“Yeah, he told everyone this morning!” She smiled, before adding, “Good for you, girl. Jeremiah ishot.” She giggled. A few other female employees joined in and gave me knowing glances.
I couldn’t believe any of this.
Chapter 52
Jeremiah
The cool breeze blew across the lake, leaving its chill against my face as I looked around the park. The sun was threatening to set soon and I still hadn’t found Sadie. I reached in my pocket for my phone to check the time, only to remember the battery was dead. I sighed frustratedly as I slipped it back in the pocket of my jacket. I buttoned the top button to keep the crisp fall air from biting.
I headed down the winding path toward a small fountain surrounded by park benches. That was when I saw her, her familiar red hair flowing over the back of a bench. My pace quickened as I went to her. I rested my hand gently on her shoulder.
“Sadie…” I said, relief washing over me.
But it soon disappeared as the woman turned and gave me a confused look. It wasn’t Sadie. And she wasn’t exactly happy my hand was wrapped around her shoulder.
“Excuse me?” she said sharply.
I quickly removed my hand and put them up in defense. “I apologize. I thought you were someone else.”
Shehmphed before grabbing her purse from the bench and walking quickly away. I watched her go, sighing before taking a seat. The bench was still warm from where the stranger sat. I looked up at the sky and shook my head at the gathering clouds, dark and gray. A reflection of what my mind felt like.
The day had gone from bad to worse. All day I had been receiving calls from the press. Emails from my lawyer. Worried texts from Luke. I ignored everything, until my phone decided it had had enough too and powered down. I wished it were that easy for me to shut out the world. But it wasn’t.
The article was still out there, and there were more sure to follow. Maybe not front-page newsworthy, but follow-ups on the sensationalized scandal Anderson had planted. Just to remind people of the mess that was my life. I leaned forward and ran my palms down my face.
I wondered if Sadie had read it. Of course, she had. All of New York had. And if she somehow hadn’t, I was sure someone had told her all about it. I just hoped she knew me better than the writer made me out to be. An ex-con. A tyrant. A womanizer.A greedy asshole who would stop at nothing to get ahead, no matter who it hurt.
Maybe some of it was true. Or at least it was. I was no ex-con, but I had been greedy. A little too ambitious. Vengeful when it came to taking everything from Anderson. Used women for sex and moved onto the next. Took over companies with force and fear as my weapons. Hell, the article wasn’tthatfar off from who I used to be.
Before Sadie.
And now I had dragged her into this mess. I was relieved to find her name not printed in the paper, but it still couldn’t be easy for her. Having her personal life splashed on the front pages for others’ entertainment. Her relationship with me. Her pregnancy.
This was a fucking mess.
I stood from the bench suddenly and made for the pathway leading up to the street and my apartment. I needed to be in the privacy of my home with a bourbon in hand as I tried to sort everything out.
As I walked up toward my building, I saw a slew of paparazzi outside armed with their cameras as the usual doorman tried to shoo them away through the glass. My stomach sank. I should have been prepared for these leeches, desperate for more. Desperate for a shot at me.
The doorman spotted me from across the street and gave me a knowing nod. He was ready. I checked traffic before sprinting across the busy street, pulling my jacket up over my head as he quickly pushed the door open for me to enter. The paparazzi were ready, though. Their excited yells filled my ears as they shoved each other, their cameras ramming into me as I ran past.
“Jeremiah!”
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
“What was prison like?”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“Was it consensual?”
Their questions rang in my ears as I quickly thanked the doorman and strode toward the elevators. Safely inside, I let out a rattled sigh and pulled my jacket down. My exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. I leaned against the mirrored wall of the elevator and hung my head. I could feel the weight of all my mistakes, from twenty-something years ago to present day, pushing down on my shoulders.
I had been so wrapped up in hiding them, that I overlooked the one thing that mattered.
Sadie.
I had bulldozed over her in an effort to make sure she did everythingmyway, claiming I knew best. Claiming I knew this world better than her and she should follow my lead. But look where that got us. Making decisionsforher had only pushed her away. And why shouldn’t it? I gave her no room to breathe. No wonder she left me. No wondertheyleft me.
