Hard Lessons

by Jasmin Quinn

  She was a mess, her hair was wild and tangled, her eyes red and her face scored from crying. Her blouse was missing a button and fell open to tease at a soft pink lacy demi-bra. Her skirt was hiked up around her thighs and her hose were ripped. It was her eyes that shook him the most. There was hate in them, mistrust, an anger so deep it impaled him to his core. He had done this to her, he noted with regret. He’d destroyed her. He felt his loss and blew out a jagged breath.

  It was too fucking late to fix it, too late to go back and choose another route. He wouldn’t anyway, this was what he needed to do even if it crushed the woman he loved. He had to set it all aside, the guilt, his own anger, his hunger for her. None of that was more important than getting Rob out of prison. Once he had his brother back, then he could find a way to reconcile with Mira, find a way back to her heart. But right now, he had to harden his emotions, school himself. There was no relationship between them. She was his attorney, he was her boss. She had a job to do and she was fucking well going to do it.

  He stood up, walked over to her and reached down to touch her face. She jerked her head away and he let her, hesitating before kneeling in front of her and pulling the gag from her mouth. She coughed, her tongue flitting out and wetting her lips. Then she curled them into a snarl. “I fucking hate you.”

  Jack rocked back on his heels, considering her. Right now, she was wild with rage. Shattered, hurt, unforgiving of him for using her, unforgiving of herself for letting him. They wouldn’t get anywhere tonight. He pulled his cell phone from the inside of his jacket and dialled Andre. When the big guy answered, he said, “Get Hector to bring her car around the back. She goes out to the house tonight, with the two of you. I’ll meet you there.”

  He hung-up, replaced the phone in his pocket, then re-gagged Mira as she tried to bite him. He needed her someplace he could ungag her, let her scream, lash out, unleash. Get it out of her system and over with, so they could get down to the business of freeing Rob. It couldn’t be here where she’d be heard. He knew she wouldn’t be happy she was back at the scene of her betrayal, but she’d get past it. He turned his back to the hate in her eyes and left the room. They’d talk soon enough.

  He returned to the bar, ordered another scotch and took a sip of it. He had to admit Mira’s anger rattled him. He was under no illusion that his chat with Aaron Leeds, the pictures of Mira would go over well, but he thought that she would see past the betrayal to the logic of why he did it. It freed her up to defend Rob from a first-degree murder charge, something the DA could not win. He sighed as he scanned the crowd of partiers looking for Andre and Hector. He’d misjudged the depth of Mira’s reaction, didn’t realize how emotional she’d get. He swallowed down the last of his scotch as Andre approached him. “We’re taking her out now, boss. Where do you want her?”

  Jack considered this. Mira needed time alone to get used to her new reality. If she stayed in his apartment tonight, it would be all-out warfare and his patience these days was rice-paper thin. He didn’t trust himself not to take exception to her anger. “Put her in the basement,” he said.

  Twenty-Two

  Mira wanted to kill Jack, first for his betrayal, then for bringing her back to his house, to the place it all started. How could he think this would make her more malleable? It worked last time, but last time he led her to believe he had a conscience. This time, she knew he did not. She wasn’t afraid of him. Why should she be? He already destroyed her. He’d done his worst, what more could he do? Kill her? So the fuck what?

  She thought all this as she sat in a small room, a cell, in the basement of the house. Concrete on all sides, no windows, nothing except a door, locked securely. She couldn’t bridge it, she’d tried. A small cot pushed up against one side of the wall served as both bed and chair. Nothing else except a utilitarian bathroom. Toilet, sink, shower. A bar of soap. A small towel.

  This is where she spent the night. Alone, abandoned, in the dark. Jack didn’t come to her, try to talk to her. She’d barely slept, tossed and turned for hours, fell asleep at some point, woke up exhausted. She’d been awake for a while now, knew it was daytime by the light that leaked in through the bars on the door. Still no one came. She felt grimy, dirty, unwashed, but she didn’t want to take a shower when she wasn’t in control of the locks. Maybe she wasn’t afraid of Jack, but she was vulnerable and helpless in her current state. It would be too much to bear if Jack walked in on her while she was naked.

  The bedsprings groaned as she shifted herself to her feet and padded to the door. She looked out into the other room. It was empty. She was alone. “Hey.” She tried to shout but her voice was as creaky as the bed. She cleared her throat. “Hey!” Louder, better, a strain of echo off the walls. Silence greeted her. Jack was toying with her, making her wait. What for? She was where he wanted her, back at his house of horrors, locked up like an animal, ready to do his bidding. Maybe she wasn’t clean enough, her ass not lubed well enough. Then she veered away from those thoughts. She had to stop the bitterness from flooding her. She had to find a way past it to move forward. Jack wanted his brother back, she was the one who was going to do it for him. That was it, that was all. They didn’t need to go in circles over this. She told herself she wouldn’t, but she knew she was lying. Shit like this didn’t turn off just because her brain willed it to. It didn’t five years ago when she thought nothing could hurt worse than what Jack had done to her then. Was she ever fucking wrong, she thought, as fresh pain lashed her.

  She waited another hour before Andre came for her and took her to Jack’s office. Jack was there already, behind his desk, the fucking master of the ship. Andre led her to a chair across the desk from Jack, then sat next to her. Jack’s lip curled when he saw her. “There was a fucking shower in there, Mira. Why didn’t you clean yourself up?”

  And that started it.

  “What’s wrong, Jack? Not your pretty, willing, flexible whore anymore?”

  She heard Andre suck in his breath, but Jack’s eyes stayed steady. “Let’s get this out and over with so we can move on to the reason you’re here, the reason you were always here.”

  It was Mira’s turn to inhale and she stood up abruptly. Andre made a motion to reach for her, but Jack threw him a small shake of his head.

  Mira strode away from both men, stopped, turned. “You fucking heartless sonofabitch! Why, Jack? Why? You’ve fucking ruined me. I have nothing left, nothing. My reputation’s blown to smithereens. I have no job, there’s nothing left in Vegas for me.”

  Jack’s chair smashed against the wall behind him as he shot to his feet and faced Mira, his glare as angry and distraught as hers. “I gave you a fucking chance! I gave you six months’ worth of chances. And what did you do with that time? You met with Rob twice. Twice Mira! Two little fucking tea parties that went nowhere.”

  “I tried to call you –” Mira balled her fists.

  “Yeah, I know. What the fuck did you think talking to me was going to accomplish? I told you what to do, I sent you out there to do a job.”

  “If you weren’t happy with how I was progressing, why didn’t you call me and tell me?”

  Jack stiffened. “I don’t fucking call my employees. I send them off to do a job, and the smart ones do their jobs and do them well.”

  It hurt to hear him say that. “I wasn’t aware I was in your employ, Jack. I thought you were asking a favour.”

  He covered the space between them and grabbed her by her chin forcing her head up, her eyes to his angry ones. “You thought we were fuckbuddies, is that it? You thought that we could spend the weekend together, that you were so enticing I couldn’t resist you. That we were going to live happily ever after?”

  Tears seared Mira’s eyes as she stepped back, pulling out of his grip. It was what she thought, she believed, even after weeks had passed. She kept telling herself he would call, they’d talk through the issues, that he’d understand the impossibility of getting Rob’s sentenced reduced. She pressed the heels of her hands
against her eyes. “I guess I was wrong. I didn’t think your depravity ran so deep.”

  He snorted. “You thought yourself more important to me than my brother. That’s pretty fucking arrogant of you.”

  Mira dropped her hands from her eyes, crossed her arms in front of her. “You betrayed me, Jack.”

  “You betrayed me, Mira.”

  Mira gaped at him. “Are you kidding me? How the fuck did I betray you?”

  “You told me you’d do something for Rob. You told me you would make it happen. Pretty fucking feeble effort.”

  Mira swallowed. “Jesus Christ, Jack. All you had to do was call me, push me. You’ve ruined my career, threatened the career and life of my boss. Threatened to publicly humiliate me.”

  “Payback’s a bitch, sweetheart,” Jack snarled. “You’re lucky you’re alive.”

  Mira shuddered at the reality of his words, covered her face with her hands and swiped at her tears. She didn’t think her legs would hold her much longer, so she tottered back to the chair next to Andre and fell into it. Silence lingered between the three of them, then Jack returned to his chair, pulled it closer to his desk and set his elbows on the top. “Are we done with the recriminations now? Can we get down to business?”

  Mira trembled. “The business of freeing a murderer from prison?”

  Jack considered her. “I never lied about Rob, Mira. I never lied about anything. I told you from the beginning why you were here. I told you what would happen. I made no promises to you.”

  Mira felt herself crumbling. Humans didn’t work the way Jack did. Humans fell in love and then changed their course of action based on that. Humans had feelings, empathy, room in their hearts for love and forgiveness. Jack was nothing like a human. Even if he didn’t lie to her once, he said all the right words to soften her, make her believe in him. He manipulated her and she let him. Why? Because she was clinging to her past, to a lost love who she believed was trying to redeem himself. She was such a fool. “I’m too stupid to be Rob’s counsel,” she said bitterly.

  Andre chuckled at this. Neither disagreed. “Let’s get started. What’s first, Mira?” Jack stared expectantly at her.

  Such an animal, she thought. No regard for her emotions, her head still reeling from having her heart wrenched out of her chest. She felt dull, leaded, lethargic. She didn’t want to discuss what was next. “I need a little time.”

  “You had six months.” His tone was hard, uncompromising.

  She nodded. There was no point in disagreeing with him so she foolishly tried to appeal to whatever empathy he might have. “I’m an emotional wreck, Jack. I didn’t sleep last night. My career is in shreds. Word will be out about my resignation and why. Everyone will be looking to me for a sound bite.” She paused but was met with stony silence, his face hard and angular. “I haven’t eaten in 24 hours, haven’t changed my clothes. Please, just let me have a few hours.”

  Jack’s eyes flicked to Andre and something passed between them. Then he nodded. “Okay, Mira. you get today to get your shit together. But I want Rob out on bail by the end of the week.”

  “I’ll try.” Mira heard the desperation in her voice.

  Jack shook his head. “Trying’s not good enough. You’ll make it happen.”

  “Or what?” Stupid question, but Mira had the overwhelming need to know how far he would go if he didn’t get what he wanted.

  “Do you really want to find out, Mira?”

  Jack stood, then Andre, gripping Mira’s arm and pulling her up with him. She staggered and struggled not to lean on the thug as she found her footing.

  “What are you going to need to get started? Andre will arrange to have it brought to you.”

  Mira swallowed, tried to hold back the tears that were once again threatening. “I can do this from my house. It’s better set up.”

  “No,” Jack said. One word, tons of meaning.

  “Please.” Her voice cracked. She hated how weak she sounded. “I just want to go home. Please Jack.” She felt like a wounded child. Her home was all she had left. It surrounded her with warmth and safety. No Jack to terrorize her, force her, seduce her.

  “Your home is here now, Mira. You’ll stay with me until Rob is free. Not out on bail awaiting trial, but free from prison, from all charges.”

  A chill swept her body remembering Jack’s apartment, remembering everything that happened, everything that was said. “I don’t want to stay with you,” she whispered, her voice breaking.

  Jack shrugged. “I’m afraid we’re long past what you want.” He took Mira’s arm as Andre released her. She pulled away from him, stared at him, into his dark impassive face. Her emotions were all over the place, pain, anger, humiliation, and now, rearing up for the first time since this happened, a desire for dignity.

  “I don’t need your help walking,” she hissed. Then she pushed her way past him, to the door and out. Fuck if she was going to follow him like a dog brought to heel.

  Twenty-Three

  Mira waited at the door, waited for Jack to catch up. He and Andre paused in the hall, exchanging a few words. Andre nodded then left, heading down the stairs. Jack walked up to her and punched in the code. “It’s 13614.” He told her.

  She cocked her head waiting for the punch line and Jack’s eyes darkened at her expression. “You’re not my prisoner, Mira. You’re here to do a job. When you’re done we’ll talk about your future.”

  “Aren’t you afraid I’ll run?”

  “Aren’t you afraid you’ll die?”

  Mira stared into his black soulless eyes, trying to gauge the extent of his threat. Would he really kill her? Would it matter? But then she realized she still had some shreds of survival instinct left in her, otherwise she wouldn’t still be upright and unhurt. If she really wanted to die, all she had to do was attack Jack aggressively. He would see to the rest.

  He flipped open the door, stood aside and let her walk through ahead of him. She stopped a few paces into the room, crossed her arms as she looked around. Nothing had changed. It was as she left it six months ago. Except her. She had changed.

  “Remembering the good times?” Jack said softly into her ear as his hands slid gently to her waist.

  “Don’t you fucking touch me!” She spun around and snapped her hand up to slap him, slap the smirk off his face, the arrogance from his voice. But he was quick, catching her arm before the blow landed, wrenching her against his body.

  “Let’s not do this,” he said with a steel edge. “No playtime until Rob is free, then we can renegotiate the terms of our agreement.”

  She twisted her arm from his grasp, took a step back and stumbled against the couch. “Stop it, Jack. Stop talking to me like there’s anything between us. You’ve killed whatever feelings I might have had for you. I feel nothing any more. I’m dead inside.”

  Jack’s lips tugged down a little, “You cry too easily for someone who’s dead inside.” He sidestepped her and walk towards the hall. “I’ll show you your bedroom.”

  Mira hesitated as Jack waited for her. He wasn’t heading toward the playroom, but instead in the direction of his bedroom. The other rooms. She had no choice so she followed him, her stocking feet whispering softly on the hardwood. He passed his room and took her to the jazz room. She stepped past him as he opened the door. It was furnished now, as a bedroom. A queen-sized bed, a dresser, walk-in closet. The little alcove that he had pressed her corseted body to as he bent her to his will held a small mahogany desk.

  “The room has an ensuite.” He pointed to a closed door. “Stocked with all the essentials. Clothes in the drawers and closets. Shoes. Use what you want –.”

  “I want my own clothes and shoes,” Mira interrupted, and Jack scowled at her.

  “I don’t have the time or desire to move your shit here. Figure out what you need to move Rob’s case forward and make a list. Andre will send someone to pick it up.”

  “Why can’t I go pick it up myself?” Mira wasn’t ready to back dow
n.

  Jack darkly contemplated her as impatience threaded his words. “Do I really have to spell it out for you? The press will be camped outside your house. The minute you show your face they’ll be on you like vultures on roadkill.” An appropriate analogy, Mira thought bitterly. He took a couple of steps towards her. “If you aren’t ready to sit down and talk with me about Rob, you sure as fuck aren’t ready to make a statement to the press.”

  She bit her lip. The asshole was right.

  He added, “There might be one or two fuckers out there who might want to take a shot at you. Amber’s parents being one, but Rob and I have enemies. With Rob out of commission they’ve been chipping away at me. They won’t want Rob out and they’ll think you’re an easy target.”

  Mira hadn’t considered that but of course it made sense. She was a Creed stooge now. Jack’s enemies were hers. And not just his enemies but others, good upstanding citizens who would think that she made a mockery of justice. “You may as well have published the pictures, Jack. I’m ruined in this town anyway.”

  Jack shrugged. “It’s good your former boss is a better advocate than you are, Mira. You’re my counsel now, my lawyers will provide you with whatever you need, but you’ll do as much as you can from the security of this house. It’s guarded, it’s safe. When you have to go out without me, Hector will be your companion. His job is to look after you 24/7. Don’t mistreat him, Mira. He might be the difference between you living or dying.” He turned back to the door, paused, but didn’t look back. “Take a shower, change your clothes, make a list. You’ll join me for lunch in an hour. Be clean and pretty and make sure the list is ready.

  An hour later, Mira emerged from her room, refreshed, wearing a loose T-shirt and a short skirt. No make-up, no attempt to be ‘pretty’ for Jack. But it helped to be clean, it helped to have a private bedroom and an ensuite with a lock on the door. She knew the lock was there for her sense of security. It wasn’t going to keep out Jack or anyone else if they wanted in, but it made her feel less vulnerable.