Page 175 of Choosing You

“They want you to spend the night, so you’ll need to pack some things,” he says.

Spend the night? I don’t question the guy. He probably has no clue what this is about either. I go to my room and toss some clothes in a garbage bag.

When I get to Garret’s house, I notice a row of luxury vehicles lined up out front. I assume they belong to the legal team gathered inside.

Katherine greets me at the door. Well, greet’s probably not the right word. She doesn’t even say hello. She looks annoyed that I’m there and says “follow me” as she leads me to the study, which I’ve learned is just a name rich people use for a room that contains a lot of books. I go in there and find a bunch of men in suits sitting around a table. Garret sees me and bursts from his chair.

“Garret, we’re in the middle of something here,” the one lawyer says.

“Yeah, I know. I won’t be long,” he says as he leaves the room, dragging me with him. As soon as we’re in the foyer, he hugs me almost as tight as last night.

“Garret, what’s going on here? What happened last night?”

He takes me into the dining room so we can talk privately. “I spent the night in jail and got out on bail this morning. Blake’s charging me with assault.”

“But he caused this. You were just protecting me.”

“Yes, but Blake is pissed and so is his dad, so they’re trying to punish me. And that’s not all.”

“What do you mean?”

He takes both my hands in his. “Blake made up this story about you and him being a couple. He told the cops you’d been sleeping together for months.”

“That’s insane! I hate the guy!”

“I know. But he’s saying it to make it look like what he was doing with you was consensual and that I was jealous and that’s why I beat him up. That way we both get the blame and he looks like the helpless victim.”

“How did this even happen? How did he know to come to my room last night?”

“I fell asleep on the bus and he took my phone. He sent the text that told you to leave your door unlocked. When I got back, I dropped my stuff off and then I went to your room. Blake knew I was coming to see you. I swear he planned the whole thing. He wanted me to walk in on it.”

“So what happens now?”

“We need you to talk to my lawyers and go over what you’re going to say to Blake’s lawyers when you explain the story.”

“I know what to say. I’ll just tell them what happened.”

“You need to say it a certain way, Jade. Otherwise, they twist your words and give them a different meaning.”

“Fine. I’ll say whatever I need to say. I just want this to go away.” My eyes betray me again as they tear up. I never cry, but now it seems like I’m doing it all the time.

“Come here.” He draws me into his arms. “I’m sorry I got so out of control last night, but I couldn’t stand seeing him on you like that. I just lost it.” He pulls away and our eyes meet. “I’ll fix this, Jade. I promise.”

“How? Do you think he’ll drop the charges?”

“I can’t tell you everything right now. All I can say is that I know stuff about Blake that his father would never want to go public. Stuff that could get Blake in some serious shit that even his dad can’t get him out of. And if he doesn’t drop the charges, we’re going to use it against him. I’ve already discussed it with the lawyers.”

“More blackmail. More deals.”

“That’s how it’s done. I don’t like it, but that’s just how it’s done.”

“So why am I staying here tonight?”

“We didn’t know how long it would take with the lawyers. And I didn’t think you’d want to sleep in your room. At least not yet. Did you stay there last night?”

“No. I stayed with Harper.”

“Well, if you want to go back there, we’ll take you.”

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