Burning Up (23 page)

“My business? Layla, you’re my girlfriend! It’s not about the money and you know it! Why the fuck are you sending your ex-boyfriend gifts? Jesus Christ, Layla. If I pulled that shit, you’d go nuts! And I’m supposed to just be okay with it? He is not your friend! He’s your ex-lover!”

Growling with frustration, I stomped my foot and pointed a finger at his broad chest. He was puffed out like a damn peacock!

“I don’t know if he is my friend or not, but I wanted to at least send him a gift on his birthday! It’s not like he’ll get a lot from his family!”

“And that’s your responsibility? Just admit it, Layla. You still love him! What is it? Hoping you still have a chance? Or just hedging your bets? Do you
want
us to fail?”

Shoving him away from me, I yelled loudly with an intense anger.

“I chose you! But clearly, that’s never going to be enough!”

Slipping on my shoes, I grabbed my cell and slipped it into my back pocket.

“Where are you going?”

I pulled open the front door and ignored his question.

“Layla!”

Without looking back, I shot him an answer over my shoulder. “Out! I don’t need your fucking permission to leave!”

Slamming the door behind me, I walked around the cold and wintry streets for an hour before finally deciding to head to my parents’ place. Okay, it wasn’t
their
place, but it was close enough. It was their home away from home, and right now, that’s exactly what I needed. Pushing open the front door, I pulled out my cell and rolled my eyes. Twenty-eight missed calls. He wasn’t going to get out of this one so easily. I was still steaming with rage. Dropping my cell and keys on the hall table, I made my way to the lounge and flopped down onto the couch. I flung my arm over my eyes, and I was about to settle down for an afternoon nap, when the high-pitched giggles of a woman caught my attention. I opened one eye and removed my arm from my face but didn’t get up. Who the hell could be here? Were we being robbed? The giggling continued and grew louder as the hurried sound of footsteps, running down the stairs began.

“You are a very bad man, Mr. Jennings!”

I know that voice. That’s … oh, no.

“And you are a very poor maid. Now come here so I can bend you over and show you that spot you missed.”

Oh, dear God, no!

“Mr. Jennings, I only wish to please you. Will you have to punish me?”

“Absolutely. I think I’ll start with this feather duster of yours.”

Sitting up abruptly, I held my hand over my eyes and leapt to my feet.

“No! Please, for the sake of my eyesight, don’t!”

My mother shrieked, and I heard my father gasp, but I refused to remove my hand.

“Layla! What are you doing here?” My mother yelled in a tone that I was sure only dogs could hear.

Walking slowly and holding on hand over my eyes, I used the other to guide myself toward the staircase.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?”

My mother stumbled over her words. “We, uh, we thought we’d just, you know, surprise you for Christmas.”

Finding the rail of the staircase, I took my hand from my face and hurried up the stairs.

“Well, I’m certainly surprised. Maybe even a little traumatized!”

Taking solace in the privacy of one of the empty bedrooms, I closed the door behind me and rested my back against the cool wood. Cringing, I shuddered a little at the thought of what I had just witnessed. It wasn’t that I was totally naive to believe that my parents didn’t have sex; I just chose not to think about it. But now, now I was traumatized by the little role-play that I’d had a front row seat to.

Staring over at the bed, I thought about my own sexual encounters that my parents had almost caught me during. All of which had been with Ollie. For instance, the couch, the bedroom, the floor. Not that we’d ever gotten far enough to actually call it sex. I smiled as I remembered the deeply embarrassed look on his face when my parents had walked in and caught us pre-coital on the couch. I thought he might pass out from shame. God, I missed him.

Sweeping my arm across the bed, I knocked the mountain of throw pillows onto the floor and dropped heavily onto the bed, bouncing a little as I landed. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my iPod. Hitting shuffle, I pressed the earphones into my ears and slowly sank into a peaceful trance as the soulful sounds of Amy Winehouse filled my head.

A loud knocking grabbed my attention, and turning off my iPod, I groaned as my mother walked gingerly into the bedroom. She was blushing deeply, and I actually felt a little bad for her. It wasn’t as though they had done anything wrong; it was just … icky.

“Hi, sweetie. Can I come in?”

“Are you dressed?”

She nodded. “Of course I’m dressed, Layla. So, can I come in?”

I nodded and gestured at the end of the bed for her to take a seat.

“Layla, I’m sure you’re probably all kinds of traumatized by what happened downstairs, but, your father and I aren’t teenagers. We’re two consenting adults in a loving relationship, and it’s perfectly natural for two people to …“

The poor woman was rambling. Holding up my hands, I shook my head. “Totally none of my business. Can we just forget it ever happened?”

Pressing her lips together, my mother nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course, darling. Not another word. So, this is a nice surprise!”

I nodded and smiled. “I’m definitely surprised.”

My mother’s face lit up, and she beamed at me. “How is everyone? I thought Lucy was simply lovely when we met at Thanksgiving. And that baby, oh, what a sweetie.”

I smiled back at her. “Elliot is a gorgeous baby. He’s also just as demanding and short-tempered as the other Garrett male in his life.”

Tilting her head a little to the side, she gave me a quizzical look. “Something happened between you two?”

Slouching against my headboard, I scoffed. “You could say that.”

Placing her hand on my leg, she smiled. “I’m sure you’ll work it out. You usually do. He’s a little hot and cold sometimes, huh?”

I nodded slowly. “It’s not just that, though. It’s all this other stuff between us, and then being
here
, and how I feel when I speak to my friends, family and …“ I was about to mention Ollie, but stopped myself quickly. “I’m torn.”

“What a surprise,” she said sarcastically and laughed a little. “Layla Jennings doesn’t know what she wants. This doesn’t have anything to do with a certain dark haired, guitar playing rock star, does it?”

I frowned at her. “No! Of course not!” If I couldn’t believe it when I said it, she certainly wouldn’t believe hearing it.

Patting my leg, she stood and headed for the door. Turning back to me, she shook her head and chuckled. “Oh, Layla. One day, it’s going to hit you like a bolt of lightning. And when it does, everything will suddenly just make sense.”

I gave her a confused look. “I wish you made sense.”

Opening the door, she smiled to herself and walked out into the hallway. My father was standing just outside the door and seeing me, he shifted uncomfortably and coughed deep in his throat.

“Well, uh, Layla, what happened, I just want to …“

Kissing his cheek, my mother chuckled. “No need, Andrew. She’s an adult, after all.”

He nodded. “Well, that’s good. In that case, there appears to be a stunning Mercedes parked outside, Layla. I’m assuming it’s waiting for you?”

I rolled my eyes and groaned in frustration. Jumping off of the bed, I stormed out of the room, past my parents, and downstairs. Flinging open the front door, I marched over to the car, and as I approached, Daniel hurried to get out of the driver’s seat.

“Are you freaking kidding me, Daniel? Is there nowhere I can go, nothing I can do, without being watched by Jared or his damn watchdog?”

Holding his hands up defensively, Daniel backed himself up against the car.

“I know, I tried to tell him how upset you’d be, but I couldn’t just refuse. He’s my boss!”

Growling, I stomped my foot and waved my hands around as I ranted, raved, and fumed.

“I am so sick of this bullshit! Where is he?”

“At the office. I’m supposed to take you back to the house and ask you wait there for him.”

I scowled at him. “Wait here.”

Heading back into the house, I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my cell before kissing my mother and father quickly and storming back to the car. Daniel watched me anxiously.

“Get in the car, Daniel.”

He nodded and opened the rear passenger door for me before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“I’m sorry, Miss Jennings. I really had no choi …“

Anger boiled in my veins. “Yes you do. But it’s beside the point right now. Take me to the office.”

“But he asked me to …“

Leaning forward, I cut him off abruptly. “And now
I’m
giving you a choice. Either you take me to
him
, or I’m not going at all!”

* * * *

The tension in the car was tangible as we drove in silence to Jared’s office. Sitting in the back of the Mercedes, I raised an eyebrow at Daniel as he repeatedly looked at me in the rear view mirror. I was in no mood for polite conversation, and he knew it. I had suddenly found myself turning from the hunted gazelle to a fierce lioness ready to roar with anger. Had Jared not heard a single word I’d said to him? Or did he simply decide to ignore it? Either way, I had come to the end of my rope with it all. He was about to get the sharp end of my tongue, and not in a good way.

Pulling up outside the Garrett properties office building, I didn’t wait for Daniel to open my door. Shoving it open forcefully, I stormed toward the door where the doorman hurried to open it for me. It was a good thing, too. The way I was feeling, I might have pulled it off of its hinges at that point.

The heels of my boots clanked loudly across the marble floor of the vast entrance hall as I marched over to the elevator and punched in the code for Jared’s floor. It always made me laugh that he used the same code for each of his offices. If anyone found out that code, it would be remarkably easy to cause some real trouble. I mean, what else was the code for?

The ride up to the top floor had taken less than a minute. Elevators in Jared’s building never stopped on other floors once that code was entered. Maybe it was his way of avoiding mindless chit-chat or interactions with his employees. God, he really was rude!

Sitting at his desk, looking very proper and extremely tired, was Jared’s London assistant, Henry. Seeing me approach, he stood abruptly and smiled.

“Miss Jennings! So lovely to see you. Is he expecting you?”

I halted in front of his desk, and deciding that I was likely to catch more bees with honey than venom, I returned his smile.

“No. I wanted to surprise him. Is he here?”

He shook his head ruefully. “Sorry. He’s in a meeting, but he should be all wrapped up in a few minutes. Did you want to wait in the office?”

I thought for a moment before nodding my head enthusiastically. “That would be great. Thank you, Henry.”

Grinning to myself, I waited for him to buzz the door open and sauntered in, closing it behind me. The office was spotless, and as usual, Jared’s desk was cluttered with paper. Setting myself down in his chair, I browsed at the various contracts and correspondences. It was mostly concerning the Europe deal. Picking them all up, I began to tidy the mess when a large and thick grey file fell onto the floor. Skirting around the desk, I hurried to clean it up when I came across some disturbing letters and documents. Pages and pages of legal forms, restraining orders, cease and desist notices, and letters. Picking them all up, I began filtering through every page. My stomach churned and flipped with every word I read.

Each restraining order was protecting Jared against various women. There had to be at least twenty of them in the file. The letters made my breakfast suddenly want to make a re-appearance. Each one highlighted intimate and detailed descriptions of sexual encounters, contact, and desperate begging from these woman.

What the fuck was going on? Why did he need so many of these damn things in the first place? Was he just a natural magnet for these crazy ass bitches, or did he drive them to it?

I slumped onto the floor and rested the back of my head against the wood of Jared’s desk. Glancing down, I noticed another piece of paper that I had previously missed. It had been highlighted with a red marker as ‘urgent.’ Picking it up, I held my hand to my mouth.

“Mr. Garrett, while Mrs. Felix appreciates the shock and disruption this has brought to your life, she requests that an agreement be reached as soon as possible as to avoid any further unpleasantness between the two of you. After consulting with a medical professional, we can confirm, without doubt, that Mrs. Felix is indeed expecting a child. While your argument of paternity is being taken very seriously, we request that on behalf of Mrs. Felix, a meeting be set up for August ninth. Your cooperation in this matter would be greatly appreciated.”