Page 95 of Serving the CEO

“She didn’t tell me anything for certain,” Amelia said slowly, “but I think Jessica stopped the wedding because she cares about you—for real. I don’t think she wanted to get married, spend a year with you, and then just have everything just…end. She didn’t want it to be fake.”

I stiffened as I realized what her words meant. “Amelia?”

“I know about the book,” she said quietly. “Jessica told me. Everything about your little social experiment.”

Tightening my hand on the glass, I waited for the castigations from her, but they didn’t come.

“She told me about the deal between you two,” Amelia said. “What she got out of the arrangement. What you took back when she walked out.”

Shit. That’s exactly what I’d been worried about. Just because Amelia said she’d been told everything didn’t mean Jessica really had explained it all. For all I knew, Jessica could’ve made me look like the villain rather than the wronged party.

“And that’s why you’re offering to help her out?” I asked. “Because I was mean to her and took away things she hadn’t earned?”

“No, asshole.” She sounded amused. “I like her. Plus, I’ve read some of Bristol’s book. It’s better than that depressing dreck you churn out. And don’t get me started on that breach of contract bullshit either.”

“Amelia–”

“And stop changing the subject.”

“There is no subject.” I tossed back the rest of the scotch and poured more despite knowing I would probably regret it in the morning. “Whether Jessica has feelings for me or not is irrelevant, because it’s over between us. I don’t give a fuck what she feels or why she did it.”

“Oh, Derrick.” My sister sighed, disappointment clear in her tone. “You’re not a very good liar, not even when you’re lying to yourself. Maybe you can make yourself believe your shit, but it won’t work with me.” Before I could argue with her, tell her that I wasn’t lying, she said, “Listen, I need to go. I’m working on my business plan for everything with Jessica and I need to have it roughed out by tomorrow. If you want to talk, though, you know I’m here.”

“I’m fine.” I barely kept myself from snapping. “Good night.”

Feeling angry and bitter, I ended the call. The alcohol in my stomach soured as I pushed my glass away. Yeah, sure. Let my sister work on the business plan to help my former fiancée while I just sat around, drinking and brooding.

I headed for the shower, hoping the white noise would drown out the chaos in my head, but even as I stood underneath the hot spray and tried to relax, Amelia’s words ran circles in my mind.

What if Jessicadidcare? What if that really had been the reason for her walking away?

Amelia thought so.

Drew thought so.

The more important question, however, was why the fuck didIcare?

I wished I could say that I had no idea, but I did.

And I hated it.

THIRTY-EIGHT

JESSICA

With a signed contract in hand,I walked out of Rand Distributing, feeling nearly giddy with relief and triumph. I had no idea how this had happened, but it had happened, and that was the important thing.

Not that it felt anything close to real. I had a feeling that would take a little more time.

Jumping on the subway to head back across town, I settled on the seat and started texting, first composing a quick note to both Amelia and Jami, and then another one to Imani and Bristol. The latter one was brief and informal, just letting them both know we had a distributor and would be moving forward with our publishing plan shortly.

Jami replied back with a string of wide-eyed happy emojis and balloons that made me laugh out loud. When the woman sitting next to me gave me a sideways look, I apologized but couldn’t stop smiling.

There wasn’t a response from Amelia right away, but I wasn’t expecting one. In the short time I’d known her, I’d learned that she was a busy woman, using her influence and money to do good in the community. I knew she’d get back to me as soon as she had the chance.

When my phone buzzed again, I saw Imani’s name on the screen. Her text was simple and to the point:

Rand Distributing? That’s excellent news! Thanks for keeping us updated. Want to give me a call tomorrow and we’ll talk shop?

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