Page 27

JENNA

M y heart stops at the sight of Blaise aiming a gun at Ronan's head. The dim lighting of the wine cellar casts menacing shadows across Blaise's face, transforming the man I love into someone I don't recognize.

"What are you doing?" The words tumble from my lips.

Blaise's eyes dart to me, widening slightly as if he didn't expect to see me here. His grip on the gun tightens. "You weren't supposed to come back down."

My mind struggles to make sense of the scene before me.

"Lower the gun." Ronan's voice stays steady. "Whatever grievance you have?—"

"Grievance?" Blaise's laugh sends chills down my spine. "You still don't recognize me, do you?"

"Should I?" Ronan's gaze narrows. "You're just another guard who—" His words cut off as recognition floods his face. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Like my parents?" Blaise's finger tightens on the trigger. "The ones you murdered?"

The room spins. Parents? Murdered? "Your parents? What are you talking about?"

"Stay out of this, Jenna." Blaise doesn't look at me. "You've done enough damage."

Me?

“Blaise Ifrinn.” Ronan's voice holds a mix of shock and something else—fear?

It takes me a moment to register what he’s just said. Ifrinn. The family who lived here before. The family who died in the fire.

"But that's impossible," I whisper. "The Ifrinns died."

"Is that what they told you?" Blaise's question drips with bitterness. "Is that what you believed after you helped them murder my parents?"

Shock runs through me. "What? I never?—”

"Don't." Blaise cuts me off. "Don't pretend you're innocent. You showed him the passage. You helped him kill my parents."

What is he talking about?

Blaise turns his attention back to Ronan. "Life is full circle now. Here we are by the passage Jenna showed you that you used to kill my family, and now I’m going to use it to escape after I kill you."

“You won’t get away with this,” Ronan says with more confidence than I’d expect under the circumstances.

“As long as you're dead, I don’t care whether I get away with it or not.”

“No. You can’t. What are you doing?” I can’t make sense of any of this.

Blaise sneers at me. “I should have known that when it came to choosing between us, you’d choose him.”

My mind is whirling. “No. I love you. I don’t… Why are you doing this?”

He shakes his head. “It’s okay. I used Ronan’s tried and true method with you. Sweet words, those tender moments. It was surprising how quickly you believed me."

Bile rises in my throat. Every kiss, every touch, every whispered 'I love you' were all lies. My hands drift to my still-flat stomach, where our baby grows. The baby he doesn't know about. The baby he’d clearly not care about.

"The sex was unexpected, though. You saved yourself for Ronan all those years, and I took that from you too."

Tears blur my vision. I think of our picnic in the woods, the nights spent wrapped in each other's arms, his comfort during my mother's surgery. "But you helped my mom?—”

“I did. I saved your mom even though you killed mine. I heard her screams as fire consumed her.” Tension rises as he adjusts his aim at Ronan. “You’re a sick motherfucker.”

“I’m not the one fucking the gardener as a means to?—”

“You hired me,” Blaise reminds him. “You’re so out of touch, you hired the guy whose family you killed, whose business you stole.”

It finally occurs to me that Blaise is accusing Ronan of starting the fire ten years ago.

“And you,” Blaise says to me. “You made it all happen when you showed Ronan how to get into my house. MY HOUSE! How dare you?—”

“I didn’t know?—”

“Karma’s bitch, isn’t it, you two? Now, she’s shown me the passage so I can take my revenge.”

"You showed him the passage?" Ronan's voice cuts through my despair. "After everything we've done for you and your mother?"

My voice cracks. "I thought he was just concerned about security."

"Stupid girl." Ronan advances on me, making me shrink against the wall. “You handed over our secrets to the first man who batted his eyes at you?"

The contempt in his voice makes me flinch. This is worse than being invisible to him.

"I trusted him because?—”

"Because what? Because he made you feel special?" He sneers. "Look at you. The naive little gardener, so desperate for attention that you'd betray everyone who's ever protected you. Just like you did ten years ago."

“No.” I look between them, still not understanding how I play a part in all this.

"Don't play innocent." Ronan's face twists with disgust. "You were always hanging around, always watching. Always trying to get my attention. And when I asked about ways into the house, you couldn't wait to show me. Just like you showed him."

The memory returns. All those endless days trailing after him, my heart fluttering every time he glanced my way. How special I felt when he finally noticed me, finally spoke to me.

"You were so excited when I asked about the house.

" His lips curl. "Practically tripping over yourself to show me every secret passage you'd found.

Just like you did with him." He jerks his head toward Blaise.

"Some things never change. Still the same pathetic little girl, buying men's attention by betraying the people who put a roof over your head. "

Finally, the synapses are connecting. Blaise isn’t just accusing Ronan of setting the fire. He’s accusing me of helping him by showing him how to get into the house. Which I did, but I had no idea Ronan would set a fire. The fire was an accident, wasn’t it?

"No. That's not… I never…"

"You did." Ronan's voice drips with contempt. "And now you've done it again. Some things never change—you're still that pathetic girl, so desperate to be noticed, she'd do anything for attention."

"That's not what happened." I glance at Blaise, horrified that he’d believe I’d help Ronan kill his family on purpose. "I didn't know?—”

"Didn't know what? That giving away estate secrets might have consequences?" His laugh is cruel. "We took you and your mother in after the fire. Gave you jobs, a home. And this is how you repay our kindness?"

The walls close in as I realize I unknowingly helped cause the fire that killed the Ifrinns.

“History repeats itself, eh?” Blaise asks, seeming amused by this exchange between me and Ronan.

“Where are the rest of you?” Ronan asks Blaise.

Blaise gives a sinister smile. “They’re just as eager to see your family pay. I find it interesting how you berate Jenna for betraying you after all you’ve done. I could say the same for you and your family. You were all nothing until my father took you in. And look how you repaid us.”

My gaze shifts to Blaise, seeing him through new eyes. The son of the family that it appears I’ve inadvertently helped destroy. And every kiss, every tender moment between us had been his revenge.

I think of our baby. A child conceived in lies and manipulation.

A child whose father plotted to use me just like Ronan did all those years ago.

They’re right. I was desperate for love and attention.

I wanted so badly to be seen, to be loved, that I never stopped to question why either of them would be interested in me. God, I’m pathetic.

The bitter taste of bile rises in my throat as I realize how both men played me. One when I was an innocent child, the other when I was a lonely woman. Different methods, same result.

“And you…” Blaise looks at me with disdain but also hurt. “My mother first gave you that cottage. Allowed you to tag along while your mother worked. I wonder what she’ll think when she learns you?—”

I can’t bear to hear the accusation again. "I never knew what I'd done. But you…You made me fall in love with you to what? Break me? Are you going to kill me too?” Until I say the words, I hadn’t considered that. Fear rips through me.

“I did use you.” There’s something in his voice, though, that belies the coldness of his words.

"None of it was real?"

"How could it be?" His laugh is hollow. "You helped kill my parents. Did you think I could actually love the person responsible for destroying my family?"

My voice trembles as I take in the man I don’t recognize anymore and ask again, "Are you going to kill me too?"

The question hangs in the air. My hand presses against my stomach, wondering if telling him about our baby would change anything. Would it matter to him? Or would it just be another weapon he could use to hurt me?

Blaise's eyes flick to me briefly before returning to Ronan. "No. I'm not going to kill you. I already did what I set out to do with you. Breaking your heart was enough."

The casual way he dismisses me hurts me as much as any physical blow. In this moment, I realize he never saw me as anything more than a tool for his revenge. Not when he kissed me in the garden. Not when he made love to me in the woods. Not even when he helped save my mother's life.

“And then there is the bonus of showing Ronan here how easily his loyal little gardener could be turned against him."

“You fucking bitch,” Ronan’s hand swings out, catching me in the face, knocking me so hard that I stumble and fall to the ground. At that moment, I almost wish Blaise would kill me.