Page 40 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy
“Can you prove it?” Jake quirked a brow. He knew Ginger could, even if they had to go to the courthouse to retrieve the records. However, Ethan admitting they’d been married, if it was true, meant anything Oscar did with Ginger was illegal.Why not throw another wrench into the works?
“Of course, I can.” Ethan huffed out a breath. “The certificate is at our home. Can you tell me what’s going on and why I am here?”
“First you’re going to tell me how you met Oscar and why you showed up at my home this morning, then I’ll explain everything else.” Jake sat across from the man, curious and confused by the whole situation.
“We met at one of Mr. Yamamoto’s shows. I was a model and Oscar was an accountant. He said he was new to the business, following his boss or something. Anyway, we hit it off and—”
“Let me guess, you exchanged cards, saw you lived close to each other and had drinks the following week?” Jake tilted his head. “I’ve heard this already from Oscar’s wife.” The words tasted like ash as he said them. “Looks to me like you got played.”
Ethan shook his head. “No. I have been married to Oscar for six years. We discussed having a family, and he even said he found us a surrogate.”
Jake scrubbed his face. The irrational rage building within him threatened to spill forth. Ethan didn’t know about Ginger, nor had Ginger known about the other man. Oscar was playing on both sides of the field, which meant he used both people as a means to an end. “Oscar raped Ginger to get her pregnant. Declan is her son. Not yours. Not Oscar’s. They have been married since twenty-seventeen. It appears as if you were played as much as Ginger has been. Only, I believe Ginger got the short end of the deal.”
The man paled. He sat back, losing some of the smugness he’d had since arriving at the Theodore House. “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“Neither do I,” Jake agreed. “Oscar is dead. He’s been dead for a while now. All the information we had on him never showed a relationship with anyone other than Ginger. You showing up, out of thin air, puts all of us on edge, especially since members of this organization have been targeted and almost killed.”
“What? When? H-How?” Ethan gaped at him. “He said he was going on a business trip, and he might be gone for a while, but when he got back, we’d pick up our baby.”
“A lie. Declan is a little over ten months old. Oscar was with Ginger the night he was killed.” Jake leaned forward, folding his hands on the table to keep from strangling the guy. “The night my daughter was almost killed, along with my ex-wife and Declan. So cut the shit, boy. Oscar played you. He played Ginger. Wake the fuck up.”
“Jake?”
He turned his head at the sound of Ginger’s voice. “Hey, Gingersnap. We were having a conversation about how Oscar played both of you.” He hitched his thumb toward Ethan. “He’s too dense to understand what’s going on here.”
“Well, that makes two of us,” she muttered, joining them. “I overheard your conversation.”
“Spying on me?” Jake smirked. “Taught you well, didn’t I?”
Ginger rolled her eyes before staring at Ethan as though she’d burn him alive if he lied to her. “You say you have a marriage certificate? So do I. What I want to know is how did you think you were going to get my son without me putting up a fight?”
“Like I told your ex-husband, I didn’t know about you. I only found out about you when I received an email. I saw the baby, and I thought, well, I thought he was mine.” Ethan shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I guess I’m learning differently now.”
“You know, Grumpy Ass, it all makes sense now,” Ginger stated, startling Jake. She hadn’t used his nickname since they were dating, then married. Hearing it now, shit, made his chest ache. “Why Oscar used condoms.”
“Condoms?” Ethan peered at Ginger. “We—” He cleared his throat. “Never mind, that’s not polite to say and at this point. I don’t want to fight or hurt people.”
“Wise decision,” Jake muttered. “Yes, it does, Gingersnap. He was using condoms with you because of his relationship with Ethan.”
“So, how did you get pregnant if he was using condoms?” Ethan’s brow furrowed. “I’m so confused.”
Jake blew out a breath. “This is your time, Ginger. You can tell him or not and leave him in the dark as to the rest of what happened to you.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “He should know the piece of shit we were both married to.” In the time since Rae had done Ginger’s full physical, they’d found out the doctor she saw for her birth control had dubious intentions. The ‘birth control’ the sales rep supposedly gave the office was placebos, sugar pills. How the office got them or who brought them in, Jake was still tracking down, but he was sure Ginger wasn’t the only woman who got pregnant almost two years ago.
“Do you want me to step out?” Jake glanced at her. He hurt for her. She’d been so strong through everything. She shouldn’t have to be. Ginger should be able to rant and cuss and throw shit. Yet, she didn’t.
“No. You can stay.” She touched his hand. The first physical contact she’d given him since the day he woke up in the hospital wing. “I want you here.”
Jake grunted. “Then I’ll stay.”
Ginger cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. She started from the beginning when she first met Oscar, to the moment she found out she was pregnant. “So, as you can see, we were all a little confused, until recently.”
Ethan scrubbed his face. “I can’t do this.” His knee bounced. His face was pale, green edged along his jaw. “This Oscar isn’t the man I married.”
“And your version of Oscar isn’t the man I married,” Ginger whispered.
The comm in Jake’s ear pinged. “I did a little digging.” Asher sounded tired and resigned. “Might as well, since I’m still waiting to see the lawyer, right?”
