My heart hammers in my chest. I run my fingers through his hair, swallowing back the sentiment. “I love you too.”

Jaxon kisses me, slow and passionate, and he finds his release. Then he’s holding me against his chest wearing the biggest smile. I’ve never seen him so happy.

My stomach twists. Josh was right. How can I hurt the man I love? It would wreck him to know his brother stole the ring, and that his father wanted to help him keep the secret. As much as I hate carrying this lie with me, I’d hate to be the one to cause Jaxon that kind of pain.

Jaxon hears the churning of my stomach and laughs, assuming I’m hungry. “I’ll get our tacos.”

My eyes follow him as he rolls out of bed and disappears into the hallway.

Now’s my chance.

I want to be rid of this ring, this burden. I jump out of bed and remove the ring from my purse, eyes darting around the room. Putting it on top of the dresser where he’d had it before would be too obvious. I need to hide it in a place where he’ll find it—just not while I’m here.

Blood pulses in my ears while I pull out the top drawer as quietly as I can. With a shaky hand, I tuck the ring box underneath a few T-shirts.

Will he find this here? I shake my head and try shoving it in the corner of the drawer instead. I need to make it look like the box fell inside on accident. Maybe I should set it on the dresser and slide it into the open drawer so it looks legit …

“What are you doing?”

I jump at least an inch off the floor. Jaxon’s standing in the doorway, with a plate of food in each hand. He’s staring at the blue box I’m clutching, blinking as if he’s unsure of what he’s looking at.

I’m naked, hunched over his dresser, holding the ring in my hand. This isn’t a good look for me.

“Jax, I can explain.”

The plates clatter onto the top of the dresser. Lunging toward me, he snatches the box out of my hand and flips it open. He shakes his head, disbelief written all over his face. “What the hell is this, Rae?”

“It’s … it’s your grandmother’s ring.”

“I know it’s her ring,” he fires. “Why do you have it?”

I hadn’t prepared myself for this. What should I do? Tell him the truth, and shatter his world? Or tell him a lie, and shatter his world? Either way, Jaxon’s going to be hurt.

But family is everything. I don’t want Jaxon to lose that because of me.

“Raegan, why do you have this?” he asks again.

I take a deep breath, and decide to do the right thing.