When the court adjourns for a break, I rise out of my seat with purpose. I want to talk to Jessie. I catch up to her as she moves to leave the gallery, grabbing her by the arm and practically dragging her outside with me.
“Hey, easy does it, Matilda!” she exclaims. “You’re gonna pull my arm out of the socket.”
“I want to talk to you in private,” I tell her, leading her to the ladies’ disabled bathroom farthest away from the courtrooms. We go inside, and it’s thankfully empty.
I let go of her arm and put my hands on my hips. “What’s going on here?”
“What do you mean?”
“The flipping cougar is Una Harris’ assistant, Jessie! Did you and Jay think I wouldn’t remember her? I’m not stupid.”
“Listen….” she begins, but before she can say anything more, the bathroom door opens and Jay strides in.
“Leave us, Jessie,” he says, his voice commanding.
“We’re having a conversation. And if you hadn’t noticed, this is the ladies’. You’re not allowed in here,” I snap.
Jay doesn’t even look at me. “Jessie. Go.”
Without another word she hurries from the room, leaving me alone with Jay. All of a sudden, I feel suffocated. His very presence sucks up all the air in both a good and a bad way. We stand in silence for a moment before he turns and goes to flick over the lock. When he looks at me, his eyes are dark with temper.
“You need to calm the fuck down, Watson.”
“Why should I? First I overhear you and Dad arguing last night, and now the cougar from the casino is Una Harris’ assistant? Not only that, but she’s standing as a witness. I know I promised not to ask questions, but things are just getting ridiculous. You can’t continue to keep me in the dark.”
Something shifts in Jay’s expression. “You overheard me and your dad?”
“Yes,” I reply, exasperated. “Not that any of it made much sense.”
He moves toward me then, backing me up into the wall. His hand goes to my cheek, stroking downward before settling on my neck. “I thought you were sleeping, darlin’.”
Tingles break out where he’s touching me, and I swallow. “Yeah, well, you’re not the only one who can pretend.”
He looks me dead in the eye, his expression fierce. “I never pretend. Not with you. You want me to tell you the truth? Okay, here’s the truth. Jessie and I targeted Emma Feelan a long while ago. Jessie started up a thing with her, took a few embarrassing pictures, and recorded what happened the night she and her husband invited her to have a threesome. Jessie then suggested to Emma that if she didn’t stand as a witness in the trial, those pictures and that recording might fall into the wrong hands. That’s it.”
“That’s blackmail. And illegal. I believe where you come from they call it ‘fruit of the poisonous tree.’”
“We’re not using the blackmail as evidence. We’re using blackmail to get her to give genuine evidence. The proof of Una’s drug use is all legit. In fact, Mrs Feelan handed it over quite freely. The persuasion technique used is a necessary evil.”
I let out a joyless laugh. “‘Persuasion technique’? Okay, if that’s what you want to call it. So, just how many of these necessary evils have you committed, Jay?”
“A few.”
“Shit.”
He smiles. “I like it when you swear. Just so you know, big fucking turn-on.”
“Are you being glib right now? Seriously?” I push at his chest, but he doesn’t budge.
He grabs my hand and rubs his thumb gently down the centre of my palm. “Don’t hate me yet. Just give me a couple more days. A couple more days, and I promise you, no more secrets, yeah?”
“How can you justify this? That poor woman is probably going to lose her job now. Do you even care?”
For a second, a strange expression comes over him. He ignores my question but simply replies, “Just wait, Matilda. Wait for the bigger picture.”
I stare at him for a long moment, but there’s nothing but sincerity in his eyes. I let out a long sigh. His thumb on my palm makes me tremble. This is the closest he’s gotten to me in a while, and I can feel every inch of his big, hard body pressing me into the wall. “Fine. I’ll wait. But I swear, this better be good.”
He rubs his hands up and down my arms now. “I promise it will be.” A quick breath escapes him, his eyes looking back and forth between mine. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
I communicate to him silently that kissing wouldn’t be wise. He communicates right back that he accepts the challenge.
“Fuck it,” he curses. “I’m kissing you.”
Before I can try to move away, his lips are on mine, his tongue sliding its way into my mouth. A deep moan escapes me, and he cups my face in his hands. It’s been so long since I’ve had this, and I can feel his kiss everywhere. Between my thighs, in my hardening nipples, on the tips of my eager fingers as they clutch tightly at the lapels of his suit.
Of their own accord, my hands start to undo the buttons of his shirt, reaching inside to feel his skin. I wouldn’t normally give in so easily, but I need this. I haven’t been able to touch him in so long. We’d grown close, and yet there was a wall between us. He groans when I touch him, sliding my palm over his chest. His hand moves down between my legs, hitching my skirt up and cupping me right there. I moan loudly.
The door handle moves, somebody on the other side trying to get in, and we pull apart, our breathing laboured. I let go of him and run a hand through my hair. “We’d, um, we’d better go grab a bite to eat before we have to be back.”
The dark, hot look he gives me lets me know that’s the last thing he wants to do. But we both know this is the last place we should be doing this, so he finally replies, “Yeah, let’s do that, then.”
I tell him I’ll catch up with him, and he leaves, but not before murmuring in my ear, “I fucking love the way you taste.”
I shiver at his words and his hot breath on my skin. Then I lock the door after him, making quick work of using the bathroom and straightening up my appearance. As I’m making my way back out, I turn a corner and almost bump into Una Harris. Her normally coiffed hair is slightly dishevelled, and it looks like she bit so hard on her lip it started bleeding. Also, her pupils are completely dilated.
“Looking at me like she thinks she’s better than me,” she slurs, and a waft of alcohol hits my nose. If my assumptions are right, she’s on something and she’s been drinking. Jesus, she picked the worst possible place to unravel.
“I’d rather not look at you at all, Una,” I say, raising my chin.
She screws up her mouth and wags her finger at me. “Oh, the other night didn’t scare you, did it? You should be scared. It would be very wise on your part to be scared.” She reaches out and runs her hand down my scar. “How did you get this again?”
I immediately recoil from her touch. “I don’t recall telling you. Now please, get out of my way.”
“Una, that’s enough,” comes the hard voice of Brian Scott. He walks toward her and sleekly slides his arm around her waist.
Jessie’s at my side then, asking, “You okay, Matilda?” She shoots a sharp glance in Una’s direction.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Who the hell are you?” Una asks, slurring her words again.
“Uh, none of your fucking business,” Jessie answers, folding her arms and levelling her eyes on Brian. “You’d wanna go get her cleaned up. She’s a hot mess right now.”
“Yes,” says Brian, voice steely. “I have every intention. Goodbye, ladies.”
He steers Una away, as she swears her head off. “Fucking leave me alone, Brian. I can walk perfectly fine on my own.”