by Maggie Cole
Jack laughed softly. “They washed the sheets today. It smells like bleach here. So, are you naked in my bed?”
I laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Please, tell me. After the night I’ve had, I need something else on my mind.”
I sat up in bed. “Did something bad happen at your meeting?”
“No, no, just boring. I kept thinking about how I should be making you cum instead of listening to three, greasy, fat guys talk about how great they are.”
“Well someone has to do the dirty work.”
“Hey Maddie, let me switch to FaceTime.” Soon my phone rang and his face popped on the screen.
“There, that’s better. Hi.”
“Hey, you.” I smiled. Jack seemed worn out? Stressed? Worried? Something was a little off.
“So...I have to tell you something. And I don’t know how you are going to take this, and some of this I can’t go further into until we are together face to face for real.”
What is he going to tell me?
“Is this what you found out today?”
“Yes. I only found this out this morning, and I swear I didn’t know this, or I would have told you.”
“Jack, what is it? You’re scaring me.”
Jack ran shaky hands through his hair. He closed his eyes, then opened them and carefully chose his words. “I didn’t know Maddie...that Michael Dupont was Mike.”
I watched him, and didn’t quite catch on. "And...” I waited for him to continue.
“He’s a business partner in one of Tom and my companies.” He let it settle, and I felt like a bomb exploded; I started to grasp the conversation, and my heart started to beat faster as I waited for him to tell me more.
Jack closed his eyes. “That asshole, Jim, he’s in thick with Michael...sorry, Mike...sorry, I’ve never called him Mike before.”
My nerves stood on end again, and I remembered how gross I felt when Jim touched me. Jack’s words, ‘those days are over,’ echoed through my mind.
“Something happened, and I can’t get into it tonight, but Michael and Jim, they are bad people. Really bad, Maddie.” Jack ran his hands through his hair. Stress filled his face, and I wanted to reach out and hold him, but I couldn’t.
“Say something.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’m listening right now, so keep talking.” I honestly didn’t know what to say or think, but I knew there was more.
“The reason Tom is flying in tomorrow is because we are trying to figure out how to get Michael off the company with the other partners. Tom didn’t even know the half of what has happened because I was trying to handle it on my own. It’s too deep. I couldn’t fix it all by myself,” he admitted with defeat.
“Jack, I feel like you are talking in code right now. What did Mike do?”
“I can’t tell you over the phone. I promise I’ll tell you tomorrow in person.”
“Is that why Tom made us take the bodyguards today?”
“Yes. I only happened to find out, because when I told Tom about us, he asked if I knew that your ex was Michael Dupont. I never put two and two together. I’m so sorry.” Jack’s face turned slightly green.
“And whatever Mike did, you didn’t tell him until this morning? That is why Tom never warned me?” Parts of the day started to become clear.
“Yes. If I knew, you never would have gone to get your things without me, but it was too late. Tom convinced me you would be safer with the bodyguards.”
I bit my lip. “Jack, did you use to party with Jim and Mike?”
“I wouldn’t call it a party,” Jack gulped.
“But in St. Pete, that was what you told me.”
“Look, I never wanted to have to tell you what I will tomorrow night. Once I tell you, you will understand why I choose that route. Please forgive me. I hope you will understand and give me a pass when you find out.”
I didn’t like being lied to, and I knew that until I heard the entire truth, I wouldn’t be able to let Jack off the hook.
Something else occurred to me. “Jack, is Mike a criminal?”
He nodded. “I can’t discuss anything over the phone, Maddie.” An immense amount of stress and worry loomed on his face.
“Do I need to worry about him coming after me?”
Jack didn’t speak right away. “Maddie, whatever you do, don’t go near him. I don’t want to scare you, but yes, I think he might try to come after you.”
I closed my eyes and remembered how he yelled at me earlier in the day.
"Jack, answer this for me. Did you ever see him cheat on me?” It was time to find out for sure what I assumed all those years.
Jack closed his eyes. “Do you really need to know this?”
“Yes. I want to know.”
“Yes, I’m sorry to tell you that.”
“You were with him when he cheated on me?”
“Maddie...” Jack closed his eyes a bit.
I wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “Answer the question, Jack.”
“Yes, there were several occasions... I was with him when he cheated on you.”
I stared at Jack. All those years, I wondered, but knew in my gut, that he was with other women...and I stayed. But I never did anything about it. What the heck was wrong with me?
Jack assumed my silence was about him. “Maddie, I didn’t know about you.”
I stared at Jack. It occurred to me that he knew the real Mike better than I did.
I once again felt like a complete doormat.
“Maddie, you okay?”
“No. I need to go, Jack. I want to go to sleep.”
"Please, tell me this doesn’t change things between us?”
I couldn’t answer that. This was a lot to take in. I was sleeping with my ex’s partner. My ex was a criminal, but I wasn’t sure what kind. I had been cheated on, and apparently my new guy had somehow been a part of it? Or was a part of it really a fair assessment? My mind was spinning. My heart was being shredded once again.
It wasn’t really Jack’s fault, but I didn’t know the role he played in all this. And did whatever Mike do put Jack into harm's way too? Was Jack a criminal? I needed answers, but I wasn’t going to get them tonight.
“I don’t know, Jack. You’re going to have to tell me everything tomorrow and let me process this.”
Devastation grew on his face.
I closed my eyes as his sad eyes stared through the screen, then opened them and admitted, “But I don’t want it to.”
He blinked back tears. “I don’t either, Maddie. Get some sleep.”
I turned off my phone and cried into the pillow that smelled like Jack, in the bed of my lover who wasn’t there to comfort me, who I didn’t know if I would ever make love to again.
11
Maddie
After I thrashed around with nightmares all night, dreaming things no one should dream, I decided to get up. I quickly dressed for work and grabbed my phone off the charger.
There was a text from Jack. “I hope you slept well. I forgot to tell you that you shouldn’t go anywhere without my driver...he is waiting on standby for you.”
I rolled my eyes and texted back, “Is this really necessary?”
“Yes. Be mad at me, but don’t try to spite me. Please.”
“Fine. You get your way.”
“Thank you. I miss you.”
I paused for a minute. My anger told me not to respond, but my heart won. I texted him back an emoji heart and left it at that.
Downstairs, his driver waited on standby. His name was Casey. I assumed he was ex-military and had a feeling he was more than a driver.
I arrived to work super early and was surprised to see Liv there already.
“Hey.” She glanced up from her desk. “Come on in.”
I sat down, unsure where to start.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” A tear slipped out of my eye. “Did Tom tell you anything last night?”<
br />
Liv came and sat next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. “He promised we would talk tonight, but it’s bad.”
“That’s what Jack says.”
“Did Jack tell you what’s going on?”
“Nothing more than Mike is a criminal, and they are partners. Oh, and Mike cheated on me when he was with Jack.”
“Jack told you that?” Liv looked at me in surprise.
“I made him tell me the truth.”
“Ah, I see. I’m sorry, Maddie. I dated my fair share of cheaters before Tom.”
“Jack was with him several times...when Mike cheated on me. It wasn’t a one-off.”
Liv rubbed my back and didn’t say anything.
Another tear fell from my face. “I don’t want Mike back, or have any good feelings left for him, but I wasted so many years on him. Six years, Liv!”
Liv pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back, “I know, girl. But you wouldn’t have found Jack!”
“I knew he was cheating on me. I didn’t have proof, but I knew it in my gut...and I still stayed. Why did I stay?” I cried harder.
“Shh...you can’t go backward. Don’t beat yourself up.”
I sobbed.
“Hey, what else is this about?”
“Jack asked last night if this changes things between us, and I couldn’t tell him no. Until I know the entire story, I can’t say either way.”
Liv pulled out of the hug. “Hey, listen, I know it’s something bad and it’s easy to jump to conclusions, but Jack is one of the good guys. So whatever he tells you, I know it’ll be okay.”
Liv was right about Jack, but I still didn’t know where that put us.
“Let him explain when he gets back and take it from there. Relationships aren’t perfect.”
“Yours and Tom’s is.”
Liv started laughing, hard. “No, it’s not. We have to work on our own crap too. And trust me, we really fought to make it work, in the beginning. But it’s totally worth it.”
It was hard for me to imagine anything but ease with Tom and Liv’s relationship. They were the perfect couple. But I knew she wouldn’t lie to me.
I eventually walked down to my office and became lost in my projects when I heard a knock on my door. Jack stood in the doorway, smiling at me, handsome as always, but also tired. His normal energy was drained, and I could tell he probably hadn’t slept any better than I had.
My body wanted to go to him, but my mind wasn’t going to allow it. I gave him a sad smile, not sure about our status. I had a flashback of yesterday morning, at the airport, when I blew him a final kiss. We both had been oblivious to what was ahead of us. Innocent, naive, and in utter bliss.
Today was a different reality. I wanted to step back in time, but I knew we couldn’t.
“Can I come in?” Jack looked at me cautiously.
“Sorry, yes, of course.”
He shut the door and sat across from me with his anxious eyes. His normal confidence was nowhere to be seen.
Lost about how to start the conversation, I decided to give him some help. “I need to know the truth.”
Jack shook his head. “I know you think you do, Maddie, but I’m going to give you one more chance to forget about this. You aren’t going to like what you hear. I really don’t want to cause you any pain.”
“Get it over with and tell me, Jack.”
“I think we should go home and talk about this.”
“Why? What does that matter? For God’s sake, spit it out, please!” My voice got louder.
"Okay, but I warned you.” He blew out some air.
I waited for him to speak.
He sighed, and I could see that his hand was shaking. I realized he was nervous. It threw me for a surprise.
“I met Michael Dupont in Tampa about a year ago. I was working on buying out a marina, and they kept raising their price. It was starting to get really ridiculous, but the potential was too good for me to pass up. I was bidding against him, and every time we bid, the owner would get greedier.” Jack rubbed his hands through his hair in frustration.
I waited for him to continue.
“One day, Michael and I were in the same bar. After a few drinks, we decided we should combine forces and become partners or we were both going to lose out. Tom mentioned he knew him, so I didn’t vet him like I normally would. I wanted to get this deal done. I was cocky, Maddie, and skipped the crucial step that could have saved us from this mess,” he admitted, and looked like he hated himself.
My heart ached, but I wasn’t ready to cut him any slack. “Go on.”
“We told the owner we were at a final offer and take it or leave it. As we thought, he took it and ran.” Jack threw his head back, looking up at the ceiling. Guilt washed over his face.
“Why didn’t Tom vet him?”
Jack shook his head. “I was the negotiating arm. I put deals together for all of us. It was my job.”
Jack’s eyes filled with embarrassment, failure, and regret. It was painful to see. I usually knew him as strong and confident. I also realized I still didn't have a good grip on what he really did.
He continued, “We thought we were buying a marina to save jobs and expand, but that wasn’t Michael’s plan. The manager of the marina was Jim and as usual, we try to keep the employees in their positions if possible. Michael wanted to take oversight of the staffing and the investors agreed to let him do it.”
Jacks face went white. “I didn’t know, Maddie, I swear I didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Michael and Jim were trafficking women and children out of the marina,” Jack said quietly.
“No,” I whispered as my stomach flipped. Mike was a dick, but he wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t have been sharing a bed with a human trafficker?
“Let’s go home and finish this conversation. Please.”
“No.”
“Then sit on the couch,” Jack grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the couch.
I turned toward him. “How did you find out?”
Jack shifted in his seat. “I was in Tampa, working on other deals, and ran into Jim and Michael at the bar. They invited me to an afterparty. We had partied together before, so I didn’t think anything of it. But there were all these women and children...up for auction, if you will.” Jack stopped, looked queasy, and closed his eyes as if he couldn’t get rid of the images.
I grabbed his hand, and realized how hard this must have been for him.
“There was a gun. I didn’t know what to do...so I left and was in shock. The next day, I returned, and it was like no one had even been there. I called the FBI, and we started piecing it all together. Michael only wanted to buy the marina to traffic out of it and he and Jim go way back. Our money expanded their operation. I’m the one who put the deal together.” Jack quickly wiped a tear away.
I couldn’t believe what I heard. How could I have been with someone for six years and not known what kind of a person they were?
“I’ve been working with the FBI on this for a year now. That’s why I was in Tampa. I wasn’t able to tell any of my investors, including Tom, the extent of everything. The FBI finally agreed to let me bring Tom into the investigation. I told him as soon as he informed me that your Mike was Michael Dupont. I’m so sorry, Maddie.”
I didn’t know what to say. Jack went to say something and stopped. “What?” More bad feelings shot through my body.
“Do you remember signing any papers?”
I jerked my head. “What are you talking about?”
“Tom found out yesterday they’ve been signing all the cargo shipments as Madeline Burns.”
My pulse increased, and my mouth went dry. “Jack, you know I don’t have anything to do with this.”
“I know that, Maddie.”
“Does Tom—”
“No way. He knows you have nothing to do with this. The FBI knows, too. We spent the morning with them.”
“Why doesn’t the FBI arrest the
m?”
“They didn't have any proof. I should have called as soon as I left that night, but I didn’t know what to do. I think I was in shock...I don’t even remember driving home. I called the FBI the very next morning, but everything had been wiped clean. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would think it never happened. We’ve been tracing their activities over the last year, and they can’t seem to get to it in time. The FBI is always a step behind. We are trying to get the next shipment of women and children and find the supplier,” Jack shakily ran his hands through his hair.
My head spun. I stared at Jack and tried to process all this. I spent six years of my life with a human trafficker. This was worse than I ever could have imagined. I started to feel sick.
“Maddie, let’s go home.”
I decided I wasn’t going to get any more work done after learning this, so I let him help me into my coat, escort me to the lobby, and into his car. So many thoughts raced through my head. I fell right into Jack’s chest, the familiarity of it felt secure in a world I was no longer sure about.
We didn’t talk on the way home, and it didn’t take long until we were up in Jack’s penthouse. He ran a bath. I didn’t argue, as I felt emotionally drained and sat in the bath with my mind spinning. When I stepped out, I put on one of Jack’s t-shirts and walked into the bedroom. Jack was already lying on the bed, his eyes closed.
“Hey.” I rubbed the back of my hand against his cheek.
He opened his eyes and sat up. “I’ll go stay in another room so you can be comfortable here.”
I grabbed his arm. “No, Jack. I don’t want that.”
At that moment, I realized he was just as human as I was. He had been manipulated and deceived by Mike, as much as me.
His heart hurt, and I was the one to hurt it with my inability to tell him nothing had changed between us. The man who gave me more pleasure and excitement than anyone, from the moment I met him, who put me first and himself last, didn’t deserve to be hurt by me.
It was then and there, I knew no matter what else happened, that I was all in. It didn’t matter, because I wouldn’t let whatever Mike did, destroy what I could have with Jack.
“You don’t hate me?”
“No, Jack, I don’t hate you.” I leaned in to kiss him, and tried to take all the worry and what ifs and maybes out of his mind and mine.