Bought by the Boss

“What would make you so observant of this and me so blind to it?” Liam asks, and I can almost see his incredulous expression.

“First, because you loved her,” Jackson explains, cool and collected. “Second, because I know someone like her.”

“Your father,” Liam states.

“Once you see that greed in someone, you recognize it anywhere.”

There’s a long pause. My heartbeat is hammering under my palm. Aria’s staring at me, eyes so huge, mouth dropped open. I can only guess she’s trying to make sense out of everything now that she knows Jackson’s side of things.

Liam finally breaks the silence. “If what you are telling me is true, why did you not explain all this to me after it happened?”

“Would you have listened?”

Another pause. “No, I suppose I wouldn’t have.”

There’s more heavy silence between them. I’m dying to know if they are looking at the floor or at each other. In my heart, I’m guessing they are looking at each other, trying to find some way back from what happened between them. From the emotion in both their voices throughout this conversation, it’s clear they were close and—even if they don’t want to admit it—they hurt each other deeply. Because now I realize that Jackson had given up his friendship with Liam to protect him. He knew what sleeping with Sophia would cost him but he did it anyway. And that’s the Jackson I met in Muskoka. Not the cold man out for vengeance.

It’s obvious Liam realizes this, too, because his voice is soft when he asks, “Why have you come here, Jackson?”

“To make peace.”

“Why?”

“Because I want Aria not to feel torn between us anymore. And I want Mallory to stop hating me. So here I am, being the first one to say it’s time to put this behind us. Not for us. But for them.”

I mouth to Aria, “Oh, my God.”

She nods slowly in agreement.

Another pause. Then Liam says, “Aria and Mallory, we know you’re there. We can see your shadows.”

I glance down at the cement next to the house, and see that yes, we are terrible spies. Aria gives me a quick smile before striding forward, and I follow behind. She blocks my way, moving toward Liam, who’s sitting on the chair on the porch, so I hang back. When she leans in to kiss Liam that’s when everything stops for me.

Jackson is standing on the far side of the porch, leaning against the railing, arms folded. He doesn’t move when our gazes meet. I’m lost in the way he’s looking at me. The intensity in his eyes. The warmth there, too.

When Aria drops down onto the armrest, Liam says to me, “Did he tell you his side of things?”

“Yes,” I reply.

Liam cocks his head. “Did you believe him?”

I’m not really sure of Liam’s intentions in asking for my input. I think it’s his way of letting me put a stop to this. If I want Jackson to go, he’ll send him on his way. My heartbeat hasn’t slowed, if anything it’s only sped up now that Jackson is in my sights. “I did believe him.” I slide my gaze to Jackson. “I still do.”

He hasn’t moved, not saying a word. He’s just standing there, strong in the choices he made, unregretful of the path he’s taken, but honest. And if I’m being honest with myself that’s exactly what I want him to be.

Liam’s thick voice breaks me away from the trance Jackson has me under. “This has been going on for so long,” he mutters, shaking his head in clear frustration. “You kept me away from Aria.”

“Now wait just a second,” Aria pipes up, giving him a hard look. “That choice rested with me, not Jackson.”

Liam frowns at her. To Jackson, he adds, “Regardless, just because you think you perceived Sophia as one kind of person how could you truly predict her future behavior?”

“Actually, he had her pegged right,” I gently interject, reaching for my phone in my pocket. Liam is a lawyer. He’ll appreciate facts. Which is probably why I wanted facts, too.

I open my email finding the message from a friend who works in a New York courthouse. She sent me the marriage licenses and divorce decrees all belonging to Sophia Flynn.

After I hand my phone to Liam, I add, using the exact words that Jackson had told me, “She’s gone through two multi-millionaires and a billionaire, working on her fourth marriage now.”

Aria gives me a quick wink before glancing seriously back at Liam, who’s frowning at her. “What a gold digger,” she says to him. “Thank God you didn’t end up with her. If you ask me, I think you owe Jackson a big thank-you for making sure she didn’t take you for all that you had.”