Page 83 of Love Lies Bleeding

“Sorry? Why would you be sorry?”

“I should have known. I should have protected you.”

“How could you? I never told you about any of it.”

Hank grips my shoulder tight. “As far as Viv and I are concerned, you’re one of our kids and we failed you.”

“Hank, no. You’re the only people in my life who ever gave a shit about me. Without you and Vivian, I’d be dead or in prison. You didn’t fail anyone.”

Hank shakes his head sadly. “You deserved better than the start you had, Jake. I want you to know I’ve spoken to Mancini Senior, and he, as a favor to me, will be handling the situation with Nicholas Kendrick.”

“At what cost, Hank? I didn’t want you involved. This is my mess and I need to handle it.”

“No cost. He owed me. Now the debt he owed is repaid, we’re done.”

“So Cherry is safe from Kendrick and KLM?”

“Yes.”

A weight lifts so fast I feel dizzy with it. “The land?”

“I don’t have control over the KLM board, and they may still go after it, even with Kendrick out of the picture, but my guess is they’ll go after something more profitable and less of a headache.”

“Thank you, Hank. Truly.”

Hank slaps me on the shoulder. “No need, son. Now go enjoy yourself.”

“I have a speech to make first.” I roll my eyes because everyone knows I hate this part. I love this charity and feel passionate about it, so I’ll do what’s needed but I’m the back-room guy. Hunter and Hank are the face of Lungo, and rightly so. No matter how many shares I now own.

But now at least I can let myself breathe without the pressure of KLM and Kendrick, and a deal I almost made with the Mafia to secure the future of the woman I loved. Now all I need to do is tell her the whole truth about the past.

27. Cherry

Watching Jake speak about the charity he’s clearly so passionate about makes me think about what he’d told me about his mom and sister. My heart breaks for the young boy who’d been forced to grow up so quickly, who’d taken on more than any adult should be expected to let alone a child.

His command of the room, the way he looks out at the people gathered tonight and bleeds every emotion he feels about this charity into them, is making me feel things I know I shouldn’t.

It would be so easy to fall back into the easy love we’d shared, so simple to let my heart beat for him again. A part of me wants to just let go and see what happens, to see if we crash and burn or have what it takes to last the test of time, but I know if we crash again, I won’t be getting up and walking away this time. It will crush me in a way I’ll never recover from.

“Still have that childish pink hair, I see.”

I glance sideways at the woman who’s just insulted me and find myself staring at a second blast from the past.

“Lorelei. Still bitchy and insecure, I see.”

Lorelei looks at me like she’s chewed a wasp, her lip curling and I imagine if she could move any other part of her face, it would be the same.

“Still clinging onto people who don’t really want you, I see.”

I bark out a laugh, not in the least bit affected by her attempt to make me feel insecure. “You’re gonna have to do better than that, Lorelei.”

I turn to leave, not willing to spare another second of my time sparring with such an unworthy opponent, but she grabs my arm. I snatch my arm away and glare at her. “Touch me again and you won’t be needing lip filler for a month.”

Lorelei lets go, stepping back from my reach. Clearly aware I’ll happily follow through on my threat.

“How can you have such low self-respect that you’d sleep with a man who was in my bed just last week? Really, I thought after he went to all the trouble of getting you kicked out of Harvard just to get rid of you, that you’d get the hint.”

Her words sting, picking the scabs of old wounds that still haven’t healed. Jake’s past sexual exploits have no bearing on us now. We both have a past. And as much as I hate the idea of him with anyone else, I’m not an idiot. The other thing though, the thought he wanted out of our relationship and he set me up to get me out of the picture, sits uncomfortably in that spot in my brain where all my self-doubts have built a cozy little home.

---