Page 31 of Jack Frost, CEO

“What am I doing here? I belong here, unlike you. Do you think your new friends would like you half as much if they knew you were just a penniless college student who had to blackmail her own father to survive?” When my face goes pale, he grins. “I thought not. Are you fucking him to get back at me?”

“Am I fucking who to get back at you? What are you talking about?” I yank my elbow out of his bruising grip.

“Jack. Are you fucking him to get back at me?”

“Why would I fuck him to get back at you?”

My father’s cold eyes turn colder. “Are you fucking him for money, then? Is that what this is? Don’t think I haven’t noticed all the trips to the resort shops and spa treatments. You’re just like your mother, latching on to the first wealthy man you can dig your claws into and then trying to baby trap them.”

“That’s not true! Mum would never have done that!” My voice shakes as I continue to search for Jack in the crowds.

Jack will save me. So where is he?

“Of course she would! I was sixteen! I had my whole life ahead of me! She went and got pregnant and then refused to get rid of it.” His sneer makes my blood run cold. “My family had to pay her off to make her go away, and then she just had to go and get herself killed, and I got saddled with you anyway!”

The venom in his voice has me stepping back.

“I don’t know why you’re here, but you’re not going to get anything from me, so I suggest you leave. I may have no love lost for Jack, but he deserves better than the bastard offspring of a teenage whore.” My father spits the words at me before turning and stalking off.

My hands are trembling and I can feel the tears pooling in my eyes. I want Jack. If I can find Jack, everything will be okay. I just know it.

“Is that what you were doing?”

I hear his voice behind me, and I spin around, grateful until the look on his face draws me up short. His face is cold, colder than the first day I met him. “Jack, I’m so glad you’re here. I just—”

Jack cuts me off. “I know what you just said. You just met with your father. Are you trying to cut him in on this deal to steal it? I’m aware Antony approached McIntyre about a deal, and that it has yet to go anywhere. Did you take the job at my company just so you could spy and report back to him?”

“Jack! No! Why would you think I would even do that?” I reach for him, but he steps back, his hands shoving into his pockets.

“For someone who supposedly hasn’t seen her father in years, you were both in this corner looking pretty cozy.”

“No, you don’t understand—”

Jack cuts me off again, and I can’t help the tears that spill down my cheeks. “No. I think I understand perfectly. I don’t think you understand that I refuse to be used like this. I think it’s best if you leave. I don’t care what it costs, and I don’t care where you go, but I don’t want to set eyes on you after today.” Jack turns and walks away, and I stand here crying, unsure what to do next.

“Ma’am. Are you okay?” An employee walks up and lays a gentle hand on my arm.

“Oh. I’m… I’m not sure. I need to book a flight. Yes. That’s it. I need to book a flight. Do you have a business center? I don’t seem to have my laptop with me.”

The lady offers me a sympathetic smile before showing me to the business center, where I book the next flight to Sydney. She then helps me arrange a ride to the airport. I glance around one last time, searching for Jack, but I don’t see him. I chew my lip while I consider looking for him again, until the expression on his face swims in my mind, and I turn and walk away.

If he can believe something like that about me, he doesn’t know me. And apparently I don’t know him either.

Chapter 22

Jack

Iconfirm our table and walk back to the lobby. I see Maisie huddling in the corner with someone. I get halfway across the room when I realize that someone is Antony.

When did he get here?

I stride up to tell him to get lost when I notice how close they are, how they’re whispering, and my stomach drops. It’s Monica all over again. I didn’t learn my lesson the first time.

I knew when I went after McIntyre that Antony had already tried to score a deal with them. But unlike Antony, I know about business trends. While his business failed, mine thrived.

Was Maisie a plant? Gio would never have done something like that to me, but he still has a blind spot for my former friend. Antony could have had Maisie approach Gio about a job, knowing he would send her my way…

Was the poor, pitiful college student routine just an act? Now that I think about it, Antony didn’t protest too much when I forced him to send her funds.

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