He smirked, as she sauntered from the room.
As Sasha strolled through the ice tunnel corridors, she felt more powerful than she ever had before. She’d reached a whole new level of enjoyment with Thomas, one in which she was completely free to explore whatever her body felt like. Thomas wasn’t only completely open-minded, he was downright eager. After years of fucking women in the only way he could to hide his body, being open and naked with Sasha had released a whole new side of him. Together, they would explore every inch of one another, making a map of each other’s bodies.
Sasha pushed open the doors to the hotel. High above, the Northern Lights were swirling in the sky. She had signal, so she called Chris’s home.
“Chris, you won’t believe how beautiful it is here,” Sasha gushed when he picked up the phone.
“Sash, I’ve been trying to call you.”
“I’m sorry, I had no signal. Is Mom there?”
“That’s why I was trying to call you. I’m sorry, Sash. Your mom passed away.”
Sasha blinked once. She felt the cell phone slide from her grasp. Then she was on her knees, the cold snow penetrating into her skin.
Chapter Thirty Seven
Thomas held Sasha’s hand tightly, as they walked to the front of the church. Beautiful lilies adorned the whole place, making a fragrant, calming smell. Thomas had paid for the whole funeral to make sure Julia got the best send off.
“Thank you for doing this,” Sasha said. “For the record, I forgive you now.”
A sad smile pulled at Thomas’s lips. He kissed her forehead.
Her heart clenched, as she peered over to see her mom in her casket. She looked so peaceful surrounded by white silk.
“She wanted to die in her home. She never got to because of me.”
Thomas pulled Sasha tightly into him.
The funeral was well attended. Along with Olivia, Nina, Aunty Mabel, Gerald, and Gertrude, the dog, Julia had made many friends in the online MS community throughout her life, and Thomas paid for as many of them to attend as wanted to attend. It had reached the thousands. The local news station had caught wind of the situation and had come down with a camera crew. Sasha felt comfort knowing her mom’s death would bring awareness to the horrible illness that had claimed her life.
The wake passed in a blur. Thomas and Sasha had to leave early to prepare for the court case, which was set for the following day.
“At least I don’t have to pack two outfits,” Sasha said, wryly.
They made it to the law office where the preliminary discussions were going to take place in the hope of settling out of court.
Coming face-to-face with Pippa again made Sasha’s blood run cold. The conniving woman had enabled Olivia’s drug addiction and had pretended to befriend Sasha while plotting her life out like she was nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess, before sinking her claws into her best friend.
Pippa looked immaculate and showed not even a hint of remorse.
“Sasha, darling,” she said. “So soz about your mom. Oh and Thomas, Bill sends his undying affection.” She smirked.
As Pippa’s lawyer leaned over and warned her not to say another word. Sasha narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. She was seething. Pippa had engineered the whole Bill situation after all, just to mess with her.
The argument lasted for hours. But in the end, Carla had an offer to put on the table.
“If you drop the charges, she’ll destroy the gag order.”
Sasha looked at Thomas. Not having Pippa pay for what she’d done didn’t seem right. But at the same time, destroying the gag order that prevented them from talking about the theatrical element of their relationship under Pippa’s instruction would mean they were free. It would make her unemployable as a publicist ever again, but it would also keep her out of jail, a place where she needed to be.
In the end, Sasha and Thomas agreed that jail wasn’t the sort of place they wanted to send an Oxford graduate like Philippa Wutherington. Telling their own story in their own words was much more important.
And Sasha knew exactly how she was going to do it.
Standing on the busy streets of Chicago, Sasha dialed Kelly’s number.
“Now what?” Kelly said.
“Hello to you, too. I thought you might want to know that Thomas and I have had our restrictions lifted. We’re ready to sell our story to the highest bidder. Name your price.”
She heard the sound of Kelly lighting her cigarette on the other end of the phone. “You know everyone will want the story. We won’t be able to compete.”
“Maybe it’s not just money I’m after.”
“I’m listening.”
Sasha cleared her throat. “Fire Alicia.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see Thomas watching on with a smile on his lips.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why? Thomas and I are about ten blocks from the office. We could have this wrapped by the end of the day and Atomic Magazine can have the exclusive. Fire Alicia. Do we have a deal?”
There was a long pause that was filled with the sound of Kelly puffing on a cigarette. Finally, she said, “Fine. We have a deal.”
Sasha smiled and snapped her cell phone shut.
Thomas raised his eyebrows. “When did you become such a bitch, intern?”
A wicked smile spread across Sasha’s lips. “Don’t call me that.”
~ END ~
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JACE (Lane Brothers Book 3) Page 108