On top of that, faculty that she’d worked next to for years were slowly trickling in as the news of her resignation quickly made the rounds among the school gossips. Congratulations were in order for most, and she had more invitations to go out for drinks after work than she could ever recall in her years at Dalton, but she wasn’t in the mood to celebrate.
There was one face that had been poignantly absent all day.
“Marsha I need to see Chase Almeida in my office.”
“I don’t know where he is, Lila.”
“Find him please.”
“I’m trying. Just like I was trying the last five times that you asked me.”
“Is he in school today?”
“Yes, but… he’s in the middle of final exams and the instructors won’t release him.” Marsha was clearly growing impatient and Lila heard it in her voice. She appreciated that the school receptionist was telling her everything but the real truth.
Chase didn’t want to see her.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. And Lila?”
“Yes?”
“I know he doesn’t exist or anything, but Jack Almeida has called about a thousand times today. I told him you were dead but he doesn’t believe me and now he’s says that he’s coming down here so…”
Make yourself scarce, was the real message that teetered at the end of Marsha’s sentence. Lila was thankful for the heads up. “Thanks Marsha. I’m leaving early, just…” She covered her forehead with her hand. “Thank you.”
“No prob.”
Marsha hung up, and Lila quietly gathered her things in the stony silence of her office.
But she wasn’t quick enough.
Just as Lila was throwing her purse on her shoulder and double checking that she would have everything she needed, the door to her office flew open. Jack came breezing through like a GQ model who’d decided to slum it for the day in some random high school. He clearly hadn’t slept ,and was wearing the same clothes as he had been the day before, all the way down to the wrinkled white button down that had gotten soaked in the rain, but he still looked like a dream. She hated herself for the immediate and intense attraction that seized her at the mere sight of him.
The anger, however, was there just as quickly. “What the fuck?” she growled, under her breath.
Marsha came barreling in soon after Jack. “I’m sorry I had to pee, Lila. People have to pee!”
Lila sighed and jammed her eyes shut. “Marsha it’s fine okay? Don’t worry about it.”
Jack held up a hand, which was clinging to a thick folder full of files, and turned to the door. “Marsha we need a minute.” When Marsha didn’t seem in a big hurry to move, Jack faltered. He wasn’t a man who was used to repeating himself. “Please,” he said. Even his pleas read more like demands.
“Marsha, its fine,” Lila said while crossing her arms tightly over her chest and shooting daggers at Jack.
Marsha’s eyes flew back and forth between the two. It certainly didn’t seem fine. “Well, okay. I’ll be right on the other side of the door.”
Jack threw Marsha a look. He couldn’t stand that he was being treated like some serial killer who couldn’t be trusted alone with the one woman he’d ever loved. Was he in an alternate universe? “She’s fine,” he barked.
Marsha’s eyes widened and she looked back to Lila. “I’ve already peed, so I’m not going anywhere, all right?” When Jack threw her another look, Marsha rolled her eyes and stepped out, closing the office door behind her.
“Why are you here, Jack? I should call the police.”
Jack held up the folder in his hands. “I need you to read this.”
“I’m not reading anything.”
“Lila.” He closed his eyes and begged for peace. “I’m not asking you.”
“You arrogant son of a bi--”
“Read. It. Read it.”
Lila was stunned. He really was an arrogant son of a bitch. For a moment she wondered what planet he lived on that he thought he had the right to stomp around like some king surrounded by all of his minions. Right on the heels of that thought was utter disbelief that she could feel so deeply for a man like him.
Snatching the files from his hands, she side eyed him. She wasn’t lost to the relief that swam in his eyes as she threw the folder open and began flipping through the various pages.
Jack’s eyes left Lila as he took in the various nick-knacks around the room.
“What’s all this?” There were flowers, candy, gifts and cards strewn all over Lila’s office. Either somebody was dead or it was her birthday. Or both.
Lila didn’t answer. She continued to flip through a few pages of what looked to be legal documents, then looked up with a shake of her head. “What’s all this?”
Jack watched her quietly for a while before nodding at the papers. “A legal complaint that was filed against you a couple of months ago. There was a request for a summons, but we didn’t have enough information…on you… to go ahead with one.”
“So… What?” Lila’s head swam. “So you had me followed to get information on me for some lawsuit?”
“I didn’t have you followed. Jones Day did.”
“Oh Jones Day did it--not you? All this time I’d been under the impression that Jones Day was your place of employment. Silly me!”
“They went over my head with this one, Lila. It’s not above them to pull something like this. They don’t win cases by playing fair.”
“How long have you known that your firm were the ones following me?”
“I had no idea until after the pictures started showing up. They tend to gather information, photos, suspicious activities, etcetera, to help strengthen their cases before they grant a request for a summons.”
“And this is legal?”
“Not really. No.”
“Not really, or no? Which is it, Jack?”
Jack licked his lips. “No. It’s not legal.”
“No I didn’t think it was.” Lila tossed her hair out of her eyes. “And what exactly am I being sued for?”
“You’re not being sued.” His head dropped. “A few months ago, a couple of the parents brought it to the administration’s attention that you may have been involved, sexually, with some of your male students.”
Lila’s heart completely stopped. “WHAT?!”
Jack held his hands up. “Listen to me,” he demanded, struggling himself to remain calm at the pain that was growing more poignant in her eyes by the second.
Lila scoffed and looked off, but bit her tongue. When Jack continued she shot him a look out of the corner of her eye.
“Quite a few of the plaintiffs, or potential plaintiffs I suppose, were convinced of it, and they wanted you removed from your position. They named a few male students but Chase was the one they had real suspicions about.”
Lila forced herself to breathe deeply, and nodded her head as tears sprang to her eyes. “So that’s why you fired me that day?”
“I fired you the day they brought this to my office.” Jack step towards her. “They couldn’t know that he saw you outside of Dalton almost every day, that he had a key to your place. They couldn’t know that you walked to school together. Hell, they couldn’t even see the way you two look at each other sometimes, Lila. They couldn’t see any of it because it would have done nothing but help their case and hurt you. People were starting to notice how close you were to Chase. They were beginning to ask questions. Serious questions. The day that they put this on my desk was the day that I fired you. I know that you’re closer to Chase than any other student and that your relationship with him would give them all the leverage they needed to turn you into some kind of monster. I knew you weren’t. I mean, I know you love him… it’s not exactly a secret.”
Lila pursed her lips and looked away.
Jack took a step closer to her. “But I also know that you’re not in love with him. Not the way that he’s always been with you. To the casual observer
, however, the two of you do have your moments where you seem… very much in love. Very much--” Jack’s voice slid slowly into silence and he was forced to look away from her. “I fired you so you wouldn’t have the opportunity to give the wrong people the wrong ideas.”
Lila blinked. “I thought…”
“Yeah, I know what you thought,” Jack laughed. “Older brother and younger brother are both madly in love with a woman. Older brother tears younger brother away from woman and goes in for the kill. Regardless of what you’ve been made to believe over the last five years, Lila, I’ve never been a monster. Madly in love with you, yes, but never a monster. I would have waited for Chase to get over you… for you to come to me on your own… I would have waited, but…”
“But you had to tear Chase and I away from each other for my sake… because the administration was going to use my relationship with Chase to paint me as a child molester?”
“It sounds nuts when you say it out loud but… yes.”
“It does sound nuts. It also sounds pretty damn convenient.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Truth. That word coming out of your mouth is also very convenient, Jack.”
“I’ve never lied to you.”
“Only by omission. Which is worse?”
Jack couldn’t respond.
“Why would the person following me want me to know about the pictures? Why did he go about this in such a bizarre way? Hanging them from my door? Leaving notes on the back?”
“Fear can be a powerful tool. He overstepped his bounds by trying to scare you. No one asked him to do that. I made my boss turn over last photo the firm had. That's why you found them in my room. I was going to tell you, Lila, I swear to you. It just wasn't the right time.”
Lila took a moment to think about the mountain of information Jack was launching at her. Several moments past before her eyes met his, again. “Did you make that donation to the club?”
Jack sighed. “I knew how much that trip to Hawaii meant to all of you and seeing how it could have possibly been the last trip the group ever took… yes, I donated the money. I wanted you to have Hawaii. If nothing else, I wanted you to have that.”
“Wait a minute. Just…” Lila’s mind was racing. “It was Chase’s keys that were in my door the day I found that first photo. So obviously they already know he has the keys to my house.”
“Sure. That still isn’t enough to justify bringing an entire case against you.”
“So they’ve dropped this summons completely.”
“Not yet, but they will.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Jack smirked, softly. “It’s my job.”
A million questions zoomed through Lila’s mind. She had no idea which one to start with. “How did they even get ahold of Chase’s keys to begin with?”
“I have no idea. I’ve known just as much as you up until a few days ago. They probably swiped them off of Chase when he wasn’t paying attention.”
Realization suddenly spread over Lila’s face. “The blue truck,” she whispered, jamming her eyes shut as the bizarre events of the last few weeks suddenly dawned on her.
“What are you talking about? What blue truck?”
“There’s been a blue truck parked outside of my apartment every night. I didn’t think anything of it until I started seeing the same blue truck everywhere I went. Even Chase noticed it and pointed it out to me the night…” Her words slowed to a stop, then she finished, “the night before you fired me. Wow.” She shook her head. “It was him the whole time. It was some guy your pathetic firm hired to have me followed. He was surely following Chase, too, and that’s how he managed to find access to his keys.”
“You should have told me someone was following you.”
“I was convinced that I was imagining things. I was convinced I was insane!” Lila touched her pounding forehead. “I still can’t comprehend why you never bothered to tell me any of this?”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because they made me the lead on the case. If I’d told you and…” He wavered.
“And what? If you told me and it turned out to be true it would be your head on the chopping block, right?”
Jack shook his head. “No, Lila, please.”
“So apart of you really did believe that there was something more going on between Chase and I?”
“Yes. No.” Jack’s mind reeled.
“Did you start believing that before or after you climbed into bed with me?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it, Jack? If you weren’t fucking me just to get close to me and gather more ammo to win your god damn case then what the hell was it, huh? I’ve been around you long enough to know that you’re a lawyer first. You are always a lawyer first and everything else second.”
“Everything but you.” Jack couldn’t breathe. “Everything but Chase. Nothing else means more to me than the two of you.”
“That’s bullshit,” Lila cried, beginning to panic. “So, what? Am I being sued for child endangerment now? Do they think I’m some predator?”
“Like I said, you’re not being sued. They don’t have a case, Lila. They were just looking into you. They didn’t become one of the top firms in this city by being ethical. Nothing they do is ethical and having you followed would have been just the tip of the iceberg in a very long and tedious process. Thankfully they couldn’t find anything on you outside of the dirt bag that you let into your bed.”
Lila was rife with anger, but at those words, her eyes softened slightly.
“They will stop pursuing the case because it has nowhere to go. You will never get an official word. It would never go to court.”
“Does the principal know I’m being investigated?”
“I’m sure she does, yes.”
Lila could feel her heart split in two. A woman who she’d considered her closest friend.
He willed himself to stay silent. Never in his life was he so filled with fear at the possibility of doing or saying the wrong thing. It was a feeling so foreign to him it stopped him right in his tracks. “I knew neither one of you would ever let go of each other so I took care of it. I had to.”
“But you still made sure to have me followed? Just to be one hundred percent sure I wasn’t fucking him, right?”
“I didn’t have you followed, Lila. Why aren’t you hearing me?”
“Fine, so your law firm has had someone following me around without my permission, documenting my every move? Call me crazy, but the last time I checked that was called stalking. And aren’t you required to summon me first before you start gathering information on me? I’m not sure you’re permitted to do it the other way around. Perhaps that gives me enough leeway to file a lawsuit of my own, huh?”
“Lila—“
“You should have told me.”
“I…” Jack jammed his eyes shut and said two words he hated more than anything. “You’re right. I should have. And I will never forgive myself if I end up losing you.”
“Losing me? Jack you’ve lost me. That ship has sailed.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You lied to me. As far as I’m concerned if I’m in a relationship with a man who can lie to me as easily as you have then I am in a relationship that is going nowhere.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“A lie by omission is still a lie, Almeida, or did you miss that one at Harvard, too?” Lila crossed her arms over her chest. “I think you should leave.”
“Lila, please.”
“There’s absolutely nothing you can say to me right now and frankly I really don’t want to hear it so… please just go.”
Once again Jack was left speechless by the one person in the world who had the power to shake him silent. “Lila.” He struggled. “I would never hurt you. I’m on your side,” he whispered. “I’m always on your side.”
“Do you th
ink that makes everything okay? That I would see you as some amazing hero who came to my rescue? I’ve got news for you Jack, heroes don’t fuck the girl before they fuck her over! In fact, they don’t fuck her over, at all.”
Lila came up next to him and opened the door to her office, ignoring the nosey gazes of all of her coworkers while throwing a hand on her hip.
Jack stared at her as she held the open door. Her face was firm but she was avoiding eye contact with him completely. He held his hands out at his side, feeling an intense helplessness he’d never felt before. Slowly, he began stepping out, then quickly stopped. “Everything I ever did… everything I ever said… it was all real. “
Lila continued to stare into her office, refusing to make eye contact with him. Only when he stepped out of her door and she’d closed it behind him did she allow the first tear to fall.
Chapter 11
Lila sat curled up in a chair on the balcony of her hotel room at the Hyatt in Maui watching the sunset. It was the final day of her trip with the students in her club and, though she’d been able to put on a happy face during the daily festivities with the kids, she spent every night in tears.
She couldn’t get Jack or Chase out of her mind. For so many years she’d been convinced that she was doing everything she could to help them after the death of their parents. That while she loved Chase, and was fiercely protective of him, there was never anything deeper there. Never any darkness or malice.
When Jack had rocketed her with the news that parents of the school were suspicious of her hurting the kids, she felt like her heart had been ripped clear out of her chest. Those kids were her entire heart--they meant the world to her, and she had gained as much from them as she always prayed they had from her. A safe place to grieve, grow, accept and overcome. She couldn’t deny that she had always treated Chase with more delicate gloves. She had favored him. So much so that it had quickly exploded into an incredible monster that had people from the outside taking serious pause.
Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One Page 20
