by Reese Ryan
He left his home studio, no longer able to stare at the sketches of Sasha.
Jordan needed to do something with his hands. He drove to the studio to work alone on the sculpture for his sister. The piece was in the finishing stage. It was the kind of work he often handed off to Marcus. But on this piece, he wanted every surface to be finished by his own hand.
Jordan shook a can of spray paint. It slipped from his hand and rolled beneath one of the tables. He dropped down on all fours and peeked underneath. A metal item sparkled in the light and caught his eye.
He retrieved the item, climbed to his feet and examined it under the light. It was a girl’s charm bracelet. One he’d seen before.
Jordan closely examined the charms. Ballet shoes. A tennis racket. A moon. Stars.
Headphones.
Now he remembered where he’d seen that charm before. It belonged to Chris Marland’s daughter, Jojo. She’d been at the event that night and she wasn’t thrilled that her day with her father had been spent with him mostly handling club business.
Jordan took out his mobile and rang Sasha before he even realized it. She’d become the first person he rang to share his news, be it good or bad.
She was furious with him and on the verge of walking away. He should let her alone. End the call and ring Chris to ask him to meet with him.
But he let it ring.
He needed to hear her voice. To know she was okay.
Sasha didn’t answer. When the call rolled over to voice mail, he wanted to tell her all the things she wanted to hear. Anything to make her come back to him.
But he promised her he wouldn’t lie. Even if it meant that one or both of them would be hurt.
“Hey, Sasha, it’s me. I may have discovered who the vandal and break-in artist is. If you get this message within the next hour, meet me over at Prescott George HQ.” He paused, not knowing what else to say. “Thanks, love.”
He snapped a few photos of the bracelet and sent them to Sasha. He wouldn’t notify the detectives just yet. He’d give Chris the opportunity to resolve the matter internally. Save him and the club the embarrassment of handling this publicly.
Next, he called Chris and asked the man to meet him straightaway. He deserved to learn of Jordan’s discovery face-to-face.
* * *
Jordan paced the floor of his office at Prescott George. Chris Marland wouldn’t be happy when he learned what he discovered.
Still, if anyone had the right to be angry it was him. The bracelet proved Chris’s daughter had been in his studio—where she had no business. The girl had caused him valuable time and money and vandalized the most important piece he’d ever created.
He blew out a long, steady breath and thought of what Sasha would say. She’d remind him that Jojo was just a kid and that she was having a tough time dealing with her parents’ divorce. And so was Chris.
“Did you really need to drag me down here?” Chris dropped into a chair in Jordan’s office, his brows furrowed. “This is interfering with my time with the kids. The last thing I need is another conversation with my ex today.”
Jordan gritted his teeth. He sat on his desk in front of Chris and quickly counted to ten in his head.
“I wouldn’t have brought you down here on a Saturday if it wasn’t absolutely essential, I assure you. My day has already gone pear-shaped, and this isn’t making it any better.” Jordan strained as much of the irritation from his tone as he could.
“So, spit it out. What is it?”
Jordan pulled the bracelet from his pocket and held it up. “I found this.”
“Thank God. That’s one of the things her mother was pitching holy hell about this morning. She blamed me because apparently Jojo lost it when she was with me. Guess she was right about that part at least.” Chris examined the individual charms and the chain. “Damn, it’s broken. I’ll have to get it repaired. Where’d you find it? Did she lose it the night of the event at your gallery?”
“Yes, in fact, she did.” Jordan folded his arms. “I found it underneath one of the worktables in my studio.”
“You mean the gallery. Jojo wasn’t in your studio.” Chris narrowed his gaze.
“I didn’t think she had been either, until I saw that chain under the table.”
“Wait, are you accusing Jojo of what I think you are?” Chris glared at Jordan. His nostrils flared as he lifted his chin.
“No need to get your knickers in a twist, mate. I take no pleasure in accusing your daughter of this. But the bracelet proves she was there, and she seemed angry enough at you and the world to make trouble that night. Not to mention, I distinctly remember there being a period when you couldn’t locate her.”
Chris was furious, completely blind where his daughter was concerned.
“Look, I’m not blaming you personally for what she did. I’m simply informing you of what I found. I would think you should thank me.”
“Thank you?” Chris shot to his feet. “For what? For falsely accusing my daughter?”
“You’ve seriously lost the plot, haven’t you? Did you not just hear what I said? I found your daughter’s bracelet under the table in my studio where she ought not have been. She’s been caught bang to rights.” Jordan was losing his patience.
Was the man a complete imbecile?
“This is about you trying to protect one of those kids you work with or maybe your studio assistant, isn’t it? Well you’re not going to pin this on my little girl. Trespassing in your studio? Destroying a sculpture? The vandal also broke in here at headquarters. Jojo’s a good girl. She isn’t even capable of doing the things you’ve accused her of.”
“If I had a penny for every naïve father who has ever thought that about his little girl, I’d have enough to purchase my own professional basketball team with plenty to spare.”
“Jojo’s only thirteen. She’s never been in trouble a day in her life. This isn’t about her at all. This is about you shifting the blame.”
Jordan stood, too. They were nearly standing nose to nose. “I take back what I said about not blaming you personally. You’re completely clueless. Your little girl has you wrapped around her little pinkie.”
“You’re a liar.” Chris shoved a finger in Jordan’s face. “Maybe you trashed your own sculpture.”
“Now you sound like a complete nutter.” Jordan’s face and neck were hot. He gritted his teeth, trying to keep some semblance of calm. “Do you have any idea how much money and work the damage to that piece caused me? Why on earth would I put myself through that?”
“To deflect blame from yourself and throw us off the trail after the residue of that powder you use was found in the break-in here.”
“You honestly believe me capable of such subterfuge?”
“Why not? You lied the other day about staying here to work on community outreach when you were really here to hook up with that little consultant of yours who’s always hanging around.”
“What are you talking about?” Jordan glared at the man. His jaw tensed.
“I left my phone and I had to come back here. I heard you two going at it in the library. Seriously, are you fifteen? Don’t you have a house and a business where you can take your little girlfriend and screw her?”
“I suggest you shut your trap and get the hell out of my office before I take this evidence to the two detectives who showed up at my studio the other day eager for a new lead.” He wanted to punch the tosser in his face. Perhaps rearrange a few of his teeth.
“If you even think of accusing my daughter of this, I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re sleeping with your consultant. And I’ll be sure to mention that it was your mother who arranged the entire affair.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” Chris shoved over a chair and rushed out of the office, nearly bowling over Sasha who’d just arrived. H
e turned back to Jordan and stared at him pointedly.
“What on earth got into him?” She reached to sit the chair upright, but Jordan waved her off and did it himself.
“Have a seat.” He indicated the sofa. “Please.”
She sat on the leather sofa in her flowing poet’s blouse, a pair of jean shorts and sneakers.
Jordan sat beside her, leaving space between them. He tried his best to ignore her bare thighs, close enough to touch.
“What is it, Jordan? Why was Chris Marland so upset?”
He swallowed hard, reluctant to meet her gaze. “The bracelet I sent you pictures of...it belongs to Jojo Marland. I found it under the table in my studio.”
“Jojo’s the kid who broke into your studio and damaged the sculpture?” Her eyes widened.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Then why is her father upset with you? What am I missing?”
“First, he’s dead from the neck up where any wrongdoing by his precious little daughter is concerned.”
“He didn’t believe you? Not even after you told him where you found the bracelet?”
“He thinks I planted it.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” She turned her body to him, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Jordan groaned, wishing he could spare her the dirty details of Chris’s threat. But she needed a heads-up, in case he followed through on his threat.
“While investigating the break-in here, they found residue of a chemical I use to clean metal. Vaughn had to question me, but he quickly moved on from the idea. Chris is trying to make it seem that I trashed the sculpture myself in order to throw suspicion off me. Or that maybe I’m framing Jojo to protect Marcus or one of my students.”
“That’s insane. I know he loves his little girl. But she’s a teenage girl. They’re capable of just about anything. I was one. I should know.”
“That isn’t the worst bit.” A knot tightened in his gut as he anticipated her reaction. “The day you and I were here in the library... Chris returned to retrieve his phone and he heard us. If I tell the police about Jojo, he’s threatening to tell the world about you and me.”
Chapter 14
“Oh my God.” Sasha covered her mouth, her eyes pressed shut. She was sure she was hyperventilating and it felt like she was going to throw up. “This cannot be happening. If this gets out, my reputation will be ruined.”
“I’m sure Chris is just flexing his muscles to get me to back off, but I wanted you to be aware of his threat, just in case.”
Sasha paced the floor, barely listening to anything Jordan said after “he’s threatening to tell the world about you and me.”
“No one would ever take me seriously again. And I’d never be able to work in San Diego again. Your mother would see to that.”
“Let me worry about my parents.” He sighed. “But if we play our cards right, it won’t ever come to that.”
“How do you know Chris won’t run with this story just to be vindictive? Or to discredit you as a preemptive strike.” She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop the shuddering.
A few hours ago, she would’ve given anything to have Jordan hold her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay. And now she wished she could go back to when she first met Eva Jace and tell her hell no. She wasn’t interested in working with her son.
“He wouldn’t. Chris is the president of the chapter. We’re having enough problems as it is. He wouldn’t want to compound them.”
“It’s his daughter, Jordan. He’d do anything to protect her. Blood above club. It’s what you do for the people you love.” Sasha sank onto the sofa again, her hands shaking. “I’m so screwed. I’m going to lose everything I’ve worked for my entire career. That’s what I get for breaking the rules. After all, that’s why they’re there. To prevent disasters like this.”
“I’m so sorry, love. I feel like a heel. This is all my fault.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m going to fix this, Sasha. I promise you, I will do whatever it takes.”
She didn’t look up at him or acknowledge his promise. Why should she? He hadn’t been willing to put his heart on the line for her. He hadn’t even gone after her when she’d left.
“This isn’t your fault, Jordan, it’s mine. You’re just being who you’ve always been. I should’ve stayed with my plan.” She stood, pulling her hand from his. “I showed poor judgment. Put my desires ahead of my obligations to my firm and my client. I won’t make that mistake again. We need to get ahead of this.”
“How?” He cringed, and she could tell he already knew what was coming.
“First, I can’t be your consultant anymore. I’ll assign else someone from our office. I’ll just have to explain to your parents. They shouldn’t be blindsided with this.”
He stood, cupping her cheek. His voice little more than a whisper. “What about us?”
“There is no us.” Tears stung her eyes and her entire body trembled slightly with the effort of holding back all of the hurt and pain that statement packed. “You can’t commit, and I deserve nothing less. We’re at a stalemate, Jordan. It’s time to walk away.”
He caught her hand and his touch set off a wave of shivers inside her. She felt as if she were melting from the inside out.
“Please, don’t make this any harder.” She lifted onto her toes and gave him a quick kiss.
Before she could pull away, Jordan tugged her into his arms and kissed her. His tongue slipped between her parted lips and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He held her as if he had no intention of ever letting her go.
Sasha pressed the heel of her hands to his chest, disrupting their kiss. She stared into his eyes. Maybe she was only seeing what she so desperately wanted to see.
Love.
The same emotion she felt whenever she looked at him. But he couldn’t say the words, and she wasn’t a mind reader.
She wouldn’t gamble her heart on a maybe.
“Goodbye, Jordan.” She returned to her car as quickly as she could. Then she drove to the San Diego home of Jonathan and Eva Jace.
They deserved to hear the truth from her in person.
* * *
Jordan had been expecting a call from his parents, complete with a well-deserved tongue-lashing for banging the consultant they’d hired for him. But his mother had insisted on coming to his place to talk.
That meant she was steaming mad. Mad enough that she didn’t want his father to hear what she was going to say to him.
He’d spent the two hours before his mother was due to arrive swimming laps in his pool, then showering.
Jordan opened the door and accepted his mother’s kiss on the cheek, glad that she hadn’t chosen to greet him with a cricket bat instead.
They sat on the terrace and he served her a cup of the Twinings Earl Grey jasmine tea that he kept on hand for her visits.
She sat down on the warm terrace and sipped her tea as she enjoyed the daytime view of the San Diego skyline.
His mother had been there nearly half an hour and she hadn’t said a word about Sasha. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“Look, Mother, I know Sasha rang you. So please, out with it already.”
“You’re wrong. She didn’t ring. She came to see us because she wanted to look us in the face and apologize for letting us down and for letting you down.”
“She came to you and Dad? When? Today?”
“Yesterday, right after she left you at the club. She rang from the car and asked if she could come over to talk with us.” His mother put down her teacup. “She did her best to keep her chin up, but it was obvious Sasha was devastated by the entire affair.”
“Chris hasn’t been accepting my calls. I don’t even know if he’s bothered to ask his daughter how her bloody bracelet got into my studio. I’ll try ringing him again today,
now that he’s had some time to cool down.”
Jordan seethed, thinking of how devastated Sasha had been. She wouldn’t take his calls, either.
“I won’t allow Sasha to lose her job. Nor will I sit idly by while her reputation is ruined,” he assured his mother.
“I love you, son, but you can be remarkably dim when it comes to affairs of the heart.” His mother shook her head. “I’m not implying Sasha doesn’t care about her career. Of course, she does. But what I saw was a broken heart because the man that she loves doesn’t love her back.”
Jordan swallowed hard. “She told you that?”
“She didn’t need to, son. It was obvious to anyone who wished to see it.”
Jordan sipped from his cup of tea, absorbing his mother’s words and taking inventory of his own feelings for Sasha. Something he’d done again and again in recent weeks.
“I care about her very much. I haven’t stopped thinking about her since she left here yesterday morning. I want to be with her, Mum. I do. But I won’t hurt her by promising her something I’m simply not capable of.”
“Darling, what makes you think yourself incapable of loving and being loved?” She squeezed his hand.
“History, Mother. My romantic entanglements have a shorter life expectancy than the common housefly. Or don’t you keep up with the gossip blogs?”
A warm smile curled the edge of his mother’s mouth. “Haven’t gotten a single alert about your love life since we put Sasha on the case.”
“True.” He sipped his tea. “I suppose that is something.”
“No, she’s quite something. I knew from the moment I met her that you two would hit it off.” She smiled slyly, quite proud of herself.
“You arranged this whole affair?”
“Let’s just say I gave the cosmos a little help. Otherwise, I’ll be dead and gone before I have any grandchildren to speak of.” She chuckled softly. His mother was quiet for a moment, her bright eyes suddenly dimmed. “It’d be nice to have another daughter in the family, too.”
She dotted her eyes with a tissue and sniffled. “You’re not the only one who misses her, you know. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about your sister.”