Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Sophie
She squinted at the selection in front of her and picked up one of the plastic forks, sinking it into the mousse cake at the end of the row.
Licking the frosting from the tines, she moaned. “James has competition.”
“So does Taylor,” Oliver agreed.
Taylor tucked another bite of cake in his mouth and closed his eyes. “Yeah, I give you full permission to leave me for this strawberry chiffon.”
“Already done,” Oliver said. “We have a secret child.”
Luc gasped. “The drama!”
Chloe swatted his shoulder. “This is your fault; you brought us here!”
He reclined in his cracked seat. “To be fair, I gave you a heads-up that they had amazing desserts.”
The hole-in-the-wall bakery he brought them to downtown looked sketchy at best from the outside. Crumbling bricks and cracked steps led up to the worn door, and a flickering neon sign declared they were open until one a.m. every day aside from Sunday.
Worn linoleum floors decorated the small space, along with a hodge-podge of sticky tables. Humming pastry cases displayed their wares under fluorescent lighting, and a tired menu with an even more tired cashier stood behind a run-down counter.
Sophie fell in love the moment they stepped in.
Chloe shook her head in exasperation. “What did I get into when I agreed to a date?”
“A blessing in disguise.” He grinned.
Sophie laughed, forking a portion of cheesecake into her mouth. “Luc, does this mean you’ll chip in for child support?”
“Of course,” he said. “Since it’s partially my fault.”
“Oh, right, I’ve been meaning to ask, how is James?” Chloe wiped her mouth. “How’s he doing with the news?”
Sophie hadn’t been able to keep quiet about that to her best friends. Sue her.
“He’s good, and he’s handling it well.” Sophie ate some more of the cheesecake. Well, I’m not sure if that’s true.
Wisps of memory from hours earlier snaked into her brain, rattling their tails in warning.
“I’ve got a meeting tonight I can’t push.” He had brushed his lips over her forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He ambled out of her office, his fists clenched and his shoulders tugged back.
Iciness seeped into her cheeks and she braced her fists on her desk. I hope he’s not going to do anything rash.
Panic never preceded good decisions.
Now, the bell over the door jingled and Sophie blinked, knocking her elbow into the napkin dispenser.
Chloe frowned. “You good?”
Sophie nodded, rubbing her elbow. “Like I said, he’s handling it as well as anyone would if they were in his shoes.”
“I hate that this is happening,” Chloe said.
Sophie shrugged, pursing her lips. “You and me both.”
She crossed her arms, rapping her nails against her biceps.
“Well, onto happier topics. Please tell me the apology sex was good.” Chloe asked. “You guys did have apology sex, right?”
Sophie laughed and lowered her voice. “You know that vibrator you told me about? He held it against—”
“No.” Chloe gasped. “Down—”
“Yes.” Sophie said. “And it was unreal, I tell you. I could barely—”
Luc cleared his throat loudly. “We’re in public. Please don’t finish that sentence.”
She snorted. “That’s why I’m whispering.”
“And he’s one of my best friends. I don’t need to know what you guys get up to in your own time.”
“You know I know about the Crème Caramel, right?”
His eyes widened. “What?! Chloe, mon soleil, you told her?”
“She’s my best friend,” Chloe said. “And we’re oversharers with each other.”
Sophie laughed as her phone buzzed.
James’s contact lit up the screen, and she hit the option to answer. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, how fast can you get to Lotus?”
Luc pulled to a stop outside of Lotus’s headquarters, hitting the brakes a little too hard.
Sophie stepped out onto the curb, worry fluttering in her veins. God, she could only hope she wasn’t too late.
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Luc called out the window.
She shook her head. “It’s fine, just go meet the others!”
She had detected the mild panic underlying James’s words, but after hanging up, she played things cool. The last thing she needed was to upset her friends.
It was no use, though. Chloe had already been suspicious and she demanded the truth from Sophie.
Once she came clean, they piled into Luc’s BMW and sped for the office. The ride took half as much time as usual since he broke every traffic law there was.
Now, the rest of Sophie’s friends camped out at an Ethiopian place around the corner, and Sophie was pretty sure Chloe tracked her location.
Turning, Sophie hurried into the building, jamming her thumb on the elevator button.
Her mind ran to unwarranted conclusions as she ascended.
Was James incapacitated in some way, or lying hurt somewhere, or tied up?
Wait, that’s ridiculous. He called me, remember?
The elevator let her out into darkened corridors, and she glanced around for a moment before spotting the sliver of light peeking from beneath his closed office door.
She pushed it open, her heartbeat thudding, and expelled a sigh of relief.
James sat behind his desk, looking incredibly serene, though his eyes stretched wide.
Oh, thank God he’s oka—oh, shit.
Jackie parked in one of the chairs before his desk, her arms and legs crossed. Her face looked like she sucked on something sour, and her fingernails tapped on her biceps.
“Hey,” Sophie said, shutting the door behind her.
“Oh, good, you’re here.” James didn’t look at her as he linked his fingers. “I was just talking to Jackie, and I thought you might want to be present.”
His lip curled, and the muscles in his shoulders bunched. He looked every bit the domineering, intimidating CEO she had imagined him to be before she got to know him.
I guess he turns it on when he has to.
Being such a young CEO was like being stuck in a constant chessboard, and the way he looked at Jackie … it was like a player calling checkmate.
Sophie took a few steps forward and stopped at his desk. Bracing her fingertips on the surface, she was torn between who to look at. But she swallowed her indecision and tipped her chin toward him.
“Marilyn and I both told you not to do anything yet,” she admonished.
He shrugged.
She rolled her eyes.
He was so impulsive that the fallout often became bigger than the problem.
She peered down at the desk, drumming her fingers. Then she turned her attention to Jackie.
The other woman sulked, narrowing her normally warm hazel eyes at the wall.
“I’ll keep it simple,” Sophie said. “Why?”
“Why do you need to know?” Jackie snipped. “Why are you even here?”
“Because this concerns me as much as James,” Sophie said. “And on top of that, I’ll be the one to decide with Marilyn when we call the cops. Whether they come right now or after you finish explaining is up to you.”
“The cops?” Jackie scoffed. “And what are they going to do when they show up? It’s not like you can charge me with anything.”
“No,” James said after a moment. “But when the commissioner owes you a … big favor, I don’t think coming up with something and planting the evidence to make it appear real is out of his wheelhouse.”
Sophie’s eyes widened and she cut a glance at James. I was bluffing … what exactly does he have on him?!
Jackie’s gaze flickered between him and Sophie before something in it gave out.
“I only did it out of loyalty,” she began.
Sophie smirked. Wise choice.
She crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “Go on.”
Jackie expelled a long, suffering breath through her nose. “When I worked for Charles, I learned that company loyalty got you a long way. I saw that long-time shareholders and benefactors were rewarded.”
“You were unhappy,” James cut in. “You wanted those for yourself.”
Sophie glanced at him. She pursed her lips—this wouldn’t do at all.
She couldn’t have him cutting in and letting his emotions dominate. They would get nowhere productive like that.
“James, do you mind stepping out?” she asked.
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
She leaned toward him, lowering her voice. “You can’t be here right now.”
He raised his brows. “Why not? This is my office, and she’s my assistant.”
Sophie huffed. “That’s the point, she’s your assistant. She’s never going to talk freely if you’re in the room.”
Especially since she just gave that spiel about loyalty.
A muscle ticked in his jaw and he tilted his head, sucking his lips between his teeth. “I don’t know…”
Sophie rested her hand on his shoulder. “Please.”
Tense muscles relaxed and he dipped his chin. “Alright.”
Clenching his fists, he rose, moving to the door.
“Where are you going?” Jackie called after him.
He ignored her and walked out, dragging the door shut behind him.
Sophie cleared her throat and drew the vacant chair from next to Jackie. Sitting, she crossed her legs and rested her laced hands on her knees. “Right. The one thing I learned from meeting James’s dad was that he won’t give you anything if he doesn’t think you can give him something in return.”
“I know that,” Jackie snapped. “That’s why I did what he wanted when he wanted. There were never any mistakes, and that should’ve counted for something. But it didn’t, and it wasn’t fair.”
“It never is fair,” Sophie forced herself to say.
“Exactly.” Jackie’s tone was intrepid. “But I kept waiting because I knew that one day, my talent would be recognized.”
Sophie nodded. “But it didn’t, and you stayed an assistant. I see.”
Jackie chuckled and crossed her ankles, a maniacal smile balanced on her lips. “If Charles couldn’t see my potential, that’s his problem.”
A cold disk slipped into Sophie’s stomach, and she swallowed down her nausea. Her nails dug into her upper arms. If I’d let my anger at Marilyn overwhelm me when she didn’t promote me after the Shasta campaign, would I have done what Jackie did?
Relaxing her jaw, she gestured for Jackie to continue.
“I was going to say something, but then Charles’s oldest son came to me and told me that his little brother wanted to go off and start his own business.”
Sophie’s eyes widened and she sat straight up in her seat. Ice sluiced through her veins, numbing her limbs. “James always planned to leave Tian Corporation.”
And I’d bet everything Adam knew that for years.
Jackie nodded. “Yes, and Adam proposed that I leave with James. He said that if James was leaving, then he wanted him to get a good head start. I saw this as my chance to finally get my recognition, so I agreed.”
Sophie’s mouth set into a grim line. “But then why become his assistant? Why not ask for a higher position?”
“Because I just wanted James to get out,” Jackie declared. “I saw the way his father treated him since his mother left, and I …well. I figured it would be better to start at the bottom and work my way up. James told me the team would be small, so I figured it’d be easy. But…”
Goosebumps prickled Sophie’s skin, and she hugged herself tight, worrying her bottom lip.
“So let me get this straight. You abandoned years of security for the hope that James would see the potential his father didn’t.
But when that never happened, you somehow decided taking it all down would be better? ”
Jackie unfurled a saccharine smile and tossed a lock of chestnut hair away from her face. Her voice rumbled like that of a person fragmenting into trillions of shards. “Of course.”