After my lunch was over, I went to Starbucks and got Jack his afternoon coffee. When I arrived back to the building, the paparazzi had grown in size and began to crowd me.

“You’re Jack Sutton’s PA, aren’t you?” one man asked.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Would you care to say a few words regarding the murder of his sister’s boyfriend?”

“I’m sorry, but I know nothing about that.”

“Rumor has it that Kit Sutton fled the country? Did she know something about it?”

I sighed. They were all around me, invading my personal space and not letting me get inside the building. I looked at Jack’s coffee and then back up at the people who surrounded me. I took a step forward as if I was pushed and accidentally spilled some coffee on the guy in front of me. Then I spilled some on the person next to him and then the person next to him. They backed off as they began to yell.

“If you wouldn’t have invaded my personal space, I wouldn’t have spilled coffee on you.” I smiled.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grasp my arm and pull me back. Jack led me inside the building while holding up his hand at the paparazzi.

“Thanks, but I didn’t need saving.”

“If I didn’t stop you, there wouldn’t be any coffee left for me to drink.” He smirked.

I gave him a small smile and we rode the elevator up in silence.

****

Over the next couple of days, nothing much had changed. The paparazzi were still camped outside waiting for their next victim. But when they saw me coming with coffee in my hands, they slowly backed away and let me get through. As I was sitting at my desk doing some work, Daniel from the editing department walked up.

“Hey, Lorelei.” He smiled.

“Hi, Daniel.”

“I saw your profile on Match.com,” he said rather loudly.

Oh shit.

“Really?” I cocked my head.

“Yeah, and since we know each other, I thought instead of messaging you online, I’d come talk to you in person.”

Double shit.

“Oh.” I raised both my eyebrows in surprise.

“I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner some night.”

I took in a deep breath when I saw Jack jump up from his chair and walk over to my desk.

“Lorelei, in my office, NOW!” he shouted. “And as for you, Daniel, she isn’t going to have dinner with you. Now get back to work before I fire you!”

I took a seat across from his desk and he slammed the door.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re on Match.com? Really, Lorelei?”

My knees were trembling and I needed to get a grip.

“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with that? Do you know how many psychos there are in the world looking for someone like you to prey on?”

“Yes.”

Clearly, he was upset by the fact that I was on a dating site. It was none of his damn business and now I was getting angry.

“‘Yes?’ Is that all you can say?”

Clearing my throat, I spoke, “What I do on my personal time isn’t any of your concern, Jack.”

His eyes were now fully consumed with anger.

“It is my damn concern if something happens to you and I’m left without a PA!” he yelled.

“Then you’ll hire another one!” I yelled back, losing all control.

“I don’t want another one. You’re by far the best I’ve had. Both personally and professionally.” He realized what he had said and turned his back to me and stared out the window with his hands in his pockets.

I was stunned at his words and I couldn’t find it in me to shoot anything back at him.

“Thank you. If you’re done screaming at me, I have work to do.” I got up from my chair and headed towards the door.

“Lorelei?” he called out to me. “You’ll date some random stranger that could hurt you, but you won’t give me the time of day?”

My stomach sank and my heart started to ache.

“You already hurt me, Jack.” I walked out and carefully pulled the door shut.

Tears started to form in my eyes, so I went into the bathroom to collect myself.

Chapter Forty-Five

Jack

I closed my eyes after hearing Lorelei speak those words. Even after everything I did for her, she still hadn’t forgiven me for the things I said after finding out about Hope. I took a seat in my chair and cupped my face in my hands. I missed her and I missed Hope. Not only did Lorelei have an impact on my life the minute she spilled coffee on me, but Hope did as well. I looked up when I heard the door open and Coco walked in with two men dressed in suits.

“Jack, this is Detective Henley and Detective Sloan. They have some news regarding Joshua’s murder.”

“Nice to meet you, gentlemen. I’m Jack Sutton. Please have a seat.”

“We found the person who killed Joshua. Her name is Shae Sanders.”

I looked over at Coco in surprise. “Why would Shae kill Joshua?” I asked the detectives.

“Apparently, they got into a huge fight that day and she told him she was leaving. When she tried to leave, he threw her around and beat her up. She got hold of a kitchen knife and stabbed him repeatedly.”

“So it was self-defense,” I spoke.

“I guess you can say that, but that’s for a jury to decide. Anyway, we wanted to let you know that we won’t be bothering your family again. Have a good day.”

The detectives left my office and Coco sat across from me with a small smile across her face.

“I always knew he was crazy. Good for her for defending herself,” she spoke.

“She’s going to need a good defense attorney and we’re paying the bill.”

“Are you crazy, Jack? Mom just gave her all that money.”

“Exactly, and she’s going to need it to stay quiet. We can’t risk her saying something about what our mother had her do a couple of years ago. I’m going to call Avery Lewis and see if she’ll take the case.”

“If you say so. But you need to remember that she was the woman who was sleeping with my boyfriend.”

“And you need to remember that Garrett is the man who was sleeping with his girlfriend.”

She rolled her eyes and got up from her seat. “I suppose. I’ll talk to you later.”

I grabbed my phone and dialed my mother in Paris.

“Hello, darling,” she answered.

“I just wanted to let you know that Shae was the one who murdered Joshua.”

“Oh dear. That girl has a little spunk in her. Remind me to thank her when I return.”

“It was self-defense, Mother. He was beating the crap out of her.”

A light laugh came through the phone. “Do you believe that son? Anyway, I’ll be home in a few days.”

“I’m hiring her a good defense attorney and you’re paying her legal fees.”

“What? Why?”

“Because we don’t need to take the chance that she’s going to spill the beans about you. It’s the least we can do. And another thing, I think it’s time you retired from Sutton Magazine.”

“Excuse me, Jack?” Her voice took on a stern tone.

“We’ll talk more about this when you get back. I have to go.” Click.

Now that this situation was semi-handled, I needed to work on getting Lorelei to forgive me and agree to go out with me. As I was pondering ways, my office door opened and she stepped inside while keeping her hand around the door handle.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Jack, but I need to know why you punched Garrett.”

I let out a light chuckle. “You don’t have a clue as to why I did it?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Because he’s sleeping with my sister.”

“Oh.” She backed up into the hallway and pulled the door shut.

****

My new suit from Bloomingdale’s was ready to be picked up and I thought about sending Lorelei to go get it, but decided to do it myself because I wanted to get out of the office.

“I’m leaving for the day, Lorelei. I have a couple of things I need to take care of. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. Have a nice night, Jack.”

“You too.”