Don't Lie to Me (16 page)

Finally, I found my voice. I looked to Marcus and then Jack. “Marcus and I went to school together, Jack.”

I tried as hard as I could to look pleasant. To hide the fear and anger that was bubbling just beneath the surface. I was always amazed at how quickly people could shut down their emotions and move on as if nothing bothered them. Jack and Marcus clearly had that gift because they quickly looked to me and then back to each other, looking completely composed and professional.

Marcus looked between us, now inside the condo I spent so much time in and I wanted to kick him out but knew I couldn’t.

“Are you two…?” He looked almost sheepish as he started the question, as if his new boss’s personal life was any of his business.

Jack’s grip tightened around me fractionally. I felt safe instantly. He wouldn’t let Marcus hurt me. Then I realized how stupid the thought was. Marcus had the power to hurt me more than anyone in the entire world, he just didn’t know it yet.

“She’s mine.” I finally managed a sincere smile at Jack’s possessive tone. Over the last two weeks, it had either driven me to frustration or driven me wild; right now, it was exactly what I needed. It calmed me. Every tightly spun nerve in me began to release and I felt myself leaning into Jack’s shoulder, relaxing.

Those few seconds gave me the courage to gather my nerves. I didn’t want to screw anything up with Jack and his company. He said that Marcus was important to him, and even though I hated the man in front of me, personally, I knew his connections were invaluable to Jack. I couldn’t screw this up.

So I took a deep breath and smiled, pretending that my life wasn’t falling apart right in front of me.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked Marcus as politely as possible. At his nod, I moved out of Jack’s reach. He scowled at me but I nodded my head towards the kitchen, hoping he’d understand to meet me there.

Marcus followed me to the wet bar where I poured him two fingers of scotch.

“How are you?”

I ignored the question. I refused to look at him afraid I might spit in his face or dump his scotch down the front of him.

Marcus cleared his throat again and I ground my teeth together knowing another question was coming. I could do this. Five minutes and I was out of there and somehow I’d make sure I never came across Marcus again.

“How long have you and Jack been together?”

I snorted and finally looked at Marcus. I resisted the urge to flinch when I saw the left side of lips twitch. It was his one tell that gave away his stress. It was also the exact same thing Logan did when he concentrated on his drawings or building the perfect Lego tower. I hated their similarities. I hated that Logan had anything to do with this man in front of me.

“It’s none of your business Marcus.” Without giving him the chance to say anything else, I led him into the living room where the other board members congregated. After making sure everyone in the room knew each other, I excused myself.

“Jack will be with you all in just a few minutes.”

I turned and left the men without another word and went to the kitchen. Jack was standing hunched over the sink. Even through his suit, I knew that every muscle was tightened as he gripped the counter so hard his knuckles were white. I could practically envision the veins on his forearms sticking out.

“Who is he to you?” He hissed angrily at me. I knew he wasn’t angry at me. Most likely he was jealous, but I also knew his lid would flip when I told him.

“He’s nothing to me anymore.” Except a thorn in my side that was gouging my abdomen and spilling my blood all over the place.

Jack turned to me, inspecting me. He doubted me and I hated it.

I walked toward him until there were only inches between us and placed my hands gently on his biceps. They twitched beneath my hands but slowly relaxed a little bit.

“This is a big night for you and I won’t screw it up. Can we please talk about Marcus tomorrow?”

He shook his head adamantly and I knew he was going crazy just imagining my past relationship with Marcus. He hated the very thought of me with another guy before him, and I was about to make him face it head on.

“You need to get out there and have your dinner. Please. I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s just….” I turned from him for a second; trying to think of something that could explain it and get us out of this mess and found the right words. The exact words he told me when he refused to talk about his brother. “I don’t talk about him. Ever.”

He knew what I meant and I hated using it against him, but I was desperate to get out of there. If I told Jack now how I really knew Marcus, I had no doubt he would beat the shit out of him, and that would be the worst thing for both of us. He rubbed the back of his neck and then let out a quiet, frustrated growl before roughly grabbing my hip.

He kissed me roughly, plunging into my mouth without allowing me to catch my breath. Nevertheless, I took it. I threw my arms around him and pulled him closer; taking everything he gave me, letting him mark me as his, even if no one else was watching. He needed the assurance and I gave it willingly.

“You promised me honesty.” His eyes flashed in anger and I swallowed slowly, knowing that I did.

“I will Jack. Just not right now.” He sighed reluctantly.

“Tomorrow.” He growled against my mouth when he finally pulled away, both of us panting desperately.

I nodded. “Tomorrow. And behave tonight.”

He walked me to the door, a hand lightly on the small of my back, just as Martin finally arrived.

“Late as always, huh old man?” Martin smiled a wide smile that reached from cheek to cheek as the two men embraced in a typical man-hug; one hand clasped around the other’s forearm and two quick pats on the back. I couldn’t help but smile at Jack’s casual nature around him. It was something rarely seen and I knew he loved the older gentleman in front of us, dressed immaculately in a perfectly tailored suit and a full head of salt and peppered hair.

He smiled down on me adoringly. I loved it. “Hey there, Emma. You staying tonight?”

“No sir, Mr. Crawlson. I’m on my way out right now.”

“How many times have I asked you to call me Martin?” He scolded me teasingly.

I smiled cheekily, being around Martin having temporarily erased all the tension. “About as many times as I’ve called you Mr. Crawlson.”

He threw his head back into a full stomach laugh. “Touché.” He grinned at Jack. “She’s smart, don’t let her go.”

“I don’t plan on it.” He smiled at Martin and gestured with his arm for Martin to head into the living room. Leaving the two of us alone for one last minute.

I leaned up and kissed him chastely on the cheek in the doorway. His hands gently cupped my face, holding me stil while he returned the kiss equally soft. He leaned his head against mine and firmly whispered, “Tomorrow.”

I simply nodded in understanding. “Good night, Jack.”

My legs shook while I walked to the train. Who was I kidding? My entire body was shaking from nerves and shock and anger. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could escape Marcus forever, but that was not how I had ever envisioned seeing him.

I picked up the phone to call Macy and cancel my plans for the night. I just wanted to go home and curl up with Logan in my lap and hold him because I knew, now that Marcus was around, he would want to know what I decided.

“Hey you!” she chirped happily into the phone. The tears I had been holding in suddenly overflowed into one gigantic sob as I waited on the train platform. Thank goodness I lived in a large city full of people used to seeing strange things. No one gave me a second look as I melted down right in front of their eyes. I didn’t bother hiding my tears.

“Oh shit. What’s wrong?” Macy’s happy voice dropped to just above a whisper. I heard her shush Tate in the background. I stood quietly for several minutes while my mind flipped through the images of earlier. Marcus standing in Jack’s doorway with a look of shock at seeing me again. His blonde hair and blue eyes made him just as handsome as he had always been, if not slightly better looking now that he had aged some. The immediate tension between him and Jack and Jack’s welcome possessiveness of me. The complete and utter shock I felt as I saw him notice me. Shit.

“Marcus.” I coughed out his name and finally wiped a tear away. Macy was silent on the other end of the phone and I could picture her face one of confusion. I took a deep breath. “He’s a new lawyer at McMillan Holdings. Jack brought him on, one reason being his family connections. He showed up at the dinner tonight.” Right after I had Jack’s cock deep in my throat. I didn’t think Macy needed to know that part. But the very memory sent shivers through me at how happy I had been up until the moment I opened his door.

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Pretty much. Listen, I’m going to cancel tonight. I just want to go home and hug Logan and forget this happened and figure out what I’m going to do when I see him again.”

“You think you will? See Marcus again?”

I snorted. “You’ll probably see him before I do since you work in the building.”

Macy sighed heavily. She was my best friend in college. She knew all about Marcus and his dad and the day Marcus Whitmore the Second showed up at my apartment paying me twenty five thousand dollars to ‘fix my mistake’ as he so eloquently put it. Apparently, it wasn’t kosher to be a Senator basing his campaign on conservative family values only to have his son knock up his girlfriend. Offering to get rid of the baby, on the other hand, was totally acceptable. I shuddered at the memory and felt like running to the bathroom to throw up.

“Listen, I’m just not in the mood to party tonight. I’m going to go home and hang out with Logan and try to figure out what in the hell I’m supposed to do now.” Like look up plane tickets to Bora Bora.

“Do you want me to ditch Tate and Dean and come hang out? I can bring wine and ice cream.”

The wine did sound like a good idea. A case of it. I shook my head and realized she couldn’t see me.

“That’s okay, Mace. You go out and have fun. I just need to be alone tonight.”

I knew she didn’t want me to be alone. She had seen me alone after the whole ordeal and watched me struggle to climb out of my insane misery. Fortunately for me, she was a good enough friend to know I meant what I said and she quietly agreed.

I clicked off my phone just as the sound of the ‘L’ came rushing toward the stop.

TWELVE

After sending Penny home early, Logan and I played way too many games of UNO and I let him stay up much later than normal while I simply stared at him. I lost every game of cards and didn’t pay a single bit of attention to the movie we watched, or the popcorn and ice cream he ate. Instead, I sat back and drank in every single small detail of my beautiful son. Marcus’ son. Their features were undeniably similar with the same curly blond hair and light blue eyes. Even their face shape was similar and even though Logan had never seen his dad, they shared so many similar mannerisms that it sometimes made me catch my breath.

After I read him more books than he requested, I finally put Logan to bed two hours later than normal.

I grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge and took a swig straight from the bottle – classy girl that I was. I sat alone in my living room, drinking my wine with only one lamp lit for light, and remembered.

I wiped a tear from my eye and nervously held up the test in my hand.

Marcus’s eyes widened in shock instantly. “Oh.”

“
Yeah…..” my voice trailed off because I didn’t know what to say. I had found out three days before, and waited for the right time to tell Marcus that I was pregnant. We finished our last midterm on Thursday night and I figured now that they were over, and Marcus wasn’t stressed from studying this would be a good night. I still felt incredibly stupid I didn’t remember that the antibiotics I had taken for my sinus infection would affect my birth control pills. I was terrified of being twenty-two years old and pregnant. Terrified I would lose the man in front of me who I loved so much. I held my breath waiting for him to answer. I half-expected him to be just as terrified as me and take off running. I wouldn’t blame him, I guess. His dad was going to freak out when he found out his son got his girlfriend knocked up. He never thought I was good enough to be involved with a Whitmore…this would be icing on the cake.

I didn’t expect a small smile to form on Marcus’ lips and then increase until it was so large that it spread from cheek to cheek. He slowly stood up from the table across from me and came around the table, kneeling before me.

“
Let’s go to Vegas, baby.”

My jaw dropped. “We can’t go to Vegas, we have school.”

“
Let’s go get married. We’ll be a family just like we want, it’s just happening sooner than we expected.”

I squeezed his hand and laughed nervously. “You can’t be serious. We have school….and your dad….”

His smile turned into a serious expression. “Screw my dad, Emma. I’m going to be a dad…and I want to do it right.”

I shook my head again, trying to clear the fogginess in front of me. He couldn’t be serious. Was he? I closed my eyes tightly. This must be a dream. I was simply dreaming of Marcus being on his knee in front of me telling me he wanted to marry me.