Page 116 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2

"You can't blame yourself for not thinking like a criminal."

I shook my head.

"Look, it's not your fault because it's mine. And Briggs. Aren't you wondering why I came up?"

"No. I just assumed you were worried when I didn't answer my phone."

"Yeah. Partially. But I was calling to tell you something. When you didn't answer, I did assume the worst. Because while I was waiting in the car for you, I got a call from Briggs. Apparently after some digging from the investigators that James and Mason hired, the hospital announced that there was a malfunction with the ventilator that was helping James breathe. It randomly stopped working. That's why his lung collapsed. Briggs made them pull the video footage of when it happened. I was on break at the time. And Briggs had gone to the bathroom because his stomach was upset. He thought James' parents were going to stay with him. He never would have left his post if he knew James was going to be alone."

I already knew where this was going. Isabella had said she'd tried to kill James twice.

"There's footage of Isabella slipping into James' room right before the malfunction," Porter said. "And she left the room right after the ventilator apparently stopped. There are no cameras in the actual hospital rooms, just in the hallways. Her timing was so impeccable that we're almost positive that Isabella somehow slipped something into Briggs' coffee so that he'd need to use the restroom. Especially since he feels so much better today. He'd still be sick if it was the bug that's been going around.

"This," he said and gestured to the blood on the floor, "is enough to put her away for a long time. There still isn't proof that she was behind the shooting. Her being in James' room when the ventilator malfunctioned is suspicious, but not damning. But she's still going to prison for what she did today. She's still going to pay."

"She told me she had tried to kill him twice. She said she had failed both times she tried. That must have been the second time. Isn't that proof enough?"

"It's her word against yours. I believe your word will hold better in court due to what happened today, but it's still not guaranteed."

"She tried to kill my husband."

"And there is no hard evidence to support that."

I thought about what she said. That people like her didn't end up in jail. "They'll send her to a hoity-toity prison. She'll get off soon for good behavior. She'll come after us again. Rob thought that there might be evidence here. What if he found it? Or what if it's still here?"

"Then we'll talk to Rob when he wakes up. Right now, I'm taking you back to the hospital."

"Just give me five minutes. I think I might..."

"I'm sorry. I have strict instructions to bring you back immediately. James has been calling me nonstop for the past half an hour. We're leaving now."

"Excuse me," the detective working with Officer Daugherty said. "I found this at the top of the stairs. Does this mean anything to you? Possibly about why the assailant may have attacked the victim?"

I took the crumpled slip of paper from his hand and quickly read the brief note:

"If you marry her, I will end you. There is no coming back from this."

"He knew," I said in a whisper. James fucking knew. Rob was right. James knew and he let it happen.

"Penny, as far as we knew it could have been about ending his reputation," Porter said.

"You knew about this?" I held up the note.

"We were briefed on it, yes." Porter quickly explained its significance to the detective.

The detective agreed to run it for prints. But I wasn't listening to their exchange.

Of course Porter knew. Of course Briggs knew. Because why would James tell me? He never told me anything.

I had been avoiding going back to the hospital. But it wasn't because I was shocked by what had just happened. Or that I was horrified that my new apartment was now a crime scene. I was still standing here because I was furious. The whole time James was unconscious, I blamed myself. I thought that it was somehow my fault.

But Porter was right, this wasn't my fault. It was James'. He had hidden something from me again and I was so angry I could almost feel the anger pumping through my veins. Rob came here because he could feel it too. The secrets. Rob was hurt and unconscious because James hid something important from both of us. And I knew there was no solid evidence of that, or whatever people kept telling me. But I had a piece of paper from Isabella saying she'd try to kill him if he married me. That was the interpretation. And I knew James. I knew that he thought that's what it meant too, but he decided to keep it from me. And at this moment, I hated him for that. I hated him for what had happened. I hated that he always tried to protect me when I didn't need protecting. All I needed was the truth.

And I wasn't just mad about that either. I was mad at him for having a DNR. I was mad at him for thinking he could control everything in both our lives and that he'd just be willing to leave it without asking me. He had changed his will after he met me. He had left me all his money. But that was the whole problem. He had decided to leave it to me because he decided that if he got hurt he'd leave me without trying to fight. He willingly decided to give up on the life we created together without even asking me what I thought.

And the worst part was that he'd lied again. Because that's all he seemed capable of. It hurt me to the core that he was still keeping things from me. Yes, maybe he didn't want children because he thought he'd be a bad dad. His father had been awful to him growing up. His role model was crap. I understood that. I understood that he was worried his addiction problem might put his children in jeopardy. I understood it all because that was the crap that he fed me. But it seemed to me that he didn't want a child because he thought he lost one. That he was still silentlygrieving a baby that never existed. And I hated him for not sharing that with me. I hated him for not sharing his pain with me. I loved James more than I thought I could ever love another human being. But I fucking hated him too.

"You're right. Let's go back to the hospital." I needed to have a word with my husband.