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“She said swi in the storm was really hard,” Emery’s voice softened, “but the reward at the end orth it Lucas aiting for her on the beach”

He’d dropped her off at a bus station and stayed behind in Cape Hill until The Trident was found adrift, everyone believing she’d gone overboard Then he set sail for Aruba, stopping in Atlantic City to pick her up

“She found the collateral she was looking for in her dad’s safe,” she said, “and it wasn’t on the flash drive—she didn’t seeh”

She reached into her purse and pulled out a clear plastic zipper-top bag that contained several folded sheets of paper

“What’s that?”

She held the bag gingerly, as if it were priceless “These are pages from a secret Barlow et favorable results—a practice they’ve been using for years to increase the reported efficacy of their drugs” Her gaze dropped down to the plastic protected pages “This is what Jillian took fro she carried with her when she left Cape Hill to start a brand-new life It’s the collateral to stop her father fro she’s alive in case he ever finds out”

Sound faded until it was just us “And she gave it to you?”

Emery sed hard and nodded “When I came clean and told her who I was”

I still struggled to wrap my head around the idea she was Jillian’s cousin It was clear that had been a difficult conversation for her, and once again I was angry at myself that Emery had no choice but to do it without my support “I should have been there with you Fuck, I’m sorry”

She seey “I wished you were there I want us to be partners in this, all the way to the end”

“I do too”

“Then that means you have to trust me When I tell you I love you,” her voice was stern, “I need you to believe me”

“Emery, I swear I’m done with that bullshit I know it’s as real for you as it is for ot scared” I drew in a deep breath “I once told you that if you didn’t need sex to survive, you hadn’t been with the right person yet” I needed to put it out there, get it all off my chest “What I didn’t realize was up until now, I’d never needed anyone else to survive, and it was only because I hadn’t found you yet”

She blinked back the unexpected tears that leapt into her eyes and shoved the papers enclosed in plastic forward

“This is what you can use to bargain for the video”