Josh was like ice, no, worse. Stone. He was a harsh blend of both, but his tone as well as his grip on her arm jerked her awake.
Shit, she hadn’t really been about to…?
She licked her lips, shaken that her initial response to Janice’s words were violence.
Fuck, what did that make her? As bad as her bastard husband?
She swallowed, but it was hard. Her throat felt full of tears and rage and all kinds of complicated emotions she wasn’t up to exploring. But she had to. She had to because Janice was here, admitting that she’d known all along what was happening with Jamie’s addictions.
Had she known about the other though?
Had she?
Samantha needed to know.
Needed to with a desperate craving that undoubtedly rivalled Jamie’s need for the drugs that had ultimately killed him.
“He hit me.” The words were staccato, and Janice jolted with each one. “Repeatedly. Day after day, year after year. You knew, didn’t you?”
Though Janice remained silent, Josh bit off, “You did. For fuck’s sake, Janice! Why didn’t you stop him?”
The other woman began to shake, the tremors making it seem like she was vibrating. “Get out of my home.”
“No!” Samantha roared. “No! You bitch. You goddamn bitch. He treated me like I was a punching bag. He punished me for daring to say thank you to a waiter, thought I was sleeping with everyone from our sixty-year-old doorman to the driver! And you mean to tell me you knew?”
“I knew nothing,” Janice spat. “Get out of my house. Both of you have outstayed your welcome.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere until you admit you knew,” Samantha raged. “I loved him at the start. I’d have done anything to help him. And with your support, we could have… I don’t know? Got him into rehab. But you just enabled him. You made it okay that he treated me that way!”
Janice’s mouth flatlined. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers.”
“Not before you hear from mine first, Janice,” Josh inserted, his tone close to silky with threat.
“This fight has nothing to do with you,” she snarled.
“It has everything. You honestly think I’m going to allow my future wife to lose her son? You’re insane. As insane as Jamie was.”
“She’s convinced you, has she? Made you believe all these lies about Jamie?”
“I saw Erin before Jamie died, Janice. I saw him. He was quiet. You’d barely know he was there, he was so damn silent. He stayed close to Samantha. Tucked so close to her like he could turn invisible… That’s what Jamie did to him. I loved Jamie. I thought he was the best man I knew, and I didn’t believe it. Not at first. But seeing Erin now confirmed it. He’s chatty, he smiles and laughs and giggles. It’s a wonder he’s not nervous, but whatever he is, he isn’t sad. He doesn’t mourn his father’s passing and that’s because of Jamie.”
“No!” Janice screamed. “It’s because of her. She’s tarnishing Jamie’s memory. Ruining it with her lies and deceit.”
“It’s the truth! There are no lies here, apart from the ones you’re telling yourself.” Samantha let out a sob. “What do you want? To see my medical records? Do you want to see the ribs he broke? The arm he sprained? Is that proof? Do you want to know that the doctors and nurses of the clinic he took me to didn’t even dare tell me about a nearby women's shelter because women like me don’t escape men like Jamie Garrett.” She gulped. “Your son was a monster, and it will be a cold day in hell that I let my son be raised by the woman who turned Jamie into that.”
Josh murmured softly, “She’ll have all the might of my lawyers, Janice. You might want to consider that before you talk Frank into going to court over a child we both know he isn’t interested in.” He paused. “And, you might warn him from me. He needs to avoid the Sanderson-Montecor group if he wants to have enough money to pay a lawyer’s retainer… never mind anything else.”
Janice’s eyes flashed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means they’re being investigated for insider training. Consider that a friendly olive branch from me, Janice. He’ll have just enough time to pull his stock, and if the SEC think it looks a little unusual, then he can send them my way. I’ll explain it all. You don’t want to make an enemy out of me, Janice. You and I both know who’ll win.”
For a second, Janice stayed quiet, but she jerked her chin up and, with her eyes aimed at the door—for they’d not even left the front vestibule—she whispered, “I’d like you to leave now.”
“Gladly,” Samantha mumbled, and wished she’d never have to darken her in-laws’ doorstep ever again.
Chapter 10
Josh