Jackson walked into me, a snarl on his face. “I love you, Lara.”
“You have a fucking twisted way of showing it, then,” I hissed. But no matter how much I pushed him away, he came back.
“I told you the deal. I told you not to sleep with anyone I knew,” he muttered. “And the fact that it was Sawyer? I’ve watched you two flirt for years and I never said a word because I thought it was stupid. Harmless. But the second you get the chance, you go to house and suck his dick and let him fuck you however the fuck he wants – ”
“Are you hearing yourself?” I gasped. “Surprise, Jackson, it wasn’t Sawyer. I know you go to Dane McNulty for a lot of shady shit but his word on who I fucked is completely wrong.”
“Funny, you sure believed him when he said that I fucked Gabrielle two years ago.”
“Sawyer saw you too so don’t even try to compare that,” I laughed bitterly, pushing past Jackson and storming up the stairs. I’d thought that there’d be nothing for me to pack as everything would remind
me of Jackson, but there was in fact one thing left that I desperately needed.
Ignoring Jackson’s footsteps, I paced into the bedroom and into my closet. When I emerged, Jackson stood there, his frosty eyes locked on my passport.
“And where do you think you’re going?” he asked with an eerie calm.
“Away. You can sleep with whoever the hell you want now.”
Jackson’s strides quickened as he trailed me down the hall. “What, you need to run off with Sloane again?”
“No, I need to leave New York and never come back.”
My sentence barely finished before Jackson was in front of me, eyes wild. “You’re not leaving me, Lara. The world already knows we’re getting married.”
“So what? This isn’t about your ego, Jackson, or your friends finding out that I left you. It’s about the fact that you’re as good as a fucking criminal and I’ll never for a second want to spend the rest of my life with you again,” I hissed. But when I stepped to pass him, he blocked me.
“I want you, Lara. I don’t want anyone else. I gave you that ring, I announced to the world that you were mine. We’re going to get married, and that’s that.”
I’d never laughed with fury before but this moment was as good as any for that first. “No, Jackson. We’re not getting married and we never will. So on top of being a despicable monster, I guess you’re fucking insane if you really think you can tell me what to do.”
With that, I pushed past him and down the stairs, traveling faster than I ever had in a pair of heels heels. Shoving my passport into my purse, I made a beeline for the door. But as I waited for the elevator, I could hear Jackson returning calmly from upstairs. My back turned, I heard his footsteps – one by one, slow and ominous as they returned to me in no rush at all.
“Here,” he said, a sneer in his voice.
I heard the whoosh of something flying through the air. Following that came the sound of something hard and something soft dropping onto the floor. I told myself not to turn around but with dread pitting in my stomach, I spun on my heel.
When I saw it, my knees gave out. My nails scratched hardwood as my stomach lurched forward, my heartbeat thumping harder and harder till my insides rattled.
It was my shirt spattered in Gabrielle’s dried blood. Beside it was a little jump drive.
“It has her voicemail in it,” Jackson said casually, hands in his pockets as he looked down at the shirt, the jump drive, and me. “I had it in a safe.”
The room spun as I looked up at him. “Why did you do this?”
“I could ask you the same,” he said. “You think I’m the one with secrets but since the night that you saw me watching my little video with Gabrielle, you’ve been… rash. Unpredictable. Do you have any idea how much you scared me when you came back covered in her blood? As far as I knew, you’d never been in a fight in your life. So what was I supposed to think? The fact that she was missing the next day was just… unreal to me. I mean how was I supposed to know what you were going to do next?” Jackson asked, tilting his head with exaggerated curiosity.
I crawled to my feet and backed up two steps. “You know I didn’t kill her.”
“Well, I have this shirt and that voicemail. And if I want, I can get security footage from our building. They’ll just dial is back to the night Gabby went missing and see you coming in a bloody mess.” Jackson’s eyes flicked to my passport. “The fact that you want to flee the country right now is practically the cherry on top of all this. Unless you want to live running from authorities for the rest of your life, I’d suggest you stay right fucking here where you belong.” Ambling over, Jackson tilted his head and cupped my chin, his ice blue eyes studying mine with amusement. “What do you think now, babe? Do you still want to leave?”
I hated myself. I hated myself for Gabby and for the fact that Jackson had rendered me speechless, immobile.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Jackson murmured, tipping my face up and pressing his rough lips against mine. When I shrunk away, he pressed me against the door. “Don’t be upset, baby,” he said gently, running his thumb over my cheek to wipe a tear. “Everything will be fine again soon. We’re always going to be everyone’s favorite couple. Jackson and Lara.”
To Be Continued…