Chapter Seven JACKIE
Chapter Seven
JACKIE
They’ve been at it for at least thirty minutes. The only quiet soul in the room is Joseph’s striped cat, perched on the windowsill, shooting bored glares at Derrick every time he raises his voice and disrupts her nap.
I’ve never related more to a four-legged fluffball, as the headache blooming behind my eyes keeps spreading.
It’s two in the morning, and Robertson’s formal dining room feels one argument away from blowing apart. I imagine that he’s regretting offering his estate in Irvington for the meet-up.
Angry voices ricochet off the coffered ceiling, the mahogany table crowded with the handful of people now cleared to know my whereabouts.
And Adam.
He’s been sitting across from me without saying a word, just staring. Wide frame rigid against the back of the chair, mouth a hard line. The way his green eyes bore into me would be alarming if, in an inexplicable way, his quiet presence didn’t ground me in the middle of this shit show.
“Why is he here?” Derrick jabs a finger toward Adam. “We agreed to limit the intel to the core of Jackie’s security team.”
I ask myself the same thing. But when I chance a closer look at him, something knots in my chest. He usually shows up looking put together, hair styled, crisp shirt stretched over broad shoulders. Now, his brown hair clings to his forehead, his skin a sickly kind of pale.
“Looks like you’ve done a great job,” Adam says coolly, breaking the hold of our gaze.
Logan’s nostrils flare. He doesn’t even try to be subtle when he looks at Adam like he stepped in something vile. “And what’s your plan, Erickson? Another whiskey-fueled epiphany?”
Adam doesn’t flinch, but something in me swells, fierce and hot, with the need to defend him. If I were still somebody who mattered to him, I wouldn’t need him to sweep in on a white horse and save me. I’d only need him to be there for me. It would be enough.
But he made it clear last time we met. We’re past that. He’s only here for my brother.
“Enough.” Carter slams his palms on the hardwood table. “I trust everyone here with my life.”
“Then trust me to take over securing your properties,” Logan jumps back in, relentless.
Derrick’s chair scrapes against the floor as he leans back, hands in the air. “There’s nothing wrong with the systems we already use—”
The cat, annoyed by the commotion, chooses this perfect moment to abandon her perch and slink under the table, up Logan’s legs, nestling in his lap. He doesn’t even register the animal until it nudges his hand, demanding attention.
“I deal with army-grade tech,” Logan pushes, petting the furry brat, as Derrick’s irritation grows by the second.
Arms crossed, Derrick scowls at Robertson’s pet. “How am I supposed to take you seriously? You look like a Bond villain right now.”
“Don’t bring Peanut into this,” Logan says, smoothing the cat’s fur. “She’s not the reason you’re unqualified to run military-grade protocols.”
Carter watches them both, glancing from time to time in my direction. I’m pretty sure he caught me staring back at Adam a couple of times.
Robertson lays a hand on his son’s arm. “Jackie’s life is more important than your ego.”
“Are you sure it’s not Hall behind all this?” Adam shifts everybody’s attention.
Carter’s eye twitches, but he keeps his rage contained. He’s been looking for the man who almost took Eliza from him for months now.
“We don’t think so. Neither does the FBI,” Derrick says reluctantly. “Cyberattacks are way outside the scope of their activity.”
“Criminals adapt to the times,” I say before I realize I’m finally speaking again. It earns me a surprised look from Adam.
“Derrick’s right.” Logan says it like it cost him a piece of his soul. “The more we dig, the more it’s clear the attack was a distraction. It had no real purpose other than to shock and make us look in that direction. While they sneak through the back doors.”
Adam tilts his head, unconvinced. “What about the threats to Jackie?”
“Possible it’s part of the same plan,” Derick says, flicking a pen against his files in a repetitive motion that has my nerves fraying at the edges.
“I’m sure that helps her sleep better at night.” Adam leans back in his leather chair, still looking intently at me.
“Don’t you worry about how she sleeps,” Logan bites. Maybe having a mini breakdown when he had a short contract in London, and telling him parts of what happened, wasn’t the brightest idea. Ever since, he’s been looking for any excuse to torment Adam.
Logan is as much a brother to me as he is to Carter, but Adam looks like he’s chewing on nails.
Their voices warp, distorted. I’m watching the exchange like I’m submerged in a water tank.
Until Robertson says my name, and I’m pulled out, suddenly uncomfortable with everyone’s attention. “Maybe Jackie has something to say about all this,” he says encouragingly, smiling at me.
Before I can gather my thoughts and put into words what I need, Carter cuts in. Again. “You should lay low until we figure out who the hell they are and how to bring them down.”
A rebellious urge rises from the depths of my being. Screams for me to stand my ground. Prove I’m not scared. That I’m still in control.
I open my mouth to tell Carter off. “I’m not leaving.”
“Jackie.” Adam’s voice calmly cuts across the table. I look at him, at the crease between his brows, the way his green eyes lock onto mine. “I know you want to fight,” he continues softly. “It’s who you are.”
He leans forward, forearms on the table, palms open, like he’s asking me to take the unexpected care he’s offering.
“But it might not just be you at risk,” he says, never taking his gaze off me. “If you keep going to the office. If you stay in the city for too long.”
My chest constricts painfully, the pressure on my temples so intense, my palms become clammy. Damn it! How does he still know exactly where to press?
What if my defiance puts somebody’s life at risk? What if another attack is worse, more violent, all because I couldn’t bring myself to step back?
His voice mellows, drops low, as if we’re the only people in the room. “It won’t be forever. We’re all doing everything humanly possible to speed the investigation along.”
All the fight drains out of me. “Fine.” It tastes like giving up, even if I know it’s what Carter’s been hoping for. “Whatever keeps people safe.”
Even though I avoid looking at Adam again, out of the corner of my eye, I see it anyway. The way his jaw clenches, and his fingers flex on the armrests.
My brother’s smile comes too quickly. It’s so broad alarm bells instantly start ringing in my head.
“I’ve already worked out the details with Logan,” he says, extremely proud of his foresight. Of course he has. They discussed it behind my back, like I’m a child.
But he’s not done. “You’ll come back to Maine with us for the summer.”
The final blow is delivered with such ease, as if he didn’t just sentence me to months of my worst nightmare. The outdoors might kill me before the guys threatening me even get the chance.
There’s not much I actually need to take from the office. Moving files around and rummaging through drawers is more of a stalling tactic before we leave tonight. A pointless attempt to pretend I still have some control when everything’s out of my hands.
This restlessness coursing through my bones has me running circles under Joseph’s worried gaze.
I should be able to handle the break in at my own home.
The attack on my company. I should do something.
Anything but twiddle my thumbs while the FBI and Derrick’s team have taken over every aspect of the investigation.
Why am I even here if I can’t fix anything?
“We’ll hold down the fort, Jackie,” Joseph says gently, leaning on the floor-to-ceiling window frame.
“You shouldn’t have to.” My voice cracks with frustration. I’m annoyed at myself, at the situation, at the whole fucking world. I open the same drawer twice in a row. I’m not even looking for anything in particular. “You should be sipping Mai Tais somewhere sunny. Enjoying your golden years. Not—”
“Hey, I might be an old geezer, but I was stationed in the Gulf.” Joseph straightens his spine, puffing out his chest with mock pride. “Those punks don’t scare me.”
Sliding the tips of my fingers along the top shelf, they snag on a small shoebox. It’s been sitting there for a year. Somehow, I can’t bring myself to throw it away. I place it carefully on the desk, giving myself until I walk out the office door to decide what to do with it.
“And you wonder where Logan gets his attitude from,” I say, poking fun at his never-ending frustration with his son’s lifestyle.
He groans suddenly. “Ugh, you again.”
The sound makes me spin on my heels so fast, my vision blurs.
“Glad to see you too, old codger.” Adam strides in, grinning at Joseph’s grimaces.
Joseph jerks the lapels of his suit and ignores Adam, striding toward me. Large warm hands envelop mine. “Enjoy the Maine air, sweetheart,” he says with a knowing smirk. “It sure did wonders for your brother.”
I swat him away with a groan. Carter may have found love in Silver Lake Falls. My chances of doing the same are close to none.
Adam strolls through the office, like he hasn’t yet noticed I’m in here too, but I’m sure he heard every word.
Even after all this time, seeing him hurts in the exact same place. Like my heart was tied up and somebody was pulling a sharp guitar string, cutting into it. But I’ve got used to it, as you do to period cramps. One gets over it, gritting your teeth.
Adam pauses at the corner of the office, his fingers skimming the smooth, dark surface of the obsidian Lilly gave me. Maybe I should’ve put it in my living room instead. If it had managed to keep the intruders at bay, I might’ve been spared this forced isolation.
“Looking for a steamy summer with a small-town boy?” he asks suddenly.
The question throws me off. I don’t know what to make of it. Or why he’d care anyway?
He was a small-town boy. Once, he was mine.
His natural charm and intelligence might have given him certain power, and the financial boost that comes with that.
But the way he was raised was never washed away by money.
He’s still frugal. Still wears the watch his father gave him when he graduated.
Some things have never changed, even if his zip code has.
But I’m not about to point that out.
“Might as well find something to pass the time, since everybody’s pushing me around.”
Tongue in cheek, brow furrowed, he steps closer.
“Is that what you want? A rough tumble in the hay?”
The heat simmering under the surface of his words leaves me breathless.
“Haven’t figured out the specifics yet. Want to give me any pointers?”
He looks me up and down, pursing his lips. “Spoiled brats aren’t really my specialty. You’ll manage.”
That crystal would look wonderful jammed in his skull right about now.
Deep breath in. Hold it for five seconds. Release it slowly.
“Does your visit have a purpose, or do you get off on annoying me?”
He steps into my space, and the intensity in his gaze unnerves me.
Adam tilts his head, a crooked smile tugging at his lips. “You know very well what gets me off, Jackie.”
With that image in my head, my insides ignite. The blaze travels down my belly, pooling low. This is why I need to stay as far away from him as possible. Going to Silver Lake Falls might be useful, after all. I’ve spent too much time around Adam lately, and it’s been extremely tough on my sanity.
“That’s not why I’m here. Unfortunately.” He rounds the desk, lingering.
Unfortunately?! What kind of game is he playing here?
His eyes fall on the black box I left out. The glass animal figurines and shapes are jumbled together inside, the set incomplete. Tucked away like the feelings I had for him.
My rainbow.
I can’t even remember exactly how it started. We ended up at a flea market after one date, and he bought me the first figurine. He kept that going until I had a complete color spectrum, leaving them on my pillow or in my bag. I used to line them up and watch the light create a rainbow in my room.
Adam picks up the red elephant and twirls it between his fingers, brow scrunched, his grin long gone.
“Yeah, the yellow one shattered; it made no sense to leave them out,” I attempt to explain, even though I don’t owe him anything. It made no sense. Why keep it if it was broken?
He’s just opened his mouth to say something when Michelle storms in, talking a million miles an hour.
“Before you go, there are these urgent—” She stutters, blushing furiously at the sight of Adam smiling at her. “Oh…”
It figures.
Just another reminder of who he is. Not a one-woman man. And maybe it’s for the best. I needed the reality check, before I let myself forget that no matter how easily he can still make me burn, trust is the one thing I can’t afford to give him again.