Chapter 18 #2
I headed down the hall, going all the way to the den that Dad had had built on the back of the house after his fourth child had been born. It was a mess with toys and electronics all over that the kids hadn’t put away, but I kind of liked being in a room that reflected my inner mess.
“What do you want, Chester?” I repeated, crossing my arms.
“I wanted to see how you are,” Chester said, not quite able to look me in the eyes. “That whole thing last month with the Tech Expo was kind of hard, eh?”
“Kind of hard?” I gaped at him, letting my arms drop.
“I mean, I know you got attached to Senator Salisbury’s son,” Chester’s face turned redder, and he still wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
“I love him,” I said, fighting not to shout it from the rooftops. I didn’t want to disturb my family any more than they were already disturbed. “Jack and I were in love, and you and Salisbury forced us apart.”
“I don’t know if that’s exactly true,” Chester said, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.
“Which part of it? That Jack and I are in love? Because we are,” I said, my emotions already dangerously on the edge. “But I’m not good enough for Senator fucking Salisbury, so he got you, his little techie lapdog, to pull all the strings that broke us up.”
I was kind of just spitballing out of anger, and because someone who definitely had played a part in tearing my heart to shreds was right there, conveniently in front of me so I could yell at him.
I didn’t expect Chester to look as fucking guilty as he suddenly did.
It was only for a moment, though.
“This whole thing has gotten me thinking about everything you and I had,” Chester said, looking like he was forcing himself to smile and look happy about something. “I think this could be a great chance for us to reconnect.”
Not this again. My mouth dropped open at his audacity.
“I don’t want anything to do with you, Chester,” I said. “You ruined my life and physically and mentally broke me.”
“I know, and I feel awful about it,” Chester said woodenly. “That’s why I think we should get back together.”
I absolutely couldn’t. On what planet did this lunatic think I would want anything to do with him ever again?
“Fuck off, Chester,” I said, shaking my head and storming forward, intending on going back to the kitchen.
“Jack Salisbury isn’t coming back for you,” Chester said as I passed him.
I froze, then turned back to him. There was more behind his words, I was sure.
“I love Jack, and Jack loves me,” I said in a low, seething voice.
Chester swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “He’s moved on, Quincy,” he said, back to not being able to meet my eyes.
It suddenly occurred to me that Chester might not be avoiding eye contact because he was guilty of something. He might not be able to truly face me because he knew it was all over for me.
“That’s a lie,” I hissed, my voice catching.
Chester shook his head. “He’s moved on. Just check out the society pages in any newspaper. He’s been painting the town red with all sorts of high society omegas.”
I was going to throw up. Jack wouldn’t do that.
I whipped out my phone and tapped on the search engine. I’d searched for Jack a few times in the last few weeks, but most of what I’d found had been about the cases he was involved in. I hadn’t searched for him in combination with high society gossip, though.
It didn’t take long, but sure enough, a bunch of pics of him out and about with various classy omegas hit my eyes.
And he looked miserable in every one of them.
“See?” Chester said. “He’s moved on. He’s over you. I bet he hasn’t called or texted in weeks either.”
It took a second for my brain to catch up to that. When it did, I dragged my eyes up from my phone and stared at him.
“How do you know whether Jack has tried to call or text me or not?”
Chester huffed like I was being stupid, which was his way of trying to bluff when he’d been caught in a lie. I knew the expression a little too well.
“Forget about Jack,” he said, waving a hand like he was pushing my beloved away. “I want to make you an offer. I want to be with you. I…I made a mistake all those years ago when I asked you to sever our bond.”
“Forced me to sever it,” I said, glowering. “And I’m not interested in getting back with you.”
“But you have to,” Chester said quickly.
I wanted to walk away, but I was just curious enough to stay. “Why?”
“Because….” Chester’s mouth worked for a few more seconds, but no words came out. “I…miss you?” His voice rose at the end, and he couldn’t look at me again.
He must have figured out how suspicious he looked, so he huffed out a breath and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Okay, cards on the table,” he said.
I crossed my arms and waited.
“I need some good PR,” he said. “It will look good for me to get back together with the omega I once rejected. Especially if we make a big deal of you participating in Bangers & Mash Labs’ trial for ReBond.”
A jarring, bitter jolt of excitement and loathing shot through me.
“ReBond?” I asked quietly. Jack had mentioned it, but he hadn’t had time to say much, and I’d been too miserable to research it on my own.
“Yes,” Chester said, dropping his shoulders. “I have enough influence to get you into the trial. The Bangers & Mash scientists are certain their new procedure can completely repair severed bonds. All of the damage that has been done to you could be fixed, and your life could be normal again.”
I started to shake. The only thing I’d wanted for years was to be made whole again, by some miracle. Now it seemed like the miracle was dangling in front of me.
But there was a massive catch.
“Are they certain the procedure will work?” I asked hoarsely.
“They’re definitely sure,” Chester said. “It’s already worked on a few test subjects. They need this trial phase to study everything, but they’re convinced this is the breakthrough of a lifetime.”
“And you can get me into the trial?” I asked, tears prickling behind my eyes.
I could be healed. I could be whole again. Jack and I might have a chance of bonding after all.
“Yes,” Chester said. “I can absolutely get you into the trial. If you marry me.”
The hope that had built so quickly within me crashed.
“I don’t want to marry you,” I said, panic beginning to well in me. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“But, you see, I need an omega,” Chester said. “I need to repair my image a little after all the questions that were asked after the Tech Expo. I need a story that people will get excited about so that they’ll think I’m a good guy again.”
“You aren’t a good guy,” I said, mocking those last two words. “You’re an asshole. You’re an even bigger asshole to dangle this in front of me when you know I’m in love with someone else.”
“Someone else who has moved on and doesn’t want you,” Chester said.
He might as well have driven a knife through my heart.
Jack did want me. He hadn’t moved on. I could see it in the online pics. He was as heartsick as I was. I had to find a way to get to him, to be with him. We were meant to be together.
Except we couldn’t be together. As long as his dad wanted to keep us apart, we would always be apart. Salisbury was behind all of this, I was sure. I just had to prove how, and….
And what? He’d already proven he could bend Jack to his will. And I was fully aware of what Chester was really saying by offering to get me into the ReBond trial if I married him.
“You’re going to let me continue to suffer for the rest of my life, suffer and probably lose my mind completely and end up in an institution someday, if I don’t agree to marry you,” I said, barely above a whisper.
Chester shrugged, completely cold and uncaring. “It’s an arrangement that benefits both of us,” he said. “You get your sever healed, I get an omega and a family.”
I wanted to puke again. It wouldn’t just be marriage. It would be all of my heats going forward. It would be me forced to bear his children. I would never be free from Chester’s nastiness, and I would lose all hope of being with Jack ever again.
“The choice is yours,” Chester said with a shrug.
“It’s not really much of a choice, if you ask me.
I mean, it’s more than just healing, isn’t it.
I’ve got more money than a king. I’d be perfectly happy to hand some of that over to your family.
I could send all of your younger siblings to school, make sure your parents had a happy retirement.
If anything ever happened to anyone, I could jump in and help out. ” He shrugged. “It’s up to you.”
I hated him with the fire of a thousand suns. He’d backed me into a corner that I couldn’t get out of. It didn’t matter how in love I was, forces bigger than me and Jack had come between us, and they weren’t going to ever let up.
I had no choice.