Page 38 of Love and Loathing

“You fired him because he found out about what you were doing,” she said. “And it’s not the first time you’ve gotten retribution against him for getting in your way. I know about that girl at school. I know they were dating and you split him up and then tried to have him expelled for it to boot. I bet you’re the reason Charlie left too. Just can’t stand for your friends to be happy.”

Glancing down, he fisted his hands. His entire body began to shake. A moment later, he turned and kicked the downed kitchen chair, sending it sliding back into the dining room and into the far wall with a loud thud.

Jessie jumped.

He turned his stare on her, his hate-filled stare, then marched out the screen door. He hadn’t even made it to the steps on the porch when he turned and came back inside.

Even though he was several feet away, she took a step back.

“I fired Whitley because Dave Daley told me he’d called in sick six times in the space of a month, leaving him and his men shorthanded.” He spoke low, anger seething from every word, but still controlled. He didn’t look at her, though. “And when I went to fire him on hissickday, I found him half naked with a girl on his boat. And yeah, I punched him. Not because he found out about what Kevin and Steve were planning, but because he told me he was using you to get to me and because he talked about mysister—not just some girl—who he seduced when she was eighteen years old and left as soon as he’d gotten what he wanted. And the near-expulsion had nothing to do with me or my sister and everything to do with an illegal gambling ring he ran on campus.”

Jessie sucked in a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands.

Alex shook his head. “Everyone in this town knows Daniel Whitley stole from them, and they thought Jacob was complicit, which would be accurate—he had a gambling ring at Brown, where he stole from hundreds of students—but instead of holding him accountable, you invite him into your homes? Come on, where’s the sense in that? Forgiveness is important; I get that. But forgiving someone doesn’t mean you invite them to victimize you a second time.” He made eye contact. “I thought you of all people would’ve been smart enough to realize that. And by the way, I told Charlie to stay.”

He turned away.

“Alex,” she said.

“Don’t worry, I won’t darken your door again.” He opened the screen and jogged down her front steps to his truck.

She went to the screen and watched him as he pulled away. He didn’t look back. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as his words played over in her mind. She was so mad.Somad at him. She turned and stomped her foot.

But … she believed him. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. She believed every word. She wrapped her arms around her middle. His poor sister. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and she wiped at them as her vision blurred. Then the sobs came.

Chapter 15

With the front doors of Sunset Valley in view, Alex picked up his pace and sprinted the last several yards to the door. He tagged the door, then bent to catch his breath. With the season changing from spring to summer, Alex had to start getting up earlier to beat the heat and humidity. He stood, lifted his fingers to his neck, and looked at his watch, counting his heart rate to be sure he’d reach his optimal performance. It’d been two weeks since he’d confessed his love to Jessie and had been accused of some pretty terrible behavior. Every time he thought of it, it made his chest ache in the vicinity of his heart. Was he really so cold, so jaded by his fame, that people—even ones who knew him—could think him capable of such bad behavior?

He closed his eyes and shook his head. He was, and he knew he was. And it was time to change.

As he headed inside, his phone rang. He pulled it from his short pocket and frowned at the image of his mom on the screen. She was blond, thin, blue-eyed like him, and petite. Since he was a kid, he remembered men telling him, even in front of his dad, how sexy she was. In fact, she and Roxy looked a lot alike. Alex often wondered if that wasn’t part of the reason his mom like Roxy so much.

He answered on the last ring, deciding at the last second to answer, even though he’d really wanted to let it ring through to voicemail. He’d say this was part of his plan to change—to be better.

“Hey, Mom.” He looked at his watch again—not quite seven. “You’re up early.”

“You know me, darling, I never sleep past five.”

Well, that’d been true when he’d been in high school, and because of it, he’d barely slept past five either. He’d thought she might start sleeping more as she got older. Guess not. He made his way through the foyer and to the back exit. “How are you?” he asked.

“The real question is, how are you?” She spoke in that all-knowing tone she got when she had juicy gossip and was dying to share it.

“I guess you know about what’s happening?”

“Yes. Poor Charlie stopped in to see Abigale and hide out for a few days. He told me what happened. What a shame.” She was trying to sound sympathetic, but the truth was, like him, she’d never had been much of an actor.

He reached his villa and swiped his card to get in. “Yeah, you sound really disappointed.”

“Hey, now,” she said. “No need to get snippy with me. You didn’t make a bad business deal with me.”

In the living room, he turned right to his room. Inside his double doors, he kicked his shoes off. He cringed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

The phone went silent.

Alex pulled it back to see if he’d lost her. They were still connected. “Mom, you there?”

She stuttered. “I-I … Did you just apologize?”

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