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Authors: Deborah Bladon

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BOOK: Obsessed: Part Two
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Chapter 8

 

"Ivy, I heard you were here."  I feel his hand on my shoulder and I spin around to face him.

"I was just picking up my consignment check." I smile at him. He looks gorgeous. He hasn't shaved in a couple of days and the slight growth of beard makes him appear less perfect. Imperfect Jax is someone I could definitely get used to.

"You should have told me you were coming." He places his hand on my back to guide me in the direction of his office. "I would have saved you the trip. I could have brought the check to your apartment."

I step through the doorway of his office pulling in a breath to try to calm my nerves. So far my plan is going flawlessly. He has no idea why I'm really there. "No, that would be silly. I like to come by so I can catch up with Graham."

"Who?" he raises an eyebrow. "Who is Graham?"

"One of your assistants." I heave a sigh. "Hopefully my assistant when I take over."

He moves to shut the door. I can't help but notice that he subtly turns the lock. He thinks we're going to sleep together right here in his office. I've become nothing but a fuck buddy to him. I push my anger down and focus on the task at hand.

"You know we can't discuss that, beautiful." He pulls on the end of my hair. "This dress is stunning on you."

"Thank you," I whisper as I try to temper my discomfort. "I can't stay long. I have an appointment to get to."

"With that attorney of yours?" The animosity in his voice isn't disguised at all.

"You have a problem with him." I bite my bottom lip so I won't launch into a
full-blown smile. "You have a temper tantrum whenever we talk about him."

"Hardly." His jaw tightens.

"Liar." I playfully spit back at him.

"I'm not a liar." He catches my waist between his hands. "Never call me that again."

"You lied to me once." I nuzzle my face against his neck. "How do I know you aren't holding more secrets inside?"

"We all have secrets." He traces a line along my cheek before tilting my chin up so my gaze meets his. "Some secrets aren't meant to be shared."

I study his eyes trying to find some semblance of emotion in them. I can't tell if he's being facetious or telling me discreetly to back off.

"You made me share my secret about Nathan. You made me tell you all about what I wanted him to do to my body," I tease knowing that it will elicit a reaction that I can use in my favor.

"You wanted him to but he's never made you feel what I make you feel." His lips brush against my neck and I instantly feel my resolve weakening.

"He still wants me. You were right." I push the issue, knowing that Jax's jealousy is a tool that I can easily use to my advantage.

"How do you know?" He pulls back from me and greedily grabs my upper arms. "He told you that."

"He didn't have to," I say quietly. "I could see it in his eyes when he came over the other night."

"Why the fuck was your attorney at your apartment?"

I continue the façade knowing that it's bringing all of his emotions to the surface. "He stopped by and my air conditioner was broken. I was wearing a short sheer dress and the way he looked at me."

His eyes gloss over and there's a mixture of pure indignation and disappointment. "You shouldn’t have let him in."

"Why not? He's my attorney."

"What happened? What did you do?" Irritation envelops the question.

"Nothing." I step back from his grasp. "I'm not a whore. I didn't sleep with him."

Relief washes over his face and he reaches for me. "I can't stand the thought of another man touching you. Please don't give yourself to anyone else, Ivy. Please."

I hear the pleading in his voice and it stirs a familiar place within me. I don't have to question Jax about his secrets. I already know what he's hiding. Why had I been so blind to this? I can't believe I didn't see it before today.

"What was her name?" I whisper against his chest.

"Who?" He exhales loudly as if he's losing his patience with me.

"The woman who cheated on you."

He turns away and walks toward his desk. I can see his shoulders trembling. "No woman has ever cheated on me, Ivy."

"You are a liar," I say it, not caring that it sounds harsh. "Maybe that's how you deal with it.  You lie to yourself and everyone else about it."

He looks straight ahead, avoiding my glare. "Not everyone is cheated on. I'm sorry that you were but you're projecting your pain and disappointment."

I smirk, shaking my head from side-to-side. "Maybe you can fool the world into believing that you're cold and heartless. Maybe you move from one woman's bed to another to help you feel more like a man because she stripped that away from you when she slept with someone else. "

"Maybe I'm just fickle." He doesn't flinch.

"Somebody broke your heart. She tore it into so many pieces that when you think about it, you can't fathom how you can put it back together again. So instead of trying you built a barrier around it to keep everyone out. You use women to get back at the one who rejected you. "

"Are you done analyzing me? I have a meeting to get to. "He moves back towards the doorway.

"I'm done." I sigh, frustrated again by his refusal to open up to me.

"Leonard will pick you up for dinner at eight tonight." The way he casually throws the comment out in midst of our current
discussion irks me.

"Not tonight." I reach for my phone, scanning through the numbers. "I have plans."

"Plans?" He finally looks in my direction. "What plans?"

"Dinner with a friend." I don't elaborate.

"What friend?"

"No one you know." I walk past him, opening the office door. "Wait. You don't know any of my friends because you and I are just fuck buddies."

"Don't be so juvenile." He grabs my forearm, forcing me to stop my retreat out the door. "Who are you having dinner with?"

"It's not your concern." I pull my arm from his grasp.

"It is. I made plans for us to have dinner."

I look into his eyes. "I need a break from this." I sweep my hand over the air between us. "Whatever this is. I just need some time off."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm tired of trying to understand you. Maybe I should just embrace this for what it is. Two consenting adults who like having sex."

"We're more than that. You know that we are."

"No." I turn to leave not able to look him in the face. "We're two virtual strangers who like having sex. End of story."

"Do you really believe that?" His voice is soft, there's a vulnerable edge to it.

"I believe that I've shared too much about my life with you. I regret that. This is so unbalanced it's laughable."

"It's not."

"It is so." I stop before I walk through the doorway. "You're never going to chase the pain away by controlling me. It doesn't work that way, Jax. Get over her. Call me when you do."

Chapter 9

 

"I was shocked that you called, sugar." Liz hesitates briefly as if she's contemplating embracing me before she takes a seat across from me in the crowded midtown Starbucks. "I couldn’t believe it."

I nod and stare at her face. She looks tired and weak. I know that the past few weeks had to have taken their toll on her too. I saw the obvious anguish in her eyes when she realized that Mark had been unfaithful with others. Maybe she did really love him. "I thought it was time for us to talk."

"I'm so grateful. I knew you'd forgive me."

I pause and run my finger along the rim of the lid of my coffee. "This meeting isn't about forgiveness. I can't get there yet. Honestly, I'm not sure I ever will."

She sobs loudly before pulling her hand to her mouth. "Okay. That's fair. Mark…"

"I'm not here to talk about him." I interrupt her. "Please don't bring him up. If you do I'll leave."

She nods in silence. I can tell that she's in a wretched emotional state but I can't find any compassion within me for her. She pretended to be my best friend for years all the while she was rolling around in my bed with my fiancée. I'd even asked her to be the maid of honor at my wedding. She's stolen things from me that I may never get back and I can't deal with that right now on top of everything else.

`"The other day when you came by you said something about Jax." I hate that I've had to resort to looking to someone who betrayed me for information on him. I sense that she knows something though and I'm aching to find out what it is.

She nods her head quickly up and down. "Brighton told me something."

At the mention of his name I make a mental note to call him. He seemed willing to share more information about Jax the night we went to Madeline's party. Maybe if I pushed him a bit he'd open up and give me some insight into what or who caused Jax to build such an impenetrable barrier around his heart.

"What did he tell you?" I wince as I ask. Why am I here and how can I trust anything she says to me?

"He said that Jax only wanted some shares. I guess in Mark's business? And that they would do anything to get them away from you."  She enunciates each word slowly as if she's recalling exactly what Brighton said, syllable-by-syllable.

"He said, 'they', you're certain of that?" I take a sip of the coffee in a mistaken effort to slow my pounding heart. Caffeine is only going to add to the adrenaline I'm feeling.

"Absolutely," she says it with conviction. "I asked him directly if he said, 'they' and not 'him'. I knew you'd want to know."

I feel a slight pull at my heart at her desperate attempt to get back in my good graces. I miss her so much but I can't tell her that. I can't trust her. I'm even wary to believe this. "Thanks, Liz." I feign a small smile. I know it took courage for her to agree to meet me.

"I don't want you to be hurt again, Ivy." A single tear leaves her eye before she scoops it up with her index finger. "What I did to you was horrible. What I did to our friendship."

"It's too hard to talk about." I feel my own tears coming on strongly. I take a deep breath holding them in. "I should get going. Thanks again for coming down here to see me."

"I'd do anything for you." She manages a small smile. "One other thing I wanted you to know."

I steady myself for what she's about to share. I hope it's something related to Jax. I can't shake the idea that he collaborated with someone else to manipulate me into selling my part of Mark's company.

"I told Mark I can't ever see him again." Her voice is steady and strong. "It's over forever."

I feel let down by her proclamation. I don't care what she does or doesn't do with Mark at this point. I just nod in silence as I rise from my chair and walk straight towards the door and out of her life for good.

 

***

 

"It's not as though I have anything of substance to report." I lazily kick the heel of my stiletto under Nathan's desk as I sit in the chair facing him. "Has there been any movement at all on the contract?"

"He doesn't want to give up Veray to you." The exasperation in his voice is evident. "I don't know why he's holding onto that so tightly. He bought into it less than a year ago and it's not pulling in a huge return for him at this point."

I shrug my shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine as to why he won't let go of that."

"I do have a guess." He bows his head before he continues, "I think he's holding on to it because it's his last link to you. Well, you know, other than the sex."

I shudder at the mention of sex with Jax. "Actually, I ended that." I say it like I mean it but my body betrays the words. I've spent the last four days replaying each of my intimate encounters with Jax in my mind. I can't even imagine wanting anyone else.

"You ended it?" he sounds as puzzled as I feel inside about it.

"I went to see him as we discussed. You know to try and trick him into telling me something about what he might be hiding."

He nods. "Obviously it didn't go very well."

"It started off great but then I had an epiphany." I suck in my breath when I think about how Jax looked when I confronted him about being cheated on.

"An epiphany? What happened?"

"Mark cheated on me. It was devastating. It's why I ended things." I stop to gather my thoughts before continuing," I realized the other day that Jax was cheated on too."

"He told you that?" he presses for more information.

"He didn't have to. I saw it in his face. I could hear it in his words. He's scared of being cheated on again."

"Well, shit." Nathan exhales sharply. "That doesn't help at all."

"Sorry to disappoint, counselor," I tease as I rise from the chair. "Oh, wait, there was one other small thing but I don't think it's important."

"The devil's in the details, Marlow. What is it?" He laughs. "Everything matters when you're working on a deal this large."

"A mutual…"I pause when I realize that I can't refer to Liz as a friend. That's not who she is anymore. Can I say enemy? Or maybe betrayer? How about relationship wrecker?

"A mutual friend?" he offers.

"This woman who knows Jax's brother pretty well she told me that they had a discussion about him." I feel comfortable with that description of Liz.

"Ivy, don't leave me hanging here." He taps my fingers with his to bring my focus back to him. "What did this woman tell you?"

"She said that Jax's brother specifically said that they would do anything to get my portion of Mark's business away from me."

"So Jax and his brother did this together?"

"No." I sit again wanting to explain but not knowing how without revealing my relationship with Liz and Brighton. "They as in Jax and someone else. The brother said…" I raise my hands to empathize that I'm quoting Brighton. "They would do anything to get Mark's shares away from me."

"Ah, I get it now." He shakes his head up and down.

"It's not an exact quote mind you. Don't get me to swear that's it in a court of law."

He laughs heartily. "Do you think it's significant? Or do you think it's more a lost in translation thing?"

I purse my lips together. "I have no idea. I'd ask Brighton, Jax's brother, but I found out he's in Europe right now."

"That's okay Detective Marlow." Nathan stands and reaches for me with his hand. "I'll take it from here."

BOOK: Obsessed: Part Two
11.81Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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