Page 59 of Boss of Her

Just do it. Just press send.

Jade stared at the email draft on her screen. It was mid-afternoon, and while the day was far from over, she’d managed to finish almost everything Simone had asked her to do. And since Simone was in a meeting with the legal department, Jade was taking the time to work on something else, something unrelated to her job.

She scanned the email again. She’d written it the morning after she spent the night at Simone’s mansion. That night had given her the confidence to do what she’d been afraid to do for so long. It was time to take control. Of her life. Of her past.

It was time to report Philippa for what she’d done to her.

But Jade still had her doubts, still had questions niggling at the back of her mind. So the email had sat in her drafts, unsent, for more than a week. She’d read it over and over, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to send it.

She leaned back in her chair and stretched out her legs. What was holding her back? She wasn’t afraid anymore. Or at the very least, her desire for Philippa to face some form of justice trumped her fears.

But justice wasn’t the only thing Jade wanted. She wanted closure. Not an apology, or some sign of remorse. She would never get either from Philippa. No, what she wanted was catharsis. To free herself of everything to do with Philippa, every thought, every emotion she’d kept bottled up inside for the last two years.

She’d already gotten a hint of that when she told Simone about what had happened between them. But she needed something more. She needed to look Philippa in the eye and say everything she’d ever wanted to say to her. To give voice to all the anger and hurt Philippa had caused her. To tell her that she knew exactly what she was—a predator who preyed on naïve young women like Jade had once been.

To tell Philippa that she’d do everything in her power to make sure she got what she deserved.

First, I’ll face her. Then I’ll do what needs to be done.

Jade picked up her phone and opened up the private messaging app she and Philippa had used to communicate in secret. While she’d long deleted any trace of Philippa from her life, she’d been relieved to learn that deleting the app hadn’t deleted all their old messages. She needed them to prove what had happened between them. And she could use the app to get Philippa’s attention.

Jade typed out a message.

I’ve been thinking about you lately. I want to catch up. When can we meet?

She read over her message again. She needed to tread carefully. If it was obvious that the meeting wasn’t going to be friendly, Philippa wouldn’t agree to it.

Jade pressed send and let out a long, slow breath. This was it. She was finally going to faceher. That was, assuming Philippa wanted to see her at all. What if she ignored Jade’s message entirely?

But barely five minutes later, a reply arrived.

I’m glad you reached out. I’ve missed you.

Was Philippa really acting like everything was okay between them? Knowing her the way Jade did, Philippa truly believed she’d done nothing wrong. How had Jade ever fallen for the woman’s false words?

Another message popped up on her phone screen.

I’d love to see you again. Let’s meet on Friday after work. 7 p.m. at The Fox?

The Fox was a bar downtown. And while it wouldn’t have been Jade’s meeting place of choice, it was public enough that if things went sideways, she’d be safe.

Sounds great. I’ll see you then.

She pressed send. Not a moment later, Simone strode into the room.

“Christ, that was dull. If I wanted to hear about the minutiae of contract law, I’d have gone to law school.” She shut the door behind her. “The good news is the Ashton Star acquisition is finalized. Settlement is on Friday. We’ll meet with Ashton, sign on the dotted line, and she’ll hand over the keys, so to speak. Then the hotel will be ours.”

“That’s great news!” Jade said. “It must feel amazing to finally have this deal done.”

“You have no idea. And once everything with The Star is up and running, I can get the ball rolling on my East Coast expansion plans. Boston. Philadelphia. New York City. But I’m getting ahead of myself.” Simone perched on the edge of Jade’s desk, facing her. “This calls for celebration. After work on Friday, we’ll go out for dinner, just the two of us, somewhere nice. And then?” She reached down, drawing her fingers up the base of Jade’s chin. “We’ll see where the night takes us.”

Simone leaned in to kiss her. But before their lips could meet, Jade drew back reluctantly.

“That sounds perfect, really,” she said. “But I can’t. I have plans after work on Friday.”

“Plans that are more important than celebrating our achievement?” Simone asked. “After all, you deserve it. You put plenty of work into this, too.”

Jade gave her an apologetic shrug. “I’d reschedule, but it’s important.” She had the chance to confront Philippa, to put everything that had happened between them to rest. She couldn’t let it pass her by. And she couldn’t afford to wait, couldn’t risk losing her resolve.

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