Unchained: Sterling Chains - Book One by Vee R. Paxton

Author:Vee R. Paxton [Paxton, Vee R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: WOOW Books Publishing
Published: 2022-03-21T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter eighteen

Jack Mathers

I upheld my bargain with Ash. I sent Tatum a few text messages but didn’t call or go by the bar where she worked. I felt like a jerk but kept trying to convince myself it was for the best. My messages were polite but not flirtatious. Her responses were flat. I could tell she wasn’t happy.

I’d been buried in work. So far, we had found little to help avoid this case going to trial, but my optimism remained. Perhaps there was something we’d missed.

The notes I’d been scrolling through held my attention until Audrey came strolling through my door. Matt was at lunch, or he’d have warned me. What the hell? This woman has some nerve.

“Hello Jack, how are you these days?” she asked, studying me.

“I’m not giving you any scoop on the Raymond case, so don’t ask,” I said, barely looking up at her.

She leaned over my desk, making sure her loose blouse hung open enough to give me a view of her breasts hanging provocatively in the lacy bra that I’d bought her for Valentine’s Day the first year we were together. I couldn’t help but wonder why she’d kept that outfit.

“That’s not why I’m here, Jack,” she said, not moving from her position.

“Then why are you here, Audrey?” I asked, averting my eyes from where I knew she wanted them and continuing to look at my papers.

“It’s just, well, I miss certain things about you, and since you aren’t with anyone . . .” She inched her hands closer to mine.

“What makes you assume that?”

“Well, that little redhead you were with the other night has obviously moved on, and I assumed you would be too busy with your big case to have replaced her. If she ever really was much anyway,” she said, lightly running a finger over the back of my hand.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and no, I’m not interested in fucking you,” I said, looking her straight in the eye.

She stood up, chin lifted. She wasn’t used to getting turned down. “Oh, that’s right, you never check the gossip, do you?”

She reached into her large bag, pulled out a tabloid newspaper, and flopped it on my desk. On the front page was a picture of Malcolm Howard walking down the street with his arm around Tatum Sterling. Next was a picture of them in a restaurant together.

I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. How could I have been such an idiot? Of course he’d come swooping in as soon as I left an opening. He knew Sterling. Odds were he knew about her powers and had his own way of keeping safe around them.

“That’s nice. I’m still not fucking you,” I said, pushing the tabloid back to her.

She took a step back and looked down at me. She began unbuttoning her blouse.

“Audrey, stop. Don’t do that.”

“I want you, Jack. I miss you.”

“No. For fuck’s sake, have some dignity. Button your blouse and get the hell out of here.

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