Page 26 of Hidden With You

ChapterNine

After walking the perimeter with Mario, Owen, and Trevor, Jasper returned to the cottage. He saw Leah and Zelda going inside with a box from Zelda’s office, so he shifted his trajectory and headed toward the main house instead.

He wanted to give Zelda her privacy. Time to catch up with Leah, and time to think about everything that was happening without him—a bodyguard, a distraction—standing in the sidelines. Plus, he needed to familiarize himself with the house in case it ever became the field of engagement. Most of all, he wanted to see the kind of environment in which Zelda had grown up.

The door was answered almost immediately. “I’m Tricia,” the woman said. He guessed she was almost seventy, and she had a warm smile and a friendly but commanding manner. “Ms. Zelda asked that I show you every place in the house that you wish to see. Would you like the full tour?”

“That would be perfect,” he said, not realizing just how long the tour would take. The place was palatial, with massive bedrooms, huge sitting areas, and several wings. They visited room after room filled with comfortable furniture meant for lounging, then rooms with so much crystal and silk they sparkled like a jewelry box.

Finally, he met the day staff—the workers who came in each morning to help clean, to help cook, to repair and maintain. One of their duties was delivering meals planned by Tricia to Zelda’s cottage every day. But Tricia told Jasper that Zelda mostly fended for herself. “I would happily plan her three meals a day, but most weeks, she doesn’t even want one. I have to beg her to accept a meal at least two evenings a week.”

As far as he could tell, the woman had a motherly concern for Zelda, and he learned that she’d been working for the family since before Zelda’s father had passed away.

From his talks with the staff, he realized that loyalty and discretion were highly valued. Nobody that he spoke to told him anything of substance about Zelda’s deceased father or about her mother and stepfather. From the dossier Ryan sent him, Jasper knew that her father had died when Zelda was four, and her mother—Amelia—had married Carter Malloy when Zelda was seven.

Her parents had a prenup, and upon his death, Zelda had inherited everything from her father. Everything except the property was transferred to Zelda directly, making her one of the richest women in the country. As for house and land, that was put into a trust for Zelda, with the provision that her mother was allowed to live there until her death.

If Zelda pre-deceased her mother, the trust would dissolve, and the title would go to Amelia. Otherwise, the trust dissolved when Amelia passed, and the house would transfer to Zelda.

Though they had the right to live there, Amelia and Carter rarely stayed even a week. According to one magazine profile, they’d gone to Florence after their wedding, then traveled the world, leaving young Zelda at home with Tricia.

Jasper had felt ill as he’d read the article. Did these people not understand how precious it was to have a child? He would have given anything to spend long days in a house with his daughter and wife. Instead, those people had essentially abandoned Zelda, walking away without a backward glance.

Despite knowing so much about her background, Zelda herself remained an enigma, though an appealing one. A woman who’d grown up with neglectful parents who said what she thought. A woman who wasn’t shy about sex but didn’t want a relationship. Although with her mother and Carter as role models, he could hardly blame her.

A woman with the drive and imagination to build a career for herself out of nothing while she was still a child. Her work shifting from her early fantasy series to the much colder and darker thrillers that had made her name as an adult.

He hadn’t finished Intercontinental yet, but he had to admit that he was entertained by the over-the-top thriller. Especially by super spy Martin King, a man who’d left government service to work on his own. Suave and deadly, King would do anything to get his man.

Jasper couldn’t help but like the character.

Bottom line? Zelda Clayton was fascinating, self-confident, sexy as hell. But it was quite possible that she was trying to center herself in the middle of a huge scam. He wanted to believe her when she said that she had no such intentions. That she was insulted that the possibility even came up. But there was no denying the fact that it would be awesome publicity for the book series and for the upcoming movie if it turned out that this threat became known to the public.

All eyes would be on Zelda and her books. And Hollywood was all about the buzz.

His head and his training told him to stay vigilant, to not trust her, to watch and wait and see.

His gut and his instinct told him that she was the victim here. A talented and vibrant woman who had caught the eye of someone dangerous. A woman who needed his help.

His heart said she needed him. That he had to stay beside her. Had to protect her. That maybe, just maybe she’d be the one to help shatter the wall he’d built around himself.

And as for his cock ... well, it was possible that his trust was being driven by that particular organ. Because damned if he didn’t want to be as close to the woman as he could possibly get. He wanted to bury himself in her, use her, please her.

He wanted to help her forget the nightmare spinning around her.

And, yes, he wanted to forget his own.

Fuck.

He should have had Ryan take him off the case. He wasn’t clear enough. Wasn’t sharp enough.

But he also knew that if Ryan tried, Jasper would put up one hell of a fight. She was his responsibility now, and damned if he was going to let anyone rip that away from him.

He cut short the rest of the house tour, his thoughts overwhelming him. He wanted to see her. To settle his impression of her. To let his instincts choose one side or another. Was she the victim, or was she behind all of this?

He headed back the cottage and found her in the living room.

She turned, eyes wide. “Oh. I thought Leah had come back.”