Chapter 3
Kiera
Immense panic rushed through me, stealing my breath away.
This could not be happening.
I barely registered the gentle fingers gripping my chin until my head was turned away from where I stared wide-eyed in horror at Jackson.
“You okay?” Gavin asked, his brows pulled together in worry.
Like the volume on a radio had been turned up to full blast, the room around me came back into focus, the chatter from the guests overpowering my senses. I blinked several times, trying to coerce my brain and my heart to calm down.
“Yeah… I’m fine, I just…” I trailed off, turning my alarmed gaze back to the doorway in time to see Jackson disappear.
Fuck.
Panic turned to pure terror, propelling me to my feet as Gavin stared at me, perplexed. “I’m really sorry,” I rushed out, adrenaline pumping through my veins. “But I’ve got to go.”
Gavin replied, but I didn’t stick around to hear him. I needed to find Jackson.
And fast.
On shaky legs, I hurried across the room to the doorway Jackson had disappeared through. Glancing from left to right, my eyes snagged on a couple dry-humping each other against a wall, before catching a glimpse of a figure with dirty-blond hair leaving through the front door.
My heart leaped into my throat as I took off in that direction, knowing without doubt that it was Jackson. I would have known the color and style of his hair anywhere; I’d spent my early teenage years running my hands through it, dreaming of a future with the boy I loved.
A future that wasn’t to be.
Reaching the front door, I yanked it open, my mind spiraling with the potential fallout if Jackson had taken a photo. If he shared it with James, I’d be mortified, but if he gave it to Alec, my life would be over.
Shit. What if he gave it to my father?
A lump of lead landed in the pit of my stomach. Whatever it took, I had to get Jackson to delete the evidence of my crime.
The cool night air washed over me as I dashed outside. Goosebumps prickled my skin as I took two steps at a time down the marble stairs that, not so long ago, I’d walked up, convincing myself that this was a great idea.
To add to my developing nightmare, Jackson was nowhere to be seen. Surely, he hadn’t gotten away already? He’d only had a few seconds' head start; he couldn’t have gone far, right?
Racing down the garden path of the manicured grounds, the bright moon lighting my way, I muttered a prayer, hoping that by some miracle, I could stop Jackson before he jumped in his car and sped off.
I didn’t know where he lived, so it wasn’t like I could follow him back to his place and demand he hand over any evidence of my crime.
If he had taken any photos to start with.
Maybe I was being paranoid, but my gut was telling me that this was the sort of thing Jackson would do.
He’d vowed revenge for me breaking his heart, and I’d just given him the prime opportunity.
Long shadows from tall trees fell over the path, adding to the anxiety riddling my entire body.
This was all my fault; if I hadn’t been so damn desperate to escape my life for one night, this wouldn’t be happening.
I shouldn’t have taken such a stupid risk; it wasn’t just my life that would be ruined if Alec found out, but Billie’s would be, too.
How could I have been so damn stupid?
Thoughts churned in my head as I neared the gate that would lead out to where a row of flashy cars were parked.
My gaze was focused on the road when a dark figure emerged from the shadows, blocking my way.
I froze on the spot as the eyes of the man I’d once loved with all my heart raked over my frame, his lips curling in disgust.
As a young girl, I’d always been attracted to Jackson.
With piercing blue eyes, it always felt like he was staring straight into my soul whenever his attention was on me.
Jackson didn’t smile; he smirked, always appearing as if he was plotting mischief.
Aside from his kissable lips, the one thing I adored about his grin was the way his dimples in his cheeks always made an appearance.
He’d always been tall for his age, and when he hit his teenage years, his lanky frame had grown muscular. Over the years, his muscles had only become more solid, his tight shirt looking like it could tear at the seams if he moved too quickly.
But it wasn’t just his looks that got my—and no doubt a lot of other women’s—heart racing.
It was his personality. Jackson was the full package.
A charmer with a heart of gold. The joker of the group, who didn’t need to try hard to get people to like him.
He always knew the right thing to say and had an uncanny ability to make people smile, even on their worst days.
He was the sort of person who, when you spoke, he gave you his undivided attention, and if you were lucky enough to be loved by him, you felt like you were the most loved person in the world.
But underneath his heart of gold lay a cruel streak. One, I’d had the misfortune of experiencing ten years ago, when he threw accusation after accusation at me, called me every name under the sun, and vowed that if I dared cross his path again, he would make my life a misery.
As if he could make it any worse.
On the very few occasions I’d seen him over the years, every nerve in my body had screamed at me to fall to my knees and beg him for his forgiveness. Beg him to love me again.
But the words never came.
Whatever Jackson and I once shared was ancient history. Besides, Billie was my only priority. Everything I did was for her, and that meant that I would do whatever I had to do to stop Jackson from telling the world that he’d caught me at a sex party.
A painful lump of emotion clogged my throat, growing by the second as Jackson’s hate-filled stare penetrated me. Yet, despite the sneer he wore, a knot tightened in my stomach when the familiar scent of musk and cedarwood engulfed me, and forgotten memories of our past threatened to consume me.
“I have to say,” Jackson started, pulling me from my thoughts.
His voice was exactly as I remembered it; sweet as honey, warming me from the inside and giving me comfort, even though my brain acknowledged that Jackson had no comfort to offer me.
“Of all people I expected to see at a party like this, you were not one of them. But I guess a leopard doesn’t change its spots, huh, Kiki? ”
Internally, I grimaced, although I didn’t know if it was from the nickname he used to call me with affection but was now filled with disdain, or the subtle accusation of my apparent cheating.
“It’s not what you think,” I blurted, somewhat pointlessly, because it was precisely what Jackson thought.
I was at the party to commit adultery.
His brow lifted as a sarcastic smirk spread on his lips. “Funny. From where I was standing, it looked as if you were seconds away from letting that guy fuck you right there on the couch. I’ve even got the picture to prove it.”
Fuck. He had taken a photo.
“Jackson, please,” I whispered, unable to hide the quiver in my voice.
“Please, what, Kiki? Don’t tell your fiancé that he’s engaged to a cheating whore?”
A wave of anger rolled through me, and I clenched my teeth together to stop from blurting that I was only doing to Alec what he had done to me time and time again, but I couldn’t risk him telling that to James.
My brother would kill Alec in a heartbeat if he discovered how Alec treated me, and that would only lead us right back to the place I could never allow: Billie being on my father’s radar. It was easier to let Jackson believe I was a cheating whore than deal with the consequences of the truth.
Taking a breath, I tried to calm the storm brewing under my skin. “Jackson, please. I’ve never asked you for anything before, but I’m asking you now. Please, please delete the picture and forget I was here.”
He snorted. “You have no right to ask me for anything-”
“I know,” I interrupted before he could remind me of my past sins yet again. “And I know I have no right to ask you now, but I am asking you. If not for me, then for Billie. If Alec finds out, he’ll pull the funding for her school and-”
“You should have thought about that before cheating on the man who is providing for your daughter, instead of her actual father,” Jackson sneered. “Ready to tell me who that is yet?”
My gaze dropped to the ground as shame slivered through me. When he first found out that I was pregnant, he’d demanded I tell him who the father was. He demanded to know who was so important to me that I threw away the future he and I had spent years planning.
My refusal had only made him angrier. There were only three people in the world who knew who Billie’s father was, and if I wanted to keep my daughter safe, I planned on keeping it that way.
“Didn’t think so,” Jackson huffed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got things to do.”
He turned to walk away from me, but before he could, I grabbed his arm and pulled him off the path into a secluded area surrounded by hedges in a bid to keep him from reaching his car.
“Please. I’m begging you.” My sob of despair echoed into the night air as Jackson yanked his arm free.
His rough movement caused me to stumble back, and my heel sank into the damp grass. Unable to find my balance, I fell onto my ass, landing with a thud. A tear slid down my cheek as heavy resignation and regret drowned me.
Jackson towered over me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him as I wiped my tear away with my muddy fingers. “You’re pathetic, you know that, Kiki?” he hissed. “I can’t believe I was ever in love with you.”
His words were another barb to my already damaged heart. It was a miracle that the organ was still able to work with the amount of barbed wire wrapped around it, piercing it every time it beat.
“Please, Jackson,” I whispered helplessly, already knowing the answer.