Breaking through the Bond (Espen Jetties #2)

20. Jamie

20

JAMIE

My head throbbed as I stepped onto the elevator. The day spent playing video games while I waited for King to call. Even through all the phone calls and texts, I still left my phone on waiting and hoping.

But I heard nothing.

Not a single message. Not a sorry, I have to help Hayes. Not even a sorry, this is too much for me.

I knew what the papers had printed. Tim’s publicist made sure to send me the links. They found my high school and MIT records quicker than I thought. I expected them to figure out where I worked. Wasn’t like I made any attempt to hide it. Then again, I never imagined a scenario where I’d put myself in the line of fire.

The information about my father’s company had hit the hardest. The media had made my father sound like a savvy businessman, who built his company from the ground up. That was the truth. If only the article hadn’t gone on to say how Tim had taken what he learned from my father and grew an empire of his own, while I’d wasted everything my father had given me. Apparently, figuring out I was worth more than my brother wasn’t enough to convince them that I hadn’t squandered my trust fund.

When I stepped on the floor, the hustle and bustle of a normal morning came to a complete stop. Seemed like everyone in the office had been reading through my life this weekend. It was only a matter of time before they figured out the name of the company I’d purchased my place under. With the way eyes of people I’d known for years followed me through the office, thank fuck they didn’t know yet.

If those I worked with didn’t know how to act around me, what hope did I have for the rest of the city? I took a seat at my desk and dropped my head back. Another worry to add to my already overflowing plate. Almost all of it taken up by King and his reaction to what he learned yesterday morning.

I should have explained it to him before I sent him home to check on Hayes. This was my fault and I had to think of a way to fix it. I had eight hours to come up with a plan before knocking on King’s door and begging for him to talk to me.

How in the hell had I fallen so hard for a man I’d only met a month ago? King changed everything about my life. For the first time, I wanted to wake up next to the same man every morning. To be the person they talked to when things went wrong. To hold them. To touch them and be the only one doing so. It killed me to not know if King was still that person to me.

Trying to push the worry from my mind, I logged into my computer and started to scan through my email. About halfway through the unopened ones, most from media people trying to get a soundbite, a slow clapping filled the room. I glanced up to see what was going on when I saw Halford heading in my direction.

“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.

I knew that whatever happened in the next ten minutes was not going to be good. I had to keep it together. The last thing I needed was more fodder for the media about blowups between me and my dickhead of a boss.

“Well, lookie here. It’s our resident celebrity. Who knew we were being graced by the presence of the one and only Mr. Deary.” A sneer curled his upper lip.

I fisted my hands under my desk. Don’t respond. Don’t respond .

With my gaze forward, I focused on the screen in front of me. Whatever hope I had that he’d keep moving on if I didn’t engage was lost when he leaned on the top of my cubicle, staring down at me. “Too bad Daddy’s money could only buy you an MIT spot and not actual talent. Maybe then you could be doing more than working on software.”

Blood roared in my ears. I dug my fingers into my palms, trying to hold on to the last bit of control I had.

“And you can’t even do that right.”

I stood up so fast, the chair slammed to the floor behind me. Any mumbling in the room went silent. Halford stood to his full height, which was still a few inches shorter than me. The stress of both not hearing from King and my life being plastered all over the place only added to the fire simmering inside of me. All the memories of bullshit I’d dealt with over the years came rushing back to the surface.

“You insignificant, little shit. I graduated top of my class from MIT. My father wanted me to go to the Wharton School of Business and wouldn’t pay a dollar for my education at MIT. I got there completely on my own merit.”

“I’m sure—” Halford’s face had taken on an angry shade of red.

“Shut your mouth. For years, you have treated the people in this building like garbage, trying to compensate for the fact that everyone in this room is smarter than you. You’re just a snake in the grass who conned the right people. And some day the board is going to kick your ass to the curb when they realize how much money you’ve lost this company because of your inability to keep up with new trends and an ego that won’t let your inferiors, as you see them, do things that you can’t do.”

A vein throbbed at his temple. “You’re—”

“Don’t even bother. Go fuck yourself. I quit.” I grabbed my keys without glancing back and walked straight to the elevator. The voices grew louder as I passed.

I could hear Halford screaming at everyone to get back to work, trying to regain control of a situation he really had no control of anymore. Thankfully, the doors were open when I reached them. I stepped inside and hit the down button, turning around just in time to see his angry purple face as the doors closed shut.

Jesus fuck.

I’d just quit my job. The one thing that had kept my dad and brother from getting worse in their constant analyzations of my life. I tugged my phone from my pocket and pulled up the app to order an Uber home. I wanted to get into my car and drive to King’s. I had to know if we still had something together. Fuck, I hoped we did. Right now, I needed him. Needed to feel his arms around me. Maybe that was childish, but everything in my life seemed to be falling apart. I didn’t want to lose the one good thing I had. I loved him.

While I was waiting for the car to arrive, I heard my voice being called. Reluctantly, I turned around, afraid of who I might find. There was Oscar, jogging up to me. His tie bouncing all around.

“Damn, I’m glad I caught you. You really told Halford.”

I smirked. “I only said what everyone was thinking. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

He glanced down. “I guess you never needed to work for him in the first place. I wish I didn’t have to.”

“Hey. I did need to work for him. I love everything about computers, and I really had high hopes when I took this job out of college that things would turn out much differently.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine you chose to work for an asshole like him.”

“Not really. Do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Remember how much smarter you are than this place. Don’t settle. If you hate it, start looking for something better. I promise it’s out there.” My thoughts immediately went to King.

“I promise.” The car pulled up to the curb. “Guess no more happy hours.”

“Don’t worry. I’m always available. But how about I do one better?” He tilted his head to the side intrigued. “How about drinks in my brother’s box at an Emperors’ game.”

“Fuck yeah. I’m in.” Oscar reached out and shook my hand. “Glad you were my cubicle neighbor, Jamie.”

“Me too, Oscar.”

I climbed into the car as he turned and darted back into the building. Now it was time to go get King.

The minute I stepped out of the Uber, I raced inside and up to my place. A quick change of clothes and I was sliding behind the wheel of my Aston Martin Vantage. It wasn’t often I took my baby out, but if there was ever a time, today was it.

I raced through traffic on the way to King’s condo, making it there in record time. Car parked, I took the elevator up. I’d been in such a hurry, I hadn’t let myself think what would happen if King turned me away.

My heart was in control and there was no turning away now. I lifted my hand to knock. No answer. No sound, no nothing. I knocked again. This time I heard shuffling. The door swung open, and my heart leaped into my throat.

King stood before me. Heavy bags under his eyes and his clothes all wrinkled. It looked like he hadn’t slept since the fundraiser.

I raced forward. “King, what’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” He blinked a few times then seemed to notice it was me standing in front of him. “Jamie? Come in.”

I stepped inside and kicked the door shut with my foot. All that mattered now was King. I reached up and cupped his face in my hands. “King, tell me what happened.”

He walked in and dropped down on the couch. By the beer bottles that sat on the table, I wondered how long he’d been there for. “I didn’t have training today.” His voice was low like he was drained of energy. “Canceled it. Didn’t see the point of going since I haven’t seen Hayes since yesterday.”

My heart raced in my chest. I glanced around the condo, trying to figure out what was going on. On the TV was a show, looked like it was set in the 1800s. I needed to figure this out and fast, but King didn’t seem to be able to give me any answers. I decided to try a different approach. Sitting down next to him, I took his hand in mine. “What are you watching?”

“ Pride and Prejudice . I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it. Hell of a romance. Do you think this shit happens in real life or only in books? You know, when the guy gets the girl, and everything falls into place like it should? They get a happily ever after? Well, maybe not just a guy and a girl. A guy and a guy. A girl and a girl, whatever.”

“I’d like to think so. I’m still hoping for that with you. But I can tell something is wrong. Do you want me to go?” It broke my heart to ask the question, but I wouldn’t stay if it caused him more pain.

He glanced over at me, and it was then I realized that in addition to the bags under his eyes, they were bloodshot. Had he slept at all? “Please don’t leave.” His voice cracked on the end. “I miss you when you’re not around. Did you know that? And since it’s been quiet in here with Hayes gone, I’ve done a lot of thinking. Probably more than I should have.”

Hayes left? I vaguely remembered him saying something like that when I arrived. Too worried at the time to listen, there I sat trying to put the puzzle together. “What do you mean Hayes left? Where did he go?”

“Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you. Blame the alcohol and lack of sleep.” His eyes were back on the TV, but I wasn’t sure if he was really watching it. “Hayes told me he had feelings for me. Of course I freaked out, because how else am I supposed to deal with that but then I calmed down, tried to get him to talk and he left. Just… poof. Out the door. Over to Devon’s, where he’s been since.”

My heart went from beating at top speed to stuttering to a stop in my chest. How could this be happening? I finally found a man I was willing to settle down with and the fates decided to kick me in the ass again. How could I compete with Hayes? A man King had known for years. A man he’d cared about for just as long.

How had I missed it?

Even as my own heart started falling apart in my chest, I knew I couldn’t put more on King. Just looking at him, I could see he suffered enough when Hayes walked out the door. He didn’t need me adding to it. And I loved him enough to protect him from my own heartache. I wouldn’t bring more pain to him. I couldn’t do it.

But there was one thing I could do. I could bring Hayes back to him. Knowing King was happy, even if it wasn’t with me, was all that mattered. I’d bring Hayes back, then go home and have a pity party for one.

My chest ached and a lump formed in my throat as I pushed out the words. “I’ll go get him and bring him back to you.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. Hayes will come home when he’s ready, though I thought he’d have done that by now.” His words lacked any real conviction, more like a passing thought.

I squeezed his hand tighter to hide the way mine trembled. I lifted his hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. My eyes burned, but I held back the tears, refusing to let King see them. “Tell me how to get to Devon’s. I don’t want to see you suffer anymore. If not, I’ll call Kasper and have him tell me.”

“No, don’t bother him. He’s probably upstairs making love to his husband in their penthouse.” He rattled off an address. “He doesn’t live close. Maybe that’s why Hayes went out there.” He turned and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. He must not have heard everything I said, not the part about him suffering. “Love you. Be careful driving. It’s going to get dark soon.”

The sound of my heart shattering echoed in my ears. King loved me. King loved me . The only problem was, I knew he would never love me the way he loved Hayes.

I pressed one final kiss to his lips and walked to the door. “I’ll bring him back to you.”

“Wait!” he called then got up from the couch and came over to me. His eyes were still bloodshot and looked like hell, but they seemed a little brighter. “I just told you I loved you for the first time in the shittiest way. You didn’t deserve that.” He reached up and cupped my cheeks in his hands. “I do love you, Jamie. So much.”

I knew I should say it back. Tell him how I felt. But I couldn’t do any more damage to myself. It would hurt enough when I walked out the door for the last time after I got Hayes to come home. I didn’t need that memory. There would be enough to torture me in the coming days and months.

I pressed my lips to his, pouring all the love I felt for him into the kiss. Before the tears came, I broke the connection and walked out the door.

Time to break my own heart and in the process save King’s.