Slow Burn (Boston Beauties #2)

by Dawn Edwards

  It took her hours to get back to me, and when she did, it was only a text, and it felt forced, as if she only responded out of obligation. I wasn’t happy with it, but whatever, we were all allowed shitty days. So, I didn’t say anything about it.

  But it was the start of a pattern, that even at the moment, I wasn’t sure how to break entirely.

  The next few days were progressively bad, two days she only texted me after I texted and called her multiple times. Yeah, I was that guy!

  JESSA: Drew, seriously, I’m all right, just very busy.

  DREW: Call me?

  JESSA: I’m in bed, chat soon.

  After a week of this I had no choice but to reach out to Breton. I questioned if Jessa was simply ignoring me, and I wasn’t sure if Breton could answer me, but if anyone could, it was him.

  It was very early in the morning when my phone rang. The caller ID showed PRIVATE, which was a clear giveaway that it was Breton calling me back. I had left him a message early yesterday, knowing that he was out of London and that his schedule didn’t allow for much private downtime when he was out on a mission.

  ‘Hey,’ I answered the phone, not even trying to disguise the fact that I had just woken up.

  ‘What’s up?’ Breton’s voice beamed from the other end of the phone line; he’d clearly been up for a while.

  ‘Is everything ok with Jessa?’ I asked, not even trying to beat around the bush.

  I could hear him take a deep breath. ‘Honestly, I have no idea,’ he confessed. ‘When I left the first time it was just for a few days, she was fine, but whenever I talk to her now, it’s like she’s acting all weird, faking her interactions with me, but she can’t bullshit me.’

  ‘Should I fly to her?’

  ‘I don’t think so. Her mom will be back in a few days and they are meeting up with Zoe. Besides, it’s only another two weeks anyways.’

  I paused before I asked my next question. It has been weighing heavy on my mind over the past few days. ‘Do you think she’s met someone else?’

  ‘I don’t see why she’d want to make friends now, when she hasn’t wanted to in the past, knowing she’s going home soon.’

  For as smart as this guy was, he was socially daft sometimes. ‘No, you idiot, do you think she’s met another guy?’

  I heard him laugh on the other end of the line. ‘No, not Jessa. She was ready to risk it all to get back to you so many times. She’d never cheat.’

  ‘That’s not true…’ I said in a low voice.

  ‘Naw, it’s not her.’

  ‘It is, though, I know firsthand.’

  She had cheated on her ex-fiancé with me, so I knew she was capable of it.

  ‘That’s different. She loved you and while technically still engaged, that relationship was over long before you even arrived on the scene.’ I heard the anger in his voice. He had always been protective of his cousin, who was as close as a sister to him. Even though we were close as best friends, I would always come second to Jessa. And I was fine with that because I knew I could always count on him to tell me the truth.

  ‘I just can’t deal with the silent treatment,’ I whined.

  ‘Listen, she’s probably just stressed out about returning home and the uncertainty of her future or not feeling good or on her period or some shit. She’s not with another guy,’ he tried to assure me. It didn’t fully placate me, but he did talk me off the ledge slightly.

  A few days later, he sent me a text.

  BRETON: She’s totally not with anyone else. I hacked into her phone, it’s you, me, her mom, Abby and sometimes she orders food. Plus, her mom says she hardly leaves her room. She’s at the gym in the complex about the same amount of time, sleeping more.

  BRETON: I asked why she’s ignoring everyone, trust me, it’s not just you. She said she wanted her own space as she wasn’t going to have it soon. So I think she’s really stressing about her return.

  I appreciated Breton speaking to Jessa, but I wished it was her telling me these things.

  Even now as I was heading to see her, it was hard to sit still. I couldn’t wait any longer to be with her again. This had gotten so bad between us last week that I had to ask her point blank if our plans for the weekend were still on.

  Thirty days since I last saw Jessa, and one more flight was all that stood in the way of being back with her for good.

  I was sitting in the plane with Abby, Colleen’s parents, waiting for Steve to arrive along with Amber and Deb.

  Abby and I were making small talk but avoided any talk of Jessa until we were in the air and the flight attendant was sequestered away for our privacy.

  Amber still didn’t know about Jessa, but would soon find out. Jessa’s grandparents found out at Christmas when she had been back.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. ‘Breton’s just landed in Vegas,’ I told her, as Steve entered the plane looking at Abby and me.

  ‘Hello,’ he greeted us, taking a place next to me on one of the sofas as Amber walked on, holding a small carry-on and her purse.

  She surveyed the situation, looking at me and Abby and then back to me. All I could do was give her an encouraging smile and shrug. It was uncharacteristic that I would be on a flight that she would have been told was for work reasons.

  The flight attendant closed and locked the cabin doors as the pilot came out to greet Steve and let us know our order in line, ‘We will have you in the air within 10.’

  He returned to the cockpit, closing the door behind him, while the flight attendant took our drink orders and let us know what she would be serving us in another hour for our dinner.

  Steve was making light, neutral conversation with Abby and Amber, asking about work and their personal lives. Abby was telling us that she was thinking of purchasing a new property, and Amber shed some details on her final semester of her Master’s degree and a side project she had worked on for a class that was starting to see some success.

  Apparently, last year she worked with a local band to get them a social media presence and set them up on platforms for sharing their music. It had been very successful and they were fully booked for the summer at festivals and venues around New England.

  ‘I didn’t know you were so into music,’ I commented.

  Abby laughed. ‘I don’t think it’s the music…’

  I smirked while Steve cleared his throat, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable.

  ‘They are actually really good,’ Amber defended. ‘They’ve got a different sound.’ Looking up to Steve she added, ‘The lead singer is Ryan Drovic, one of the aircraft maintenance people.’

  ‘Seriously?’ he was now interested.

  Amber nodded. ‘Yeah, I first saw them play at a bar near the university, then last summer they played at a beach festival down on the Cape. When I saw them last fall again, I recognized the singer and approached him one day at work. He told me where he was playing and it turned out to be a really cool bar, so my friends and I started going a lot. I needed to do a project for a marketing class and asked if I could market them. I got an A on the project, they got followers, and now I’ve made new friends.’

  ‘Are they so good that I'm going to need to hire a new mechanic at some point?’ Steve joked.

  Amber smiled, ‘I think they have the potential, for sure.’

  ‘Great,’ Steve rolled his eyes jokingly. ‘Apparently, he’s pretty good, one of the military veterans, but young.’

  Steve was heavily involved with the charity, Heroes on the Homefront, which supported veterans in the transition from military to civilian careers.

  ‘Yeah, he had a few tours and after that needed to get out. I don’t think he was in combat, but I think he saw things. Also, his wife probably didn’t like him being away so much.’

  ‘Well, that’s part of what they sign up for,’ Steve reminded her. He had a lot of respect for those serving their country. One of the charity’s main focuses was the program to hire veterans, and he not only supported it with his time a
nd money, but he actively hired from those enrolled in the program.

  ‘Well, good on those wives,’ Abby chimed in, looking up from her phone. ‘I for one couldn't do it.’

  After we were all served our meal, the flight attendant asked, ‘Is there anything else I can get anyone?’

  Steve looked around, ‘No, Laura, that will be all, thanks. Please check back in an hour or so.’

  She nodded and went into the cockpit as she had been instructed to earlier.

  ‘So, now will you guys tell me why I’m really here?’ Amber asked, relaxing into her seat, rubbing her hands over her legs. While we had made friendly small talk, there was tension; the big elephant in the corner was clearly being ignored.

  ‘Well, you are here, as we feel that Zoe is going to need some assistance soon,’ Steve told her. ‘We have an issue that is likely going to cause a big PR stir in a few days’ time. It will be all hands on deck, and I only want people close to the family and ones we trust entirely.’

  Amber looked to Abby. ‘A legal issue?’

  Steve nodded, and looked to Abby. ‘For the past two and a half years, Breton has been gathering information on Matthew Wilson.’

  ‘That long?’ Amber asked, doing the math in her head. ‘Before…’

  Steve closed his eyes and nodded, ‘Breton has uncovered a lot of information regarding Matthew and his family, none of which I am going to get into now,’ he looked over to Abby, ‘That’s her job to deal with all of that.’

  Amber nodded, looking around at everyone. ‘So, I’m going to need more information and speak with Zoe to see what her angle is and what it is she wants from me. What do you want me to say? And why do you want to say anything? I thought we were distancing…’

  ‘Jessa’s alive,’ I blurted out, stopping Amber from spinning any more than she already was.

  Everyone looked at me, Amber taking a few moments to comprehend. ‘What?’

  I reached out and took her hand, looking her in the eye. ‘Jessa’s alive,’ I stated. ‘She had to go away, to buy some time for Breton to gather all the information he needed to truly put him and his siblings in jail and to save the family from scandal and possible ruin.’

  Abby went into some of the details, and a half-hour later, Amber was wide-eyed and looking overwhelmed.

  ‘So, this is news,’ she blurted out after a brief pause. ‘Like, headline news, like, GMA or Barbara Walters exclusive news.’

  ‘I don’t think Barbara Walters works anymore,’ Steve pointed out.

  ‘Who’s Barbara?’ I asked.

  ‘She was a news anchor, did lots of high-profile interviews back in the day,’ Steve informed me.

  Amber bent over and pulled her tablet out of her purse and started to type out notes. ‘Ok, so when’s she returning to Boston? What’s Zoe’s plan? Does she want to announce before or after?’ Amber asked Steve, then looked to Abby. ‘What are the legal ramifications?’

  ‘Well, technically she hasn’t broken any laws,’ Abby said.

  ‘That the US knows about,’ I added, and everyone looked at me, but didn’t say anything else. The less everyone knew the better.

  ‘The DA could make a case about fraud, we just need to wait and see,’ Abby said. ‘Breton has a whole backstory that we are using and sticking with.’

  ‘The plan is for Abby to fly back on Monday morning to deliver the information Breton has discovered to the DA, then make the announcement Monday morning to the detectives, just as we depart Vegas,’ Steve told her. ‘That will give the DA time to review the materials and the police to make their move, should they want to. While this is going on, Zoe will make a press release and if need be, we would like you to handle any public media relations in Boston, as Zoe is out in LA training and I don’t want to pull her away so close to qualifiers.’

  ‘Does she know yet?’ Amber looked wide-eyed at all of us.

  I nodded, ‘Yeah, Colleen is out there with Jessa at the moment, and they drove to LA to meet her two days ago. She’ll be in Vegas when we get there.’

  ‘I bet she was surprised.’

  ‘To say the least.’ I smiled recalling Jessa telling me all the details and the vicious, yet playful call I’d received from Zoe that evening.

  ‘Ok,’ Amber nodded. ‘This needs to be done right, we need the media and people on our side. I’ll need to know what information I can share about Matt…or whatever the fuck his name is.’

  ‘You and Zoe will work closely, she will be on her phone the whole time to support you through everything. I hope you understand why we need you and we’re not bringing in someone else?’

  She nodded and looked at all of us.

  ‘We need to paint it so everyone can see she didn’t have a choice,’ Steve drilled home.

  I looked at them all. ‘She didn’t,’ they turned to look at me. ‘She didn’t.’

  Amber looked at me. ‘You’ve been in contact with her?’ I nodded and she looked instantly angry. ‘How long? How long have you known?’ she demanded.

  ‘I found out about a year ago,’ I told her in a low voice.

  ‘And in all that time, you neglected to tell me one of my best friends is alive, all the times we’ve seen each other, confided in each other,’ she spits out at me. ‘I’m one of her best friends.’

  ‘And I’m her fiancé, I had to protect her at any cost.’

  Amber’s eyes went wide. ‘Fiancé?’

  I nodded, while Steve explained the other reason she was being flown out to Vegas this weekend.

  CHAPTER 27

  JESSA

  Leaving Drew on New Year's Day was the absolute lowest point of this entire ordeal over the past year and a half. Even worse than having everyone—aside from Breton—think I was dead. I cried the entire flight to Vegas. Sure, I was at least on the same continent, but I still wasn’t next to him.

  After sulking for a day, I found the gym in the furnished luxury apartment complex I was staying at, went grocery shopping, made a doctor’s appointment, and set a schedule to finish up my coursework.

  I spoke with Drew multiple times a day; it was the only thing that was keeping me sane while also driving me crazy knowing he was missing me just as much as I was missing him and the land barrier was once again between us.

  After all the complications from my surgery, I had a pretty strong hate-on for doctors, tests and any type of examination. Which was precisely why I was dreading my appointment with the doctor who had been following my post-surgical case. I was overdue for a check-up, so was killing two birds with one stone today.

  After the check-up on my incisions, which I was told were healing perfectly, I asked her for a prescription for birth control pills.

  ‘That’s not a problem,’ she assured me. ‘When was your last pap-smear?’ she asked me, filling out an electronic record on the tablet in her hand.

  ‘Oh, years ago.’

  She looked up to me. ‘I need a date or an approximate.’

  ‘Two years ago, September.’

  ‘Any new sexual partners in that time?’

  I nodded, inwardly smiling.

  ‘Ok, I’ll do a full STD and HIV in addition,’ I looked at her with my jaw open.

  ‘It’s routine,’ she placed a hand on mine in my lap. ‘I’m not saying that you need it, it’s just part of what we do.’

  ‘I had a test done when I found my ex had been cheating on me,’ I informed her.

  ‘Ok, any new partners since?’

  ‘Yes…’

  ‘Really, it’s just an extra lab test, there’s nothing to be worried about.’ She handed me a urine cup. ‘I’ll collect a urine sample also.’

  They always tell you, no news is good news, so when the clinic called me the following day to schedule a follow-up appointment to go over my results, my stomach dropped.

  I had been clean, I knew I was. After I knew I was never again going to sleep with Matt, I had a test done that summer before I left to make sure I wasn't infected with anything. At the time
I knew the chances were low, Matt and I always used a condom, but I wanted to be sure. I had been hoping against all hope that Drew would sleep with me. Now that he had, he’d given me something.

  I was beyond mortified that I had contracted some STI and equally pissed off at Drew for it. I had been sure he wasn’t playing me, but was I blinded once again. Had he fooled me and my family just as Matt had?

  Did he not know he had an STI? And who the hell did he catch it from. Perhaps it was Lisa, but he’d told me he always wore protection with all his other partners.

  But still, condoms weren’t 100 percent reliable.

  I’d never liked Lisa, not even before she dug her claws into Drew, and even less since then. I can only imagine how many guys she’s let fuck her.

  Now I was the one being fucked over.

  I didn’t see how it was possible. I opened my Google incognito window and started searching all about STI’s, latent periods, signs and symptoms. But I had none, and clearly neither did Drew.

  For the rest of the day, I dodged his calls, just too pissed to hear his voice. The next day, when I trusted myself enough not to go psycho on him, I replied to a few of his text messages until my afternoon doctor’s appointment.

  My doctor was running behind schedule when I got there.

  Just fucking great. My patience over the past day was non-existent. Which was saying something as I didn't have much of one to start with on the best of days. Thankfully my mother had left a few days ago and wasn’t due back for another week, so at least I didn’t have to cover up much my bitchy mood for longer than the few moments we were on the phone together.

  When Sarah Khan was called, I didn’t move. I had spent a few weeks at home where I was addressed by Jessa, or cupcake as Drew still called me.

  I was so wrapped up with him in my life, that even when I was pissed at him, I thought fondly of him.

  Stop it.

  When my name was called for a second time, I looked up and realized the nurse was talking to me.