Chapter 20 - THE WOMAN HE NEVER HAD TO PRETEND TO LOVE|
Jenna read the message once.
Then she read it again.
For eleven years, Victor Voss had survived by making people believe they had no choice. He had used fear to silence Thomas Hart, guilt to control Eleanor, and greed to corrupt Henry Cole. He had turned Ryan Callahan's pain into a weapon and used my father's death to build an empire of lies.
Now he was trying to do the same thing to me.
Jenna refused to let him.
She contacted Margaret, Marcus, and the independent investigators who had received the original evidence. Within an hour, they had established that the edited recording released to the press had been created from a genuine recording that had been altered.
The unedited version was still on Thomas's laptop.
It showed the truth.
My father had refused to cooperate with Voss. Henry had arranged the warehouse meeting. Richard had provided the location. Voss had ordered the murder.
The investigators had the evidence they needed.
But Jenna knew Voss would not wait for a legal decision.
She returned to the storage unit and found one final file hidden beneath the laptop's protective case. It contained a list of emergency contacts and a handwritten note from her father.
If the truth becomes public, Voss will try to disappear. Watch the money, not the men.
She understood immediately.
Voss had spent years moving money through shell companies. If he planned to flee, he would need access to the accounts that remained untouched.
The final transfer was scheduled for that afternoon.
Jenna sent the account details to Marcus and the investigators. They traced the transaction to a private airfield outside Denver.
At the same time, I sat across from two federal investigators in a small room with a recorder on the table.
They had asked about my organization, my father, and my relationship with Jenna.
I told them the truth.
I admitted what I had done. I explained what I had inherited. I gave them names, records, and information that could bring down parts of my own empire.
One investigator looked at me.
"You understand that this evidence could destroy your business."
"Yes."
"And your reputation?"
"That was never as important as I pretended."
The door opened.
Jenna entered with an investigator beside her.
For the first time that day, I felt the tightness in my chest begin to ease.
She sat beside me.
"I found him."
"Voss?"
She nodded.
"He's at the private airfield. The investigators are moving now."
I stared at her.
"You did all that yourself?"
"Not entirely. Marcus helped. Margaret helped. Several people who were frightened of Voss finally agreed to testify."
She squeezed my hand.
"And you were right. The truth cost something."
I waited.
"But it didn't cost everything."
An hour later, Victor Voss was arrested as he attempted to board a private aircraft. Henry Cole was charged with conspiracy and evidence tampering. Richard Blackwood was taken into custody and agreed to testify against Voss in exchange for consideration of his own charges.
Ryan survived surgery and was placed under guard while investigators reviewed his involvement. He would face consequences for stalking Jenna, threatening her family, and helping Voss. His apology did not erase what he had done, and Jenna made it clear that she would never return to him.
Eleanor began cooperating fully with the investigation. Jenna did not immediately forgive her, but she agreed to meet with her mother when she was ready.
The financial records were authenticated. The false accounts were frozen. My father's name was cleared of the worst accusations, and Thomas Hart was publicly recognized as a whistleblower who had risked his life to expose the conspiracy.
My own future became more complicated.
I cooperated with the authorities, surrendered records of illegal operations, and began dismantling the parts of my organization that had been built on fear and coercion. It cost me money, allies, and a measure of the power I had spent years protecting.
But I didn't lose Jenna.
Three months later, I took her to the same restaurant where we had once discussed our pretend relationship. The city lights shimmered beyond the windows, and snow fell softly over the streets.
She looked at the table.
"Is this where you tell me we're breaking up?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"You're still making jokes about that?"
"I'm trying to prepare myself. Dating a man who used to be a mafia boss comes with a few complications."
"Formerly feared mafia boss."
"That sounds worse."
I reached across the table.
"Jenna Hart, I have something to ask you."
She looked at my hand.
"Is this another business proposal?"
"No."
"A security arrangement?"
"No."
"A suspiciously expensive gift?"
I smiled.
"Those are all possibilities for another evening."
She laughed.
Then I grew serious.
"When you asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend, I thought it was an opportunity to stand beside you in public. I didn't understand that loving you would require me to become someone who could stand beside you in private, too."
Her smile softened.
"I don't want you to be perfect, Evan. I want you to be honest. I want you to keep choosing the truth, even when it costs you something."
"I will."
"And I want you to stop pretending you don't like my terrible coffee."
"That may be impossible."
She threw a napkin at me.
I caught it, just as I had caught the pen in my office months earlier.
Then I took a small box from my pocket.
Jenna's eyes widened.
"Evan."
"It's not a ring," I said quickly. "Not unless you want it to be someday. I don't want to rush you into anything, and I don't want you to feel that loving me means giving up your freedom."
I opened the box.
Inside was a new silver pendant, simple and elegant, with no hidden compartments.
"I wanted to give you something that didn't contain a secret."
Jenna touched it gently.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she looked at me.
"You know what I want?"
"What?"
She leaned across the table and kissed me.
When she pulled away, she was smiling.
"I want a real relationship. No pretending. No threats. No one deciding what my life should look like except me."
I took her hand.
"Agreed."
"And I want you to meet Matt for breakfast on Sunday."
I grimaced.
"He's going to ask questions."
"Many questions."
"Can I bring security?"
"No."
"An attorney?"
"Evan."
"Fine. I'll bring flowers."
She laughed so hard that the couple at the next table turned to look.
And for the first time in years, I didn't care who was watching.
Later that evening, we walked through the snow with our hands intertwined. No cameras followed us. No one threatened to take her away. No secret organization waited in the shadows with another demand.
There would still be difficult days. My past would not disappear simply because I had chosen a different future. Jenna would still challenge me when I became stubborn, and I would still worry when she walked alone at night.
But we would face those things together, without lies disguised as protection.
At the entrance to her apartment building, she stopped and turned toward me.
"Do you remember what you told me the night I asked you to be my pretend boyfriend?"
"I said several brilliant things."
"You said I'd stolen your coffee and never given your heart back."
I smiled.
"An accurate assessment."
She rose onto her toes and kissed me again.
"Good," she whispered. "Because I'm keeping it."
I watched her disappear inside, then looked up at the snowy Denver skyline.
For years, I had believed power meant never giving anyone the ability to hurt you.
I had been wrong.
Power was choosing the truth when lies would have been easier. It was accepting consequences instead of forcing others to carry them. It was loving someone without trying to own her.
Jenna had walked into my office asking me to pretend to be her boyfriend for one night.
Instead, she had helped me uncover the murder that shaped my life, expose the people who had manipulated both our families, and become a man who no longer needed fear to command respect.
And when she finally chose me, it wasn't because she was trapped beside me.
It was because she was free to walk away.
May you like
For the first time in my life, the woman I loved had chosen me without a single lie between us.
And this time, I never had to pretend.
