“Emma, no. Listen to me. Yes, that was my original intention, okay. I wanted to charm you a little to see if it would help things. I don’t want to lie to you about that. But once I knew who you were, I was nothing but sincere. You’re my butterfly. I—”
He reached out to her, but Emma dodged him. “Don’t. Just don’t. I can’t have you touching me and calling me pet names when I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that you were just using me.”
“Emma, please. You’ve got to listen to me.”
“No, I don’t. The only thing I have to do is pack my office tomorrow and update my résumé. I need medical insurance and a way to support my baby.”
“Our baby,” he corrected.
Emma only ignored him. She couldn’t think about that right now. A future of dealing with him as her baby’s father was too painful a thought. “I need you to get your things and go home, Jonah.”
He took a step toward her, but she backed away and he stopped short. “I told you I’d never let you go and I meant it, Emma.”
His eyes pleaded with her, the deep blue tugging at her heartstrings, but she didn’t dare back down. He’d used her to get what he’d wanted and she couldn’t forget that. He’d destroyed her career and her reputation just to save his own ass. “I’m not giving you the choice, Jonah. I need you to leave. Right now.” Her voice was as stone cold and unemotional as she could make it with her feelings threatening to explode out of her.
This time, he didn’t bother to argue. He returned to the bedroom, gathered up the rest of his clothes and pulled them on without another word. Emma followed him to the front door, fighting to hold in her tears until he was gone.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Emma,” he said before stepping out the front door.
She closed and locked it behind him, and rested her forehead against the cold wood. The tears started flowing freely then.
“Well, you did,” she whispered.
Eleven
“Someone is looking awfully grumpy this morning.”
Jonah looked up from his desk to see his brother Noah standing in the doorway. Just the sight of him was enough to send his blood pressure rocketing.
His brother had chosen the wrong day to come strolling into his office with that smug grin on his face. He hadn’t slept for days after the fight with Emma. He couldn’t eat. The worst part was that he knew he’d handled the situation with her all wrong. He didn’t know how he would fix things, if he even could. But he could get some justice by making the culprit that put him in that position pay.
Without responding, Jonah slowly stood up from his desk with his hands curled into fists at his sides. He had no doubt the waves of anger were rolling off him with the way the perpetual smirk on Noah’s face faded.
Jonah stalked his brother around the room like a panther toying with his cornered prey. Slowly. Deliberately. Silently. He would savor this punishment. Weeks of frustration, heartache, not to mention millions of dollars—all because of his reckless, stupid younger brother.
“Jonah...” Noah held his hands up and backed away toward the conference room table. “Let me explain first, please.”
“Oh, you’re going to explain,” Jonah said. “But you’re going to do it with a split lip and a bloody nose.”
“Oh, come on, Jonah. Physical violence? What would Mother say? I’m going to see her tonight. Do you want me to look like I’ve been in a fight?”
Normally, the mention of the grand dame would’ve given him pause, but not today. “Nope,” he replied. “I want you to look like you’ve lost a fight.”
Now Noah looked worried. He moved until the conference table was between them. “Why are you so angry? Did the Game Town deal fall through?”
“Did the Game Town deal fall through?” Jonah said with a near-hysterical edge to his voice. He had no idea. He hadn’t heard a word on the deal since he left Emma’s apartment Monday night. He laughed and continued to circle the table. “That’s the least of my worries at the moment, Noah.”
That puzzled his younger brother. “Well, wait. Really. What has happened? Because I spoke with the Game Town CEO yesterday and he sounded like he understood and everything would go through just fine.”
Jonah froze. He hadn’t. Noah hadn’t gone to their potential partner and spoken with him wi
thout even telling Jonah he was back in the country. He wouldn’t. “You what?”
“I’ll tell you everything if you sit down and promise not to hit me. That’s why I came here after all. I’m not stupid.”
Jonah sincerely doubted that, but he was more curious about his brother’s story at the moment. He couldn’t fathom a scenario where he could explain the theft to Carl and have everything be okay. “Fine. But I still might hit you.”
“Fine,” Noah agreed. “Please sit down and let me finish first.”