“I see.”She nods like she’s actually considering his point.“Do you happen to know Rawlings Enterprise’s employee turnover rate?”
“Well.”He blinks, blowing off a breath.“I… don’t have those numbers on hand, but…”
“Eight percent. Lowest in the industry for ten straight years. Top-tier salaries. Does it sound like an unstable work environment?”
Jeff has no comeback, and he looks a little gray at the edges.
Jackie leans in, voice steady.“Iamhuman. I might make mistakes. Rarely. But it’s not impossible. What I won’t do islet you turn a private moment into clickbait because you’re too lazy to do your job and report on real issues.”
Then she pauses, before she delivers the final blow.“Like UniCore’s five million users’ data leak.”
The anchor is scrambling through papers, shooting a cry-for-help look to his producers.“Where are you getting this—”
“While we were fending off the largest cyberattack on US soil,” she says, “Mr. Gordon was busy sweeping his problems under the rug. Their servers were breached too. The difference between us is that he folded and paid the ten-million-dollar ransom. With clients’ funds.”
He stammers something, but she steamrolls him.“He covered it up. Didn’t alert authorities. Now, besides the fraud, millions of people risk having their personal data show up on the dark web because UniCore failed to act responsibly.”
The interviewer is rigid, trying to spin it.“We’ll need to verify this…”
“Oh, don’t worry. News of the World has all our findings. Airing them as we speak.”
She slowly unhooks the mic off her jacket. “Pleasure as always, Jeff.”
I’m on the couch, practically yelling at the screen like it’s overtime at the Stanley Cup. “Take the hit, give it back twice as hard, baby!”
Nothing turns me on more than watching Jackie stand her ground. It’s the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen.
She just torched Gordon’s entire career in real time. The fucker won’t see a government seal on a contract again in his lifetime. I watch, fully hooked, as the cycle repeats for the next few hours, as she nails every interview with the same precision.
By the time Gilda walks in with a tray of food, my cheeks ache from grinning. I’ve already memorized all of Jackie’s little tells. How her lips twitch when someone tries to throw her off. The tiny lift of her chin before cutting off a rude interviewer.
I didn’t think I could get even more obsessed with her.
“Yourold friend’s a tough one,” Gilda says, glancing at the TV. “I like her.”
I snatch one of the club sandwiches. “She’s the best,” I say, and yes, I can hear how stupidly proud I sound.
She doesn’t tease me this time, but keeps looking at the TV.
“Ugly business, that video,” she hums. “Can’t imagine what it’s like…having to constantly hide because some parasite might decide to make a few bucks off my worst moments.”
“Yeah,” I murmur. “It’s lonely.”
Gilda gives me the same look my mom used to when I was a teenager. The kind meant to nudge me in the right direction without pushing. “She doesn’t have to be.”
But I don’t need someone to show me the way.
“I’ll make sure she isn’t,” I say, still locked on the screen.
And this time, I won’t let her slip through my fingers. With this interview over, I can’t wait any longer.
“Never again.”
Light rain taps on my shoulders, each step to her house sounding like a countdown. To what, only Jackie can decide.
I stop under the wisteria arching above the door of her new brownstone, fingertips pulsing with the rhythm of my anxious heartbeat. The sweet scent of wet earth and fall roses drifts from her garden, grounding me. I’ve waited for this moment far too long. I can’t ruin this.
The door swings open before I can even knock. Jackie stands there, framed by the warm halo of the hallway lamp, and the sight of her knocks the breath from my lungs.
