Obsessed: Part Three (The Obsessed Series) (2 page)

"Ivy, how did you know I love this restaurant?" Madeline's voice carries over the buzz of the jam packed, Upper East Side bistro I've chosen for my mission to get released from my contract with her.

"
Because they serve alcohol."
Those are the words perched at the edge of my lips. "It just screamed your name to me," I say as she takes a seat across from me.

"I've never been. It's quaint." Her eyes subtly survey the room. I've known Madeline long enough to realize that if an attractive man is in the vicinity her focus won't be settled on me.

"I came once with Mark." I toss his name at her hoping she'll take the lure and shift her attention back to me.

"I called him, you know." She motions for one of the waiters who dashes over to the table. "Vodka soda. Ivy?"

"I'm fine." I nod towards the glass of lemon water I ordered when I arrived thirty minutes ago. Punctuality has never been Madeline's strength. "How did that go?" I press on, "was he interested?" I feign a smile while inside I'm seething. Talking about Mark ranks at the top of my list of things I like to do right next to thinking about Jax.

"I might have mentioned it to you when we lunched with Jax." She runs her eyes over the screen of her smartphone before placing it down on the table. "I don't know what Mark's problem is. Is he involved with someone?"

"I have no idea." I take a sip of the now tepid water. "We don't talk much."

"What exactly happened with you two?" She doesn't acknowledge the waiter at all as he places her drink down. "Rumor has it that he was sleeping with half of Manhattan."

I feel my face flush crimson. "There were other women involved, yes," I murmur.

"A man like that can't be tamed." She peers over the thick glass while she downs a generous mouthful.

"I suppose not." I bite my lip to stifle a laugh. "He's not my problem anymore."

She glances at her phone again. "Lucky you. Now you've got Jax to keep your bed warm."

I shake my head evenly from side-to-side. "Anything that was going on between us is officially over."

"What did he do?" She reaches across the table to cover my hand with hers. "He fucked around on you too, didn't he?"

Her assumption jars me and I breathe in a heavy sigh. "Maybe, I don't know." I realize that I'm answering honestly. Is he still sleeping with Brooke? Considering his drive to get my shares into his hands I'd venture a guess that he's lounging in bed with the tall brunette as Madeline and I speak.

"You pick the wrong men, Ivy." She pulls back into her chair again, any compassion that might have been there evaporating into the air as swiftly as her drink is disappearing.

"I know," I say.

"Men in Manhattan are a different breed. They're flakes. Most of them can't keep their dicks in their pants through dessert." She empties the glass before waving her hand in mid-air at the back of our waiter who is obviously busy taking another table's lunch order.

I laugh out loud at her brutal description of the male population of New York City. "Are men in Boston any better?" I ask as I watch her hand movement increase in voracity even though the waiter hasn't once turned in our direction.

"Boston?" She freezes as she spits out the word. "Why would you ask about Boston?"

"I'm moving back." I stare at her motionless hand drifting in the air. It's as though she's an enthusiastic third grader aching to answer the detailed math equation the teacher has posed to the class. In Madeline's case the equation in question is another vodka soda.  I silently wonder if her hand is actually going to continue to defy gravity until the long winded waiter finally remembers he has other patrons to tend to.

"You're leaving New York? When?" Her hand falls with a thud to the
table, which instantly causes the waiter to rush over. "Another." She doesn't glance at him as she points at her empty glass.

"Soon. I'm just tying up some loose ends," I say snappily. I don't want to dive into the reasoning behind my running for the hills, or in this case, Boston. "That's actually why I asked you to join me for lunch."

As if on cue, the waiter is back with Madeline's drink in hand. "Are you ready to order?" he asks.

She shoos him away with a flick of her wrist. "What is this about, Ivy?"

"We talked about it briefly when we had lunch with Jax." I feel an ache when I say his name. "It's about my exclusive contract with you."

"Oh that." She picks up her phone and lazily runs her thumb across the screen.

"Do you need to make a call?" I'm slightly annoyed that her focus so far has been on virtually everything in the room but me.

She doesn't tear her eyes away from the screen as she answers. "No. I'm waiting to hear back from Jax. I've tried calling him all morning about our meeting and he's ignoring me."

"About our meeting?" I wave my hand over the table. I can't believe she's actually trying to get Jax involved in this again. I know, full well, that she still owns the majority in her company and doesn't need his final approval for anything.

She casually puts the phone down before taking a small sip from her glass. "No. He asked me to meet him later today at a building I'm not familiar with. I need him to pick me up or I'll have to hire an escort. One can't trust strange neighborhoods in this city."

I muffle a giggle at her cautiousness. "Maybe you should consider a full-time bodyguard," I teasingly say.

She holds the glass in her hand in the air. "Now that's a great idea. As long as he'd be up for a few extra responsibilities." Her emphasis on the word
up
is quickly followed up with a not-so-subtle wink.

I laugh out loud at this point. I'm not sure I've ever met a woman who was so blatantly obvious about her lacking sex life. No wonder Nathan rebutted my playful request that he sleep with her. She'd likely tear him to shreds.

"Back to business, Madeline." I push through the giggles and bring my voice back to an even grade.

"You want out of your contract, yes?" She finishes her second drink and I wonder how she manages to stand up straight most afternoons.

"That's right." I realize that the window of opportunity for me to talk to sensible Madeline may be rapidly closing if she gets another drink in her hand before any food lands in her stomach. "I'd still design exclusive collections for Veray but I want to branch out on my own."

"So, we're not talking about you pulling everything out of the store?" There's a slight slur to her voice already.

"Absolutely not," I say convincingly. "I'll do a special collection just for you each season and those won't be sold anywhere but at Veray."

"Why wasn't Jax on board with this?" The waiter rushes over with another vodka soda in hand. He obviously knows where his tip is coming from since I've ordered nothing but the water
, which is still barely touched.

"He's a man." I throw the comment out knowing that it will bring a smile to her lips.

I'm right when I'm greeted with a roar of laughter. "He's a dude." She pulls the words across her lips as she swallows half of the clear liquid in the glass.

I can't help but laugh almost as loudly as her. "So we have a deal?" I press knowing that this is the moment when I have to reel Madeline in.

"Deal." She offers her hand across the table. "I'll have my attorney send the papers to you. Tomorrow is good for that?"

"Tomorrow is absolutely perfect." I raise my glass and feel some of the weight melt off my shoulders.

"Déjà vu." Nathan pulls the chair away from the stark wooden table while I settle in next to it. "Doesn't it feel like we were just here?"

I smile faintly at the mention of our last meeting in this building with Jax and his attorney. It was only a few weeks ago but in the scope of my life it could have been years ago. Everything has changed so dramatically since that day. That day when Jax had taken me so brazenly in the hallway outside this room. "It does, yes," I manage to say weakly.

"Remember to let me do the talking." He pats the top of my hand before pulling a folder out of his briefcase. "Now that we know what Mark is willing to give us, we have a lot more leverage with Jax."

Leverage with Jax. His words echo in my ears. I have all the leverage I could ever need in my purse. The flash drive I had taken from Jax's apartment the night that our relationship imploded had been weighing heavily on my mind and my heart the past few days. If I gave that to Mark and he heard Jax and Brooke plotting to take over the company it would change everything.

"Put on your game face." Nathan's words pull me from my thoughts and I glance across the sparsely decorated room to see Jax and Gilbert walking through the door.

Jax looks nothing like he did the night I left him on his knees at his apartment door. The growth of beard on his face suggests he hasn't shaved since then and his chosen attire of blue jeans and a black sweater seem out of place in this corporate environment. His hair is disheveled and his eyes are locked on my face. I glance at him briefly before I pull my gaze to my lap. I hear his heavy footsteps as he rushes towards the table.

"Did you watch it?" His voice is frantic. He slams his fist against the table.

"Watch what?" Nathan interjects. He stands in response to Jax's obvious anger.

"Ivy, look at me," he demands.

"Sit down or we're leaving." Nathan's tone is measured and calm. "If you don't control your temper, we're walking out of here now and we'll finalize a deal with mark this afternoon."

I don't look up. I can't. I feel all the emotions of that night rippling back to the surface of my heart. I'll cry if I look at his face. I'll break into a million pieces in this cold, barren boardroom if I think about him and Brooke in bed together.

"Bringing Mark into this negotiation is underhanded." Gilbert takes a seat directly across from Nathan which means if I look up I'll be staring straight at Jax.

"I sent over our new terms yesterday. Have you both had a chance to look it over?" Nathan ignores Gilbert's accusation. "It's more than fair in light of the circumstances."

I dart my eyes towards Nathan. What does he mean? He throws me a sly grin and I realize he's bluffing.

"What circumstances?" Gilbert poses the question to the room.

"Ivy, you need to watch the whole thing." There's a tremor in Jax's voice as he quietly says the words. "I know you have it. You took it when you left. Just watch it. Please."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Nathan reaches for my arm.

"Don't." Jax pushes against the table as he stands. "Don't touch her."

I shake my head slowly before I raise my eyes to finally look directly at him. "I can't watch it," I murmur. "Why would you ask me to?"

"You have to, beautiful." His eyes lock with mine and I see all the pain that has washed over me reflected back in his face. "Trust me." He pulls his hand to his chest and that's when I notice it. Dangling from the corner of Jax's balled fist is a gold chain. The broken clasp is slowly waving back and forth in the air as he moves his hand. It's the necklace. It's my necklace.

"Someone needs to explain what's going on." Nathan's voice interrupts my concentration.

"I can't trust you." I won't back down regardless of how lost and broken Jax looks. "You are nothing but a liar. I know what I saw. I know what I heard."

"No, you don't." He's on his feet again. "You don't understand what you saw."

I bolt out of my chair. "I know exactly what I saw. I saw you fucking another woman. A woman who you were working with to blackmail…"
"Enough!" The strength of the word rebounds across the barren room. "Give her whatever the hell she wants."

I stand in stunned silence as he calmly tosses the necklace on the table, turns and walks out the door without looking back.

"I heard it." Nathan's voice breaks through the mundane hum of the busy restaurant. "Blackmail. It was clear as day."

I stare at him over the rim of my wine glass. I don't respond. I'm not going to. I hadn't meant to toss that word out when we were meeting with Jax and Gilbert earlier and I instantly regretted it once I had.

"I'm not letting this go." He gazes at me for a second before dropping his eyes to the menu.

"There's nothing to let go." I follow his lead and scan the expansive offerings. I have absolutely no appetite and this celebratory lunch that Nathan suggested isn't exactly where I want to be.

"You said something about blackmail." He doesn't pull his eyes away from the menu. "You can't expect me to ignore that."

"Just drop it." I roll my eyes.

"No." He places the menu down before leaning against the table with his elbows. "Spit it out, Ivy. What the hell is going on with you two?"

I take a slow drink of the hearty red wine I'd ordered when we first arrived. "There's a flash drive."

"That's what he was talking about when he said you took it from his apartment?"

I nod." I found it in a drawer. I watched it." I grimace. "Then I left and I took it with me."

"He was with another woman?" he asks.

I exhale sharply. "Yes."

"That's rough." He picks up the glass of scotch and brings it to his lips. After taking a leisurely drink he continues, "so he was cheating on you?"

I flinch at the question. "It was recorded over a year ago. Jax and the woman were talking about at a gala that Mark and I attended."

"You're pissed that he fucked someone before he met you?" He flashes me a smile.

I take another drink trying to gather my thoughts. I don't want to give away too many details. "There's a lot more to it than that."

"Like what?" He pushes for more even though I know he's fully aware that I'm incredibly uncomfortable.

"I can't talk to you about this, Nathan." I bristle. "Suffice it to say that I saw who Jax really was when I watched that video."

"If Jax was blackmailing someone you need to tell me, Ivy." His tone shifts and I see a veil of seriousness overtake his expression. "You understand that, don't you?"

I nod my head slowly up and down. He's right, of course but as much as I despise Jax and what he and Brooke were plotting together the last thing I want is to be pulled into any more legal drama with him and Mark. "There's nothing to tell."

"I don't believe you." He grumbles. "But I trust you to know what's best for you."

I tear slightly at the words. Hearing that from Nathan means a lot to me. I've come to see him as a sort of surrogate big brother the last few weeks. His belief in me is comforting. "Thank you for saying that." I smile faintly.

"I mean it. I'm really proud of you." He grins. "I'm starving. Let's eat."

***

I place my fork down after picking at the spring salad the waiter delivered to our table over thirty minutes ago. The idle chatter that Nathan and I have shared over lunch about our childhood has reenergized me. The idea of getting home to finish packing so I can finally leave New York in search of a new life in Boston is my sole light at the end of the tumultuous tunnel that my life has become as of late.

"I've got one last question about Jax?" There's a definite suggestion of trepidation in his voice.

"Must you?" I joke.

"I must." He playfully nods. "In the meeting earlier he kept telling you to watch the entire video. I'm assuming you haven't?"

I raise my eyebrow in response.

"Seriously." He pushes the plate that contains the last remnants of the ribs and fries he devoured to the edge of the table. "You didn't watch the whole thing?"

"Why would I?" I bark back. "Would you want to watch someone you love having sex with another person?"

"So you do love him?" He places the white linen napkin atop the plate.

"No." I violently shake my head from side-to-side. I wonder if I'm trying to convince Nathan or myself more.

"I'm going to play devil's advocate for a minute." He breathes in heavily before he continues, "I haven't exactly been subtle about my dislike for Jax."

I smile faintly at the declaration. "True," I whisper.

"He looked like shit today." He reaches across the table and places his hand over mine. "Ivy, he's torn up inside. I could see it the minute he walked in the room."
I pull my hand back harshly. If this is some kind of bro code thing, I'm not going to listen. If Nathan knew the whole story he wouldn't be taking Jax's side. "I don't care," I blurt out.

"Think about it for a minute." There's a small pause. "Why is he asking you to watch the entire video if he knows it's going to hurt you even more?"

I shrug my shoulders. "He doesn't have a heart."

"You're wrong." He shakes his head slightly. "There's more to that video than what you saw. Whatever that was."

"I turned it off before they made love." My voice trembles. "I can't watch him with another woman. I can't."

"I get that." His deep voice is barely more than a whisper. "There's something on it he needs you to see. If you can't watch it, I'll do it for you. You owe it to yourself and to him to see the entire thing."

The moment is broken with that one simple word.
Owe
. "I owe him nothing." I stand and reach for my purse. "Nothing. How dare you suggest otherwise?" I feel a rush of tears. "You have no idea who he really is. What he's capable of."

"Calm down." He's on his feet now too, reaching for my arm. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset." I wave his hand away. "I'm tired of all of this bullshit."

"Let me take you home." He reaches into his suit jacket to pull out his wallet. "I just need to settle our bill."
"I'm fine on my own." I brush past him and I don't turn back as I head straight for the door.