Jordan's Justice: A New Adult Sport Romance (Tessa and Jordan Book 2)

by T Christensen

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  Chapter 35

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  Jordan and Tessa quietly left Jordis’s room. They’d read the book twice before she’d finally drifted off to sleep. Now it was time to get to the bottom of why his parents had left so abruptly.

  When he’d asked where they were while in the kitchen, he saw Tessa tense from across the room. Something had happened.

  “Let’s talk in the theater room.”

  He led the way without waiting for an answer. It was the one place they could talk privately without waking Jordis. It was soundproof, and Tessa’s nervous energy alerted him that their discussion would not be pleasant.

  While she sat down, Jordan turned on the lights. Never one to delay, he demanded, “Out with it. Why did my parents leave so abruptly?”

  Tessa sat on the edge of the engulfing theater love seat with her hands knotted together and her eyes lowered.

  “Can you please sit down?”

  He bit his tongue instead of snapping at her to spit it out and dropped to the seat beside her. When she still didn’t say anything, Jordan barked out, “Tessa!”

  Finally she lifted her wide eyes to his, and he locked on her face. He needed to watch her to know if she was going to lie to him.

  After a visible gulp, Tessa started in a near whisper, “Your mom and I had a disagreement after you left.”

  His mom and Tessa always circled each other, so that wasn’t a surprise. “And?” Jordan ground out. He was tired of waiting for her to get to the point.

  Tessa looked back down at her hands. “Your dad came in during our discussion. Christina and I were talking about the paper I didn’t sign when I was pregnant with Jordis. Eric was angry when he heard I didn’t sign it, and—”

  Jordan exploded up from the couch. He couldn’t believe what he heard.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” he thundered down into Tessa’s stunned face.

  A part of him knew he should stop, but he’d had enough of her lying. First she’d tried to come between him and his mom. Now she was fucking with his parents’ marriage. He was done trying to pacify and make peace with her. She was a greedy little manipulator and needed to understand that she couldn’t take advantage of him or his family.

  “Part of our marriage agreement was to never bring up the fucking past!”

  She stood stiffly in front of him. “I didn’t bring it up. Christina did. If you let me finish, you would know that.”

  Oh no, she did not get to dress him down. It was time Tessa Parker—oh wait, he had married the bitch. It was time Tessa Davis was put in her place.

  “So you manipulated the conversation so my mom would bring it up. Do you think it’s easy for her, Tessa? Do you ever think about anyone but yourself? She hates that I married you, but she still comes to the house you live in and is civil. At least she’s trying. To see me or be with her granddaughter, she has to see you.”

  Tessa gasped and her face went white. By her strangled sounds, she was actually getting upset and showing some real emotion instead of being the fake everything-is-fine woman he’d been living with.

  “Now you’ve obviously twisted my dad around your little finger and put a wedge in their marriage! We are done. Get your stuff and get out of my fucking house!”

  After blanching when he roared the last sentence, Tessa just stood there with tears streaming down her face. For several time-stopping seconds, the two of them stared at each other. Jordan couldn’t stand her wide-eyed shock any longer. He wasn’t a pushover, and she’d pushed him to his limit.

  In the most lethal tone he had, Jordan declared, “You’d better be out in the next thirty minutes, or I will call the police and have you hauled out of here.”

  Tessa wiped the tears off her cheeks and walked out of the room. The anger burning him alive needed a release. He stalked to the snack bar in the back of the room and swiped everything off the counter with a roar.

  He couldn’t believe her betrayal, especially after he’d buried his resentment and hatred and tried to move forward. She was still trying to get more out of him. His nerves were ready to snap and his heart tried was trying to escape his chest. He needed a fucking drink, and he had to watch the front door. God help her if she wasn’t gone in the next twenty minutes and with only her shit.

  When he got to the great room, he sat in a chair that had a full view of the front door, cradling a whisky. With every passing minute, his grip on the glass increased and his body became more rigid. After thirty-one minutes, she still hadn’t left.

  Jordan marched up the stairs, trying to settle his rage so he could escort the bitch out of his house without killing her. All of his focus was on getting the manipulative woman out of there and out of his life.

  As soon as he stepped into the master bedroom, he knew she wasn’t there. Whenever they were in the same vicinity, Jordan was aware of her presence. There was no static around him, drawing him in her direction.

  He stepped farther in and looked around. Nothing seemed to be gone, but he would have to look closer once the rage fogging his brain dissipated. Just as he turned to leave, he caught sight of something flashy out of the corner of his eye. It was Tessa’s wedding ring, sitting on the nightstand by his side of the bed.

  That made him pause. Why would she leave her wedding ring? He’d paid $10,000 for it. Tessa didn’t know how much it was worth, but it was still a diamond that she could hock.

  Jordan threw open the door to the walk-in closet. Nothing seemed to be missing, although the spot where she’d kept her purse was empty. Now he got her game. She could fit a lot of valuable stuff in there and think he wouldn’t miss it.

  What would she put in there? The ring was the only jewelry he’d given her, but maybe she’d bought some without his knowledge. He headed to his side of the closet. All of his cuff links and watches were still there. He saw nothing that she’d had taken.

  Jordan shook his head to clear the whisky so he could think and headed to the garage. All three of his cars and the new white BMW with the ribbon on the hood were still there. She had keys to both the BMW and the Audi. How had she left? Unease tightened his gut, but he pushed it away.

  Tessa was an adult. Hell, she’d been manipulative since college. He would feel nothing but relief that he no longer had to walk on eggshells around her because she was finally out of his life.

  Jordan took some breaths. He needed to get himself together by the time Jordis woke up in the morning. She would have questions, and he needed to protect her.

  He was done thinking about Tessa. Jordis would now be the focus of all his energy.

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  Chapter 36

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  Tessa stepped out of the front door, trying to contain the avalanche of emotions bubbling inside her. She couldn’t allow herself to think or feel anything until she was far away from here. The only reason she didn’t just sink to the ground in defeat and let the grief overtake her was her reason for living—Jordis. She would never willingly give up her daughter, but she needed some time to recover from what had just happened and get her wits back.

  Taking her phone out of her purse, she stood at the end of the driveway and pulled up the Uber app, setting the pickup location to a mile away. With her arms wrapped around her, Tessa trudged in that direction, concentrating on the street in front of her. If it got blurry, she drew in a shaky breath and wiped the tears from her eyes before she kept going.

  Once she arrived, she stood under a streetlight and looked at the windshield of every passing car. In a couple of minutes, she saw the glowing indicator verifying her Uber had arrived. She raised her hand to flag it down and quivered with relief when it pulled over.

  “You’re going to Everyone’s Hotel, right?” the driver swiveled around to ask.

  “Yes. Can you drive to an ATM first?”

  He cocked his head at her flat, monotone response. Tessa turned her head to look out the window, praying he would get the mess
age that she wasn’t going to talk.

  “Rough Christmas?” he asked sympathetically.

  A harsh bark of laugher that ended in a choked sob was her only response.

  “ATM and Everyone’s Hotel coming up.”

  The rest of the drive was silent. It wouldn’t have mattered if the driver did talk. Tessa was lost in her head. The entire night replayed in her head, and she wasn’t able to stop the tears from running down her face.

  It took her a couple of tries to get the pin number right, but she finally got the $900 she’d requested at the ATM. It was the maximum she could get. It was Jordan’s money, but for once she didn’t care.

  Tessa needed time to break down and then plan for her future. She needed to be by herself to do that. Knowing the hotel was only minutes away was the only thing keeping her cognizant.

  When they pulled up, the driver asked warily, “Are you sure you want to stay here?”

  This was the part of the city she was comfortable in and where she belonged. No one here would judge her. It wasn’t a secret if someone hated you, and there was no petty backstabbing. Tessa paid the driver and checked in at the front desk.

  The closer she got to her room, the blurrier her sight became. Her legs shook so bad that Tessa prayed she would make it to her room. She was falling apart, and she no longer had the strength to push it away. Taking a deep breath, Tessa used one hand to hold the other. She needed to stop the shaking long enough to insert the card into the lock. When the green light flashed, her relief came out in huge sobs.

  Letting herself in, she closed the door and slid down to the floor. She was safe and free to let go.

  The scathing look from Jordan kept reappearing in her head and refused to leave. It had been a mistake to marry him. Tessa choked on her regret. She loved him, even though she knew he hated her, although hate was too mild of a word for what Jordan thought of her now.

  Deep down she’d hoped that if they lived together long enough, he would realize she could never do all the things he’d accused her of. Now she understood that Jordan had been manipulating the situation. He’d been playing nice so he could get to know Jordis. Once he was in Jordis’s heart, it no longer mattered if Tessa was with them or not.

  Jordan would never pick her over his family. He’d married her and then waited to kick her out when he and his family had worn her down. When she couldn’t take any more was when he would have his opportunity to take Jordis from her.

  Tessa would fight until she was dead to make sure she was never taken from her and that Christina never saw her. She would figure out how to do it, but not now. Right now she didn’t have the energy or the will to do anything but mourn the life she’d prayed would be her happily ever after.

  Eventually Tessa dragged herself up off the floor and crawled under the thin, scratchy white bedsheets to cry. She dissected every interaction she and Jordan had ever had, trying to figure out what she had done for him to see her as a manipulative bitch.

  Sobs wracked her body the entire night, and her brain couldn’t shut down. Tessa wasn’t aware of the night passing until the unrelenting sun refused to leave her alone. She squinted her heavy eyes open and then quickly closed them when the brightness burned them. Her head pounded, and her body felt like a weight was laying on her.

  Wiping away the gunk that coated her eyes, Tessa tried again to look at the time. It was nine in the morning. Not just any morning—it was Christmas morning. She closed her eyes and willed herself the strength to call Jordis and then the moms.

  Dragging her heavy body up to lean her back against the wall, Tessa clutched her phone and breathed. She closed her eyes and swallowed the knot of emotion lodged in her throat.

  When she felt like she was in a safe bubble, Tessa opened her eyes and hit Jordan’s name. With each ring, it became harder to breathe and her grip tightened.

  His clipped voice answered, “What do you want?”

  Tessa sucked in the hurt and put it in the bubble. “Put Jordis on.”

  The silence was deadly. Tessa knew he was still on the line. She could feel his hate through the phone.

  “I just want to wish her a merry Christmas.”

  More silence. She felt like she’d swallowed battery acid and was going to throw up.

  “I told her you had to go take care of your mom. Do not contradict me.”

  Tessa would never say it, but she was thankful he’d told Jordis something. She hadn’t been able to think of a plausible reason why she wasn’t there.

  “Tessa,” Jordan warned.

  There was so much she wanted to say, but she was done trying to convince him of anything. Less was more. That was her new philosophy with Jordan.

  “Agreed.”

  There was an exchange of the phone, and then a hesitant voice came on the line. It took everything she had not to break down.

  “Mommy? Where are you?”

  Tessa closed her eyes and took a stuttered breath. “I’m at Nana’s, sweetie.”

  There was a long silence. The longer it went on, the more pieces of her heart she lost.

  “I go see Nana?”

  Tessa gripped her phone until it dug into her hand. “Nana’s not feeling the best, Jordis. I thought you would like to stay with Daddy and open more presents.”

  “I open more presents?”

  Jordis’s awed excitement was too much to handle. Tessa wouldn’t be there to see her daughter opening her gifts. She needed to get through this conversation quickly.

  “Yes. It’s Christ—” Tessa had to stop. Her voice was breaking.

  “Mommy?”

  The worry in Jordis’s voice made it impossible for her to speak around the emotion churning in her stomach and clogging her throat.

  “Sorry, honey.” Tessa’s voice grew husky, and she knew she needed to end the call before she broke down completely. “I’m sad I’m not there with you. I have to go and get Nana her pills. I love you, Jordis.”

  Vaguely Tessa heard Jordis say I love you back before she stabbed the button to end the call. Then she threw herself back down onto the bed and let the sobs shaking her body escape.

  After half an hour of uncontrollable sobs, Tessa gathered herself enough to call the moms. They were supposed to go over there this afternoon, and she didn’t want them to call the house and ask questions.

  Tessa said as little as possible when she called. She assured her mom that everyone was okay, but they’d decided not to come. The silence on the other end was telling, but she didn’t ask questions. All she said was, “We are always here if you need us.”

  “I know. Bye, Mom.”

  The last call was done, and finally, she could just be. Be in this motel room and let herself fall apart. Be here and harden her heart toward Jordan. Be here and put herself back together again.

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  Chapter 37

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  Jordan should be enjoying his first Christmas with Jordis. Instead, he’d spent most of the day trying to hide his rage. Tessa’s plan to slowly build a wall between him and his parents might have worked if she hadn’t been so quick to pull the trigger.

  A day after everything had happened, the burning in his chest only increased. It was a good thing Jordis was occupied with the mound of toys she’d gotten for Christmas.

  Before this had all happened, Jordan had actually been having the occasional pangs of guilt, thinking his mom might be being too hard on Tessa. Luckily for him, Tessa had pushed too hard too soon. He was going to take her down.

  For once he was going to use the full force of his name and money. Tessa Davis, soon-to-be Tessa Parker again, would be lucky to ever see her daughter again. If she didn’t play by his rules, he would destroy her. The vengeance building in him made him crave to act. He’d already called his lawyer, but the bastard was out of the office until the new year.

  At the unexpected sound of the doorbell, Jordan was distracted from his thoughts. He was surprised to see his parents on the o
ther side of the door. They were supposed to fly out to Vail today.

  His mood got even darker when the discord between them was apparent. As soon as they sat down in the great room, Jordan got straight to the point.

  “Don’t let Tessa drive a wedge between you two. Dad, I know she is lying about not signing the blackmail agreement, and don’t let her persuade you otherwise. She is out of my life. I won’t have her manipulating us any longer.”

  During his speech, his mom got distressed. She looked like she was ready to cry. Jordan had never seen her so upset. She sat there looking over at his dad while she wrung her hands in her lap. He needed to fix this. The guilt at bringing Tessa into their lives killed him.

  Before he could start talking again, his dad rose from the couch. Tense as hell, he strode to where Jordan stood. “What do you mean she’s out of your life?”

  Jordan had never heard his threatening, no-bullshit tone directed at him, and he didn’t like it. What he had done was to protect his family.

  He stood toe-to-toe with his dad and stared him in the eye. “It means I ordered her out of my house.”

  His dad went unnaturally still. The hairs on the back of Jordan’s neck stood on end. His dad spun on his heel and glared at his mom. “Tell him.”

  Jordan looked at his frightened mother, still sitting on the couch. She was silently pleading with her husband, but he wasn’t having any of it.

  “Now!” his dad roared.

  He had been nothing but indulgent with his mom. There was never any real affection, but his dad had always given her what she wanted. Jordan stepped between them to ask, “What is going on?”

  His mom turned her bloodshot eyes to him and pleaded, “I did it for you, Jordan.”

  Jordan stared down at her and tried to ignore the tightening in his gut and the slowing of his blood.

  “Did what?” he questioned slowly.

  She looked over his shoulder at her somber husband. Closing her eyes, she said the words that stopped his world.