Bad Boy Billionaire: F#cking Jerk 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

to tell her what I was thinking? She would be hurt, angry, at even the suggestion that I suspected her boyfriend of playing some part in the fire. But how could I not suspect him? He was there. He could have set the fire then coaxed Harper out of the house to keep her safe. Or he could have acted as a lookout, getting Harper out of the way so the arsonist could do his thing.
    “Let me guess. You think Mike did it?” she said.
    “No. I’m not saying that. I’m saying…Mike--”
    She slammed her hands on the counter. “You’re saying it must be him because he’s an ex-con.”
    That was it. I’d done it. I’d crossed the line and spoken the truth. And Harper was hurt and angry, just as I’d expected. But I wouldn’t apologize. There was no reason to. I wasn’t lying. I was telling the truth. “He is an ex-con and--”
    “He was innocent .”
    Of course that was what he’d told her. He was an innocent man, unfairly prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit. How original. “They’re all innocent, Harper. Every single man in prison is innocent. At least according to them.”
    “No! It isn’t like that,” she insisted. “He isn’t just telling me what he thinks I want to hear. He really was innocent. I know it.”
    She sounded certain. Very certain. So certain, in fact, that I questioned my suspicion. “How could you know?”
    “I…I just do,” she told her hands, still resting on the counter. She couldn’t look me in the eye now. Why was that?
    Because she had no reassurances, no proof, nothing to back up her belief.
    “Nobody corroborates his story. You’re just taking him at his word?” I asked.
    She lifted her gaze. Jaw locked, she jerked a nod. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
    “Don’t you see how dangerous that is, Harper?”
    Harper slid from the stool, arms smacked over her chest, glare icy. “Don’t you see how fucking impossible it is to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t trust you?”
    “Sure, but—“
    “You don’t trust anyone.” She stabbed at me with an index finger. “You don’t trust Mike. Or me, your best friend. Or even Clay.”
    It was my turn to stand now. Stand and face her accusation head on. She was wrong! Utterly wrong. “Yes I do. I trust you. And Clay.”
    “Bullshit! If you trusted me, you wouldn’t doubt my judgement about Mike.” She blinked watery eyes, bloodshot eyes.
    She was taking my accusation a lot harder than I expected. Now I regretted being honest with her.
    This was bullshit. I’d never had to keep things from Harper before. Sure, she was prone to drama. She overreacted sometimes. But I hadn’t ever felt I couldn’t be totally honest with her before today. I wanted to smooth things over, to see those red eyes clear. Yet I wanted her to understand why I’d said what I did. That was more important now, more vital than soothing her bruised feelings. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. But you’ve made mistakes in the past, trusting guys you shouldn’t. Maybe I want to spare you another heartbreak.”
    “And maybe I knew I was taking a crazy risk then, but I was willing to do it anyway because I felt—still feel—it was worth it.”
    “What made any of those assholes worth it?” Shaking my head, I lifted my hands. I hadn’t seen the conversation going this way, veering down a road we didn’t need to take today. “Never mind. That was in the past. I’m sorry I brought it up. I was just trying to prove my point--”
    “That I’m an idiot who falls for jerks? That I don’t know a loser when I see one? That I would date a guy who was capable of burning down your fucking house and not realize it?”
    The way she said it, I was the one who sounded like a jerk. But it was true. She’d been burned in the past because she’d taken the word of a total jerk. The fact was I knew very little about Mike. His past. His family. Was he the innocent man he’d convinced Harper he was?
    Or was he a conniving liar who might have set my home on