Page 84 of Roots of the Wicked

It took more than an hour of me stumbling through my words and being pulled into the tight hugs Lena lavished me with for her to hear the parts I wanted her to hear.

“Jax, I know your secrets-keeping-ass isn’t telling me everything. How the fuck are you going to go out with one of the sexiest men in this world, and not tell me who it was?” I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. He wasn’t who I thought he was.”

“What if he is?”

Her question drenched the room in silence.

“What?” My face squinted in confusion.

“What if he really was set up and you didn’t stick around long enough to figure it out? The way I see it, you were waiting for an excuse to get away from the man.”

“What?” It was the only word I had the ability to squeeze out. I thought she would take my side on this and go on a male bashing rant against Chase for what he’d done.

“Whose side are you on?” I finally asked her. “You really think I wouldn’t at least check to see if the evidence I saw was legit? His actions could cost me my company, my livelihood. How am I supposed to show my face, and be respected if all the world remembers is seeing me draped around a man looking like a slut? What happens if a sex tape pops up? I get screwed out of my life, and he gets a pat on the back.”

She twisted her lips at me, one eyebrow stuck in the air.

“What?” I asked her again.

“None of what you’re saying has happened, and it may not happen. You are more upset about what can happen, than concentrating on what has actually happened. I know how this world works. If more pictures or a sex tape comes out, things will more than likely happen just like you say they will. And, I will be the first one to show up to kick ass and take names for you. But. What if he really was set up?”

She held an exaggerated stare until I squirmed.

“I don’t understand all that computer stuff you do, but from what I do know, you computer geeks can make anything look legit. I think you jumped the gun on him too fast. You don’t let a man like that go that easily.”

She knocked on my head, as one would a door. “Hello, is the Jax I know in there? The strong-willed one that will latch onto something like a fucking pitbull until she decides to let go. The one that doesn’t run away from shit, no matter how bad it stinks,” she said talking to the top of my head. She shifted her eyes, dropping her gaze on mine. “I think you’re afraid that what you had, just might have been real, and you don’t know how to handle it.”

Lena had never bitten her tongue with me. It was one of the reasons we had been friends for so long. I didn’t argue with her logic because she bought up a point that I considered myself. Even after finding out about the drone, I still didn’t want to believe that Chase had betrayed my trust.

“I don’t think you should cast him aside so quickly. And, I’m not saying it because he’s a billionaire, or sexy as hell-flaming sin. I’m saying it because you paused with him. There are times I’ve seen you go out with and drop three men in a week. I’ve been telling you all these years, the moment one makes you pause, he more than likely is, the one.”

Her words had me rethinking my decisions. The irritating mix of regret and indecision hovered like a swarm of annoying insects.

“This is just my take on it, but if it were me, and Chase was guilty of setting up the drone, I still wouldn’t leave him. Do you have any idea what I would give to have a man like that, pull a stunt like that, to keep me? All I’m saying, is think deep and hard before you make any final decisions.”

I nodded, biting my lip. Lena knew that I had gone through a rough patch in my childhood, but she had no idea what I had gone through with my mother. She didn’t know the depth of the impact, or the wounds those leaked photos had opened. Chase knew. Shit! I had told Chase my deepest secret after knowing him for a month, and I hadn’t even told Lena. The revelation floored me.

Lena released a deep sigh like she knew what I was thinking. She rubbed my shoulder. “Can you get yourself together now? I can’t stand seeing you look like somebody’s old, dried up side chick.”

I lifted my heavy head from her shoulder and glared at her. “Damn Lena. You’re really cheering me up right now.”

“You know how I am. I’m not about to let you sit in this house looking tore up. Now, go straighten your crown, and let’s go have breakfast.”

Drained, I eased up off the couch. I’d been drinking and hadn’t eaten much in the last few days, and my stomach was punishing me for it.

“And you’re paying,” Lena called after me as I headed towards my bedroom for a much needed shower.

***

At the start of the third day, and after Lena had pep talked me into dropping my campaign of feeling sorry for myself, I eased out of bed with a little less sorrow in my heart. She’d been excited about her upcoming trip to Dubai. Her secret dream, was to meet an Arabian Prince that would make her his number one wife, while allowing her to live a work free life of leisure.

After a quick shower, I prepared to check back into my life. I logged into my laptop and set up a conference call with my small staff.

Did I still have a business left to savage? If it was only me, I would become a recluse and stay hidden in my home, but I was responsible for employees who needed their jobs.

When I sneaked a peek out my window, a crowd similar to the mob that met us at Chase’s yacht, waited in front of my building. They glared up at my moving drapes, but I remained in the shadows. Thankfully, I was twelve stories up, and my building had a few security measures in place. You had to have a keycard to enter the building and elevators as well as a six-digit pin to gain access to my floor.

The first sight of the inside of my office space lightened my mood. The group sat around the table of our small board room, their laptops in front of them. I saw them, but they would only see a black screen as my voice would represent me. Helena had her cordless desk phone tucked between her ear and shoulder while she typed on her laptop.

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