“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb, you bitch. You sent your footy player boyfriend to my place to threaten me to leave you alone. Message received. I won’t be callin’ you again or sellin’ your borin’ as shit story. No one would give a shit about you anyway.” Lauren heard the venom in Belinda’s voice. “What did ya do to get his protection? No, wait…you just opened up your legs for him like the slut you are.”
Lauren had heard enough to understand what was going on and couldn’t stand to listen to
Belinda for another minute. “Have a good life, Belinda.”
She’d finally cut all ties. Relief lifted the weight of the world from her shoulders.
She disconnected the call with a smile. Jack had confronted Belinda, and now Lauren would never need to worry about her again. Even though Lauren promised to never give Belinda another cent, she knew her sister would have kept trying to blackmail her. But Jack fixed the problem for good. Exhilaration flooded her body, and she let out a giddy giggle.
If she had any doubts about her feelings for Jack before, they’d now been wiped away. Her heart burst with happiness. She needed to find him and thank him for what he’d done, but most importantly, she wanted to tell him how much she loved him.
Rushing to the doorway leading into the shop, she poked her head in to tell Jaime she needed to go out for a while. Jaime waved and told her she had everything under control. Picking up her bag from the desk, she raced out the back door.
Chapter Thirty-One
Lauren rushed to her car with her head down, searching for her keys in her bag, when she bumped into someone.
Startled, she said, “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She smiled and went to step around the woman she’d collided with.
The woman grabbed Lauren around the arm with a firm grip and pulled her to a stop. When Lauren turned back to tell the woman to remove her hands, recognition struck. This was the woman who had broken the candlesticks. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose. She hadn’t had a good feeling about her that day and now unease stomped around like elephants in Lauren’s stomach.
Before Lauren had the chance to speak, the woman sneered with a cruel expression.
“Don’t walk away from me, bitch.”
Lauren gritted her teeth and felt her blood bubble hot. Totally fed up with people calling her a bitch, she shook her arm free. It throbbed where it had been held, and red finger marks were visible on her skin. It was going to bruise.
Lauren dug her hands into her hips. “What’s your problem?”
The woman’s lip curled in a hateful smile. “You’remy problem. You think you can take what’s mine?” Her gaze traveled up and down Lauren with disgust. “What the fuck does he see in you? You look as frigid as a nun.”
“What are you talk…” Then it hit her. “Claire.”
Concern replaced her annoyance. This was the person who’d trashed Jack’s office and damaged her car, and by the crazed expression on her face, she didn’t appear very stable. She needed to approach Claire carefully.
“So, youdoknow me,” the woman said with a twisted smile.
The drizzle from earlier had gotten heavier. Claire pushed a lock of damp hair from her face, and it was then Lauren saw what Claire held in her hand. She sucked in her breath, and fear lodged in her throat. Claire held a very dangerous-looking silver knife. The woman was a little more than unstable, she was downright psychotic.
Lauren searched the carpark for help, but there was no one around. She took a couple of
small steps back toward her shop. Maybe if she got close enough she could make it inside and lock the door before Claire reached her.
If she kept Claire talking, hopefully she wouldn’t notice Lauren moving away. “Jack mentioned you.”
“Did hementionthat he panted after me in the office like a dog in heat until I let him fuck me on his desk?” Claire’s dark hair hung like damp curtains around her face and mascara dripped down her cheeks, giving her an even more disturbing appearance.
Lauren shook her head. “No.” Her voice sounded like a strangled whisper as she remembered Claire’s handiwork on Jack’s desk with a sharp object, probably with the knife she now held.
“Well, he did. He wanted me. He said he couldn’t live without me. Did hementionthat?” Her voice rose with each word as she paced in front of Lauren, waving the knife at her face.
“And now you’re in my way.”
Lauren took two more small steps back. She wasn’t dealing with an angry ex-girlfriend, she was dealing with someone who was mentally unstable. Lauren needed to try and calm her down. “Claire, I know you’re upset. I don’t blame you for being angry.” She needed to try to get her to believe she was on her side. “Let’s go inside and out of the rain. I’ll make you a coffee and we can talk.” Not that she had any intention of letting her inside. As soon as Lauren got to the office she’d lock the door before Claire entered and call the police.
She slowly started to turn around, praying that putting her back toward Claire and the knife wouldn’t be a bad idea. But before she could take a step farther Claire grabbed her by the arm and swung her around.
