It was hard not to flinch, but I managed it. “Don’t act like you’re above blackmail, Jamie.”
He sneered at me. “Fine. And Steadman?”
“He’ll never know, as long as you keep me involved. As for how to take him down … We’ll figure it out.”
“You’ve been plotting with Asher for years, and you still haven’t figured it out.”
How did he know that? I verbalized the question.
“You think everything’s on this laptop? No.” He pushed off the desk and crossed the room to tower over me.
I wanted to retreat.
I forced myself not to.
“You’ll use Asher.”
“Never.”
His lips twitched. “I have a feeling one day, I’ll change your mind. For now, we go after the cashier and the cop.”
Relief eased through me. “Good. Where do you want to start?”
“Why don’t we start with you giving me back that key?” He held out his palm.
Not seeing any reason to argue, I slipped it out of my back pocket and dropped it into his hand without touching him. If I wasn’t mistaken, his eyes danced with laughter, like he knew I was afraid to make physical contact.
He closed his hand around the key. “Now, get out.”
I glared at him. “The plan?”
“Well, I need to think about it now that I have a new player in the mix, don’t I,” he said in a tone that suggested I was a moron. He turned his back to me and walked toward the laptop. I flipped him off. It was childish, but it made me feel better. “I’ll be in touch …” His voice trailed off, and I realized why when I saw what he was looking at.
The manuscript on his desk. Doe.
He looked back at me, his expression guarded.
“I didn’t read it,” I assured him.
After a moment of speculation, as if trying to gauge if I was telling the truth (the bastard), he turned his back on me again. “You can leave.”
But I wasn’t quite ready to. “Why?”
“Why what?” he snapped.
“Why is your new book titled Doe?”
Jamie laughed, his shoulders shaking a little with the movement. “Do you think it’s about you, Jane?”
“It’s a little coincidental …” My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
I hated that he could make me feel so small and stupid.
He turned toward me, leaning on the desk as his hand rested on top of the papers. “I guess I wanted to feel what it was like to ruin you before I actually do it.”
Pain lashed across my chest, so acute, it was like six years hadn’t passed. Like I was reading his letter all over again and wondering how my Jamie could do this to me.
He studied me, a deep melancholy slowly washing through his eyes. The darkness in them made my heart beat faster. “I want to ruin all of you. A lifetime of misery ought to do the trick.”
Holding back the tears, I gave him a tight nod. “Well, they say misery loves company.”
“Look at you. I think you’re finally beginning to understand.”
Marching away and slamming out of his apartment, I railed at him in my head. What did he think? That he was alone in his wounds? That the rest of us weren’t in pain too?
All those years ago, I’d taught him to look beyond himself.
It would seem Jamie McKenna had forgotten that lesson.
I glanced back at his closed door as I leaned against mine. “It’s up to me to remind you.”
22
JAMIE
“What was the name again?” the security guard asked.
I leaned out of the car window and peered up at him through my dark sunglasses. “Jamie Stone.”
“Here to see?”
Jesus Christ, how many times did I need to repeat myself? “Margot Higgins.” I bit back my attitude, knowing it would get me nowhere. I’d save that for Jane.
A few minutes later, they opened the gate to the Chimera Studios grounds and I drove in, wearing a satisfied smirk. I knew Jane would let me in. She seemed determined to stick close. Blackmailing me. I was almost proud.
I should’ve known she wouldn’t just sit back and let my plans unfold around her. Jane was made of tougher stuff than that. Would she hand my ass over to Steadman? I’m not sure I believed that. So why indulge her?
She might prove useful; it kept her where I could keep an eye on her; and it meant I could figure out what really made her tick. What would really screw up Jane? Personally, I hoped I could, that underneath her attitude, there was still a part of her that was attracted to me.