“Oh Jens, I’m sorry,” Jacks wrapped her arms around me and I felt a loan tear slide down my cheek.
“I think I’m losing him,” I squeaked out.
“Jenna, I warned you about the Wellingtons. I was worried this would happen but I had hoped that Jamieson was different from his brother. But it seems they are both cut from the same cloth.”
“I don’t think he’s like Ethan. I think he is just extremely stressed out with the business. I know it has been struggling since his father passed away.” I don’t know why I felt the need to defend him but what Jacks said irritated me. Jamieson was nothing like Ethan. He was good. Wasn’t he?
“Maybe he's not, but he certainly is acting like his brother,” Jacks lifted one eyebrow indicating she was totally skeptical.
“We just need some time to ourselves to get back on track, that’s all,” I said out loud trying my best to convince myself as well as Jacks. She stepped aside and let me leave the tack room to saddle my first horse of the day.
Riding had always helped to clear my head and made me feel better. There was something therapeutic about climbing aboard a thousand pound animal and jumping it over fences so high it made you feel like you were flying. After a full day of riding and teaching lessons I put my last horse away feeling better about life. I grabbed my keys and jacket from the tack room on the way out of the barn. I had been so busy I had not checked my phone all day. I realized this as I got in my car to head home. I was shocked to find a lone text message from Jamieson. He told me he would get in late and would see me sometime later in the week. It was not the exactly the apologetic text message I had hoped for, instead it was rather cold and impersonal.
As I drove home I began to rack my brain as to why Jamieson would be acting this way. I wondered if perhaps it was my confession from the other night in the car. That was my only idea because we hadn’t argued over anything. Then I began thinking, like most woman do in these types of situations, is it me? Is he no longer into me? To this I had no answer, although it seemed unlikely as the one area of our relationship which did seem spot on was our sex life. We couldn’t get enough of each other. Most nights we had sex until Jamieson had his fill and I was so sedated I finally passed out. But like most nights, I would wake to find an empty bed and Jamieson sleeping in his study. It wasn’t a new development in our relationship but I would have been lying had I said it didn’t bother me. It seemed as though Jamieson could never truly rest, always making work a priority.
The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced it was work that was the real issue between us. I decided the best thing to do would be to surprise him at his house. I thought perhaps I could get him to rest a little and maybe pry out of him what was bothering him at work. If only I had known what was really in store for me.
It was just past midnight when I pulled up to the house. Every light in the place looked as though it was on and several cars were parked in the driveway. Julian and Derrick were most likely throwing themselves a little party. I opened the front door and caught sight of a very shirtless Derrick chasing after a half-naked leggy blonde.
“Hey J!” He waved as he finagled the girl into his room shutting the door.
I continued down the hall toward the kitchen to find several people, most of whom I didn’t know drinking and laughing. I continued through the house in search of Jamieson but only found Julian. He was in his favorite reclining chair playing Grand Theft Auto with a very naked girl on his lap. What the fuck?
“Jenna!” He yelled when he spotted me.
“Hey Julian. Is Jamieson home?” I asked pissed. What was he doing? I thought he was into Olivia?
I turned red just watching the dark haired girl that was naked on Julian’s lap. She however, couldn’t have cared less that I was in the room. Where in the hell did they find these tramps?
“Yeah, he has been here a while. Was in the kitchen doing shots with us but I don’t know where he is now. Check his room, he probably is tired from his flight and the ridiculous amounts of whiskey he just downed.”
I spun around on my heels and stormed off up the stairs. I was livid. The fact that he had come home and decided to get piss-assed drunk, not even bothering to call me was too much. I was raging. I was going to give him a piece of my mind.
The grand double doors to his bedroom were closed so I flung them open hoping to startle him awake. Unfortunately for me it was me who was awakened, and it was to a cold harsh reality no one would even wish on their worst enemy.
Jamieson was indeed in his bed, but he was not alone or asleep. In horror I watched as two women turned their heads in utter shock to look at me. I gasped holding my throat as if I was unable to get air. I tried to speak, I tried to scream but nothing came out.
Jamieson broke the silence. “Jenna, what the fuck are you doing here?”
And just like that my heart shattered into a trillion tiny pieces as I realized the man I had given my heart to was a complete and total liar.
I backed out of the door and ran down the stairs two at a time. Looking back now, I don’t know why I was running. There was no reason to run, he wasn’t coming after me. The chase was over. He was the hunter, I was the hunted and this had been his kill.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I’m going to tell you everything, Jenna. I know I can’t right the wrongs I have committed but I do hope it may shed some light on what happened back then.”
I nodded my head indicating I understood he was about to reveal some hard truths. I clutched my knees and settled deep into the couch readying myself for what was to come.
Jamieson leaned forward on the edge of the couch, almost in defeat. “The night you found me…No, wait I need to start back further.” I watched him readjust himself on the couch nervously before he started again. “When my father died, two years before we met, it was sudden. I had been working for the company but I was not privy to all the financial information. I was young and naive. Partying and having fun was my primary focus in life not the company, I let my dad and Uncle Phillip shoulder that burden. But when he died from a heart attack everything changed. In his will, I was named as his successor. I was ill prepared for the role I was stepping into. I quickly learned the company was in real trouble. Dad had leveraged basically the entire company to put in the new distillery. We were over extended and in dire trouble. I tried for two years to get loans from banks to help cover all of our costs but not one would lend to us. I was just about to start selling off assets and laying off employees when Uncle Phillip presented me with another option.”
He swallowed hard giving himself a moment to catch his breath. I was more confused than ever. I had always known there were problems with the company and he was working himself ragged back then but he refused to confide in me. I was glad to finally know what pressure he was truly under but what did any of this have to do with me?
I rubbed my temples at an attempt to ease my boggled mind. “Jamieson, I appreciate you telling me this but I still don’t see how any of this forced you to cheat on me.”
He let out a deep sigh and started again. “I’m getting to that just bear with me. So Uncle Phillip presented me with another option, one I had not thought of but knew it would save the company. It was perfect, in theory. The only problem was I had met you.” He said fixating his blue eyes on mine. “When I met you it changed everything. I became infatuated with you quickly, but you already know that. I couldn’t get enough of you. I wanted to spend every waking moment with you, day and night. I was obsessed. I had never experienced anything like that in my entire life. You changed me, Jenna and because of that I couldn’t go through with the plan, or so I thought.”