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“The owner of the recording is shopping it around and not being quiet about it.” His jaw moved back and forth like there was something he wasn’t saying. Then he lowered his chin, his eyes locked with mine. “I doubt we’re the only ones who know about this.”
It only took a moment for his meaning to dawn on me. “You think the Hayes know.”
His shrug was slight. “I don’t know anything for a fact, but if I were in possession of a recording like that and wanted money, I’d take it to the company that couldn’t afford for it to get out. Whether they found out overnight like we did or days ago, I don’t know, but I’d bet my suit collection Jeremy Hayes is at least aware.”
Luca was careful with his words, but they still knocked me back. My chest went tight, and the possibilities of who else might have known ricocheted around my skull.
I sat through the meeting, gathering myself to be as present as I could be. I told myself this was about someone else and had nothing to do with potentially being deceived by a man I loved once again.
If there was an upside, we were at least ahead of the scandal this time and would be able to remove ourselves from the narrative. The lawyers were already drafting a memo to end the negotiations with Motor Zone they would be sending before the end of the day. A crisis team was working on our response in the case that we were mentioned in the circus sure to begin once the recording was out there for everyone to hear. I felt confident we would get through this without much damage.
At least, Rossi Motors would.
I wasn’t sure I would fare so well.
Even though I hadn’t confirmed the worst was true, my gut knew it was. Jake’s bad day couldn’t have been a coincidence.
As soon as I was in my office, I texted him, unable to bear hearing his voice right now.
Me: Did you know about the recording last night?
It took a minute for my phone to ring. I declined it, but he called back three more times before texting.
Jake: Pick up the phone, Clara.
Me: It’s a yes or no question, Jake.
Jake: Nothing is that simple.
To me, it was. His unwillingness to answer was an answer in itself. He’d known. He’d come to me knowing. I’d shared my bed and body with him while he’d been deceiving me.
God, how could this be happening again?
I’d been so careful. I’d gone slow. I’d been wary of every step. Yet, here I was, back where I’d already been—the place I swore I’d never be again.
A drop of water fell on the papers on my desk. I touched it with my fingertip as another fell beside it. Oh, those are tears. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. For the longest time, I’d thought I was out of tears. I supposed I’d been wrong about a lot of things.
I had no idea how long I sat there—watching my teardrops dent my papers—until a scuffle and muffled voices outside my office drew me back to the present.
Without warning, the door to my office swung open, and Jake stormed in. Thomas tried to stop him, but Jake slammed the door in his face and locked it.
He stood there, chest heaving as he stared at me. I looked back, too sad to summon my anger, even though it would have been nice right now. Anger, I could have used. Sadness did nothing but bog me down, leaving me immobile.
“You’re crying,” he uttered.
“Well, of course I am. You’ve broken my heart.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back.
The speed at which he circled my desk and dropped to his knees in front of me stole my breath. He took my hands in his, holding them so tightly I had no hope of freeing myself.
“I found out yesterday, and I was going to tell you today. I had no intention of deceiving you—”
“But you did. You told me you’d had a bad day while knowing something that would affect not only you but Rossi too. You chose not to tell me. How is that not deception?”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t going to go that far. Jeremy asked me to give him a day to put a plan in place. That was it, one day. I told him I wouldn’t give him more than that.”
“I don’t believe you,” I stated.
Mouth agape, he fell back on his heels. “I’m telling you the truth. I would never lie to you.”
