He took in a sharp breath. “Fine. Sit down.”
I sat down on the couch and he proceeded to tell me about what his mother had done. I was in shock to say the least.
“Now I have to tell Coco tomorrow and I’m not sure how she’s going to react. Unfortunately, she’s in love with that asshole.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You and me both.” He paced around the room, throwing back his drink. “Listen, I’m sorry for kissing you earlier. It was a mistake and I got caught up in the moment. I’m just happy you’re feeling better. I’ll see you in the morning.” He set down his glass on the bar and walked up the stairs.
A mistake? Another mistake he made with me. The only reason I pulled away was because I couldn’t let myself get wrapped up in him again. If I had kissed him back, I would have. I was still trying to deal with the fact that I didn’t tell him about Hope from the beginning. I’d never forget the look on his face that night he came to my apartment. The disappointment that his eyes displayed as they stared at me played over and over in my head. I fucked up, but so did he with the things he said, and I wasn’t sure if we could ever get past that.
****
The next morning, I showered and threw on a pair of leggings and a long t-shirt. When I walked into the kitchen, Hope was sitting at the table eating waffles and Jack was pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, baby.” I kissed Hope on her head.
“Morning, Mommy. Jack made me waffles.”
“I see that.”
“Coffee?” he asked in a bitter tone.
“Yes, please.” I walked over to where he was standing.
“Would you like breakfast? I make some pretty mean waffles. Just ask Hope.”
She giggled. “He burnt the first two waffles and had to throw them out.”
“I can make my own breakfast. You’ve done enough.” I lightly touched his arm and he pulled away.
“Let me. You go sit down and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“You better do as he says, Mommy.” Hope smiled.
I sighed and took my coffee to the table, where I sat down next to Hope. After setting the plate of waffles down in front of me, Jack took a seat across from us.
“Coco may be here before I get back,” he spoke as he sipped his coffee.
“All right. I’ll be on the lookout for her.”
As soon as Hope was finished eating, I kissed her goodbye and walked her and Jack to the elevator.
“Have a good day, baby.”
“I will, Mommy. You too.”
I stood and watched as Jack took Hope’s backpack from her and placed his hand on the top of her head. A feeling washed over me that I couldn’t describe. For a brief moment, it felt like we were a family. He was still angry with me for last night and his attitude still carried on this morning. He wasn’t happy when I pulled away from him. I shook off the feeling, went back to the kitchen, and poured another cup of coffee. A few moments later, I heard the elevator doors open and Coco walked in.
“Lorelei, so happy to see you out of the hospital.” She walked over and lightly hugged me.
“It’s good to see you, Coco. How’s everything going?”
“Meh. As well as could be expected, I guess.”
She took down a cup from the cupboard and poured some coffee into it.
“Where’s Jack?”
“He took Hope to school. He’ll be back soon.”
“Ah. Okay. Do I smell waffles?”
“Yes. Would you like some?”
“I would love some. I haven’t had waffles in years.” She smiled.
I took two waffles from the freezer and placed them in the toaster.
“I must say, it’s nice to see you here in Jack’s kitchen. The only woman I’ve ever seen here is Madeline.”
“Really?” I cocked my head in disbelief.
“Yeah. Jack never let the women he was with spend the night. It was always sex and goodbye. A swift kick out the door.” She smiled.
“We aren’t having sex any more. I’m just a guest in his home.”
“You may not be having sex now, but I’m sure you will be again.” She winked.
I could feel my cheeks redden as she stared at me.
“Don’t be embarrassed, sweetie. Between you and me, I think you’re a breath of fresh air for Jack and he knows it.”
Putting the waffles on a plate, I took them over to the table.
“Well, Jack screwed up when he found out about Hope and told me that he had made a terrible mistake and to forget about what happened between us.”
Just as I said that, I heard the elevator doors open and Jack walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, Coco.” He walked over and kissed her cheek.
“Hey, Jack. So tell me what’s going on.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jack
Pouring a cup of coffee, I sat down at the table across from Coco. I didn’t know how to tell her. This was going to be a double blow. It didn’t only involve our mother, but her boyfriend, who, for some unknown fucked-up reason, she loved.
“Our mother is being blackmailed. That’s why she had Bradley take the money from the company and put them in the offshore accounts.”
She cocked her head as a shocked look settled in her eyes. “Who would blackmail our mother? And better yet, why?”
I glanced over at Lorelei, who gave me a pained look. She knew this was something I couldn’t bear to tell my sister. This would hurt her deeply and I dreaded the words leaving my mouth. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.
“Jack?” She paused as she looked over at Lorelei and then back at me. “What the fuck is going on?”
I took in a deep breath as I prepared to deliver the devastating news to my sister.
“Joshua is blackmailing her.”
“What?” Her lips gave way to a small unsure smile. “Why? Why would my boyfriend blackmail our mother?”
“Joshua found out something about her and he threatened to go public with it unless she paid him off to keep quiet.”
“This doesn’t make any sense. What did he find out about her?”
“Apparently, our mother hired someone to go work for Flourishing Fashions Magazine to spy on them. They reported back to her and she stole their ideas, used them in our magazine, and put out the editions before Flourishing could.”
“That’s crazy. Mother would never do anything like that. Where the fuck are you getting your information from? You are way out of line, Jack.” She got up from her seat and headed towards the living room.
“I got the information from our dear mother herself. She came over here the other night and told me. She knew it was only a matter of time before I found out, so she decided to come clean.”
She stood in the middle of the living room with her arms crossed, shaking her head.
“When did this happen?”
“A couple of years ago.”
“How could we not have known what she was doing?” Coco yelled.
“How would we? You know how she is. How she’s always been. The magazine is her company and if she didn’t want us to know something, she would go to any lengths possible to make sure we didn’t.”
“That stupid little fucker Joshua! I’ll kill him!” She clenched her fists. “I knew something was going on with him. I’ll bet you a million dollars that after he got that money, he was going to leave me. He’s been having an affair, Jack.”
“What?” I yelled.
“I don’t even care. He doesn’t even know that I found out.”
“How long have you known?”
“About two weeks.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because I knew you’d go after him and I wanted to handle him on my own.”
“What were you planning to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure out something.” She looked down.
“Listen, Coco.” I walked over to her and clasped her shoulders. “You can’t let him know that we know about this yet. We have to figure out a way to stop him from getting that money.”
“How? If he goes public with the information about Mom, it will destroy the company.”
I sighed. “I know.”
“We need to talk to her, Jack. Are you coming into the office?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll see you there.” She placed her hand on my arm. “I’m happy you’re feeling better, Lorelei. We’ll talk soon.”