Page 20 of He Had It Coming

I wasn’t swayed. “Now, where were we?”

Chapter Twenty

It took a few minutes for Jerek to stop shaking and screaming. He still swore and threatened like I cared about his pain and discomfort. I only needed him lucid enough to talk. To take it.

Now for the rest of the show. I sat back down on the steps, facing him. Watching Maeve, too . . . just in case she decided to surprise me and play the unexpected hero. “Let’s try this again.”

Jerek started to hyperventilate. “I can’t breathe.”

I wrote his suffering off as an act. “That’s not a negative in my view.”

He’d said the one thing guaranteed to make me spin because all I’d ever done was blame myself for not stepping in. For not being faster and smarter. For not protecting Ruby. Hearing him voice the doubts that ran through my head every day proved to be too much. I’d let the fury overtake me for a second and relished the sensation of shredding him.

Only months of planning and a bit of luck prevented me from going too far. I’d studied where and how to stab him because I knew I’d need to at some point. Even as the rage filled my brain, I was careful. The only surprise was that I held off as long as I did.

“We were dating.” Jerek forced the words out through hard pants.

“Stop saying that. You weren’t,” Maeve said.

I wondered when big sis would regain the power of speech and step up. Looked like that moment had come.

“What are you doing right now?” Jerek turned his rage on his sister.

Interesting how the heavy breathing stopped, dropping his big, dramatic act. Not that he was fine. I didn’t want him to be fine, but he sounded better, likely fueled by a poisonous mix of surging adrenaline and festering hate.

Maeve still shook. Her gaze kept drifting to the knife and the bloodstain on Jerek’s pants. “I’m forcing you to face the truth before you bleed out or Sabrina throws you overboard or whatever the plan is here.”

“All good options,” I said.

Maeve ignored my comment and pressed forward with her agenda. “I overheard the conversations back then, Jerek. You told the lawyers that you were interested in Ruby and she said no but you believed she meant yes.”

“You were eavesdropping?” Jerek had the nerve to sound appalled.

His lack of growth, his complete emotional stagnation, continued to intrigue me. “That’s the part that has you upset?”

Maeve swallowed a few times. “Do you know what it’s like to be the sister of a guy who strangled a girl who wouldn’t have sex with him? What people said to me and about me? About the whole family? What I had to go through to regain people’s trust?”

These two might hate each other but they shared the same defensive instincts. They both fell back on a poor me response even as they scolded each other for using it. Family dinners had to be a blast in the Hayes household.

“You’re the victim now? That’s rich.” Jerek fought with Maeve as if his body wasn’t shutting down, and it had to be.

Maeve nodded. “One of them. Your actions touched so many people.”

Touched? Only my curiosity kept me from verbally exploding. “Not to downplay your obvious distress, but you not getting invited to the best cocktail parties for a few years doesn’t mean you’re high on the Jerek Hayes Survivor List. Felt the need to point that out.”

Maeve’s eyes closed for just a second as if she was steeling herself for the argument to come. “I’m not claiming to be the most injured party in this situation, but let’s not pretend the fallout stopped with the Forde family.” Her gaze shot back to Jerek. “Your mother was collateral damage.”

“Don’t talk like you cared about her. You blamed her for messing up your pretty little family.”

An interesting comment from him. All the Hayes family secrets and dysfunction spilled out now. Good thing I was recording this. The recorder sat in the cabinet above me. Just in case my plan went sideways, and with these two being involved it just might.

“Your mother did cause trouble, but you made it worse. And not just for me. Your friends. Our relatives.” The words rushed out of Maeve. “I’m not even talking about Dad’s comms team being activated or how everyone tried to cover for you. I’m talking about my having to admit being related to you.”

“Fuck you.”

Ah, yes. The standard comeback he deployed when cornered. The more I listened to him, the clearer his limitations became. “You really are incapable of taking responsibility for anything you do.”

“Me? Listen to her.” Jerek spit out his words. His voice sounded like a mix of anger, pain, and desperation. “My dear sister was so damaged by my behavior, by my reputation, that she now sits in a waterfront corner office. Poor thing.”