“What are you doing here?” Morgan cut him off, her voice cold. “How did you even know where to find me?”
“I actually didn’t know, I was trying to talk to Tessa to get her to call you for her.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Can I come in? Just for a minute?”
Every instinct told her to slam the door in his face. But a strange curiosity kept her hand steady. After all, she had questions herself.. “You have five minutes.”
Jason stepped inside, his eyes darting around Tessa’s apartment before settling back on Morgan. “You look good,” he offered, an awkward attempt at breaking the ice.
“What do you want, Jason?” Morgan crossed her arms, maintaining a deliberate distance between them.
He ran a hand through his carefully styled hair, a gesture so uncharacteristic it caught her attention. “I wanted to explain... about that night. About Elise.”
“I don’t need explanations,” Morgan replied flatly. “I saw everything I needed to see at Marcello’s.”
“It wasn’t what it looked like,” Jason insisted, desperation creeping into his voice. “Well, it was, but not for the reasons you think.”
Morgan raised an eyebrow, skepticism radiating from her every pore. “Another woman was eating off your fork and holding your hand. All while you told me you were in Chicago. Please, enlighten me on how that wasn’t exactly what it looked like.”
“It was work,” Jason said, the words tumbling out in a rush. “Elise Harrington is a major client. When Marcus Donovan tells you to keep a high-net-worth client happy, you do it.”
The name struck a chord in Morgan’s memory. Marcus Donovan. Alexandra Winters had mentioned him—the CFO at Sullivan Enterprises who’d taken an unusual interest in her case.
“Marcus Donovan,” Morgan repeated, her voice suddenly quiet. “Sullivan Enterprises’ CFO?”
Jason’s eyes widened slightly. “You know him?”
“I know of him,” Morgan replied carefully, her mind racing to connect dots she hadn’t seen before. “Keep talking. How exactly does the CFO of Sullivan Enterprises factor into you cheating on me?”
Jason had the grace to look uncomfortable. “Meridian manages investments for several Sullivan subsidiaries. Elise Harrington was bringing a significant portfolio to the firm. Marcus made it clear that keeping her happy was a priority.”
“And ‘keeping her happy’ required romantic dinners and touching her like you were lovers?” Morgan’s voice sharpened.
“I volunteered for the assignment,” Jason admitted, his gaze dropping to the floor. “It seemed like the career opportunity of the century. I didn’t realize at first what it would entail, but then..."
“But then you decided cheating on me was a fair price for career advancement,” Morgan finished for him.
“It wasn’t like that,” he protested weakly.
“Then what was it like, Jason?”
He looked up, his expression a mixture of defiance and shame. “Elise made it clear what kind of attention she expected. And yes, I went along with it. I made choices—bad ones. But you have to understand, when someone like Marcus Donovan makes ‘suggestions’ about client relationships, the consequences of saying no are very real.”
Morgan studied him, seeing for the first time the man she’d spent six months with. Not the charming facade she’d fallen for, but the desperate climber beneath, willing to sacrifice anything—including their relationship—for professional gain.
“You’re not here because you regret hurting me,” she said with sudden clarity. “You’re here because you got caught, and it didn’t even get you what you wanted, did it? Elise moved on to someone else?”
Jason’s silence was all the confirmation she needed.
“I think your five minutes are up,” Morgan said quietly as she opened the door for him to leave.
“Morgan—”
“Goodbye, Jason.”
After he left, Morgan stood motionless in Tessa’s living room, her mind whirling with implications. Marcus Donovan. Sullivan Enterprises. The pieces were coming together in a pattern she didn’t want to see.
Instead of calling for a taxi, Morgan sat down at her laptop, pulling up a search engine. Her fingers typed “Marcus Donovan Sullivan Enterprises” with maybe a tad more force than was required.
The results loaded instantly—corporate profiles, business journal articles, press releases. Marcus Donovan, Chief Financial Officer of Sullivan Enterprises. Harvard MBA. Financial virtuoso. Right-hand man to CEO Archer Sullivan.
