GONE - Part Two (The GONE Series Book 2) by Deborah Bladon Read Free Book Online Page A

"I planned that. I wanted you."
    I don't know what compelled me to bring up that moment of intimacy. I feel embarrassed that I took as much pleasure from him as I did. I was so unashamed and raw when he touched me. I came while pressed against a window, my desire unfettered and exposed.  He helped me discover passion that I never knew I had within me and it was all in pursuit of his desperate need to uncover my secrets. He's a master of manipulation whether he admits it or not.
    "I still want you, Lilly." His words feel loud and misplaced in the small, almost vacant coffee shop we're sitting in.
    I laugh out of a desperate need to not let any of my other emotions rise to the surface. The man violated me in a way that shook me to my core, yet hearing him say he still wants me throws me completely off balance. I can't judge whether he's telling me the truth or not because I don't know him. "I don't know how you expect me to believe you, Clive."
    "Let me prove it to you." His jaw twitches. "I'll do whatever it takes to prove to you that I want you, Lilly."
    "Even if you could prove that you still want me," I start within a whisper. "I would never be able to trust you again."
    "I fucked up." He exhales sharply. "I didn't plan on looking at your computer. I saw it sitting there and thought about Parker and I had to know."
    "Parker?" I try to ask in an even tone. "What the hell does he have to do with this?"
    "I hate that Parker saw that picture of you and read that letter you wrote about sucking my…sucking his…" He visibly winces with the statement. "I can't fucking stand that he saw your body and read those words."
    We haven't talked about Parker in weeks. I didn't consider him a relevant part of our relationship. He was the reason we met, but beyond that he is nothing to me, and judging by the fact that Clive had sent him across the globe with a one way ticket, I imagine he feels the same way about his brother as I do. "Why are you bringing up Parker?"
    "I was worried there were more like him." He breathes out, closing his eyes briefly. "After we fucked, I couldn't stand the thought of another man seeing your body or touching you. I looked at your laptop to see if you had any pictures of other men or if you were emailing anyone like Parker."
    He could be making all of this up to cover his tracks. He has no shortage of women waiting in the wings to jump all over him. Even the barista, behind the counter in this tiny coffee shop, has been eyeing him up since I sat down. "You don't strike me as the jealous type, Clive. You sleep with a different woman every week."
    He sags back into the chair. I sense the words sting but they're the truth. He wants me to believe that he was so worried that I'd sleep with another man that he decided to go through my computer? The mere fact that his fishing expedition ended with him viewing the files related to the organ donation app I'm developing prove that he was went above and beyond looking at my saved pictures and emails. The man was on a mission to find something to throw in my face and he did.
    "I haven't slept with a woman since I saw you at the bistro." His voice deepens. "I have no desire to fuck anyone else. I want to be with you, Lilly. You're going to tell me how I can make that happen."
     

Chapter 13
     
    "Why are you doing this?" I take a sip of the now cold coffee from the paper cup before I place it back down.
    "Doing what?" He cradles his own cup in his hand without bringing it to his lips. "What exactly do you think I'm doing?"
    I should have an answer ready at the edge of my tongue to spit out at him, but I don't. "I just don't understand why you haven't dropped this. I don't work for you anymore. I'm not going to steal any of your ideas or secrets away. Why do you keep bothering me?"
    "You think I'm bothering you?" A weak grin races over his lips. "I call it pursuing what I want. I suppose we just see it differently."
    "You don't really want me, Mr. Parker." The formality