Chapter 31
JANE
Iwas sure I was seeing things. There was no way she was here. No way my mind wasn’t filling in ghosts where there should’ve been only strangers wearing polite smiles and donor badges. I blinked once, then again, like I could change reality if I tried hard enough.
But she didn’t disappear.
Mallory Foundry was right there, in the flesh, standing beneath the library’s vaulted ceiling like she had every right to be here, angled just enough that I couldn’t miss her even if I wanted to. Her hair was glossy and perfectly wavy, her dress cut to emphasize every cheap inch of her.
She hugged the arm of a tall, elderly man and smiled like a cat that had already decided what it was going to knock off the table. The ring on her finger was insane, a stone so large it bordered on parody flashing every time she shifted her hand.
My stomach dropped. I shook my head, trying to come back to myself, to the gala, and to Alex beside me. He stepped into me immediately, his presence solid and supportive, his voice low. “Are you sure you’re alright, Jane? If you’re going to punch that lady, maybe give me your earrings first.”
I tried to swallow past the lump of dread in my throat, but it refused to dislodge. No matter what I did to try to breathe past it, nothing worked. Sweat broke out across my forehead, my heart tripping over itself with every step I took.
“I want to leave,” I said suddenly. “Is that okay with you? You can stay if you want. I don’t mind. I can get a ride, but I need to get out of here. Now.”
Alex didn’t argue or ask questions. I could’ve said the building was on fire and he would’ve reacted the same way, decisive and immediate. He was already turning us away from the crowd. “Okay, let’s go.”
He didn’t slow down as I wrapped my fingers more firmly around the crook of his elbow. He barked at the valet to bring the car around. The man was so startled that he brought it back in record time and Alex ushered me into it, ignoring everything else going on around us.
The door shut, sealing out the lights, the music, and her. Alex dropped into the driver’s seat only a few seconds later, turning to glance at me as he shifted the car into gear. “Home, or to my place?”
My place. His place. I closed my eyes for a second, but the thought of walking back into my house and seeing my mother made my chest tighten.
“Your place,” I said, wishing not for the first time that it was a differentiation we didn’t have to make. “If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” He nodded and pulled away from the curb without another word. By the time we reached his place, my hands had stopped shaking, but everything else still felt off kilter, like I’d been knocked sideways and hadn’t landed yet.
“I got you some pajamas and a few other things to keep here,” he said carefully as we walked in. “Just to make sure you’re comfortable. There’s still no pressure.”
He led me to his room, opening a closet and waving a hand at the neatly folded piles inside. It was clear he was trying not to make a big deal of it, but I noticed the care he’d put into it anyway. The neutral colors and soft fabrics had obviously been chosen with thought.
As we stood in front of the closet, he moved behind me and helped me unzip my gown, his fingers steady at my back. That terrible, misplaced guilt washed over me again at the brush of his knuckles against my back. I didn’t know why, but it sat heavy on my chest.
“When you’re done here, come downstairs for a bit,” he said. “Have a glass of wine with me. I’m ordering dim sum from that place down the street. You haven’t eaten.”
Without waiting for a response, he left me alone to change. I pulled on the first pajamas I came across, a warm, silky-soft set, and stared at myself in the mirror. My reflection startled me a little bit, the girl looking back at me somehow haunted and elegant at the same time.
Not ready to face him just yet, I used some wipes to clean off the layers of makeup I’d spent an hour applying. What was waste of time. Well, not totally. Alex had looked at me like a decadent dessert he wanted to devour. The effort had been worth it to have him look at me like that.
When I went downstairs, he was on the couch, two glasses of red wine poured and the food containers spread across the coffee table already. He handed me a glass, then gently lifted my legs and draped them over his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I settled in with a sigh, choosing to ignore the fact that a couple hours ago we’d been arguing about him confronting my brother.
Right now, that didn’t seem to matter as much as it had at the time.
I looked at him as I sipped my wine, his tie now gone, his jacket off, and the top few buttons of his shirt undone.
Concern was etched into his handsome features as his gaze dragged across my face. “Was that woman the reason you wanted to leave?”
I nodded, and he took a deep breath before he cocked his head. “Let me guess. That was your father’s mistress.”
I nodded again, my throat tight as I sipped my wine. Alex shoved a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. “Jesus, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that she’s messy?”
A bitter, humorless laugh escaped me. “That’s one word for it.”
“Do you want to talk about her?” Alex grinned at me. “Feel free to be as catty as you want. I won’t judge.”
I shook my head, but he kept quiet, giving me the space to really decide. After swallowing another generous gulp of my wine, I finally started talking. “Mallory. That’s her name, Mallory Foundry.”
I stared into the glass, my gaze tracing the rich red ripples when my hand started shaking ever so slightly again. “She used to be Dad’s executive assistant. Before everything. She was in her late twenties when the affair started. She’s thirty-five now.”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “He had an affair with a girl who’s only a few years older than you?”
I grimaced, my answering nod tight. “Our family lawyers are trying to get my father’s conviction appealed.
They’re pushing to have Mallory charged instead.
Apparently, they have documentation, texts and emails, that frame her as the mastermind, showing that she convinced him to funnel an insane amount of money out of Thayer into offshore accounts.
Accounts she then used to fund an extravagant lifestyle overseas. ”
“She fled?” he asked.
“Yeah, she lives somewhere in the Mediterranean now. Or at least, she did.” I gestured vaguely at the window. “Except that apparently, she’s back and married or engaged to someone rich enough to buy her a diamond the size of a fist.”
“I noticed that,” he said quietly. “Do you think she’s taking him for a ride?”
I huffed out a short breath. “In more ways than one, probably. She’s good at finding benefactors.”
Alex reached for my hand and threaded our fingers together. “She’s not your problem anymore.”
“She has a son,” I said suddenly. “Court Jr. He’s six. She says he’s my father’s. She built half her narrative around it, but they did a DNA test the other day that proved otherwise.”
He shook his head. “Holy shit. Do you think she was lying or do you think she just gets around so much she doesn’t know who the father is?”
“Either way, it’s not a good look for her. Messy doesn’t begin to cover it.” I stared at the floor for a beat. “I didn’t expect to see her. I thought she was gone and that part of my life was contained. Maybe even over.”
He tipped my chin up gently until I looked at him. “You’re not alone in this, Jane. I’m sorry she’s back, and frankly, I think she’s an idiot to have returned under the circumstances, but whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“I know, but that’s part of the problem,” I admitted so softly that my voice was barely above a whisper. “I’m so used to holding everything together that when someone else steps in, it feels like I’m doing something wrong.”
“You’re not,” he said simply.
I wanted to believe him, but instead, I just curled into his side, my wine glass cradled between my hands as I tried to process that Mallory Foundry was back in my city. Back in my orbit.
Bitterness climbed up the back of my throat as I thought about how good she’d looked. Like she was living her best life while my father rotted in prison.
“She ran,” I said without really meaning to, but as soon as those two words were out, the rest followed almost naturally after. “The second the water she was in with my father started to boil, Mallory ran. She left the country before anyone could corner her properly.”
He leaned back into the couch, one arm stretched along the back behind me, close without pressing.
“I get that you’re going through it.” The strong column of his throat moved as he swallowed, but his voice was steady.
“It’s a lot. All of this. Seeing her again and your family history being dragged back into the light, being with me, the company changing hands, and the situation with the board getting worse before it gets better. ”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding when he smiled down at me.
“I’m not going anywhere, Jane. We can take this slow.
We have our whole lives ahead of us and I like you.
I hope I made that clear during our snowed-in trip, but the point is that there’s no rush and no pressure from my side. Ever.”
That guilt dragged me under again, coming on in a sudden, intense wave. It was ridiculous. Unfair. But it was there anyway.
“You aren’t what I expected,” I admitted. “Not even close.”
He chuckled softly. “In a good way or a bad one?”
“Good,” I said quickly. “Disarming, actually. Which might be worse.”
He smiled, straightening up and motioning at the food. “We should eat before that gets ice cold.”
I took the container he handed me, dumplings and noodles that I shared with him. I fed him bites while he did the same for me, our knees brushing every now and then. When we were done eating, we put on a movie I’d already seen twice and barely watched at all.
The apartment was quiet, but in a way that felt comfortable and peaceful instead of empty or sterile. No one demanded anything from me, nor did anyone need to be managed, fixed, or redirected.
I let myself drown in it. In him. In the calm, relaxing silence of Alex Westwood existing beside me like this was our normal.
And it could be. This could be my normal.
As that thought occurred to me, I realized that this feeling of being well rested and unburdened was what I needed. Maybe my mind hadn’t caught up yet. Maybe it was still tallying responsibilities and potential fallout, but my body had already made the decision.
I was settled here, like even my instincts finally recognized a place where I could stop bracing and start living.
We didn’t have sex that night. Instead, we slept, deeply and easily, together in his bed. What could be our bed.
When I woke the next morning, light spilled across the room in soft bands and Alex was already up. There was an outfit for me on the armchair, new and perfectly my style. Even the shoes were perfect, entirely practical for work while being stylish at the same time.
I stared at it for a long moment as I sat up, struck again by the care he put into things without making a show of it.
Downstairs, there was coffee waiting in the kitchen and he stood at the counter, finishing the knot of his tie while glancing at his phone like he was reading something on the screen.
“Good morning,” he said, smiling when he looked up and saw me.
“Good morning,” I replied, stepping into his space without thinking. “Why does it look like you’re already leaving?”
“Because I am.” He grimaced, finishing with his tie and sliding his phone off the table, depositing it in his pocket before he hooked an arm around my waist. “I really wish I could stay and make you breakfast, but duty calls.”
“I’ll see you later,” I said, ignoring the pang of longing that shot through me. “We’ll have breakfast together next time. I’ll wake up earlier.”
“Nah. You need to sleep more.” His lips curved into a smile before he moved forward and laid a kiss on me that left me breathless and wanting. “Have a great day, Killer. I’ll miss you.”
“My brothers are flying in this weekend,” I said casually, wanting to catch him before he left. “For dinner.”
He looked up, interest lighting his eyes. “All of them?”
“All of them,” I confirmed. “You’ll be able to meet them. If that’s what you want.”
“I do,” he said without hesitation. He even winked as he took a step back, then waved before he grabbed his keys and raced out the door when his phone rang.
Kissing him goodbye had felt so right, so easy, that it’d felt like something I’d already gotten used to.
Smiling as I shook my head at myself, I headed back to his ensuite bathroom, finding it equipped with a whole array of new toiletries for me.
My heart fluttered as I stepped into his shower, realizing how much he’d already made space for me in his life. In his home.
As I grabbed my bag after I’d gotten dressed, I realized something else. Even though we hadn’t slept together, it felt like a good thing. Like this version of us, coffee in the morning, a kiss before work, and a quiet apartment to come back to, could be a really good life.
A soft place to land before walking back into whatever hell decided to park itself on my desk that day.
For a moment after that weekend, I’d wondered if maybe our relationship was going to turn into an arranged marriage with benefits, that the sex would become our foundation, and it was a relief to know that it was merely a bonus.
An awesome bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.
I smiled, feeling lighter than I had in years when I stepped out into the day, already bracing for the chaos to come, but secure in the knowledge that, for once, I didn’t have to face it alone.