page16 (1/2)

Jaeger walked back toward her, picked up his glass, took a sip and stared at her over the ri to decide what to tell her “I was leaving Milan, on my way to the airport The police reports said that a”

“Police reports?” Piper interjected, her voice rising

Jaeger frowned at her interruption “I was in a taxi when a truck slammed into us I was in its direct path”

Piper just stared at hier was in a car accident the oodbye? “But—”

“Do you want to hear this or are you going to keep interrupting?” Jaeger muttered “I was in a bad way I had various injuries, theon the brain”

“God, Jaeger” Piper placed her hand over hershe could touch hi in front of her looking healthy and fit—deliciously healthy and fit She needed to examine him to make sure, dammit!

The thought of hi so injured made her world tilt upside down

“My siblings and a medical team came to Italy and accoeries, and then they kept me in an induced co I rekok a ”

“God, I’m so sorry I had no idea!”

“Nobody did We kept it very quiet My siblings put the word out that I was hunting for an emerald in a very remote area of Colombia where communications were dicey They told anyone who asked that they weren’t sure when I would return”

“Why didn’t you just tell the world what really happened?”

Jaeger gris were trying to keep the news of my accident from our uncle Connor He raised me and my sibs from the time I was ten, and when the accident happened, he was in a scary stage of Alzhei Knowing I was so injured possibly would’ve accelerated his mental deterioration”

Piper tipped her head to the side, thinking back “Butdidn’t he pass on around that time?”

Jaeger nodded, his expression grim “He died ten days before they pulledwere hell”