Page 36 of The Honeymoon Hack

“Brie, Fenix has already tried to kill Emmett, Rav, Jayce, Drew—half the team,” I said gently. “Joseph’s sacrifice isn’t accomplishing anything anymore, is it?”

“That’s one more reason we need to—” Her voice broke as the sobs finally came.

I reached for her, finding her shoulder, then pulling her into my arms. She stiffened for a moment until she simply let it all go. Let the tears flow, let the sobs wrack her body. I held her tighter, stroking her hair as her body shook with years of grief and anger.

I couldn’t fix this. But I could be here, holding her while she processed twenty years of pain, just as I’d been there after every visit she’d made to the prison when we were kids.

“We’ll get them,” I whispered against her hair. “We’ll find the evidence, take Fenix down, and clear your father.”

She tried to pull away—Brie was always embarrassed by her tears—but I didn’t let go. She needed this.

“Let it all out, Bug. I’ve got you.”

Chapter 14

Brie

Warmth surrounded me,a heavy, protective cocoon that kept the rest of the world at bay. Something solid cradled my back, and for a blissful moment, I let myself sink into the comfort.

The air smelled so wonderful—the warm, spicy scent reminding me of going to the movies, of walking by the lake near our office, of collaborating at the whiteboards. A million laughs, a million smiles.

The scent reminded me of home.

As the fog of sleep slowly pulled back, I grew suddenly aware of where I was.

The scent was Will’s cologne.

And it was Will’s body heat surrounding me. Will’s arm across my waist. His chest rising and falling against my spine. His body curved against mine in perfect alignment, and the unmistakable hardness of his erection pressed against my ass.

Oh god. Not good.

My eyes snapped open, heart racing, heat flushing between my thighs. We were spooning, and my body was responding in ways it wasn’t supposed to. My body tingled at every point ofcontact—his thigh between mine, his breath against my neck, the possessive weight of his arm.

I should have slept on the floor.

Memories of another morning crashed through my brain. Sneaking out of the bed in his workshop, still half-dressed and thoroughly mortified. How we’d spent weeks afterward walking on eggshells around each other, both too embarrassed to acknowledge that sleeping together had been a colossal mistake.

Fuck.Our friendship had nearly shattered before we agreed to pretend it never happened. To pretend nothing had changed between us.

But somethinghadchanged. All these years later, people still saw it and asked. Even Shawn, my stupid ex, who’d left me the week before Christmas last year, claiming my daily video calls with Will were “inappropriate for someone in a relationship.”

Nothing positive ever came from big changes. Not from my father going to prison, not from dropping our lives in Ottawa and moving to Halifax, not from sleeping with Will.

Change only led to heartbreak.

Then get out of bed before he wakes up, and it gets all awkward again!

Carefully, I extracted myself from his grip, lifting his arm and sliding toward the edge of the bed. The movement disturbed him.

He shifted and made a small noise of protest. In a voice rough with sleep, he said, “Brie?”

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I whispered, my feet finding the floor. “Then I’ll grab some breakfast.”

“Mmph. I’ll join you… in a few…”

I practically sprinted to the bathroom, shutting the door and dropping my forehead against it. This was precisely the kind of complication Will had been afraid of yesterday, when he suggested all the ways we couldnotshare the bed. Instead, I’dinsisted I could handle it, but my stupid body didn’t know the difference between acting like we were married and the reality that we could never, ever cross that line again.

After a quick shower, I threw on jeans and a T-shirt and headed out, calling softly that I’d meet him in the cafeteria.