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“Oh my God, Jackson, please tell me that’s not what I think it is….”
“It’s got Chastity’s name on it. I’m marrying her Isabella.”
She struggles to fight a smile. “Honestly, Jackson. Okay.” She throws her hands up in defeat. “You really are this serious about this?”
“Chastity has changed me. I know it’s been fast, but I’m a different man.” I think about that for a moment, then shake my head. “You can approve or disapprove that’s up to you, but this isn’t going to change. You need to work out how to defend me. That’s what I pay you for.”
Isabella sighs, shaking her head, but she’s smiling now. “If that’s the way it has to be then that’s the way it has to be.” She bites into her lip, then nods. “God forbid you could make my job easier.”
She hands me back the ring and I slip it back into the pocket inside my suit jacket.
“Okay.” She draws a deep breath moving on which is a fucking relief. “What did your PI find on the other complainants?” Isabella is back to business.
I shake my head. “It’s confusing.” I reach into the manila folder next to me on the table and pull out a picture. “This is a copy of the photo Annabel Enrique, the first accuser, is giving as evidence that I was in DC the day she was assaulted. CCTV camera image. Means they have a whole video of me walking into her house that night. I’m not the average guy and they say it’s me. Sure looks like me.”
Isabella’s brows shoot together. “But you and I both know you were not in DC. We have cast iron proof of that.”
“Of course. I was here.”
Isabella picks up the image and stares at it closely. “If it’s fake, it’s damn good. Hold on. When did you buy a gold Rolex?”
“I didn’t. I hate them.”
“Right? You think they’re gaudy.”
“Exactly. What's that got to do with this?”
Isabella’s eyes light up. She slides the picture toward me. Short, neat, perfectly manicured fingernails tap at the photo. “The Jackson in this photo is wearing a gold watch.”
I give the photo along look and see she’s right.
“I know it’s not me. So gold watch or no watch doesn’t really make a difference. But how do we prove that in court? My distaste for something hardly seems compelling.”
“We’ll have to find a way. But we need to see the evidence they present first. Until then, you need to make sure you keep things super-secret about Chastity, no one can know. And I mean no one. You can’t trust anyone right now.”
I glance out the window again, and the familiar sound of police cars and fire truck sirens resound in the café and I notice it’s raining.
“So, I guess that’s it. We just wait and see what kind of mud and slime they throw at me and then take it from there?
Isabella sighs. “You know I believe you. I'm trying my best. But the court of public opinion will not wait for proof of your innocence. You’ll be convicted as soon as the first press conference ends with a crying employee. Sorry, it’s just how it is.”
I nod and pull out my phone as it rings.
“Yes, Jensen?”
His voice is tight with panic. “Jackson, the office is on fire, and it’s spreading fast.”
I stand up so fast the chair tips over and crashes behind me. Patrons turn and stare. But I'm not the least bit concerned about them. “Did you get our people out?”
“Yes, everyone is safe. But Jackson, everything’s going up.”
I shake my head. “Things can be replaced. Just make sure every single one of the employees is accounted for. I’ll be right there.”
“Okay.”
“Wait, Jensen, is Chastity out?”
It feels like a thousand years pass in the second it takes him to answer me.
“She's out. She's safe. She left the office a few minutes before we went up in flames. I saw the security footage of her leaving.”
Chapter 20
Chastity
Diary Entry Ten Minutes Ago
Dear Diary,
What have I done?
Silly girl. I can’t even breathe…this was the best day of my life so far.
Now, it’s the worst.
I reach for the leather gym bag on the top shelf inside the walk-in closet at Jack’s penthouse. Dragging it down, I slam it onto the floor in the center of the closet and wipe the back of my hand over my eyes.
The image of Jackson sitting with the stunning blonde, so sophisticated in her pinstriped pantsuit, is making me burn. Seeing him in some lover’s quarrel, then him pulling out a red ring box and seeing the look in her eyes is destroying me.
After seeing them, I used all my strength to go back to my office, I stuffed all my belongings into a garbage bag and left without talking to anyone. I can’t go back there. I’m a joke. Jack’s been playing a game just as I suspected from the beginning. Who knows how many are in on it?
