How can you treat your own mother like this? You used to be such a good girl.
You selfish, ungrateful little brat.
Nicholas had threatened to bankrupt her mother, who didn’thave the funds to fight him in court. Her mother had pleaded with her to intercede on her behalf, which made Jay wonder how much she really knew about what had really gone on between her and her stepbrother.
Had she known what he’d had done to her and sold her out, regardless? It was a terrible thought, but one she kept coming back to, over and over again. No, ‘hi, how are you, how did it go?’ It was as if she didn’t want to know the details.
Or, Jay thought, with a little twist in her heart,as if she knows them already.
Nicholas had offered her ten million dollars to stay with him forever. She bitterly wondered what her mother would do if she found out that she refused the money.
“Jay?”
She jumped guilty, hand tightening as she unconsciously tilted the screen towards her chest. Nicholas was holding his briefcase in one hand and his car keys in the other, standing just a little too close. She backed away in her wheeled chair so his hips weren’t quite so level with her face.
“H-hey.”
“Hey.” He looked a little tired around the eyes. As a concession to the lateness of the hour, his tie was gone and he had a bit of five o’ clock shadow. “Ready to go?”
“Yes.” She began to gather her things, the wordssuper possessivevolleying through her mind as he loomed over her. “Just let me lock my computer.”
Nicholas pulled out his phone while he waited. “Who were you texting?”
“It’s my mother. She’s been after me all week. I haven’t responded.”
“Good.” He tapped something on his phone. “Don’t.”
“I think she’s still fixated on the money.”
“Of course she is. You’re such a good little investment opportunity.”
“Don’t talk about me like that, like I’m tradable. I know you hate her but don’t diminish me like that to do it.”
The ice in his eyes thawed a little, although his mouth remained a solid line. She wondered if he was thinking about his proposal. If so, he wouldn’t bring it up here. He was far too proud to let any of his peons be privy to even the slightest chance of rejection.
“It was a slight against your mother,” he said, a little coolly. “Not you.”
“I know what you meant. You think I’m a pushover just because I don’t announce my anger to the room the way you do. I can handle my mother.”By avoiding all her calls.
Nicholas slid his phone back into his pocket. She couldn’t read his expression at all now. When he wanted to, he could make himself unreachable.
“If you’re finished, we can go,” he said.
“Fine,” she said tautly.
She started walking, hitching her purse up her shoulder as they passed the silent rows of dark monitors. The sharpness of his gestures suggested he was irritated. That made two of them.
Nicholas punched the alarm code for the door. “I thought we’d grab dinner on the way home. I didn’t have time to eat today and I don’t believe you did, either.”
Still annoyed, she said, struggling to keep her voice civil, “Where did you have in mind?”
He closed the door. The parking lot was frosted in orangefrom the streetlights. Crickets chirped in the bushes and she could hear the distant roar of the freeway. His Tesla was the only car in the lot. She edged a little closer as they approached his car in the darkness.
“Accia,” he said.
The most expensive and visible restaurant in town?Jay nearly protested, then thought better of it. In his current mood, he’d only take it as the start of another fight.
He might even be trying to start one now.
