by Jayne Blue
“Is there something you can do for him?” I started, a plan forming as I spoke. “Some gesture or peace offering that might smooth things over?”
“I don’t owe him shit, Tora!”
“I know. I know that,” I said. “But the other night. You told me to find some jewelry out of your mother’s things to wear. Do you remember that?”
“Yes,” Seth paced. I was in very dangerous territory here. I couldn’t risk sparking Seth’s jealousy or suspicion. He was paranoid enough when it came to Jack.
“Well, I wore a necklace and earrings that I found in her things. Jack said something to me about them. It was just a casual comment. A compliment. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but maybe it’s something. He said they looked just like ones that his mother owned.”
Seth stopped and spun around. He narrowed his eyes at me but didn’t yell. So far so good. I slid out from under the covers. I walked over to Miranda’s vanity and picked up the simple wooden box with the broken latch.
“I found them in here. Do you think maybe these weren’t your mother’s?” I played demure. I stood in front of Seth still naked and held the box out to him. He eyed me but didn’t take the box.
“He’s wrong,” Seth said and I knew he was lying. He didn’t know that I’d overheard their whole conversation when Seth gave Jack his mother’s engagement ring. That ring had to come from this box and he’d known it didn’t belong to Miranda.
“Maybe,” I said, keeping my tone even. “But maybe if you told Jack you found this after we moved in. He might take it as a gesture of good faith and reconsider coming to the wedding. I know you don’t have to, honey. I’m on your side, always. But it’s such a small thing. These pieces are costume jewelry mostly, I think. Not much more than tacky junk. Don’t you think that’s more likely something Jack’s mother would have worn ... not yours?”
Seth’s expression changed and I knew I’d finally hit the right note. Calling Jack’s mother tacky was a page straight out of Miranda’s manipulative playbook. Again, I wasn’t proud, but it mattered. Whatever I had to do to save myself, I would do.
Seth smiled and took the jewelry box from me. Then he reached down and picked up his phone from the floor. “Come here,” he said. Drawing me toward the bed again he sat and guided me down until he had me perched on his lap. I watched as he pulled up Jack’s contact and pressed call.
Jack answered on the third ring as I sat naked on Seth’s lap, my heart starting to pound. I listened as Seth tried to turn on the charm. He only managed smarm and I knew Jack was smart enough to hear past it.
“Hey,” Seth said. “Look, I don’t like how we left things. I did some looking when I got back to the house. I think I may have found that jewelry you were talking about, the stuff of your mother’s.”
I was close enough to hear Jack’s end of the conversation and he met Seth’s words with silence. It was a fucking lie and I knew Jack was aware for the same reason I was. Seth pulled that engagement ring from this very box and lied about not knowing where the rest of it was.
“So,” Seth said. “By way of peace offering, do you think you could come back to Chicago? I need you, Jack. Come to the wedding. Stand up with me. Then I’ll give you this stuff. That’s fair. You know it is.”
Seth Manning was going to make the world’s shittiest senator if he ever managed to get elected.
“Sure, Seth,” I heard Jack say. “You bet. Tell Tora I’m looking forward to standing up with you when you marry her. I’ll come back in a few days, okay? Maybe we can all get together for dinner.”
My heart was a jackhammer behind my rib cage as Seth looked at me, gave me a sly smile and winked. He thought he was a master manipulator. He thought he was smooth. He had no idea how wrong he was.
And yet ... the thing making my heart race was that Jack would be back and I’d see him again.
Chapter Fifteen
Jack
I knew when I told Vince I planned to take another trip to Chicago he would plot my murder. I figured I might end up buying those two tickets to Fiji for him yet. He handled it well ... sort of.
“You’re a gaping asshole, Jack Manning,” Vince said. “See this, though?” He tapped his ever-present earpiece. “This is a communication device. I can send a signal that you can answer and talk to me when we aren’t in the same room together. Got it?”
I put my hands up in surrender as Vince finished his stomping circle around my desk. “Got it. But don’t underestimate your own abilities to handle stuff. You can meet with clients, Vince. That’s one of the reasons I hired you.”
“But they like you better,” Vince said. “You’re prettier and have those manly pecs.”
I flipped him off.
“I don’t know why you insist on spending so much time in that place. Chicago is dreary and that step-brother of yours is rude. I won’t vote for him.”
I shrugged. “Well, you can’t vote for him, Vince. You’re registered in Virginia. Neither can I. How’s that for a silver lining?”
Vince flapped his hand at me in annoyance. “When are you coming back?”
“I haven’t even left yet.”
Vince opened his eyes impossibly wide and stared at me.
“Depends,” I said, trying to placate him. “We’ll see how things go. The wedding’s like a week away. I’ll be back right after. Or, I may end up murdering Seth for sport. In which case I might have to go on the lam for a while.”
“Well, other than your murder plot, what might keep you out there?” Vince arched a brow up and down. He knew me well enough to suspect something drew me back to Chicago other than not-even-real-family obligations.
Something indeed. I’d been back in Virginia just a couple of days and couldn’t stop thinking about Tora. Seth was a shitty liar. When he called I knew damn well he didn’t just find my mother’s jewelry box. Tora must have told him about it and convinced him to give it back to me. Why? For some unfathomable reason I’d already told her I’d come back for the wedding. Why had she encouraged Seth to ask me back as well?
I wanted to see her again, badly. She felt the same way which meant I’d been right about her. She was thinking about me as much as I was thinking about her. And I was thinking about her much more than was probably good for me.
“You haven’t asked me to set up a date for you since you came back,” Vince said, snapping me back out of my head, although his observation was aimed at some of the secrets of my life that Vince was privy to.
I stood and snapped open my brief case. It was late, past seven, and I could finish the rest of this shit at home. I spread a few files out on my desk, deciding which ones needed the most immediate attention.
“You’re cute, Vince,” I said. “I told you, when no one’s around, you don’t have to call them dates.”
“Well,” Vince said. “Mrs. Vallin has taken very good care of you over the years. You’re distracted, Jack. Ever since you left. She’s left a few messages wanting to know if you needed her to set something up. Maybe you should let her. I think you’re suffering from some testosterone poisoning. I’d help directly but you’re so not my type.”
“Lucky for Kevin,” I laughed. “Are you Petra Vallin’s assistant pimp now, Vince?” Mrs. Vallin, other than being one of my clients, also ran one of the most elite, discreet escort services in the world. We’d developed a very satisfactory standing arrangement. I managed her investments, she managed my sex life. It was easier that way. I didn’t do well with committed relationships. And I normally didn’t like the buildup it took to train a woman in what I liked.
Except right now, the only woman I could think about was about to marry my step-brother. She wanted more, I sensed it. I had the strongest suspicion that her fantasies would match mine. Except the whole thing was impossible. Maybe I should give Petra Vallin a call before heading back to Chicago.
“I’m good, Vince,” I said. “Thanks for thinking of me, though. I’m gonna head out. You should, too.”
&
nbsp; Vince shrugged as I walked past him, shutting off the lights to my office before heading out the door.
***
Two days later, I was back in Chicago waiting at a table near the bar at the Four Seasons. Seth and Tora were running late. I agreed to meet them both for dinner and Seth promised to return my mother’s jewelry. I knew before I even sat down this would be a colossally bad idea. I was playing Seth’s game, not mine.
I got two martinis down before they arrived and it still didn’t feel like enough. Then Tora walked in on Seth’s arm and no amount of alcohol would have prepared me.
She was stunning in a low-cut black dress that hugged her like a second skin. Seth dressed her slutty at Miranda’s funeral. Tonight she looked like money and class, and sexy as hell. She walked through that restaurant like she owned Chicago and every single head between the door and my table turned when she passed. But Tora kept her eyes fixed on mine. They brightened when she saw me and it heated my blood. Her look was pure sin and I had visions of hiking that dress up, bending her over my knee and punishing her for it. Yeah, this meeting was a bad idea.
I checked my lap to make sure my inner fantasies hadn’t caused outer problems, then I stood when she got to the table, pulling her chair out for her. Seth was also there ... I think. But in those few seconds he didn’t matter at all.
“You look great,” I said to Tora, trying to find a tone that sounded like a future step-brother-in-law should.
“Thank you,” she said. She was handling the deception a hell of a lot better than me. Seth sat down across from us so Tora was next to me, just inches away. When the waiter came, she ordered white wine.
There was small talk as we waited. I pretended to glance at the menu but Tora had me in her spell the entire time. I saw the flush rise above her breasts and color her cheeks. Her eyes sparkled when she locked them with mine. She was just as anxious about being close to me as I was to her. It drove me crazy. I almost forgot why they asked to meet me until Seth finally said something that penetrated my brain.
“I believe this may have been your mother’s,” Seth said. He put a small wooden box on the table and slid it toward me. “We found it packed away. Tora and I have been trying to organize some of the things in my mother’s house. I must have missed it earlier.”
Seth was lying and I knew it. Tora looked down at her hands. She knew it too. We were a table of liars, it seemed. I picked up the box and opened it. The necklace and earrings Tora wore the other night were inside the blue velvet-lined box. My mother had other earrings in here too, a gold necklace, an opal ring I knew my father gave her and a small locket. When I opened it, I found a picture of two-year-old me holding my newborn sister, Jenny. It was an odd mix of relief and fury that clouded my head. These things were precious to me, but I also wanted to throat punch Seth and damn Miranda to hell. They had both done their part to keep these things from me. Things that had no meaning to them at all.
“Thanks,” I said though my throat was dry. “I really appreciate it.”
“Good,” Seth said. “That’s settled then. Are we good now? No hard feelings about anything?”
Seth was going to make the world’s worst senator if he miraculously managed to get elected.
“Sure,” I said. “Except can you explain to me why the hell your mother would hang on to something like this?” I held the locket out in Seth’s face. “You gonna feed me a line about how it’s because my dad wanted her to have it?”
Seth opened and closed his mouth like a fish. “How the fuck do I know? There is a ton of stuff in that house. And don’t forget, it’s my mother who just died, Jack, not yours. This isn’t about you.”
Tora put her napkin down. “Seth.” Her tone was harsh and Seth startled. I saw fury in his eyes as he looked at her and it made my otherwise heated blood run cold. “You had some other things you wanted to talk to Jack about. Maybe you should go ahead and start.”
Seth clenched his jaw as he looked at her. It was a weird, chauvinistic vibe and it was starting to piss me off. I wanted to provoke him even more. Draw him out until he dropped the act and started acting like the true dick he was. Except Tora was going to go home with him. Shit.
Seth talked. I heard only snippets of what he said. Something about the party faithful and presenting a united front. I had eyes only for Tora. I sipped my third martini with a steady hand while hers shook as she rose her wine glass to her lips. I wanted to touch her. While Seth blathered on I wanted to use the shield of the table cloth and put my hands between her legs. A blush had spread to her neck that I’d seen twice before. Both times, she’d been deeply aroused. Could she be wet for me now just from sitting close to me?
“I’m sorry, what?” I said, trying to take my focus off of her. “You want me to what now?”
“You’re connected, Jack,” Seth said. “Do you need me to spell it out for you? You’re on the board of the Legacy Foundation. I need those members to back me in this election. You have to support me. My people say I need it.”
“Ah,” I said, finishing the last of my drink. I debated getting another. “So that’s why you asked me to be in your wedding. I wondered.”
“Partly,” Seth said. “We’re good now, right?”
“Seth,” I said. “I find it kind of hilarious that you’re sitting here asking me to help you. Actually, I don’t know that you phrased it as a request even. You’re Miranda Manning’s son. You’re running for the U.S. Senate. Surely you have an inkling how politics works then.”
Seth glowered at me but said nothing. The idiot still didn’t get it.
“Okay,” I said. “So I’ll spell it out for you. You want me to support you? Fine. Then you’re going to do something you should have done without me even bringing it up. You’re going to sign over the software licensing to me. That’s my price.”
Seth’s face turned purple. “That’s everything!”
“What do you mean, that’s everything?” I said. “Miranda’s been selling off the parts of that company for over a year. That had to be worth millions. Her house is probably worth about six million. And I managed my father’s investments up until she shut me out. Before that he was worth about twenty million.”
Seth’s purple face turned white but he kept silent. Instead, he just kept looking from me to Tora. As he did a few things started to dawn on me.
“Are you telling me Miranda burned through all of that?”
“The law firm took quite a hit during the ’08 crash, Jack,” Seth said when he recovered enough to do so.
“She was a sitting federal judge, Seth! Even I know that means she couldn’t have a financial interest in a private law firm after that.”
Seth had a gin and tonic in front of him and he raised it to his lips with shaky fingers.
“Shit,” I said, leaning back hard in my chair. “So she threw you money hand over fist and you pissed it away. On what?” The minute I said it, I knew what. Seth had always been epically bad managing money. Whatever Miranda gave him he would have spent or gambled away. One of the recurring arguments I used to get into with my father was his continued attempts to bail him out. He did it over and over again hoping it would keep peace with Miranda.
“Well,” I said. “Whatever, Seth. I’ve named my price. I want those licenses back. I’ll pay you fair market value, but that’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”
By divine intervention, Seth’s phone rang. He answered it and his face went dark. He pulled the phone away from his ear long enough to say, “I have to take this. Go ahead and order me whatever you’re having, Tora.” Then he got up, nearly tripped over his chair and walked out into the lobby.
Tora and I were alone.
“I think it’s going well, don’t you?” I said as I poured water into my glass from a carafe on the table. I took her glass and poured for her.
“I’m sorry about your mother’s jewelry,” she said.
“You said that before,” I answered. “And do you think I bought that bullshit a
bout him finding it in some back room? I know this is you.” I picked the wooden box up and gestured to her with it. “Thanks. There’s probably a good chance I never would have seen this again if you hadn’t stepped in.”
“I’m just glad it worked out,” she said.
And suddenly I didn’t want any bullshit between us anymore. With the Seth Show, I felt like I was swimming in it.
“Why the hell are you marrying him?” I said. Tora looked down at her napkin. When she raised her eyes she had her mask in place.
“I don’t want to talk about this with you.” She was smiling, hiding some truth I wanted more and more to uncover.
“Fine,” I said. “But I want to see you again.”
“It’s a bad idea.” She kept her eyes toward the doorway to the lobby. Seth’s phone call was probably legitimate, but I knew him. He was going to stay away to sulk, and then regroup with his latest round of bullshit.
“No,” I said. “It’s a great idea.” The three martinis and the stuff with Seth had me feeling bold. I reached under the table and put my hand on her upper thigh. She parted them, I think on instinct, almost. She could deny it in words all she wanted, but I was beginning to know Tora’s body better.
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked. Regardless of what I knew of her body, I would respect her words, even if I knew she was lying.
She hesitated. I thought she’d say yes. Instead, cool as a cat she raised her wine glass, brought it to her lips and drank the last of it. “No.”
I inched my fingers further up her thigh and she spread her legs.
“When can I see you again?” I asked as I slid the index and middle finger of my left hand across the heated cleft between her legs. I felt her over the thin silk of her panties. She was soaked there and quivered as I found the bud of her clit with one finger.
