Bad Boy (An Indecent Proposal) - J.C. Reed Page 0,10
felt like another bomb had just been dropped on me and an avalanche was about to bury me alive.
“I was just trying to help you,” she repeated. “You would never have approved if you knew what I was up to.”
Damn right, I wouldn’t have.
I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart.
“On the bright side, you’ll get the letters,” Jude said. “So it wasn’t all for nothing, right? Plus, you got rid of your V-card.”
She made it sound like everything was fine.
I shook my head, my fingers tearing at the fringes of the pillow.
“Stop it,” I said at last. That instantly shut her up. “You have absolutely no idea what you’ve done.”
Through the awkward silence, I took a long breath as I prepared my next words carefully.
“Chase is Mystery Guy,” I whispered. “He’s the guy I got stuck in the elevator with.”
The silence on the other end of the line barely lasted three seconds. “That’s great. At least you found him and the mystery’s solved.”
“No, nothing’s fine, Jude. Please listen to me.” My heart crashed against my chest as the image of being trapped in an elevator with no means of escaped flooded my mind. “Chase is the one responsible for the entire floor crashing.”
The line stayed silent. A minute passed. Then another.
“You don’t know that,” she whispered after what felt like an eternity.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m right.”
“How?”
“Because I found a folder. It’s the reason I left him.” I wet my lips nervously. It all happened barely a day ago, so I still felt raw—as if someone had just hurled a bag of rocks at me.
“A folder?” Jude asked. Her voice carried a worried undertone.
“Yes.” I paused and cleared my throat to get rid of the shaking in my voice. “It was all in there. My bank account details. Everything about my mother and the estate. The email I received about the interview and the time I would have to be there. I don’t think it’s a coincidence we got stuck in the elevator. I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all that the floor crashed.”
The line remained silent. I took another breath as the memories came hard and violently—exactly how the last day of my life had been.
“The folder is all the proof I need that Chase was after my money from the start.” I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped one arm around them, hugging myself. “I didn’t give him a chance to explain, but I have proof that he lied to me, and to you, to get me to marry him. To gain my trust. Who knows how far he’d go to get what he wants.” The sudden realization sent a shiver through me. I knew nothing about Chase Wright. He could be dangerous. Heck, he probably was. Everything I had held back came crashing down. My hands began to shake. A throbbing sensation settled in my head.
“One hundred people, Jude. That’s how many got hurt. I’m so happy… I’m so grateful no one got killed that day, or else I wouldn’t know how to live with myself.” I wiped a stray tear off my cheek and looked at the moisture on my finger, my mind a million miles away. “He had it all planned. I know he had. If I hadn’t found the folder, I would never have discovered that he was behind it.”
“Oh, my God,” Jude said slowly. “Are you sure?”
Her question sounded more like a statement. She was finally beginning to believe me.
“Yes.” I nodded.
“I had no idea.” She paused.
“What should I do?” I whispered, more to myself than to her.
“Get divorced. Annul the marriage. I mean, it’s only been twenty-four hours.” Her tone was gentle. In spite of the monstrosity of the situation, she seemed surprisingly calm.
“No, I can’t,” I whispered. “Not yet anyway.” I felt the question in the air, so I went on to explain the one mistake I had been stupid enough to make. “I signed a contract, so theoretically I’m bound by his terms. It was his condition before getting married. The fool I was, I believed him, so I signed the damn thing.” I drew a shaky breath, biding for time before I continued, “So, to answer your question, I can’t get divorced for the next twelve months, which of course means that he has access to my inheritance.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jude whispered.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Why didn’t you tell me you found Chase on