and going to the bathroom. That only gives you a minute or two if you want to talk to that guy alone, but I can go and try and distract her for a little longer.” His unusual eyes watched mine carefully. “Or we can slip out now, and you can figure out how you want to approach her later. Either way, this is our only window to do something unnoticed.”
I nodded and pulled in a deep breath. “I’m going to talk to him.”
I waited until Mercer’s colorful hair was totally out of sight before I got up and walked toward the table.
I heard Vernon mutter, “Good luck.”
He also got up and hurried in the direction of my friend. I could hear an invisible clock ticking in my mind as I took the empty seat across from the young man I never expected to see again.
I used a finger to push up the bill of my hat, but Jack didn’t seem at all surprised to see me. Instead, his expression was bland, almost bored, as he gave me a flat look over the rim of his wine glass.
“What are you doing here? Why are you dating my best friend? Why would you follow me here?”
The questions came out rapid-fire, one after the other. I was doing my best to keep my voice level, but I really wanted to scream at him at the top of my lungs. I hated how detached and unbothered he seemed. Wealthy people really were unaffected by most things. They knew they were basically untouchable, and it was so annoying.
He calmly put down the wine glass and stared at me in a way that made me feel like I should already have the answers.
“Do you know that the night I spent with you ruined my life? That guy you lived with made things very difficult for me. He caused quite a bit of concern for my family as well.” My former classmate leaned closer to me by putting an arm on the table and pushing forward. “He got me suspended from school. He cost me an internship I worked my ass off for. He showed that video of us to my actual girlfriend, and obviously, she dumped me. She had no idea I was seeing other girls on the side. She told my family how I was slumming with the help, and she left me. Her father was an investor in one of my father’s upcoming development projects and he was livid with me when he lost the backing because of my wandering eye. I was nearly cut off and written out of the will… all because I thought it would be fun to take your virginity.”
I made a strangled sound and lifted a hand to my throat. It sounded exactly like how Sawyer would act when he was wronged. I had no idea he’d taken revenge beyond threatening to release the footage if Jack didn’t leave me alone when we were at school.
He lifted an eyebrow in my direction and smirked. The expression on his face made my blood run cold.
“After I picked myself up and had some time to smooth things over with my family, I realized everything that happened to me was your fault. You brought that lunatic into my life. You put me in his crosshairs. I realized it wasn’t fair that I was the only one suffering. You should lose the things that matter to you as well. I might’ve been able to get past my anger toward you if you kept suffering and continued to live such a pitiful life, but after your mother died, you became a totally different person. I could see how happy you were once you got away, how relieved when that poor guy in the Victorian let you get close to him. You’re too close to living a perfectly normal life these days, and I don’t think that’s fair after all the trouble you caused me. There’s not much I could do to ruin you, Olivia. Richman already did that. But your friend, she’s so sweet, so innocent, so unsuspecting. How do you think she would feel if I put her through the same thing you dragged me into? I’ve been keeping her at just the right distance that when I finally let her get close, she won’t question anything. Who knows who might be watching? What if she becomes a target, a laughingstock, a pariah just because she befriended you? Does she have any idea