Chapter 29
JESSE
Our old house had felt like the right place for this. Neutral ground, or at least as close to neutral as anything with the name Westwood attached to it could be right now.
These days, it was quieter than it had been growing up. Emptier too.
Only Zach and Theo still lived here now that dear old dad had officially retired to play pickleball and go to bed at seven in the Maldives. Honestly, I was grateful he wasn’t here. He didn’t need to see this.
Rain hammered against the windows as I guided Jacque through the front hall and into the dining room, my hand hovering at her back, but I wasn’t touching her because I wasn’t sure I was allowed to right now.
Everything felt different now, like that article had opened up a canyon between us and I didn’t know how to cross it.
Alex and Nate were already there when we walked in. Zach, too. He was the only one sitting, slouched slightly at the end of the table with his attention locked on his phone like it might swallow him whole.
“Theo had to make a stop, but he’s on his way,” Alex said as soon as we arrived. He didn’t waste time with pleasantries before he was glancing at Nate. “Are Charlotte and Will on the call yet?”
I followed his line of sight to Nate’s phone sitting in the center of the table, the speaker on. Charlotte spoke up first. “I’m here, Alex. So is Trent.”
“Yeah, me and Eliza too,” Will said next.
“Alright,” Alex said slowly. “We’ll catch Theo up when he gets here, but this part doesn’t really concern him.”
I pulled out a chair for Jacque but remained standing myself. “What part?”
“What’s going to happen now,” Alex said. His eyes flicked to Zach for a second, but he still hadn’t even looked up. “Nothing. That’s what’s happening. Are we clear?”
Nate’s head snapped toward him. “What?”
I almost laughed, but not because it was funny. It was crazy. “Excuse me? We’re doing nothing? How is that a solution?”
“We’re doing nothing,” Alex repeated. “This gets brushed under the rug until it blows over.” He pointed directly at me then, completely unflinching. “Except for you. You need to be engaged. Now.”
Jacque jumped a little in her chair, her head tilting slightly, and I resisted the very strong urge to scoff. Her tone was measured when she spoke, though. Way more polite than I would’ve been. “How would that be helpful?”
“Jacqueline is a normal person,” he said, gesturing vaguely toward her before backtracking almost immediately. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it as an insult.”
“I understand what you meant,” she said smoothly, her voice so lyrical that it could probably win wars. “You need a true love story to spin.”
Instantly, I felt that sharp, involuntary reaction deep in my soul that I’d been trying to ignore since she’d walked into my life. Alex just nodded, though. Like all of this was inconsequential except for the optics.
“I do,” he said. “We do.”
I pressed my lips together, my attention drifting back to Zach. He hadn’t said a word yet, just reading that awful motherfucking article until he slowly stood up and walked out. He didn’t say where he was going or even excuse himself, just pushing his chair back and leaving.
“Zach—” Alex started.
“Let him go,” Nate murmured quietly.
Alex hesitated, then stopped and closed his eyes, swiping a hand over his face while Nate slammed back in his chair. That was when it hit me like a bat between the eyes. “Wait a second. No one told him this was happening?”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t know it would be leaked to the press.”
I let out a loud, bitter laugh. “Obviously, because things like this always stay contained. Holy fuck, man. You just let this hit him completely out of the blue?”
“I’ll didn’t let anything happen,” Alex snapped, but Jacque shifted again, her attention back on Alex.
Her features were sharp, but her expression was calm. I supposed out of all of us, she was the most used to this kind of thing. Right now, she was a lawyer, asking the questions no one really wanted to answer, but that needed to be addressed anyway.
“What exactly is happening?” she asked. “I understand the optics and the strategy, but how exactly was Zach involved?”
Nate leaned back, watching Alex like he was waiting to see how much he’d actually say. The phone on the table crackled faintly again, like someone on the other end was moving closer to listen.
Alex looked at Jacque, then at me, then toward the door Zach had just walked through, and for the first time in a long time, it didn’t look like he was entirely in control of the situation anymore.
“Adeline’s family is like ours, but even more old school,” he finally started after a long pause. “The marriages they arrange are hardcore business. Age doesn’t matter and neither does religious belief or any other personal values. The only thing that matters is the deal.”
“To be fair, Zach wanted to marry Adeline,” Nate said. “Her family just didn’t want it to happen. They had something else in mind for her, an alliance with another family, like, a real, old money marriage alliance, so they were separated.”
I shook my head, but then Will piped up. “Sure, but you’re forgetting the most important thing, guys. In the end, Adeline chose the other guy.”
“Fuck, I didn’t know that,” I muttered, huffing out a deep breath as I looked down at my shoes. “Poor Zach.”
“Yeah, but the media won’t care,” Nate said. “They’re going to latch onto this and drag our name into it because of the connection. Zach and Adeline were an it couple and their breakup was swept under the rug, which led to a lot of public speculation about what happened.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to spin an affair,” Charlotte said, and murmurs of agreement swept through the room. “We can’t even dispel them because of the NDA.”
“We’re still doing nothing,” Alex reminded us. “Our silence is the best way to protect Zach and the business for now. Jesse has the media covered with his engagement, and then there’s our gala.”
Jacque squirmed in her chair, and immediately, I knew something was very off. How could I not? This is insane.
“You all married for love,” I said, my voice coming out rougher than I’d realized it would and edged with a hardness I didn’t bother hiding.
“It didn’t start that way,” Alex said, like that made it better. More murmurs of agreement followed. Nate. Charlotte. Even Will. “We did it for the family, Jesse. Every last one of us, but we got lucky.”
I let out a humorless laugh and squeezed the back of my neck. It made sense that they’d justify it that way. It wasn’t insane. It was just what we did, dressing up obligation and calling it noble. Necessary.
“Excuse me,” Jacqueline muttered, pushing her chair back so fast, she almost smacked into me. I stepped out of the way just in time, still trying to reach for her before she could make for the door, but she was too fast.
Her cheeks were pale and her footsteps were clipped and fast across the hardwood. I took a step after her, instinct kicking in, but I stopped instead of leaving. If I followed her now, I’d say something reckless or worse, something honest.
So instead, I waited for the click of her heels to recede down the hallway, then turned back. “I actually care about her, you know. I can’t use her like this, Alex. You can’t box us into an actual marriage just because of this article.”
“This is what’s good for the family,” he said immediately, as smooth and easy as if he’d rehearsed it. To be fair though, he probably had. “It’s got to be done, Jesse. Now.”
Nate nodded along like a fucking puppet on a string. “I know it’s not ideal, but—”
“Not ideal?” The last thread of patience I’d been trying to hang onto snapped and I scoffed. “Shit, we’re nowhere near ideal and that’s fine, but you guys are sounding just like Dad. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Alex’s expression darkened. “Jesse—”
“Oh, yeah,” I cut in, a sharp laugh slipping out. “Will did. When you tried to get his wife to stay in an engagement to me.”
Even through the phone, I could feel Will stiffen. Charlotte didn’t say a word. Alex’s mouth pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t deny it.
I shook my head and took a big step back, deliberately putting space between myself and the table. For the first time, I felt a major rift forming between us all. When I’d left before, they’d let me go—Jesse’s just being Jesse.
That was the family line, and frankly, it’d been true, so I’d left it. This felt different, though. It felt a hell of lot worse.
“This isn’t happening,” I said, more certain than I’d ever been about anything. “Not like this.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Alex retorted.
I scoffed again. “There’s always a choice, Alex.”
With that, I turned and walked away without bothering to wait for a response. I didn’t need them to make another argument to try to convince me or to give me another reminder of everything I was supposed to be.
Rain hammered against the windows as I strode down the hall, feeling like I was going to suffocate if I didn’t get out of here soon. The storm outside was relentless, which seemed fitting.
This was a mess. A complete, undeniable, family-sized disaster, but I knew exactly what I wanted, and for once, it had nothing to do with the Westwood name. I was done playing their game.
Now, I just had to make sure I didn’t lose Jacque in the process.