The Lover’s Secret (No Exceptions #1)(31)
Author: J.C. Reed

I shook my head. The thought was horrible and yet it sounded too plausible to be immediately discarded.

What if Jett was still after the estate?

Maybe…when the first plan didn’t work out, he decided to play a new card, a cleverly concealed ruse: gain my trust while pretending that his brother and father were the ones not to be trusted, all the while supporting them, being on their side, fighting for the bad guys, seeing that he and his family had the same goal. After all, some say blood runs thicker than water.

If that was true, I wasn’t safe anywhere and with no one. I bent forward, rubbing my hands over my knotted stomach.

No, it couldn’t be true. The mere thought was crazy, utterly insane.

I had it all wrong.

I smiled bitterly as waves of nausea rolled through me. If I didn’t put things in check, get them into perspective, I would morph into a compulsive madwoman, unable to decide whom to trust and whom not. Taking deep breaths, I recalled all good reasons why my fears were unfounded:

First, Jett had saved my life on more than one occasion. Were it not for him, I would have been dead. If he wanted me gone, he could have used one of those opportunities to get rid of me.

Second, years after leaving the gang, Jett had sought out his former friends to help me.

Third, there was also the fact that he loved me. He had told me so on numerous occasions. I knew words didn’t always mean much, but when he had said it, I had felt it deep within my heart. Maybe my feelings had betrayed me, but for some reason, I just knew he had spoken the truth. And then there was also that small, unrelated matter: Nate had shot his father. I’d seen it with my own eyes. Surely if it was all a plan, there would be no need to endanger a family member’s life.

Unless the person was a psycho.

And Nate was a psycho all the way.

For a long time, I just sat there, the seconds stretching into minutes while I fought to clear the mist inside my head. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that there had to be a different reason why Jett had not been upfront with me about Nate. I could feel it. I was so close I could almost grasp it—if only I could think clearly and figure out the one piece of information I knew was missing in order to solve the puzzle.

Under normal circumstances, I could have dealt with anything and anyone. But today I needed a drink, if only to calm down my nerves and get rid of my excruciating headache. I decided it was safe enough. Just one glass of wine, and then I’d return to the suite and wait for Jett to have the talk.

Chapter 19

Clutching the envelope to my chest, I headed for the hotel club, thankful for the fact that it was in walking distance. By the time I arrived, the club was dimly lit and half-full of patrons. I headed straight toward the bar and sat down on a bar stool near a group that looked to be part of a bachelorette party. Clad in my slutty dress and high heels, I blended in perfectly.

I waited impatiently for the bartender, my finger tapping in the same rhythm as my racing pulse. It was in that moment that I heard a familiar voice saying, “Brooke can’t know about it.”

I froze instantly, my eyes scanning left and right, though I struggled not to crane my neck or spin around. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, a figment of my creative and anxious mind, but then my eyes fell on him.

My heart skipped several beats.

Standing close to the bar, almost obscured by a huge abstract ice sculpture, was Jett. Even in the semidarkness, with the beautiful glass chandeliers hanging so low they almost touched the tables, he stood out with his broad shoulders and dark hair I’d recognize anywhere, anytime.

Holy mother of pearls.

What was he doing here? The reasonable thing would have been to get out before he saw me. Only, I wasn’t exactly the reasonable kind.

The bartender approached me to take my order. I pressed my index finger against my lips, shushing him, then cautiously craned my neck to get a better view.

Jett was sitting at a table near the bar. Opposite him was a woman, her back turned to me, so I couldn’t see her face. But from the way she leaned forward, gesticulating animatedly, I knew they were having an interesting conversation.

She seemed to be the only person he was talking to.

My heart lurched in my chest.

The picture before me was like poison, killing me softly as it coursed through my body. Self-preservation kicked in, urging me to get away. And yet I found myself inching closer to the monstrous ice statue, thankful for the privacy it provided. It was the only way to catch more than fragments of their conversation; the only way to find out who she was and why Jett was leaning too close to her, hanging on to her every word.

“You sure this is what you want, Jett?” Her voice was young, maybe twenty-five. It was also deep and sultry. Intimate, I realized. They were calling each other by their first names, clearly knowing each other. I dared to crane my neck just a little bit more, but all I could see was long, black, glossy hair and toned arms.

“I’m sure.” His voice carried the same determination and stubbornness I had grown to accept from him. “I’ve been waiting for this for a while now, and to be honest, I don’t know a better time.”

The woman nodded, as though she knew what he was talking about and couldn’t have agreed more. “Because she doesn’t know?”

“Yes,” Jett said slowly.

My pulse raced harder.

Know what? Waiting for what? They were talking about me and thought I didn’t know it. I frowned. After everything I had discovered throughout the course of the day, I didn’t like this one bit, especially the part involving me not knowing. I regarded the woman intently in a desperate attempt to figure out who she was. Dressed in an elegant, golden cocktail dress, she didn’t look like one of Jett’s uptight business associates. They were talking quite openly about me, so I figured she had to be some sort of acquaintance.

So, a friend. Or maybe…

I swallowed hard, not allowing the disturbing thought to enter my mind.

Had he met her by accident, bumped into her on the way back from his business meeting, and she so happened to know about our relationship?

Maybe she was a friend from college or a client he had met on the job, and now they were discussing the best way to market her property. The explanations sounded plausible enough.

Silence ensued between them, and for a moment, I wondered if I should show myself; pretend as though I had just entered and spotted them. But then, all of a sudden, she shifted in her seat and ran a hand through her long, black hair, spreading it around her like a beautiful velvet curtain.