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I breathe a sigh of relief, which I try to conceal with a cough. I know that once I explain to Jax about Mark's corporate maneuverings that Brooke will likely be dragged back into the mess that Intersect Investments is going to become when an investigation is opened.
Chapter 16
I walk back into the bedroom after spending at least ten minutes in the washroom splashing cold water on my face. It's time for me to tell Jax about Mark. I'm terrified. Not by the idea of him knowing what Mark was doing behind closed doors but by the fact that it may set in motion a series of events that will impact our relationship for good.
"So there's something I have to tell you." I sit back down on the edge of the bed. I'm wishing I had fully dressed. The things I am about to tell Jax feel too weighty for just a t-shirt and panties.
He pulls me closer to him so my hand is resting on his leg. I love his legs. They're so strong, so imposing. He's everything I ever wanted and needed and now I'm going to change the course of this forever.
"It sounds serious." He tilts his chin down so his eyes align with mine.
I nod and breathe a heavy sigh. "So serious."
"You can tell me anything, beautiful." He brushes his fingers along my chin and I reach for them with my hand. I cradle his hand in mind pushing it into my skin.
"It's about Mark. He came to my apartment."
"When? Why?" His fingers go rigid and the tenderness that is there is erased with irritation.
I relax and his hand falls from my face into his lap. I stare at it before I answer. "I asked him to come see me."
He bolts to his knees. "Why would you do that? What were you thinking?"
His coarse tone rasps against me. His constant hatred of Mark is crushing at times. I feel like I'm tied to the middle of a thick rope in a tug-o-war game. I didn't ask for it. It's not what I wanted.
"Something wasn't making sense to me. I needed Mark to clarify it." I speak calmly. It's the truth. I wanted Mark to explain about the shares and about the timing.
He settles back onto his heels now as if he's a rabid dog who has been pulled back to the prone position by its owner. "What didn't make sense?"
I look down at the bed. I want to choose these next words carefully. "When I watched that recording of you and Brooke for the second time something hit me square in the face."
He scans my face looking for anything that will clarify my words. "What?"
"Y-you two talked about my shares in Mark's company," I stutter. "About taking them away from me."
He rubs his hand across his brow. "We did."
"I didn't have any shares back then," I say slowly.
His eyes dart up and down my face. I know that look. He's going to question whether I'm being naïve again. "Are you sure? Mark had your proxy then."
"I'm positive," I snap back. "I didn't sign my proxy over to him until after we separated."
He jumps to his feet and steps off the bed. "I think you're mistaken on the timing." He doesn't look at me. His eyes are focused on the floor as he rubs the back of his neck with his left hand.
I stand and walk past him towards the living room. I hear his footsteps following me. I need to find my purse. I reach inside it grabbing onto the folded documents I slipped into it earlier. "I'm not mistaken." I turn and face him.
"What is that?" He nods towards the papers in my hand.
I unfold them and study them briefly. "When Mark made me sign my proxy to him we went to a notary public. He didn't want a lawyer involved. I asked for a copy." I shove the papers into his hands.
He greedily runs his eyes over them, soaking in the signatures, taking in the dates. "These state that Mark gifted those shares to you a little over six months ago." There's a difference in his tone now.
"Yes." I know this is the point in the conversation when I have to tell him about Mark's confession. "He forged my signature on other documents. Documents that gave him my proxy a year or more ago."
His eyes leap to my face. "How do you know this?"
I stare into him. He's shifting. I can see it before me. His ruthlessness is rushing to the surface again. "He told me."
