Free His to Hold: A Billionaire Romance (His to Have Book 2) by Piper Hayes Page A

myself that when it was done, I’d walk away.”
    “Why not walk away, then? You’re rich beyond belief. He can’t hurt you now. No one can hurt you.”
    “It’s not that simple. When I started trying to tease apart his finances, it was a nightmare. It was a financial rat’s nest, shell company after shell company. He had an ocean of assets flowing across companies based in unfriendly tax havens. I’ve tried to step away, but it isn’t easy.”
    I think of the files he had back at the loft. This must be what he’s talking about. The files are Jacob’s companies. Blake has been compiling evidence about him, tracking his every move. Is he holding the records as leverage, or does he intend to use them in some way? “It will never be over,” I tell him. “Even if you win, it will never be over. Don’t you see that? Even if you get away with all of it, it will still be there, hanging over you, hanging over us .”
    “I love you,” he tells me, “I’m going to fix this. We can get through this.”
    “I can’t,” I tell him. I’m not going to let him lie to himself or to me. He believes what he’s saying, but I know it isn’t true. He’s never going to be free of what happened.
    “Why hide?” I ask him. “You’re not some scared kid. You’re an adult. You’ve taken care of yourself. You’ve taken care of your sister. You’re successful. You have a company. You have me. You have to turn the page. I can’t stand by and watch you torture yourself over the past. Either you have to move on or I do.”
    “Cat, it’s almost done,” he says.
    “How long has it been almost done for?” I ask. “What happens once you’ve ruined him? What happens to you? Do you really think that will be enough? Will you really just decide you’re done and go back to living a normal life?”
    “What do you want me to do?”
    “I would tell you to choose me, but that’s not what I want. I want you to choose yourself. Which Blake are you going to be? Are you going to be the guy I’ve fallen in love with? Or are you going to be the guy who can’t even trust the people he loves?”
    “You’re right,” he says. He sits on the edge of the bed and runs his hands through his hair. “I need to end this. I love you more than anything, but I have to do this next part alone. You can’t be involved in this.”
    “You can’t say that. You don’t get to say that,” I tell him. “If you’re serious about loving me, you’ll trust me enough to let me know what you’re doing.”
    “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. I love you.”
    “Prove it,” I tell him. “Make me believe you. If you’re so hell-bent on keeping me in the dark, at least give me a reason why.”
    “Did you have a moment when you realized you loved me?” Blake asks. The question catches me off guard. “Because I can tell you the exact moment I fell in love with you. We were at my sister’s bar, and it was half-dark, and you had let your guard down with me for the first time. If I close my eyes, I can picture exactly how you looked. The look in your eyes told me everything I needed to know about you. I saw how much you wanted something more than this superficial life. I tried to convince myself that maybe I could give it to you, but I realized that I could never do that without telling you the truth, and I was afraid I might lose you. Instead you stood by me, and I saw how much more there is to you. I want to be the man you deserve. In order to do that, I have to come clean.”
    “With me?” I ask. He gets up, walks to his wardrobe and starts pulling on clothes. I get up and follow after him. “What does that mean?” I ask. “Is there more you haven’t told me?”
    “Do you know how to drive stick?” Blake asks.
    “Not really, why?” I ask.
    “I need you to drive yourself back here.”
    “From where?” I ask. Blake’s phone is buzzing somewhere. I turn around to figure out where it is. It must still be in the