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"You’re right I lied to her I was angry when she first cary She’d kept my son fro She didn’t even seenant, then taking off, wasn’t enough"
"You think anyone cares about that arguh?"
"No," Matt said quietly "It’s not anything It’s why I did it I wanted her punished I wanted her to feel what I felt I wanted her to suffer and I rong"
Bill’s gaze never wavered "I hope you’re not expecting points for that"
"I don’t I’ot to know Gabe, as he becary at what I’d et to see They can never be recovered They’re lost forever"
"Jesse should have tried harder to tell you about him," Bill told him "She’s admitted that Shearound, pretending to be one thing while waiting to destroy her"
"I know I need to talk to Jesse I need to tell her she doesn’t have to worry I can fix this"
"Now that’s the first thing you’ve said that makesthis"
Matt hadn’t actually been worried until that minute He knew he’d hurt Jesse, that she would be scared and angry and upset, but he believed he could ht That he could explain in a way she would understand
What if he rong?
He pushed away the thought He could get through to her He’d always had the ability, because he knew her
"She loves me," Matt said, more to himself than Bill "She’s loved me all this time"
"That makes the situation worse It sure doesn’t help you Jesse is never going to forgive you Just as bad, eventually Gabe’s going to figure out you’re the reason you’ve "
Without wanting to, Matt reht and had found histhat she couldn’t do this alone, that it was tooto His father was the only person he could think of
He’d hated hiive hi to try and get in touch with the man
Matt sat heavily in his chair The reality of the situation, the potential disaster, weighed on him like the side of a mountain
"He’s my son," he muttered He’d just discovered Gabe He couldn’t lose hiht of that before," Bill said conte you could have wanted It was all there for the taking The love of a good woman, a son who only wanted to be with you, a happy faht You’d rather get your revenge How does it feel now?"
Matt didn’t have an answer He was too focused on everything that had gone wrong
"Jesse isn’t alone," Bill continued "She has a whole lot of people on her side People who aren’t afraid of you People who have resources I, for one, plan to enjoy every minute of your fall"
With that, he turned and left Matt watched hio When the door closed, he was left alone in silence He hadn’t felt this alone for a long time Not since before he and Jesse had first
He could fix this, he told himself He’d never found a proble out the best strategy
Only, he found it hard to think with the burning eut and the voice that whispered it was possible he’d gone too far
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JESSE PULLED THE MORNING orders frooodness the software they used provided a list of products ordered by type It ure out what to bake She co baked and noted how many extra batches of brownies and cakes they’d need to finish that day
As she worked, she are of Nicole and Claire whispering in the corner They weren’t subtle, she thought, both exasperated and touched by their constant hovering They orried about her, which ood news The bad neas every look of concern, every shared knowing glance, reminded her of what Matt had done and caused her to eood at picking up the pieces andforward
She started toward the kitchen Claire stopped her "Can I help?" she asked
"I’ to tell Sid how many more batches of brownies we need"
"I can do that" Claire took the paperwork frolanced at it She frowned "Just tell me how to read this Sanskrit"
Jesse retrieved her printouts "I appreciate that you’re trying to help, but the truth is, I’h this I can dothat way"
"I want to help," Claire said