Secret Indiscretions (Carson Cove Scandals 2)

“Excuse me?” I turned back towards him.

“I’ll tell her how you used to fuck the entire football team—how you used to give us all blowjobs after the games. Hell, she might not even be mine, but who cares right? My name is on the birth certificate.” Jackson eviscerated me with lies and delivered them so casually—followed by another damn shrug.

“None of that ever happened…” I took a step towards him, and my blood started to boil.

“They’ll make good bedtime stories though, won’t they?” He tilted his head to the side. “I’m sure the judge will give you visitation rights—I wonder how long it’ll be before Charley doesn’t even want to look at you anymore because you make her sick.”

I couldn’t control my anger anymore. My emotions took over. I closed the distance between us and slapped Jackson as hard as I could. His head slung to the side, but he didn’t even pull his hands out of his pocket. A slight trickle of blood appeared on his bottom lip, but he just sucked it off—then he started laughing.

“Did you get that, Duke?” Jackson looked past me.

“What?” I spun around to see Jackson’s best friend from high school standing behind us.

“Yep, sure did, Jackson.” Duke gave him a thumbs up. “I might have to kill the audio, but I think the court will see what a crazy psychopath your daughter’s mom is.”

“Bye, sunshine.” Jackson walked past me. “See you in court…”

I stared at the two of them as they walked away. It was a setup. Jackson said those awful things because he was trying to get a reaction out of me. I fell right into his trap. I felt the color draining out of my face and my body went number. I walked back into Alcott Inc. and realized that, literally everyone in the lobby had seen the exchange. None of them heard what he said—they just saw him casually standing there with his hands in his pocket while we had a conversation—before I slapped him—hard enough to draw blood.

That’s what everyone in the courtroom is going to see. They really will think I’m a psychopath…

There was no way I could stay at work, but I couldn’t leave without my purse and my cell phone—which were upstairs at my desk. I walked to the elevators, rode to my floor, and didn’t say anything to Lisa when she asked where I was going. I tried to call Jon, but it went straight to voicemail. I hung up and immediately called him again—it didn’t go straight to voicemail, but there was no answer, and after several rings, I heard his voicemail pick up for the second time. I walked to my car, and when I closed the door, I couldn’t hold it inside anymore. I broke down and cried while I continued dialing Jon’s number, but he never answered. I finally gave up and just started driving home.

I only have a couple of days to figure this out, but it looks like I may have no choice but to run. I’m not going anywhere near that courtroom if there’s a chance Jackson could get custody of Charley—and that video is going to be a problem.

Chapter Twenty

Jon

“You’re sure he’s at the Pembroke again?” I tilted my head and held the phone against my ear as I got out of my car.

“Yeah, he checked in this morning.” Leo’s voice echoed on the other end of the line.

“You’ve still got someone watching Melanie’s apartment, right?” I paused when I got to the door.

“I do,” he exhaled sharply. “I pulled my guy off Melanie since she’s at Alcott Inc., but nobody has come near her apartment.”

“Good. I’m going to take care of this right now.” I balled my hands into fists.

“Do you want me to send some guys over? If this guy is on drugs, you don’t want to mess with him on your own…” Leo’s voice had a hint of concern.

“Nah, I’ll handle it.” I ended the call and walked into the Pembroke Hotel.

My phone vibrated in my pocket as soon as I walked in, but I immediately silenced it. Whoever was calling had to wait—I had something way more important to deal with. I h

ad no idea what Jackson had been doing since he arrived in Carson Cove, but if he had checked into the Pembroke Hotel, then he was planning to stay for at least another day. It was time for me to do what I wanted to do from the beginning and give him a one-way ticket out of Carson Cove. He hadn’t approached Melanie—he hadn’t been to her apartment—but I felt like it was only a matter of time before he did. I had to make sure he understood why that was going to be the last mistake he ever made—and I could be damn convincing when I wanted to be.

I’ll get a room on his floor to be safe—just like last time.

“Room service…” I growled under my breath when I got to the right floor and started pounding on the door.

There was no response, and I couldn’t hear any commotion inside the room. I pounded on the door a few more times and then walked to the room I rented for myself. He was in Carson Cove—he hadn’t checked out, so he would be back at some point. I tried to stay by the door and be as quiet as possible so I could hear the elevator, but there were a couple of false alarms. I yanked my door open a couple of times to find random people in the hallway that looked a bit terrified of how fast I did it. I started pacing and was just about to turn my phone on so I could see who had called me earlier when I heard a thud.

Did I miss him? Damn…

I had no way to be sure, so I had to walk back to his room. There was some noise on the other side of the door. In a way, that was better. If I was in his room, I would have a few extra minutes to make sure he got the message. If I had to deliver it in the hallway, someone could call security or possibly the cops. I knocked on the door a couple of times—announced myself as room service and listened to the footsteps approaching. I had him. He just had to open the damn door. Finally, I saw the door crack open.

“I didn’t order—hey, you’re not…” The confusion gave me a chance to hit the door with my shoulder and drive him back.