Chapter 578
Chapter 577:
“You’re wrong!” she cried, her voice breaking through the silence. “He’s not just a divorce lawyer, Justin! That is his public face. His real work — the reason I went to him — is private criminal investigation. He is a former federal prosecutor p>
Justin went perfectly still. His chest heaved. He stared down at her, his dark eyes burning with suspicion. “What p>
“I am investigating my parents’ death,” Carmen whispered, her voice shaking. “I found out they didn’t die in a car crash. They were murdered, Justin. And the scene was covered up p>
Justin’s pupils dilated. The political operative in him immediately recognized the enormous danger she had walked into.
But his first reaction was not sympathy. It was a terrifying, explosive fury that she had hidden any of this from him.
He slammed both hands against the wall on either side of her head. The loud thud made Carmen flinch. He caged her in completely, his arms forming an inescapable wall.
“A murder investigation?” he hissed, his face inches from hers. “You are secretly digging into a political assassination, and you went to an outsider? Why didn’t you come to me p>
𝗥𝖾𝘢𝗱 𝖿re𝖾 𝗇o𝘃𝖾l𝗌 𝗼ո
Carmen turned her face away, unable to hold his gaze.
“Because the man who warned me to stop digging…” she choked out, her voice barely above a whisper, “he mentioned your name. He said he was protecting your career p>
Justin’s heart stopped. The blood froze in his veins.
Conrad Sterling.
“I didn’t know who to trust,” Carmen sobbed, finally looking back up at him, her eyes filled with raw terror. “I didn’t know if you were part of the lie. I was so scared, Justin p>
The words hit him like a physical blow. The anger drained out of him, replaced by a sickening, agonizing understanding of how much fear she had been carrying alone.
He looked at her trembling lips, her pale face. The thought of her facing Conrad Sterling by herself made his stomach turn violently.
He moved his right hand from the wall and gripped her chin. His fingers were rough, but his touch was desperate. He forced her eyes up to meet his.
“Listen to me,” Justin said, his voice dropping to a harsh, gravelly whisper. The absolute possessiveness beneath it was unmistakable. “I don’t care what you find. I don’t care how deep the rot goes. You do not run from me p>
He pressed his body fully against hers, pinning her softly but immovably against the wall.
“You left me seven years ago,” he said, his eyes dark and feral. “I spent seven years in hell. I will burn Washington to the ground before I let you walk away from me again. You are my wife. You are mine. If danger is coming, you stand behind me p>
Carmen stared up at him. The sheer, overwhelming force of his devotion — twisted, dark, and absolute — shattered the last of her defenses. He wasn’t the enemy. He was her shield.
A broken sob escaped her. She raised her hands and gripped the lapels of his wet trench coat.
Justin didn’t wait. He brought his mouth down onto hers.