Page 79 of Roots of the Wicked

I sat staring at the screen, shaking my head and attempting to ward off my anger, not wanting to believe that Chase had been behind the drone scandal and photo leak, the whole time.

Why else would this virus be destroying his computer?

I didn’t want to give up on him too easily, so I ran the test again. I lifted my fingers and let them hover above the keypad. My head rose and my eyes felt like two weights in my skull, but I managed to lift them and stare daggers at Chase. His mouth dropped open.

“What? What’s wrong?”

I stood too fast and wobbled.

“You…you. Fucking fucker.” I pointed an accusatory finger at him. “How could you? You of all people should understand the hard work, and effort that goes into building a business and name in this industry. You know what this type of exposure could do to me, but you don’t care do you?”

“Jax, what are you saying?”

Chase had broken me. Tears slid down my cheeks, and I quaked with racking emotions. The hurt of who betrayed me opened deep wounds. Some I knew would never heal.

He stood, pretending he didn’t know what I was talking about, shaking his head, and lifting his palms up in question.

“The virus was built to destroy the source of where those files came from. Now that you’ve triggered it, it will destroy everything on this computer. Like a heat-seeking-missile, it will also seek out and destroy every picture and file sent from this computer.”

“Jax, you can’t possibly think I did this to you. I was not the originator of those pictures, and I damn sure didn’t leak them to the tabloids. Why would I do that, especially after what you shared with me? I’m not that heartless. The last time I was on this computer was the day we traveled together. It’s been here in my office on my desk. This is the first time I’ve fired it up since.”

“You set this up before I let my guard down and told you…” I closed my eyes and just breathed. I had told him the one thing that hurt me the most, and he had still allowed this to happen.

“You’re a billionaire. At the snap of your fingers, people will do whatever you tell them to. You didn’t have to be here physically for your orders to be carried out. All the proof I need is staring me in the face. You’re going to lose every file on this computer, and I hope the accounts are worth millions.”

“Jax, please. Stop this. I didn’t leak those files. Someone is setting me up.”

A smile formed on my face despite his imploring words. “I figured you say that,” I barked, shaking with a blinding rage I couldn’t keep contained.

“I was so fucking stupid. I can’t believe I trusted you. I let my guard down for you, and it’s come back to bite me in the ass.”

When I stepped from behind his desk to head toward the door, he attempted to stop me by planting his firm hand on my shoulder. My glance met his shaking hand on me, before the deadly intent I projected in my glare met his apprehensive one.

A tense mixture of fear and panic etched his face. The sight of him set my nerves to a jittery beat. I was angry enough to hit him.

“Please, Jax. I didn’t do this. I wouldn’t.”

I shrugged his hands off my shoulders. “Don’t touch me. You said you were obsessed, and I actually took it as a compliment. You wanted more than I was willing to give. But destroying me to get what you want; it’s low and unforgiveable.”

“Please. What would I get from destroying your business? Your life. Your name.”

My stiff finger was aimed at his face, dangerously close to poking his left eye out. “You’d get me with no restrictions, no distractions, nothing to get in the way of you getting what you want. And if the media knows about us, it won’t leave them much room to hound you about me.”

He caught my wrist, but when I went stiff and still and glared at his hand, he lifted both hands in surrender. “Jax you don’t believe this. The times I convinced you to skip out on work to spend time with me were for the same reasons you convinced me. We work too much and simply needed a break.”

“Why didn’t I see this before? You could do whatever the hell you want to whoever you want to do it to. You blinded me to that side of you so I wouldn’t see it coming when you ate me alive.”

“Jax! Jax!” He kept yelling my name. He ran after me until he was able to block my path with his body.

“Jax, please. You can’t believe any of this. You mean more to me than this company, and especially more than fame and popularity. For God sakes, I love you!”

Time froze. All the air was sucked from my lungs before it solidified and turned to stone. As much as I wanted to one day hear a man tell me those words, and mean them, this was not that time. I believed Chase meant them, but the words didn’t have the effect they were meant to have because they were being used in desperation.

I stood immobile, my legs were fixed like two slabs of concrete.

“That’s why you were worried about the aftereffects of the photo leak, versus stopping them from being leaked at all.”

Tears had gathered in his crazed eyes. He was a fucking stalker. I had called him one before, and he never denied it.

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