The intercom buzz cuts through the quiet.
“Laurette? Jon David’s here to see you.”
My fingers freeze on the folder. My heart drums.
What’s he doing here? I made myself clear the last time we saw each other.
No apologies or excuses. No more claiming it was nothing and I should let it go because I was confused.
“Send him in,” I say, voice flat.
The door swings open, and there he is. All polished charm and courtroom arrogance. The aftermath of my exposing him doesn’t exist. The reality he destroyed doesn’t matter.
His smile is soft. The same one that used to melt me in two seconds flat.
“Morning, Laurette.”
I stay seated, leaning back in my chair, arms crossed. “What do you want?”
He steps in, too confident, hands tucked into his pockets. “I figured we should talk.”
I let out a low laugh. “Then talk.”
His brow pulls into a practiced concern. “Come on, Laurette. Don’t do this. You’re blowing things way out of proportion.”
Something detonates in my chest.
I shove back from the desk so hard the chair wheels shriek against the floor, and I yank open the drawer.
A single folded sheet—I slam it on my desk between us.
“Read it.”
He blinks, and a flicker of unease cracks his perfect composure. “What’s that?”
“My test results.” My voice is sharp enough to draw blood. “Positive for benzodiazepines. From that night.”
For one heartbeat, he freezes.
The panic is there—briefly—then the mask snaps back into place.
“Okay, let’s slow down?—”
“Fuck you.” I’m on my feet now, the air between us tight enough to strangle. “Don’t dare dismiss me. You…drugged… me.”
His mouth opens with the practiced calm of a man who’s talked his way out of worse. “Laurette, you need to calm down.”
“Calm?” The word snaps out of me. “You rendered me unconscious and called it confusion. You looked me in the eye afterward and told me I imagined it.”
I take a step closer.
“Tell me one more time to calm down.”
My pulse hammers hard enough to rattle my ribs. “I didn’t tell you I had a drug screen done because I wanted to see how far you’d go. How long you’d keep trying to convince me I made it up. Turns out you’d ride that lie straight into hell. But I saw the truth. You went full performance mode on some guy’s dick, convinced I was unconscious from your handiwork.”
His eyes flick to the door and back. “Lower your voice before someone overhears.”
“Why? Afraid the truth might be exposed? Tell me,JD. Did you ever stop to consider what could have happened if you had overdosed me? If I’d had a bad reaction? Did it cross your mind that I could havedied?”
