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"I hope you have good news for me," I said, answering the phone with a laugh. We chatted a few minutes, and by the time I hung up, I was beaming.
As I entered the living room, I was glad to see Jax was off the phone. "Hey, guess what? I've got good news!" As I rounded the end of the couch, I noticed Jax's head was bowed as he leaned his arms on his knees. "Is everything okay?"
"That was John, my lawyer who’s working to secure a contract for me."
"Oh. Did something happen?"
"Tell me you didn't know."
The sinking feeling I'd had earlier returned. "Know what?" I hedged.
"Tell me you didn't know that Gene Carlin was the man who is trying to bid on the building I want."
"Jax, I..."
When he looked at me, I wished he hadn't. His eyes glittered with hurt and anger. His mouth was pulled tight, and the space between his eyes was red and wrinkled. "How long?" He stood and faced me. "How long have you known?"
"Jax." I took a step in his direction and reached out my hand, but he held himself away. I shook my head. "I just figured it out last week when we were at your office, and I asked about the drawing."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
I nearly broke at the sound of betrayal in his voice. "I didn't know what to do." I waved my hands helplessly.
"Well, I do! You're supposed to tell me, the man you're supposed to care about when it's something that was so important to me."
"I do care, Jax. I love you! But I also care about Gene and the teen center. I thought it was easier to stay out of your business, the same way I asked you to stay out of mine."
He grabbed up his papers and started stuffing them into his briefcase. "Did you tell Gene?"
I frantically shook my head, 'no,' but he grabbed his jacket off the back of the couch. "Are you leaving? Can't we talk about this?"
"Talk? Now you want to talk? The time for that was last week when you figured it out." He used his fingers to make quotation marks. "My God, Grace! Do you see how stupid this makes me look? I contributed to my own competition to bid against me at the fucking charity dinner!"
Tears streamed down my cheeks. "I'm sorry. So, so sorry. What can I do?"
He strode to the door. "Nothing. I thought you were different. I thought you'd always have my back, Grace. I guess Laurel isn't the only actress in your family." He opened the door and slammed it behind him. Seconds later, I heard the engine of his car roar and tires peal down the street.
I sank to my knees, sobbing.
All this time I'd worried he'd be the one to let me down, to back out on me. Instead, I was the one who hurt him. I was the one who dropped the ball. And I didn't think there was any glove big enough to save this.
35
Jax
I was running late. In a stroke of irony, there was a traffic hurdle downtown close to City Hall thanks to two cars fighting for the same parking place on the street refused to yield to each other. By the time I was able to maneuver around the standoff, I had less than ten minutes to park and run to the meeting chamber. I blew out a long breath and straightened my tie as I slid into the seat next to John. I gave a cursory glance at Gene who was seated across the aisle. His expression tensed as he saw me. Rather than the proud bearing I remembered from my youth, he looked tired, and his eyes looked troubled and sad as he sat by himself.
I didn't like the way his demeanor unwittingly tugged on my emotions, which were raw enough after learning about Grace's betrayal two days ago. Sympathy had no place in business; it allowed for vulnerability, and I hadn’t built my business by being weak.
Look where yielding to emotions had gotten me with Grace—one big heartache. Knowing she was hurting didn’t make me feel any better. Grace had texted me multiple times. I read her apologies and her pleas to talk. Even Jade texted me, reminding me of how she’d remove my balls in a very creative and painful way if I continued to hurt her friend.
What they were both forgetting is that I was hurting. I wanted to talk to Grace, but I wasn’t ready, yet. I wasn’t sure what to say that wouldn’t make things worse. So here I was, alone once again, ready to run roughshod over Gene and gain the building I needed. I knew, however, that even if I had a victory here today, I’d still feel empty.
John slid a file in front of me, thankfully bringing my attention back to the present. "Glad you made it. We're first on the agenda."
"Good. I want to get this over with."
If John was surprised by my terse words, he didn't let on. He continued to review his notes, then sat straight in his chair with his hands linked together on the table in front of him as other members of the council filed in. His confidence only emphasized Gene's lesser prepared state.
