Page 98 of Tempt Me

“Everybody out,” I said. “Including you, Winslow. Better call that attorney.” I made a shooing motion with my hands, herding the people out of her office. I paused at the door.

“I’m really sorry, Jamila,” I said. “I wish it wasn’t true.”

She said nothing. Her shoulders slumped under the enormous weight of betrayal.

Softly, I closed the door behind me.

When I got homean hour later, all I wanted to do was put on my sweats, eat a tub of ice cream in bed, and watch Darren Star shows until my eyes shriveled in their sockets. But my sister and her dog sat on the bed I wanted to crash onto.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. We’d never been the type of sisters to hang out in each other’s rooms, sharing secrets, giving each other makeovers, or talking about boys, as much as I’d wished we had.

She stroked Bilbo’s black fur. “I’m leaving today, remember? I didn’t want to go back to Ohio without hearing how the big confrontation went. Mother told me what you found out.”

“It…went.” I flopped onto the bed, my hands over my eyes. Bilbo nudged my hand with his nose, and I lifted it to pat him. “It broke her heart to be betrayed by someone she trusted. Someone she thought was a friend.”

“What happened to Winslow?”

“Security walked him out. Jamila has to have her lawyers file the papers before the feds can get involved.”

“Do you think he’ll leave the country? That bribe was enough to make anyone comfortable on some island.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged against the fluffy comforter. “But they’ll probably seize his U.S. assets like his stock shares, so at least he won’t trouble Jamila again.”

“How did she take it?”

“Not well. I expected her to blow up, but she shut down. I’m worried about her.”

“Of course you are.” Sam wasn’t the type of person who casually touched, but she squeezed my hand, the one that rested on Bilbo’s side. “Do you think she’s changed her mind about you?”

I remembered Jamila’s blank expression. She hadn’t even thanked me. I understood. I’d tossed a grenade into her company and walked away. Plus I hadn’t done it for her gratitude. I’d done it because it was the right thing to do.

“I don’t know. I’m not the most important thing going on in her life right now, am I?”

There was a knock at my door, and Charles poked his head in. “Natalie. And Sam! I thought you’d already left.”

“Not yet. I needed to talk to Nat for a minute.”

“Mind if I interrupt?”

“Come in,” I said.

He stepped inside my room. “I got a call from Jamila today. I think I have you to thank. Frankly, I was a little hurt when she partnered with FA, but she came to me in the end. Thank you, Natalie. My board is already salivating over a partnership with Jamilow.”

He went on about synergy and revitalization for his stodgy bank, but I stopped listening. Jamila had gone to Charles?

My sister asked, “Did she say she’d done it because of Nat?”

He tipped his head to the side. “No, but I assumed…”

“Sorry, Charles,” I said. “That was all Jamila. We’re not working together anymore.”

“Oh.” His face fell. “And you’re not, uh…doing other things together anymore?”

I winced. “No.”

He walked to the bed and pulled me up so he could hug me. “I’m sorry. I know you care about her.”

I relaxed into his hug. “It’s all right. I helped her in the end, so at least I have that.”

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