Chapter 5 - The Secret Between Jillian and Emmett
Jillian did not leave immediately.
She stayed at the lake house.
Not because she had nowhere else to go.
Because Cody needed time.
Patrick needed medical care.
And Emmett's security was the only reason Malcolm had not reached them.
The days became quieter.
Then unexpectedly intimate.
Jillian discovered Emmett hated television.
Loved old records.
Could cook.
Was terrible at folding shirts.
He woke before sunrise.
He never slept deeply.
He checked locks three times.
And every morning, he left coffee outside her door.
Exactly the way she liked it.
She never asked how he knew.
One morning she found him standing in the kitchen.
“You're staring.”
“You're making coffee wrong.”
He looked at the machine.
“It's coffee.”
“That's what an American says when he has no standards.”
He smiled.
“You've been spending too much time with me.”
“No.”
“Then you are getting brave.”
“I was always brave.”
“You were terrified.”
“That too.”
He poured her coffee.
She took a sip.
Perfect.
She looked at him.
“You've been paying attention.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
Jillian turned.
“Emmett.”
He looked at her.
“Because I care.”
Her heart stumbled.
“You barely knew me.”
“I knew enough.”
“What?”
“You loved a boy who was not yours by blood as if he were.”
She swallowed.
“You watched me?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds creepy.”
“It probably is.”
She laughed.
Then the room went quiet.
Emmett looked at her.
“I saw you at the hospital.”
“With Shawn?”
“Yes.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you hated me.”
“I did.”
“I know.”
“Why did that matter?”
“It didn't.”
She stepped closer.
“It mattered to you.”
“Yes.”
She looked into his eyes.
“You knew Patrick was going to disappear.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I would run.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew I'd come to you.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Patrick.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“You don't know me because Patrick told you.”
He stared.
“You know me because you watched.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Emmett hesitated.
Then said the truth.
“Because I fell in love with you before I had the right to.”
Jillian froze.
The world seemed to stop.
“You…”
He looked away.
“I shouldn't have said that.”
She reached for his hand.
He looked back.
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
Her eyes filled.
“I don't know when it happened.”
He smiled faintly.
“I do.”
“When?”
“The night you defended Cody at that charity dinner.”
Jillian remembered.
“You spilled wine on Malcolm.”
“He deserved it.”
“You told him he wasn't allowed to humiliate a sixteen-year-old.”
“I remember.”
“You looked terrified.”
“I was.”
“But you stood there anyway.”
He touched her cheek.
“I knew then.”
Jillian leaned into his hand.
“What happens now?”
“I don't know.”
“That's new for you.”
“Yes.”
He kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was waiting for her to change her mind.
She didn't.
Their relationship remained secret for months.
Until Malcolm found out.
The retaliation was brutal.
Businesses were attacked.
A Carbone warehouse was burned.
Two Bannon employees disappeared.
A journalist received death threats.
The city became a battlefield.
And then Jillian discovered something worse.
Patrick had not been Malcolm's only spy.
Someone close to Emmett had been feeding information to the Bannon family.
It was his lieutenant.
Marcus.
The man Emmett had trusted for fifteen years.
Jillian found evidence accidentally.
She saw a message on a discarded phone.
She knows nothing. Keep her close.
She confronted Emmett.
“What is this?”
He read it.
His face changed.
“Where did you find it?”
“Marcus's office.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Emmett called Marcus.
No answer.
They found him gone.
And with him, the location of the real ledger.
Marcus had stolen it.
Now both families wanted him.
And whoever reached him first would control everything.
Jillian looked at Emmett.
“Where will he go?”
He studied the evidence.
Then the map.
“Your father-in-law.”
“Malcolm.”
“Yes.”
“Then we go after both.”
Emmett shook his head.
“No.”
“You can't stop me.”
“I know.”
He looked into her eyes.
“That is what scares me.”
She touched his face.
“I am not afraid anymore.”
He kissed her forehead.
“I know.”
Then Cody entered.
“Mom?”
She turned.
“What?”
Cody held out an index card.
Another map.
This one was different.
It showed a cemetery.
At the bottom was a single word.
Shawn.
Jillian's heart dropped.
“Why did you draw this?”
Cody looked at Emmett.
“Uncle Shawn told me to come here if anything happened.”
“When?”
“Before he died.”
The cemetery was the last place anyone expected.
But when they arrived, the grave was open.
Someone had dug beneath the stone.
Inside was a metal box.
The real ledger.
And one final message from Shawn.
Jillian, if you found this, it means Patrick kept his promise.
She opened the second page.
Don't trust Malcolm. Don't trust the council. And don't trust Emmett.
She stopped.
Emmett stared at the page.
Jillian looked at him.
“What does this mean?”
He had no answer.
Then a second message appeared.
He will lie to you about why he came into your life.
Emmett went pale.
May you like
Because he knew exactly what Shawn meant.
And he had never told Jillian the truth.
