14. McCarthy
MCCARTHY
I hate all of them—Brock, Andreas, fucking Nathan—all the men who had their hands on her, any man who ever looked at her. And most of all, I hate Jenna.
For showing up in my office, soaking wet, that white blouse shellacked to her skin, the rest of her clothes rumpled like she’s just been fucked within an inch of her life in an alley.
For the wide, teary eyes.
For the way she trembles in front of me.
She’s purposefully making herself seem disarming. She’s fucking with me, just like that engagement ring. It’s so obvious that she’s lying. Jenna’s mad I’m right about her precious Nathan, who not a single soul in this city can tolerate.
I watch her stuff the papers back into her bag.
I could stop being cooperative. Despite what Salinger says, I’m not scared of him.
Still, I’ll go along with her plan. If only because I’m not ready to be done with Jenna yet.
Besides, when—not if—she has another major screw-up, they’ll fire her, and I won’t ever get to hear her break down and admit that I was right and Nathan is, in fact, a cheating piece of shit.
My penthouse is dark and empty when I arrive, shaking the rain out of my hair.
“ Welcome home, Mac! What’s for dinner? ”
For a second, my heart leaps. Did my brothers come and surprise me?
But the home automation speaker is blinking, and I hear Fitz’s recorded laughter.
“ Did I surprise you? Did you shoot something? Oh, bring me those toasted sushi rice cracker things when you come to the Soundview Hotel tomorrow, will you? ”
The enormous penthouse seems even colder and emptier when I delete the message out of spite—and so I don’t tell it to replay it just to keep me company.
“He’s so annoying.”
The fridge door echoes as it opens. The prepared meals are neatly arranged on the shelves. Everything in my penthouse is neatly arranged. Nothing in it or my life is out of place.
At least it wasn’t until I met Jenna and her dog.
I brush at its fur on my suit.
That stupid dog is constantly jumping up on my selves, knocking things over. He pulled my coat down and used it as a dog bed before I caught him. He’s always in my trash can, even though Jenna’s constantly feeding him and letting him track crumbs everywhere .
I almost look for the dachshund as I take the cover off the chicken and brown rice, like he’s going to be underfoot, begging for food.
For a second, I think, Maybe I should get a dog .
But no.
Not again.
I eat the meal cold on the terrace, standing under the awning and looking out over the foggy skyline.
Is Jenna at a bar, nursing her heartbreak? Out with friends? Surely she didn’t go back to Nathan.
I still.
She’s stubborn.
Would she try to get back together with him just to spite me?
Probably.
Not my problem.
Doggedly, I eat the rest of my cold food.
Think about texting one of my brothers.
Think about texting Jenna.
Tell myself to stop thinking about Jenna because she’s not important.
Then I sit in my study and review product innovations, waiting for it to get late enough that I can do something extremely illegal that Jenna and my brother will pin me to the wall for… if they find out.