Page 79 of Tempted

“Yes. It’s a boy.”

“Three boys,” he whispered almost to himself.

She squirmed in her chair. Victor was clearly interested in the well-being of the child. Was she being fair to keep him away? “Yes, you’ll have three sons,” she finally answered. She didn’t know what Victor would have said next because the waiter chose that moment to appear to take their drink orders.

The two of them fell into a pattern of small talk. Jasmine asked about the children unable to hold in her curiosity much longer. Victor told her about how they were doing in school and what they were up to. Her heart twisted a bit realizing how much she missed them so. In that time she’d lived with the Meades, Chelsea and Tyler had in a sense become her children.

They talked about the kids until their food arrived and Jasmine knew her time was running out. She couldn’t continue to exchange niceties with him without stating the real reason she’d come. Jasmine didn’t want to be disloyal to Jason after all he’d done for her, but there were several things she needed to get off her chest. She pushed barely touched dish away from her.

Victor frowned. “Is something wrong with the food?”

She shook her head. “It’s good, but I guess my appetite isn’t what it should be.”

“But is that good for the baby? You have to eat for two don’t you?”

“I’m fine, Victor. I promise I’ve been eating. I’ve even gained a little weight lately.”

He smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. And my offer still stands. If there’s anything else you need for yourself or the baby, I’ll make sure you get it.”

“Thank you, Victor.”

He sighed.“Look Jasmine, I don’t think I can go another second without telling you how sorry I am. God, it should have been the first thing I said to you when you arrived, but I guess I was just trying to find the right words to say. The truth is, I was more upset that I had to hear the truth from someone else rather than from you. I was hurt that you’d shut me out but my reason don’t matter. I’d thought of how I would apologize to you and explain what was going through my mind at the time but when it’s all said and done, I have absolutely no excuse for sending you away the way I did. None. And furthermore, I took the word of someone who I knew was probably up to no good. I won’t ask you to forgive me because I don’t deserve it, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry. I’m just really grateful to have this chance to clear the air between us.”

He’d treated her abominably, but she’d made some mistakes of her own in this debacle. If she had been honest with him in the first place maybe things would have been different. This was an inner struggle she’d been facing for the past several months.

It was easy to blame Victor for all of her troubles, but the truth was, she held as much responsibility as him. When it came down to it, she’d lied to get the job and even as she got to know him, she shut him out. Her stubborn pride and inability to ask for help had hurt her more than it helped and she could no longer lay all her woes at his feet. There was far too much at stake here.

“Thank you, Victor. I appreciate the apology.”

“I probably don’t have the right to ask…I mean I know you intend to marry Jason, but if you could somehow…if there’s a way I can be a part of my son’s life. I don’t want to sign over my rights. I thought about it and I can’t. I never want another child of mine to think I gave up on them.”

Jasmine’s mouth fell open. Is that why he believed she’d come here? To ask him to sign away his rights? The thought actually never occurred to her, even though she had wanted him to stay away but that was only while she worked through some things. She shook her head. “Victor, I wasn’t going to ask you that.”

“No?” He let out a deep breath as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“No. I wanted to ask you something. Legal advice actually.”

“Oh.” His shoulders slumped for the briefest of seconds and she wondered if she’d imagined it. “Anything.”

“Is it true? About you working on my case to get my conviction overturned?”

He nodded slowly. “Yes. Why?”

“I didn’t think it was possible. Once it’s over it’s over right? I’ve already served my sentence.”

“If there’s clear evidence pointing to your innocence that wasn’t introduced the first time around then you can request a new trial or even have the conviction overturned by a grand jury. I’ll keep working on this case, but everything would run a lot smoother if I had your cooperation. When you’re ready, I’m going to need you to tell me exactly what happened.”

She raised her head to meet his gaze. It was time to tell him the truth. It was something she could no longer keep from him. If her name was cleared there was no way she wouldn’t get Star back. “Thank you, Victor. I appreciate this so much.”

“Anything for you, Jasmine. I owe you more than you’ll ever know. My family owes you so much. So like I said, whenever you’re ready—”

“I’m ready now. That’s why I’m here.”

He pushed his plate away from him and folded his hands on the table. “I’m all ears.”

It took her several seconds to gather her thoughts together and to think where to begin. Finally, she decided to tell her story from the beginning. “When I was younger it just me and my mom. She worked so hard to provide for me and we always had so little, but she instilled in me the importance of a proper education and hard work. You see, she had aspiration to be a teacher, but she got pregnant with me and her parents kicked her out of the house. She could have given me up for adoption, but she didn’t. There were times when she had to choose between paying the rent and buying groceries. But those were the times she managed to feed me even though she went without. She never let me see her cry though, but I know she did. And I wanted her to be proud of me, so I did everything I was supposed to. I got straight A’s. I stayed away from boys and I did and said the right things. It wasn’t cool to be smart and I got teased quite a bit, but I did it for her and for me. I wanted to win for the both of us, you know? She was so proud of me when I graduated valedictorian of my class and earned a full ride to college. My mom died a couple weeks later. She was all the family I had but I was still determined to honor her memory.” Jasmine wiped away a quick tear in memory of her mother: her inspiration and hero.

Victor reached across the table and captured her hand in his. “I’m sorry for your loss, Jasmine. I’m sure she was a wonderful woman if she managed to raise a daughter like you.”

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