“He probably just wants to fuck her. He has worked his way through most of New York City over the years, so it’s not surprising that he would eventually turn to the gutter.”
They both laughed, and I wanted to say something so badly, but I willed myself to stay still and more importantly, quiet.
“Ollie will convince him to pick me. It’s obvious he would rather be anywhere but here, and the sooner he decides, the sooner this can be over for him. I did also sweeten the pot by suggesting what I’ll do with him once this is over.”
I had heard enough. I needed to tell Jonas. I didn’t want to do this because it would help me, but because it was wrong. It was unethical, if anything else, and as I slowly slipped away, I realized having sex with him also fell into that category. I was about to join Reece, but I thought back to this morning. I had not done anything with him because I had wanted some sort of advantage. We have history, and like every other dumb mistake in my past, I had allowed it to repeat itself.
My heart pounded wildly in my chest, and the pain that came out of nowhere, nearly doubled me over. I was sweating profusely, and the flight instinct was strong inside of me. That small voice told me to flee, but I wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes of the past. I had to see this through. I also had a responsibility to warn him about Leeann. As I kept telling myself that, I headed back to the competition area. The judges were still in deep conversation. I rounded the corner, unseen, and as I opened my mouth to speak, Jonas’s words had me stopping in my tracks.
“I agree. Leeann has put out the most consistent dishes in the competition so far. I need to turn this restaurant over to someone I know can handle it. She’s been an executive chef for several years, whereas Kenzie just cooks on the side.”
Cooks on the side? I wanted to march over there and tell him catering was much more than that. The only thing stopping me was that he seemed to have come to that conclusion on his own and without Oliver’s prompting. He truly didn’t want me for anything more than a plaything.
I stepped back and just as I was about to spin around, my shoe scuffed the floor and all three judges turned to me. “Kenzie?” he asked, and I dropped my gaze.
I couldn’t stand there and let him see me cry, and I was perilously close to doing exactly that. I swallowed hard, then bolted. I ran past the two women exiting the bathroom and ignored their snickering. They didn’t even know what upset me, but I knew Leeann would put the pieces together.
I heard Jonas call my name, but I was able to get into the elevator. I needed my medicine pronto. I had no idea how I would get it, but once the door closed in front of Jonas Courtland’s sexy face, I slapped the button for the top floor where his room was. Once the doors opened, I ran to his suite. I toyed with the handle and tried to jolt it open, but it was no use. I needed a key, which I didn’t have.
The earlier panic returned twofold, and I banged my head against the hard frame a few times. It was then when I remembered a movie that Reece had dragged me to a few months before. It had thieves in it, and I remembered how they used paper to jimmy open a locked hotel room door. I was about to discard that idea. I didn’t have... it was then that I remembered the list of dishes Reece and I had compiled. Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled the page out and folded it in half.
The movie characters only needed a few seconds to do what took me nearly two minutes to do. Once I had the door opened, I slipped inside. I didn’t see my bag out in the open and thinking maybe I had actually grabbed it before leaving, I was about to admit defeat. As I walked around the small sofa to the door, I nearly tripped over something but caught myself just in time. When I looked down, I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of my purse. I scrambled to unzip it, then I grabbed the medication bottle and took two of the Lithium out. I needed a drink and seeing the mini fridge, I walked over to it. I set the two pills onto the table as I retrieved a bottle of water, and I was about to open it when the door to the room opened and a frantic Jonas loomed over the threshold.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” were the first words he asked.
I had been caught breaking and entering in his room. If he didn’t think I was crazy before, he did now. I wanted to rail at him, despite what he might think. I had played right into his hands. He probably only convinced Oliver to keep me another day so he could seduce me as he so easily had. I had played right into his hands, and now...
I wouldn’t let him make a fool out of me, though. I couldn’t tell Jonas I was looking for him because I had essentially slammed the elevator door right in his face. I also couldn’t tell him the door was unlocked because he’d know better. He owned this hotel, and his room was likely the most secure one of all. I could only hope to distract him so he wouldn’t call the police on me. They had come for me once because of him, and I wouldn’t allow my peers to take the place of those students back in high school, all watching as I was escorted to some psychiatric ward or precinct downtown.
“I heard you,” I told him. “I heard everything.”
He looked guiltily at me as I placed my hands on my hips. “I apologize for upsetting you, but Leeann is the be—”
“Cooks on the side.” I seethed. I came from around the bed, and I was now standing close to his desk which was mere feet from where he stood. “I’m a fucking caterer.”
“Duly noted,” he replied, then went to advance closer until I grabbed the lamp from the desk. “Put that down.”
I let out a sarcastic laugh. My thoughts were racing a mile a minute, and my anger was growing even quicker. When Jonas went to step forward, I threw the lamp in his direction and didn’t even care when it came crashing down beside him.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered. “What the hell’s wrong with you, Kenzie!”
“Don’t you say my name,” I warned, all the while looking for something else to throw in his direction. How I wished this was in the kitchen because I would cut him with one of my fucking blades.
Jonas took a step back, then looked at me with the same hint of concern he once had. It was almost as if we were transported back in time to a period I would rather forget. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. There was so much I needed to say, and there’d been no time to get it all out. That had fucked with me for years until I thought I’d been able to put the past behind me. It was all a façade. I’d never gotten closure and while he could call security on me, no one was taking me out of here until I got everything out.
“Haven’t you hurt me enough?”
My voice didn’t even sound like mine, but I knew the question was. Jonas raked one hand haphazardly through his hair. “I’m sorry. That hadn’t been my intention. When I said what I did about your occupation, I hadn’t meant it—”
“That’s not what the hell I’m talking about.” I began to half pace in a straight line, never fully taking my eyes off him. “You gave her that job after sleeping with me, and you knew you’d give it to her all along. I actually believed you when you said you hadn’t slept with her, or planned to, but—”
“Listen, Kenzie. I’ve never fucked her, nor do I intend to. Since we checked in, the only one I’ve been with is you. I—”
“Liar,” I spat out, then grabbed the nearby phone. Jonas would probably definitely think about bolting things like this down after I left, but it’d be too little, too late. I wanted to strangle him where he stood with the cord.
“I’m not lying,” he implored. “Now, please put the phone down so we can talk about this like adults and not like—”
“Like children? Teenagers? What we were the first time you hurt me?”