a Touch of Revenge (Romantic Mystery - book 6): The Everly Gray Adventures Read Free Page B

stare boring into me. “I want you to think back. Remember the day we met? Mitchell was missing and I was positive you had something to do with his disappearance.”
    I nodded. No way could I forget that episode.
    “He’d told me that something about you unsettled him. Now that we know how deeply he was involved in spying on you, it makes perfect sense. He as much as admitted to me that you were very different from what he’d expected. But Everly, he didn’t stop. Didn’t tell the higher-ups to go to hell with their assumption that you were hiding secrets from the government, and that you knew all about your mother’s formula.”
    The old anger blasted through me. “I haven’t been able to forgive him, Jayne. He married me while I was his job and still under surveillance. Our entire relationship was a huge lie.”
    “Umm. No. That’s not exactly true.”
    My hands fisted. Her jaw was right there, vulnerable. I could practically feel my fist connecting…
    “Stop glaring at me. There was a sinkhole of deceit, yes. But Mitchell loved you. The travel, pretending to leave you when you needed him so he could tail you, watch your every move—he paid a high price for that.”
    How dare she excuse his actions. I opened my mouth.
    Parker shoved a cup of coffee into Jayne’s hands and she sipped, keeping her gaze locked on me. “Let me finish. It was wrong. He knew it was wrong, but Mitchell and I were very close. Please trust me when I tell you that he’d started looking for ways to prove your innocence. When he was in the hospital, still woozy from being drugged, he rambled on about how you weren’t guilty, but he had to stay with his assignment because it was the only way to protect you.”
    My rage collapsed into a knot of grief. “I…know. It’s part of the reason I’m not…that things aren’t right with me.”
    Jayne set her coffee down, manacled my wrists with her hands, and held on. “I loved my brother. Still do. You know that better than anyone…but Everly, what he did was wrong. In the beginning it was an assignment, and yes, he handled it appropriately. When he fell in love with you, the game changed, but he didn’t. Had I known, I would have kicked him in the arse. I’ve forgiven him for keeping the truth from me. Granted, I was only tangentially injured by Mitchell’s actions in this situation, but nevertheless, I want revenge for his death. You’re the woman to do that. Parker and I can’t, not with a six-month old son. Plus we lack the training necessary to do it right. I’m depending on you to avenge my brother’s death.”
    I jerked my wrists free and sat back. When had I turned into a clone of a comic book super-heroine? Not that I didn’t want revenge, but only on my terms, in my own time, and in my own way. This was personal.
    Parker leaned toward me. “I’m not a nice man, Everly. I pushed Jayne to do whatever was necessary to have you in place when Steele Management ran our fund-raiser séance. I don’t regret that decision, but I made it without any consideration of how it might affect your life. My memories of you were faint, and, honestly? I didn’t care about your feelings. I couldn’t see any reason not to use you to mend the breach in my company’s financial integrity. But I would not have married you without telling you the truth about myself. Even to a bastard like me, marriage is a sacred vow. Hunt fucked that up, and you have to accept—”
    Jayne stopped him with her infamously imperious hand. Probably knew that telling me what I had to do was a serious mistake. Then she turned her attention back to me. “When Mitchell stepped in front of you, it was a way for him to heal. The man I watched grow up to become one of the best photographers in the world had been in a horrific battle over the lies he told you. They were eating his soul, and honestly I don’t believe he would have been able to recuperate from the loss of his self-respect. Holding onto the guilt and