The Mighty Storm (56 page)

He shakes his head, smiling. “I
’
d never leave him. I like the perks too much.” He rolls his eyes, ironic. “Jake
’
s like my family, just like you are now, chica.” He reaches over and squeezes my hand. My eyes fill with tears. “It was just an empty threat.”

“
That worked,” I say blotting my eyes with a napkin.

“
Yeah, but he was also ready by that point. He knew it, as much as I did.”

“
Is that what I should do? Threaten to leave him.”

He shrugs. Leaning back in his chair, he pushes hair off his forehead. “Anything is worth a shot, but Jake will only get clean if he truly wants to … he loves you like no one before. I see the bond you guys have, so maybe the threat of you leaving might shock him into it. I know getting you back in his life meant everything to him. Maybe the thought of losing you again might just push him in the right direction.”

“
But what if …” I pause, swallowing against my own words, eyes down, I tap my fingernails on the table. “What if I threaten to leave him, and he still won
’
t stop using?”

Stuart leans forward, closer to me. “Well, honey, before you do anything you have to decide if that
’
s the chance you want to take. The possibility of losing him. I don
’
t think you would ever lose Jake permanently, but temporarily? Maybe, yes, it could happen, if he
’
s not ready to face his problem yet.”

I don
’
t want to lose Jake. Not at all. Not even for a moment. But I don
’
t want this version of him either.

“
I already lost my Jake the moment he took his first hit,” I sigh, lifting my eyes to meet Stuart
’
s. “And if I have any hope of trying to get him back, then I
’
m going to have to confront this version of him, and simply go from there, no matter what happens.”

The second I get back to our suite at the Ritz, I instantly know something is wrong. I can practically feel Jake
’
s tension radiating through the air as I push open the door.

“
Where the fuck have you been?!” He
’
s on me the instant I
’
m through the door. “Don
’
t you answer your goddamn cell anymore?!”

I sigh inwardly. Here we go again.

“
Hello to you too,” I bite.

“
I
’
m not fuckin
’
kidding, Tru.”

“
Neither am I.” I give him a hard stare as I walk past him.

Getting my phone from my bag I see I have ten missed calls and five voicemails.

“
I was out having coffee with Stuart,” I say putting my phone back in my bag and dropping it onto the table.

“
I called him too and he didn
’
t answer
–
why not?”

“
I don
’
t know, I
’
m not a mind reader. Maybe because he was out with me? Maybe because it
’
s his day off? Why don
’
t you ask him?”

I turn around to see Jake pacing the floor, anger clear on his face.

I don
’
t know what
’
s wrong with him right now, but it seems we are going to have to get past whatever this is before I can have the drugs talk with him.

“
Baby, what
’
s wrong?” I ask, walking toward him, hands out.

I
’
m trying the soft, tactical approach; it
’
s the only way with him at the moment.

Jake can be irrational at times. Drug taking Jake
–
always irrational.

“
This is what
’
s wrong.” He marches away from me, leaving me dead in my tracks, and goes over to the desk, grabs an envelope off it and marches back, shoving it in my hand.

“
What
’
s this?” I look down at it confused.

“
Open it the fuck up, and then you can answer me the very same question.”

I stare across at him puzzled, then back down at the envelope.

Okay, so whatever it is has got him majorly pissed off.

Apprehensively, I peel the seal back on the envelope, reach in and put my fingers around what feels to be photos.

Yep, it
’
s photos.

Photos of me and Will from Callo
’
s that last day I saw him.

One is of Will and me sitting across the table from one another, the next
–
Will holding my hand across the table, and the last, a photo of Will and me hugging outside of Callo
’
s.

I look up at Jake. “Where did you get these?”

“
Are you fucking him?”

I feel like he
’
s just slapped me.

“
No.”

“
I don
’
t believe you.”

“
Believe what you want, it
’
s the truth.” I drop the photos onto the coffee table, along with the envelope. “Did you have me followed?”

“
No. Do I need to?”

I glare at him.

“
The press sent them,” he fires at me. “They
’
re running a story that you
’
re having an affair with him.”

I snort at the ridiculousness of it.

“
You find something funny about this?” He stares at me with glassy eyes.

He
’
s high right now. And he
’
s also not amused.

Well guess what Jake, neither am I.

“
I
’
d say so, yeah.” I drag my hands through my hair. “The press are about to accuse me of having an affair with Will
–
the man who was the one wronged because I had an affair with you. It
’
s beyond ludicrous! We can
’
t let this happen. We have to tell the press the truth
–
and I need to call Will and warn him about this.”

I get my phone out of my bag ready to make the call, but Jake lunges forward and grabs it from my hand.

“
You
’
re screwing around with him, and you
’
re going to call him here in front of me!” he yells.

“
Jake, I
’
m not cheating on you with Will. Barring the fact that I would never do that to you, when exactly would I do so? I
’
m with you all the time. And I
’
m also here in the US, and Will is in the UK. Seriously, please just see sense here, and give me my phone back.” I hold my hand out to him.

“
You
’
re not calling him, Tru.”

“
Give. Me. My. Phone. Back.”

“
No!” he yells, and throws my phone clear across the room and all I can do is watch as it smashes to pieces against the wall.

“
Have you lost your mind?!” I cry, hand clutching my head. “Jesus Christ, Jake! Who is this version of you?! I feel like I don
’
t even know you anymore!”

I go over to where my broken phone lays, crouching down, I pick the pieces up and hold them together like I can somehow repair it.

Staying there for a few moments, I take some deep breaths before speaking again.

“
Whatever issue you have with Will,” I state calmly standing, putting down the remnants of my shattered phone onto the table
–
poor Adele. “He
’
s done nothing wrong and it
’
s only fair to warn him if he
’
s about to get screwed over in the press. He
’
s got a career to think about. Surely you can understand that.”

Jake stares at me for a long moment, his chest rising and falling heavily. “I
’
ll get my lawyers to bury the story.”

“
You can do that?” I feel a huge sense of relief. I don
’
t want Will getting any more hurt than he has been, and if Jake can stop it then all the better.

“
I can do anything I want.”

I hate it when he
’
s arrogant like this.

I love sexy arrogant Jake. Not,
‘
I
’
m king of the world drug taking
’
arrogant Jake.

“
So why all of this … hang on
–
was this some sort of damn test? The story
’
s already buried isn
’
t it?” I ball my hands into fists at my sides.

Jake says nothing, just stares steadily back at me.

“
Why couldn
’
t you just talk to me properly about this instead of all the theatrics?”

His face laces with anger again. “How the hell do you think I felt seeing these photos, Tru?” He jabs a finger in the direction of them. “And then you side with him just like I knew you would!”

“
Side with him? We
’
re not in school here!” Then I pause, collecting myself, realising the yelling is getting us nowhere.

“
Jake, I
’
m not siding with Will,” I say in calmer voice. “I know it must have been a shock for you seeing them like that, but please just try to see reason here, those photos are not what you thought they were. And I get it, this issue you have with Will, I do, but you have to let it go now and trust me. He was the one wronged here, not us.” I take a step closer to him. “I
’
m with you. I
’
ll always be with you. I
’
m not a cheater, as ironic as that sounds. I only did, what I did to Will, with you, because it was
you
, Jake. Because of how I feel about you. How I
’
ve always felt about you. I have loved you my whole life. You must know that. Yes, I handled it all so very badly, but I promise you, I will never hurt you like I did Will.”

His eyes scan my face. “I just need to know if anything happened with Will when you saw him?”

Am I talking to myself?

“
No.” I
’
m trying to stay calm, I really am, but I
’
m struggling at the moment.

“
Just the thought of you with him.” He drags his hands through his hair, looking agonised. “When were you going to tell me that you were sleeping with him again? Were you ever going to tell me?”

Apparently, I am talking to myself.

“
Argghh! Never!” I snap, my head finally popping. “Because there is nothing to tell! I saw Will on the day you flew over to London after your dad had died. I
’
d gone into work in the morning to see Vicky before you were due to arrive. When I left the building, I bumped into Will outside. He
’
d seen me go in work and waited for me to leave. He just wanted to talk to me. I thought it was the least I could do after what I
’
d done to him. We went to Callo
’
s for a coffee. We talked. I cried. He held my hand because I was sad that I
’
d hurt him. It was good of him after what I
’
d done. We left Callo
’
s. He hugged me goodbye outside. And then we went our separate ways and I haven
’
t seen or heard from him since.”

Jake is staring at me, but it
’
s like he
’
s seeing through me. His pupils are wide and dilated, and I
’
m wondering if he just heard a word I said.

“
So why didn
’
t you just tell me you
’
d seen him that day?” His voice sounds a little calmer.

I almost exhale with relief that my words are finally sinking in and this conversation is seemingly nearly over with. The downside
–
next I have to broach the subject of his very apparent drug use.

“
Because your dad had just died and I knew it would upset and stress you out. You don
’
t see straight when it comes to Will, baby. I was going to tell you when things had calmed down, but then the story hit the news about your dad … what happened that night and there
’
s just never been a right time since.”

B
ecause you
’
re using drugs again.

His face darkens. “So you just thought you
’
d keep lying to me instead?!”