Shame fissured me. I hadn’t wanted her to see me like that. I still didn’t, but too much history existed between us to avoid seeing her forever, and refusing her visit had been a low, cowardly move.

Jax cleared his throat, the sound shattering more than just the unspoken stuff between us; it obliterated the facade. The sheriff, Nikki, and even Jax’s involvement with her—none of it mattered as much as filling in the blanks of the last eight years.

“So we met in prison?” I asked, finally tiptoeing toward the core of the matter.

He nodded. “We were cellmates. We’ve had each other’s back since the day you saved my life.”

My eyes widened. “What happened?”

Jax wouldn’t look at me. “Prison was tough on both of us. I think we should leave it in the past. What’s done is done. All that matters is I owe you my life.”

I wanted to push for an explanation, details of my time in there, but I left it for now. “How long was I in for? What was I in for?”

Jax lifted his brown eyes to mine, and his stare never wavered. “You sure you’re ready to hear this? I’m thinking your brother might be right. Losing your memory is heavy shit.”

“I didn’t take advice from Adam back then and I’m sure as hell not gonna start now. Tell me what happened.”

He drew in a breath, let it out. “You were in eight years for rape.”

What the…?

His words lingered, an echo that wouldn’t stop bouncing between my ears. “There’s…no. I couldn’t have done it. That’s just…”

“You didn’t do it.”

He sounded so matter-of-fact. I narrowed my brows, gripping the table to keep from springing to my feet. “How do you know? You said we met in there. Everyone in prison says they’re innocent.”

“Trust me. I know. You don’t have an iota of rapist gene in you. Well, you didn’t until she had you locked up for it. Her accusation tore your life apart. Dude, I’m being straight with you about this. You’ve done some fucked up shit, but you didn’t do that.”

“Who accused me?”

He took another draw from his beer, and the ensuing silence made me want to scream at him to spit it out.

“I’m not sure we should get into that shitstorm yet. Maybe you should give it some time. Wait for the memories to resurface on their own.”

“Who was it, Jax?”

He lowered his head with a sigh, as if he regretted the words before he said them. “Alex De Luca.”