I feel terrible. If it hadn't been for me, Francesca never would've lost her baby. I'm sorry, Jase."

Jase's voice was gentle as he reassured her, "Don't be scared. It'll be fine. She still thinks what happened back then was a business dispute.

"As for the baby, the moment I met you, I knew I didn't want to bring that child into the world.

"I think maybe the baby knew how things between Francesca and me would eventually end, so she chose to leave us first. None of that was your fault."

The call ended.

My heart plunged into an abyss of ice.

Four years ago, I'd risked both my life and my unborn daughter's to save him. Now I knew the truth.

That kidnapping had been nothing more than another thrill in their great love story, and I'd been nothing but the clown there to make it more exciting.

I started laughing. I laughed until tears streamed down my face, until hatred grew wildly inside me and swallowed me whole.

Then I picked up my phone and dialed a number I'd never saved.

"Duncan, I've made my decision. Between the man and the power, I choose the power."

A calm, steady voice answered from the other end, "Then in ten days, Bellmont changes hands."

The next day, Jase had more than a hundred pots of jasmine delivered to me. "They're rare varieties from all over the world. That should be more than enough to make up for what happened.

"You went too far yesterday. For Willa's sake, I'm willing to let it go.

"But from now on, you don't touch Aria. Aria's delicate. Unlike you, she can't handle being frightened like that.

"Do you understand? This is your final warning."

My fingertips brushed over the petals of one of the jasmine plants. I smiled. "Not like me? What am I like in your eyes, Jase?

"Someone who can shoot a man without blinking? Someone who can sit through twenty stitches without anesthesia and never make a sound?"

It felt like someone was driving a needle into my heart. There was no blood, but the pain was enough to drive me mad.

"But these hands used to play the piano. I used to cry when I saw a caterpillar..."

"Can you stop talking about the past?" Jase cut me off impatiently. "If one billion isn't enough, how about two? Two billion dollars to settle everything between us once and for all."

"Is she really that special?" I demanded. "Special enough for you to break every promise you ever made? Special enough that you'll stay with her even when everyone in our world condemns you for it?"

"Jase, how am I supposed to accept this? What does that make everything I sacrificed for you? What does that make Willa?"

"Stop bringing up Willa!" Jase snapped. "When it comes down to it, you're the one who failed to protect her! Why do you get to put all the blame on me?

"You want to know why? Fine. I'll tell you." His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at me, each word coming out slow and clear. "Because Aria cares about how I feel. When I'm angry or upset, she does everything she can to make me feel better."