Force of Temptation

Her mouth fell open. “I don’t know what you’re—”

“Yes, you do.” And so did Harley, thanks to Donovan. “What you may not know is that his wife inherited a lot of money. They have a prenup stating that if he’s unfaithful, he walks away from their marriage with nothing. You can imagine how quickly he’ll fire your ass for fucking up his life, can’t you? And if there’s one thing you care about, it’s your job.”

Looking at the fox doing her best to hide the tremble in her legs, Harley came very close to feeling sorry for her. But not close enough. This female was ruthless and without morals. “What will it be, Rowan?” Harley continued. “You can agree right now to not include me in any more articles . . . or, to put it simply, you can fuck me over and then watch your life fall apart.”

Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment. Then her shoulders sagged slightly. “Fine.”

“Say it,” snarled Jesse.

Her eyes snapped open. “I won’t include Harley in any more of my articles.”

“Right answer.” Putting his hand on Harley’s back, he guided her to the front door.

“Don’t you want to know who my source is from your pack?” Oh, apparently Gabrielle wanted to take a parting shot.

As he opened the door wide, he gave Gabrielle a hard look. “That was just petty.” He trusted his pack mates, was confident that they would never betray him.

“Don’t be so sure!”

Ignoring her, Jesse and Harley left. As they waited for the elevator, he turned to Harley, worried that Gabrielle’s claim had ruined what progress the pack had made in earning her trust. “You don’t know my pack well enough to trust them like I do, so I can understand if her words might worry you. But she only claimed to have a source from our pack to give her article some credibility—nothing more.”

“I agree.”

“You do?”

“Your pack mates are loyal to one another. I don’t think they would betray you by talking to a reporter.” Not even Nat and Kim. For all their faults, they loved Bracken. “I especially don’t think they would want attention drawn to the pack. As for your old pack . . . I wouldn’t be surprised if they told her a few things.”

Neither would Jesse. As the elevator doors opened, he took her hand. “Come on.” She tried to retrieve her hand, but he just tightened his grip. He wouldn’t allow his mate to pull back from him, but he could feel her holding him at an emotional distance.

Deciding it might be best to give her space, he went about his enforcer duties when they returned to Mercury territory. But when he met up with her again in time for the evening meal, it wasn’t to find that she’d thawed out. On the contrary, she was wound up tight . . . like something had been eating at her all day long and she needed to get it out of her system. Yeah, well, he’d sure like to hear what was on her mind. Then they could move the hell past it.

As such, he pretty much verbally leapt on her the second they got home after the evening meal.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Slamming the front door, Jesse planted his hands on his hips and said, “Okay, tell me what’s eating at you. I know I fucked up last night, Harley. You said you accepted my apology. Was that the truth?”

She shrugged off her jacket and hung it up. “Yes.”

“Then what is this about?” Jesse watched as she took a deep breath and her features smoothed out into the same serene mask she’d worn earlier. He hadn’t liked it then and he didn’t like it now. He didn’t want a mask; he wanted his mate.

Harley moved to the dining table. “Let’s sit down.”

“No.”

“I’d rather we sat.”

He crossed the room to her. “You sit down if you like, sweetheart. I prefer to stand.”

Stubborn asshole. Well, there was no way she’d sit and have him towering over her. If he wanted to discuss it standing up, fine. She lifted her chin. “Do you know why I asked you to tell me about Torrie last night?”

Straining to keep his tone warm, he replied, “Harley, baby, she’s separate from us. Not a subject we need to touch.”

In other words, no. “I needed to see that you could lower your walls all the way. You talk about me marking you, but I refuse to do that until I can be sure that imprinting will fully work. You hide a lot behind that blank expression, Jesse. I don’t need to know your every thought, but there can’t be a fully formed mating bond unless two people know each other inside out, unless they expose every part of themselves.”

“I know that.”

“Torrie is a part of you.”

His jaw tightened. “She’s dead.”

“Dead or alive, she’s still the other half of your soul,” Harley gently pointed out.

“You already know about her. You know she died. What else is there to fucking know?”

“You don’t get it. This isn’t about her; it’s about that ‘No Access’ area you have. Everyone has things they’d rather not share, including me. But I don’t keep anything from you. I always give you honesty, even when it isn’t easy.”

He threw up his hands. “What do you want from me?”

“The same thing you want from me.”

Everything, Jesse understood. “You have all of me,” he ground out.

“No, I don’t, and you know it.” She sighed. “You learned to deal with your emotions by locking them down. I don’t blame you for that. I really don’t.”