ADDICTED

49

JAMES

"So."

I looked up from the mug of peppermint tea in my hands.

Leah nibbled on her lip as she gazed worriedly at me.

"What is it, love?" I asked. "Feeling nauseous?"

"No," she assured me quickly, flashing a smile.

Just the simple gesture made me melt internally. She was so pure. Tragedy after tragedy continued to hunt her down yet she remained bashful.

"I want to ask you about what happened." She spoke with more firmness now. "Why did he do it? I don't get it. I mean—I always knew something was weird about him. But I don't know what I did to him to deserve abduction and . . . whatever else he had in mind. He must have been the stalker at my apartment, right?"

Her hazel eyes flashed wetly up at me.

Stroking aside the damp hair from her face, I set my mug aside.

Her mouth pursed.

"Do you know who Timothy García is, Leah?" I asked.

"He was Isabelle's boyfriend. And somehow my stalker?"

"It seems he got with Isabelle to get closer to you. To get invited into your circle."

"But why?"

This was what I feared most.

I didn't know how much she truly knew about Jarrod's romantic past, but things would become crystal clear now.

Reaching for her mug, I decided it would be best to take the hot liquid from her grasp.

She reluctantly let me take it.

I looked deep into her gaze. "Timothy is Tiffany's cousin. You know who Tiffany García is, don't you?"

Her eyes bounced between mine before realization set it. The focus in her gaze fogged.

She sucked a single, sharp breath between her lips.

"But . . ." Leah shook her head. "Tiffany got her cousin to torment me? I still don't—I don't get it. It doesn't make sense."

"I suspect she was driven mad that you killed her obsession. You took away the one person she could blame everything on. She has no one left to hate but you." I softened my tone to curb the sting.

Leah recoiled. "All those terrible things she said Jarrod did to her—wouldn't she want him dead if she believed that?"

"Maybe she wanted you to believe that so you'd leave him alone."

For a moment, she brewed in glum, thoughtful silence. I ached to hold her.

"She said some really awful things about him," she murmured. "I never wanted to believe them, but of course . . . I always wondered. Especially because of how things ended."

"What'd she say?"

She began shaking her head. "I don't know if we should go there—"

"If you want to know truths, then I can confirm or deny. Jarrod confided all things in me. And I in him. Compared to things I have done, he was a saint."

"So he never hurt Tiffany? Or pushed her down the stairs, making her lose their baby?"

My brows shot up. I could hardly even process such a tragic thing. "No. That never happened. Tiffany can't get pregnant. They tried their whole marriage and the resentment of it eventually ruined their relationship."