Maybe Never (Maybe #2) by Ella Miles Page A

resort to my original plan.  
    “It wasn’t a question.” I pull her into my old office and quickly shut the door behind me.  
    She glares at me, but it looks more cute than menacing. “I want your employee access card back.”  
    I shake my head and get straight to the point. “Take the plea deal.”  
    “If that’s why you came here, then you are wasting your time and mine. I have a lot of work to do. After we found out that the man we’d thought could run the company is a lying scumbag, a lot of work has been left to me to do.”  
    I smile. She deserves to run the company. Then, I think about what it will mean for her case. Her legally running the company will just make her look guilty.  
    The smile drops from my lips. “You are running the company now?”  
    “Yes. I am capable.” She scowls at me. Her voice quiets. “I don’t know everything yet, but I’m a fast learner.”  
    I run my hand through my hair, frustrated that I keep screwing this up, but I can’t tell her the truth. “I know you can run the company. That’s not what I’m worried about.”  
    I begin pacing the room, trying to think of what I can tell her that will change her mind. When I turn back, all I see is her getting more and more annoyed with me.  
    “What do you know?” I ask, hoping she will say enough so that I can tell her the truth. If I can tell her everything, then she might listen to me.  
    But she stares back at me with a blank expression. She cocks her head to one side. “What do I know about what?”  
    I shake my head. This is a bad idea. I turn to pace again, but she reaches her hand out and touches my arm. I freeze at her touch as it electrifies my body. I don’t know what it is about her that effects me like this. There is nothing sexual about her touch. It’s not even that comforting. I’m not even sure she really she realizes she is touching my arm. She just is like she is autopilot.  
    “Take the plea. If not for you, do it for me.”  
    She scrunches her nose. “I’m not going to help you lock Granddad away.”  
    “You won’t. You don’t know anything that could worsen his case. Just don’t make me testify against you. Don’t make me hurt you, princess.”  
    She lets go of my arm. “You can’t hurt me, Liam. I didn’t do anything wrong.”  
    I hate hearing the name Liam coming out of her mouth. “I can hurt you though. I could send you to jail with my testimony.”  
    “It would be a lie.”  
    I shake my head. “It wouldn’t be.”  
    “Then, tell me what you saw. What evidence do you think you have against me? Tell me what you think I did?”
    “I don’t think you did anything, but with what I saw, the FBI will make the jury believe that you knew what you were doing.” I can’t tell her more though. “You just have to trust me.”  
    “I can’t, Liam, not after you lied to me.”  
    “Take the plea deal. Choose your own freedom.”  
    “Tell me the truth, and maybe I will.”  
    I suspiciously eye her, trying to decide if she would change her mind if I told her. I’ve studied everything about this girl for five years, from afar and up close. She’s too loyal to her family, no matter the cost.  
    “You won’t. Even if I told you the truth.”  
    “Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what the truth is.”  
    “You won’t.”  
    “Try me. Let me make up my own mind.” She steps forward in a challenging manner until her body is pressed against mine.  
    I try not to show her how much her body affects me, but it’s a useless endeavor. My eyes fill with need, and my body aches for her, to kiss her and own her body until she forgets why she hates me.  
    “Trust me,” I say.  
    “I can’t.”  
    I close my eyes in defeat. I hear her phone buzzing in her pocket and watch as she pulls it out and glances at her screen.  
    “It’s my lawyer,” she says.
    “Take it.” I nod toward her phone. I lean forward and softly kiss her on the cheek