Jessica knew better than to disclose her address to her mark. How could she get out of this one? Suddenly, she just couldn’t take it anymore. She broke down crying. Life was too heavy of a burden. If only she could be a normal girl, the type of girl who might date Evan Davis without having to lie about every element of her person and life. If only she could have a normal job, like the one she said she had, and some type of higher education. Just anything to give her a leg up.
But she felt trapped in a cycle. Trapped in this life. There was no mercy for her. So she had to make life bend to her will. It made her feel horrible that her mother wouldn’t approve if she were alive, but how could she properly get out of this life? Gary had ensured that she never could.
It was sad that she was relegated to this. It was beneath her. It was also sad that she had morals. Criminals with morals had the hardest life of all. This scam was to be her biggest score yet. There were three weeks left until the office closed for Christmas and she had planned to get her money sometime during that period. Then she’d planned to have a nice Christmas, by herself, probably at some casino, drunk and stuffing her face on bland buffet food. Nevertheless, she had imagined all that she would buy herself. And then maybe, just maybe, she would use that money to get out of here and into a better life.
But now life was so complicated. She couldn’t follow through with this. Yet if she didn’t, she would be left doing her old overdosed hooker routine. Maybe some “Help me” scams. That was it. She would never get ahead that way.
With a groan, she asked Evan if she could go see him. She knew she should not. She knew she needed to clear her head. But he always made her feel better and she craved his company like a drug, like warm milk on a cold night.
A few moments later, she was taking a cab to his place. He had already bought the flowers and arranged them on the table for her. Speaking of warm milk, that was exactly what he was making, with strawberries and chocolate to put on top.
“Hey, honey,” he greeted her as if she were his actual girlfriend. And in a way, she was. But her heart broke knowing that this beautiful period could not last.
Apparently her face betrayed her feelings because Evan quickly cupped her cheek in the curve of his palm and asked her what was wrong. She sniffled and then quickly explained that she had a cold. “I didn’t want to come over and get you sick.”
“I’m pretty immune to everything,” he replied. “That’s the benefit of a good diet and staying fit.” He offered her a mug of warm milk and pointed at the syrups on the counter. “Gourmet syrups.”
“You are just too sweet,” she smiled as she blew on the milk. She surveyed the bouquet. It was clearly expensive, with a large variety of flowers. “You always think of me, don’t you?”
“I do. I try to. If I ever slack off or do something wrong, just tell me. We men need to be trained to be good boyfriends.”
Jessica suddenly set her milk down. “Evan, I have to tell you something.”
“What’s that, doll?”
“I…I have something really bad to tell you.” The tears started flowing and she couldn’t contain them. She felt her heart cracking. This was all about to be over, she knew it. Every time she had something good, it was taken from her. In this case, it was her own fault. But it wasn’t like she planned for things to happen like this. “Evan, you’re going to hate me. And I don’t want you to hate me.”
“What is it?” He stooped before her and he seemed…excited? As if he were eager to hear what she had to tell him.
“I have to tell you the truth,” she managed. “But it’s really hard.”
“Well, take your time. I am here to listen.”
“No. After you hear this….” She took a deep breath. What was she doing? Why was she doing this? Love makes you act in funny ways, she scolded herself. “I’m not who I say I am.”
Evan looked relieved. “Really?”
Jessica was confused by the look on his face. “Well, I…I have a lot of explaining to do. And this will ruin everything.”
“Nothing that you say to me will ruin anything.”
“This will.” She nodded with conviction. “You will hate me.”
“Why would I hate you?”
“Because I’m trying to do a very bad thing to you. And I have been lying to you this whole time.” Now that she was speaking, the words flowed out like oil. There was no stopping her confession now. Evan looked wide open, ready to receive her news. She dreaded how his face would transform when she told him the full and final truth.
“I can’t imagine ever hating you,” he said.
She took a deep breath. “I’m not Lisa Allen. I’m not who I say I am. I don’t work for any agency with children and I’m not legitimate.”
“I know. Jessica.”
Jessica froze. “What did you just call me?” she demanded.
“I know that you have a fake name,” he went on. He didn’t seem to have wanted to reveal what he knew. “I had a background done on you before working with you. I know your true identity.”
“So you….” Jessica stammered, staring at him as the shock rippled through her body. “What do you mean? You’ve just been playing along this whole entire time?”
“More or less. I wanted you to fall in love with me. I wanted to hear the truth from you.”
Jessica collapsed back into her chair and Evan caught the cup of warm milk from spilling. This was so unbelievably anticlimactic.
Just then, the doorman buzzed and announced that Linda Davis was there to see Evan.
“Please tell her to come back later,” Evan called.
But Linda barged in right at that moment. She fixed Jessica with her nastiest expression. “I was hoping you would be here,” she snarled.
Jessica cringed. She was already reeling. Now she had to deal with this monstrous woman? She was so confused that she couldn’t see straight.
Chapter 13
“I’ve had just about enough of this nonsense. I want you gone,” Linda went on. Usually she wore such a pretty façade, but tonight she didn’t even bother to pretend to like Jessica. She had her claws out and her full fury. Evan had only seen her like this a few times, and usually it was directed at his father. He hated that Linda chose to show her dark side to Jessica. Jessica had already been through enough and was cowering in the chair, her milk getting cold rapidly on the table.
“What are you talking about?” Evan tried to play dumb. He didn’t want his mother to know that she had just interrupted Jessica’s revelation.
“Don’t play dumb with me! You know very well what I’m talking about, and I’m tired of it. You are an imbecile, letting this woman waltz around my company for weeks! I have been waiting for you to put an end to this like a man, but clearly this hussy has taken your balls!”
“I should go,” Jessica muttered hastily, scooping up her coat and making a path for the door.
But Linda intercepted her, with her eyes flashing, and she gnashed her teeth. “No, you don’t. You are staying right here and we are settling this once and for all. You think I don’t see what you’ve been doing to my son? Charming him with your magic. You’re just like your mother. A good-for-nothing whore!”
“Mother!” Evan cried. He moved to shove his mother out of the way. But she was eerily strong when she was angry.
“What did you just say?” Jessica demanded. Now she was strong too. She dropped her coat to the floor and gathered herself up to her full height. “It’s one thing to insult me, but my mother?” Then she wheeled to face Evan. “So you both knew about this? You both knew about my real identity?”
Evan stammered.
“Oh, yes, honey, do you think we’re that stupid? I recognized your face the minute you walked into my son’s conference room. I had Evan do a background check because he was too stupid to think of that before! He just left himself wide open to being scammed. We have known all along, honey.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Jessica demanded.
&n
bsp; Evan really didn’t know what to say. He felt like he was caught in a dangerous crossfire. The look of betrayal in Jessica’s eyes broke his heart. While she had been trying to betray him, he knew that she’d had the best intentions, really. He was so happy that she had finally broken and tried to come clean. Of course, his mother had to come and mess it all up, as she always did.
“I was trying to get you to tell me,” he said lamely.
“He was trying to seduce you and enjoy having sex with you every day. He liked the fantasy,” his mother spat. “He was supposed to handle it but he didn’t. So eventually I figured out why. I knew when you two took off to my vacation house.”
“That’s the family’s, not just yours,” Evan argued. He felt the muscles in his jaw jumping and his blood pressure soaring. He was furious but didn’t know how to handle the situation.
Linda chose to ignore him. “Well, I’ll be damned if I let you come in and swindle my son and steal my money. I’m going to do to you what I gladly did to your mother. I’m going to throw you out on your ass. And you are not welcome back in my life or my company again.”
“No problem,” Jessica said, her voice taut with holding back tears.
“No, Jess, wait,” Evan tried to catch her arm as she pushed past Linda to exit the apartment.
“You know what?” Jessica wheeled around to face Linda and flung away Evan’s hand. “Do you know what my mother said in her journal? She said you broke her heart. And she had no feelings for your husband. She thought you were a psychotic and cruel bitch.” Jessica spat the last word.
Linda merely looked satisfied. “I still am, dear. That hasn’t changed. But now you get to deal with me. And I don’t like having my kingdom messed with. You can go now.”
Jessica was quaking with fury. She turned on Evan. “And you! You knew all along. What kind of sick game were you playing? I thought you actually cared!”
“For your body,” Linda snorted. “He liked the thrill of dating a criminal, a bad girl from the seamier side of town. Did he tell you that his last girlfriend left him because someone had left a pair of earrings in his room? Don’t let his sweet words fool you, Jess. He’s just like his father. Untrustworthy and weak when it comes to women. I thought I had raised him better, but I suppose not. At least I’m here to keep order in the company or everything would have gone to crap by now.” She let out a haughty laugh.
Jessica just stared at Evan beseechingly, tears streaming down her face. Then she turned on her heel and stormed out. The door swung shut behind her with striking finality, severing the cords in Evan’s heart as well as their relationship. He wanted nothing more than to catch her in his arms and kiss her again, and convince her that he really did love her.
“You might want to be careful,” Linda called after her. “I am calling the police.”
Evan shot his mother one furious look, then ran after Jessica. But she was already sliding into the back of the cab. He tried to chase after it, but the driver floored it and left him far behind in a cloud of tire smoke. He dropped to his knees, his heart stinging and his eyes overflowing with burning tears. Never before had he felt such pain. This was the ultimate, anguishing loss.
“You’re welcome,” his mother said snidely as she walked past him on her stiletto heels and slid into her Jaguar.
Evan just sat there on the side of the street for a while in the cold. A drizzle began to fall, matching his deep misery. And then he wiped the tears and rain from his face, and went inside to call Jessica.
Evan could not get a hold of her, trying all night. He wished more than anything that he knew her address. The fact that she had come clean had meant everything to him. The fear and shame in her eyes as she revealed the truth told him that she really did not want him to hate her. She actually did love him and his mother was wrong. His plan had worked; his sense about her had been correct from the beginning. It was sad that his mother had no faith in him.
As he replayed the cruel things his mother had said, his anger began to mount. How dare she paint him in such a horrid light? How dare she plant the idea in Jessica’s head that he had only pursued her out of some sick perversion, some bad girl fantasy? Linda was very astute and great at finding how to hurt people. She had known how sensitive and afraid of love Jessica was, and she had hurt her own son just to barb that. But Evan was tired of it. He was tired of his mother’s cruelty and her manipulation and control. Maybe she thought she had been doing him a favor, but she knew, in some part of her, that she was hurting him.
He thought about her words and felt emptier and emptier. His life was full of nothing but bitterness. For years, he had buried his unhappiness in cooking and CrossFit and everything else that could distract him. But he couldn’t deny the truth anymore. The last time he had felt truly happy was when Jessica had had him lean out of his car on the drive down from the mountains. Jessica had showed him what it meant to be free, to be an adult, to live without his mother’s rules and restraints. And he wanted that more.
He was tied down by his mother and his job. Really, he didn’t like his job, as much as he loved his workers and his money. He wanted to help people. He was tired of the corporate grind, and he was tired of feeling that he was betraying his values for the sake of his company’s success. Buying Christmas presents for orphans and playing Santa (which he hadn’t been invited to do yet that year, much to his chagrin) was not enough. He needed to get more active in those causes if he wanted to make a true difference.
And he wanted Jessica in his life. This wasn’t a sick fantasy. He loved her for who she was. He had believed in her and had not been disappointed. But now maybe she was gone forever, though he wouldn’t give up until he got her back.
Chapter 14
Jessica told the driver to floor it. She was not sure if Linda had been bluffing or if she was truly calling the cops, but she was afraid. She had the taxi drop her off at a corner where she called another to take her the rest of the way home, just in case she was being followed.
It was time to go apparently. With someone as powerful as Linda Davis on her tail, she could not stay in Las Vegas. It was time to find another city and another start. She had not been prepared to make such a big change, but it was time. Gary had taught her to always put her survival first and to bolt at the first hint that her cover was blown. In fact, her mother had taught her about survival and doing whatever it took to make it even before Gary. So she scurried up to her apartment and began to pack her things.
At first she was strong. She was too angry to cave into her internal torment and grief. But as she began to sift through her things to find the essentials, her heart broke. She collapsed into a puddle on the floor, sobbing.
She had just started to slip into love for Evan. And he had been just another sicko, another billionaire playboy. Men were so worthless! Of course he had been a man whore who had cheated on his last girlfriend. Of course he had only been with her for the sex. What a great sweet talker. He was ultimately a better scammer and liar than she was!
It surprised her that he was not the least bit angry that she had been running a scam on him. At first she had thought that he must be a true saint. But now she knew the truth. He was just a sicko, taking her for a ride. It seemed that she was just an object with a pretty face and a great body that men liked to look at and touch. When it came to actually loving her, well, no one did. No one but her mother did, and her mother was gone forever. Now all Jessica had was herself.
She kind of wished that she had stayed to pull off this scam. But obviously Evan knew what she had up her sleeve and would have averted her efforts. How would that have gone down? Would he have sent her off to prison? If he hadn’t, then his mother would have. That was a close one. She had been a fool to think that she could scam the Davis family. They were an evil bunch, more than capable of crushing her family to smithereens. They had before and they were about to again. Jessica couldn’t seem to escape their cruel grasp. If only she could find a way to crush them back. They didn�
��t deserve to be rich. Why did good people have to suffer, while they got to live lives of opulence and joy? Linda appeared to love hurting Jessica and also seemed to feel no remorse for what she had done to Jessica’s mother.
Jessica looked up at the photos of her mother that she had pinned all over her room. She was stricken with grief as she watched her mother’s pretty face. Recollections of her last conversation with her mother began to play in her ears, as if playing out loud on a recording device.
“Mom, you’re going to be okay.” Jessica had stood over her mom’s bed in the living room of their old apartment where they had lived for her entire childhood. She was holding back tears as she surveyed her mother, laying there as lifeless as a wax doll.
Her mother had not been able to open her eyes. But she squeezed Jessica’s hand. “Take care of yourself, my girl,” she had rasped. “There are many bad people in this world. They will kill you with kindness and then kill you some more.”
“I know, Mom,” Jessica had said. A single tear rolled to the tip of her nose.
“You don’t know anything yet, my darling. But you will find out. Life is cruel. It is hard. I just want you to be careful.”
“Why? You know that you will be here.” Jessica had tried to keep up the pretense that her mother would not die, even though it got harder by the day. Her mother always entertained it. But today she was dead serious. She had one last message to impart to her daughter because she knew her time was drawing near.
“I can’t teach you everything that you need to know. There are some things I wished I had taught you.”
Jessica looked around the apartment. “You have spent the last few months showing me how to do everything, Mom, from the cleaning to the baking. You have taught me everything.”
“But there is more to life than that, honey. Part of building a home is building your heart. I was too busy to teach you that. But I know that you know it already. It is wisdom within you.” She sighed and whimpered in pain.
Daddy Plus One: A Single Dad Secret Baby Billionaire Romance Page 8
