Sweet Downfall (27 page)

The sudden self-admission hit him to the core and it threatened to choke him in rage.

“Tell me honestly, Jaq. Did you really leak the video?”

His resentment for Jordan reached boiling point. “I have the original uncut, no holds barred version. Wanna see it?”

Jordan’s fist flew.

He ducked in time and Jordan hit air. That was a most welcome provocation because he was itching to beat the shit out of Jordan so badly.

Fuck, game on!

Jordan grabbed his lapels and hauled him from the bar stool. He lost his balance, knocking off the bottles of liquor lined up at the counter. They crashed to the granite floor, creating a loud noise.

Psy screamed. “Oh my God! Help!!!”

Jordan was on him again but this time, he was ready. He charged the guy like a linebacker.

They landed on the floor.

He straddled Jordan and rained punches on him. Everything turned to bloody red as they struggled to hurt each other.

Jaq felt a hard kick on his back. He knew it was Rad.

He left Jordan on the floor and faced Rad.

He charged the asshole, too. His rage was too much that he quickly overpowered Rad. His fists felt raw but he landed many blows on Rad’s face, cursing him, wanting to kill him with his bare hands!

Fuck, fuck, fuck him him! Fuck them all, motherfuckers!

He was bodily dragged from Rad, his neck trapped in an arm lock. That put him in a helpless, defensive position even as he struggled to free himself from Ram’s tight hold.

Jordan was on his feet looking ready to kill him, too.

Using Ram’s hold as leverage, Jaq attempted to kick Jordan.

Jordan blocked his leg and slammed his fist solidly on his solar plexus. Jaq’s breath whooshed out of him. Jordan grabbed his hair and snarled in his face.“She’s mine, you fuck! Mine!”

“She was mine first, you dumb fuck! I popped her cherry!” he snarled back.

Jordan slammed his fist in his stomach again. Jaq choked on his breath, his vision blurring.

He vaguely saw Alexis, Jonty and Rydon running towards them.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Alexis roared.

Alexis grabbed the back of Jordan’s shirt, pulling him away.

Ram finally released his hold on his neck. Jaq dropped to the floor on his knees coughing, blood dripping from his mouth.

“Outside, all of you!” Alexis ordered like a pissed off army drill sergeant.

Moments later, he and Jordan were at the pool side, their faces bloody as they both listened to Alexis rant about his club’s rules and regulations.

“You know the rules! Thou shall not kill each other because of a damn pussy! Fuck, Jaq, get yourself your own bitch, man! Angie is Jordan’s now! Respect!”

Jaq clenched his jaw in futile rage.

“Make peace with each other or I’ll kick you both out from the club.”

Nobody made a sound.

“Apologize to each other!” Alexis repeated.

“He started it, X,” Jaq said through bleeding lips.

“I didn’t. You did!” Jordan shot back, spitting blood on the ground.

“Okay, you wanna settle this in the ring?” Alexis asked them.

The infamous boxing ring of Lothario had been a silent witness to many duels between feuding members. When things couldn’t be settled by mere talk, X put the members in the ring to slug it out. Afterward, the feud would be as good as settled. Whoever violated the peace got kicked out.

“Yeah!” Jaq answered right away.

“Yeah! Now!” Jordan agreed, slamming his fist into his palm.

“A’ight, come on, let’s go.” Alexis glanced at an area of the pool side. “Kit, you wanna watch?”

Jaq saw Kit in a corner, drinking alone. He hadn’t seen his friend in weeks and he seemed thinner now. Stubble had darkened his face, his eyes, bloodshot.

Kit raised his bottle of Jack Daniels in their direction. “Good luck guys. Lemme remind you, a pussy is not worth dying for,” he said with caustic humor.

What Kit said stuck as Jaq faced Jordan in the ring, mayhem pulsating in his bloodstream. Wearing a pair of boxing gloves and a protective headgear, waiting for the duel to begin, he thought, was Angie worth all the hell he was putting himself through?

The answer to that didn’t matter as the bell rang. The only thing he wanted to do in that moment was kick Jordan’s bloody ass to kingdom come and back.

Angie learned something that day.
When Jordan wanted something to happen, he’d work on it right away.

Jordan arrived that day in the Yulo mansion with his parents, Teddy and Marjorie Lavega, his only sister Celine and the host of AZN’s most top-rating celebrity talk show, Taryn Verga. Taryn had her entire production crew in tow, too.

The Lavegas were in full force to ask for her hand in marriage again, to the surprise and delight of her father and brothers.

Angie’s favorite fashion stylist suddenly arrived with her little entourage composed of a make-up artist, hair stylist and a fashion designer. She brought a truckload of new designer dresses for her to choose from. Her favorite food caterer arrived shortly, too, quickly laying a banquet.

In an hour, the mansion’s garden was transformed into a set for a TV show, starring her and Jordan.

It was a coup.

She was totally blindsided.

When Jordan told him they’d announce their wedding date within the week, she thought she’d have time to convince him otherwise. She was wrong.

She met Sherry’s eyes across the room. Her sister was silently encouraging her to stand up for herself now. But as she stared light-headed at the hustle and bustle— her father and Teddy Lavega talking like brothers, her twin brothers and Jordan laughing together, Marjorie and Celine busily taking charge of the entire affair— she wondered if she could really stand up now and leave.

It was a now or never moment and she was confronted by her real choices.

If she left now, what was waiting for her on the other side of the equation?

Freedom? From what?

What did she want to walk away from?

Her family who loved her?

The chance of becoming a part of Jordan’s wonderful family who practically owned half of Empress Group— the perfect business set up for both their clans?

The job that she’d worked so hard for all these years?

This beautiful home that held so many of her great childhood memories?

She had good relationships, a good life, a great job and a bright future with a man who wanted to honor her by marrying her despite the scandal. She would destroy all of that for what? What would she sacrifice all that for?

Her looked away from the happy tableau as her tears fell. She answered her own questions.

Nothing. No one.

Jaq Montero?

She wanted to laugh hysterically. What was she thinking? What did she have with that man?

A video scandal and two recent sexual encounters. What she had with Jaq were lust, hate and lies. Yes, she loved him still. But did Jaq love her?

No. Jaq hated her. Jaq wanted her and her family to suffer. And he was making them suffer.

Jordan loved her. His family loved her.

Her choices were simple and clear.

It wasn’t hard to choose, was it?

There was no contest, really.

Oh stupid, stupid heart. Stop being stupid. Just stop.

She thought it would be a simple announcement but the Lavegas decided it would be a special event at AZN. The ‘show’ will run thirty minutes on a prime time slot and will be aired on Valentine’s day.

Chapter Ten

“YOU CAN’T IGNORE ME LIKE THIS.
I know you want to see me, too.”

Angie made an angry, frustrated sound after reading the message. Jaq had been bombarding her with phone calls the past days which she all ignored. How did he get her number?

Her private land line went off. It was Betty whose little office was adjacent to hers.

“Angie, Jordan is on line 2.”

She was puzzled that Jordan would call her land line. He had all her cell phone numbers.

She’d decided to give their relationship a chance. Why was she the one being difficult when she was the one at fault? She should be ashamed of herself. Really ashamed of herself.

Jordan chose to move forward, turn a new page from the scandal. She should do the same. It was the mature thing to do, the right thing to do, the sane thing to do, the smart thing to do, not wallow in her confusion over her complicated feelings which brought her nothing but trouble from the beginning anyway.

She should learn to simplify her life. Life was more peaceful and productive that way.

“Angie?” Betty’s voice interrupted her musing.

“Okay, please transfer the call here, Betty.”

The call was transferred. “Hello?”

“Angie?”

She froze.

“Don’t put the phone down.”

She gripped the receiver harder. Her heart was suddenly racing.

“You haven’t returned my calls and my messages.”

She didn’t answer. She just listened to his low, nasal voice as he spoke, her longings clawing at her.

“Angie, talk to me.”

She remained silent.

“I missed you.”

She closed her eyes.

“If you don’t see me now, I’ll go to your office.”

She finally spoke. “Don’t, Jaq. Security will throw you out.”

“Watch me. I’m coming.”

The line went dead.

She stared at the phone for a few seconds then slammed it back in the cradle.

Panic seized her. She called his phone. It rang but he didn’t pick up. “Damn you!”

She grabbed her bag and ran to the door. A scandal here at the Empress Hotel would be a disaster of unthinkable consequences. Her father and her brothers were all in the building.

Rad had given the guards at the main entrance a very clear photograph of Jaq taken from one of Jaq’s official websites. Jaq was
persona non grata
at any Empress establishment.

Boarding a lift , she went down to the lobby. Once at the ground floor, she dialed Jaq’s number again. She exhaled sharply when he finally picked up.

“I’m almost there.”

“Don’t you dare! The guards will throw you out, I swear!” she said a hushed voice.

“Yeah? We’ll see.”

“Jaq, please!”

“I wanna see you now. If this is the way to make it happen, then so be it. I’m now rounding the corner towards the hotel driveway.”

“What are you driving?!”

“Why, you wanna hop in, baby?”

“Don’t go up the driveway! I’ll meet you at corner Legaspi, damn you!”

He chuckled. “Can’t wait to see me, huh?”

“Your car, tell me!”

“A black Dodge pick-up.”

She cut the call and discreetly walked to the hotel’s side entrance, all the while securing a scarf over her head to cover her hair and face. She put on her big sunglasses. The guard at the door didn’t recognize her. She’d be back in a few minutes.

She saw a black pick-up truck parked at the curb. She quickly approached the vehicle.

Jaq came out of the truck clad in a black shirt, black pants and aviator glasses. He opened the front passenger door. She climbed in without a word.

The moment he came back to the driver’s seat and closed the door, she let her temper loose. “This is insane, Jaq! You can’t just do this! I would have none of this anymore! You have to stop doing this–”

He leaned over, grabbed her face and kissed her hard. The contact was like a high-voltage current, momentarily stunning her. Then it rushed through her, energizing every nerve in her body.

Oh God!

She opened her lips to taste him further but he pulled back.

He smiled knowingly. “You’ll have more later.” He strapped the seat belt on her torso.

That snapped her back to reality. “We really need to talk, Jaq! We can’t go on like this! This is totally, totally irresponsible and wrong! It’s is destroying our lives! We cannot continue disregarding–”

“Shhh.” He navigated the huge vehicle back on the road.

“I am serious, Jaq!”

“Me, too. We’ll talk, but later. I’m driving.”

They’d been cruising for a few minutes amid
moderate traffic when he turned left, entering a narrow street. Before Angie she knew it, the truck was nosing its way into a long driveway.

“Duck,” he told her.

“Why?”

He put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her to bend over. “You don’t want anybody to see you entering a motel, do you?”

She gasped. “A motel?!”

“Here we go.”

She really ducked her head this time, hiding her face below the dashboard. “Oh my God, you bastard! Turn back! You can’t bring me here!”