“I am following through with what I started.” Liam stated with infuriating calm. “And what I started was a campaign to keep you alive, not one to help you win a competition.”
“This isn’t just a competition.” Jaz’s hands, braced atop the table, started to tremble, the words pushing through all barriers. “This is my last chance. If I don’t get the damn Clash of the Titans prize money and title, my life in Denton Valley is over.” She swallowed, the words—the truth—choking her.
Except for Sebastian, no one knew what had happened to the money Jaz had. But she needed Liam to understand the stakes. She trusted him to understand the stakes. And she hoped to hell she wasn’t making a mistake in letting him in on the most vulnerable secret of her adult life.
Just as she’d done in the airplane, Jaz drew a breath and plunged in. “A few years ago, I took a wrong turn. I trusted a charlatan and loaned a lot of money to a fundraising venture called Females of the Future. The organization was supposed to pool our funds together and invest them, with the dividends going to help girls overseas. The idea was that we’d get a better return on investment with a large sum. After the initial interest-free term, we’d be paid on future loans at higher percentage than newcomers. Anyway, it was all a scam. The leader went to prison. Many of us barely proved that we knew nothing about it.”
Sinking into her chair, Jaz continued the story, detailing the days when her financial security and independence had been pulled out from under her.
“There were signs all along that something wasn’t right. The money we invested grew too fast, but that seemed like a good thing so I didn’t ask questions. I had thank-you letters and photos from all these girls whose lives I was going to change. I was going to be their hero and, eventually, come out ahead while I was at it. That obviously didn’t happen. I came away with nothing. I’m behind on rent now, and on tuition. Winning this competition, the prize money and endorsements that would go with the victory, is my last chance to hang on to a climbing life. So I’m asking…no, I’m begging you—don’t turn your back on me.”
Though she hadn’t moved, Jaz felt as though she’d been running for miles. Blowing out a long breath, she tried to read Liam’s thoughts in his beautiful, stoic face. Except there was little to read there, his shift of weight being the only indication that he’d heard her at all.
Jaz frowned. “You don’t seem surprised.”
Liam lifted one shoulder.
“Wait, you knew?” She blinked. “The grad school loans, the empty bank account, everything?”
“I had a full workup done on your financials. I needed to know what vulnerabilities you had.”
Jaz stared at him, the feeling of betrayal stinging all the way to her core. Bile rose up her throat, which was threatening to close. “No, you didn’t. You didn’t need to know my financial background to provide physical protection against a physical threat. You chose to invade my privacy.”
Liam had the grace to look away. “In full disclosure, we never figured out what happened to the other half of your money. Whatever you didn’t invest in the scam. It seemed to have gone through a number of accounts on its way out of yours and never returned.”
“You want to know where it went?” Jaz spat the words. “It went to those girls, the ones my contributions were supposed to help. The ones who’d crafted their lives, made their choices, and risked their futures because of a promise I made to them. They thought they could rely on me, and I wasn’t going to destroy their dream just because I was stupid enough to fall for a scam.”
She let that sink in because it was exactly what Liam was doing as well. Turning his back on Jaz’s dream because he got caught up in his competitor’s net.
“I’m sorry,” Liam said.
Yeah. Jaz spread her fingers on the tabletop, the polished wood peeking out between the gaps. “So what now? You disappear from my life and come back when the whole thing blows over and you’re horny for a good fuck?”
Liam pushed back his chair and opened a drawer beneath the desk. “Maybe,” he said as if it didn’t matter all that much. “Maybe not. I guess we’ll have to figure it out if our paths cross again.” Pulling a checkbook out of the drawer, he signed a blank check and slid it to Jaz across the table. “Write in whatever amount the prize money was going to cover and keep it.”
It felt like a blow, hitting her just beneath the diaphragm. Just when she’d thought things between them couldn’t fall further than they had, Liam had struck her again. Then dropped the floor out from beneath her.
“I don’t want your fucking money.”
Liam shrugged and pulled out his phone as if to say that the conversation—just like the one-night stand that had lasted too long—was over.
“We—” Jaz started to say.
“There is no we,” Liam said. “I’d say we’re over, but the reality is there was never a we to begin with. I’m not relationship material—I’ve told you that from the beginning. I’ve sent a few emails. My people are moving your things back to your place. The rent is being covered.” He stood, shaking his head, and pushed his rolling chair back under the table. “Enough, Jaz. It’s done, so accept it and stop moping like a lost puppy. It didn’t suit you when you were a twelve-year-old, and it suits you even less at twenty-five. I’m not the man you need, and you’re certainly not the woman I want.”
Jaz got to her feet, her heart pounding in her ears. Beyond the window, a dark cloud gathered against the sun, threatening thunder and rain. “No kidding. A word of advice for the future? The woman you’re looking for? She doesn’t have a brain. Or opinions. I’d suggest a Barbie from Toys “R” Us, but they’re out of business.”
Liam looked down at her, his shoulders spread to show every inch of his height and muscle. “Well, you certainly have a brain. But your failure to use it when you first realized something wasn’t right with that so-called charity, that was entirely on you. You made your bed there. Don’t make it out like it’s my fault that things turned out as they did. As for the Clash of the Titans—win it. Lose it. Don’t go at all. Not my problem. I gave my best friend my word that I’d protect you, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
33
Liam
Liam barely made it from the conference room to his office before his bravado gave out on him. Shutting the door, he pressed his back against the wood and struggled for breath that refused to come. He felt as if he’d just taken the worst pounding of his life, every muscle inside him screaming from the impact. Looking down at his hands, he realized they were shaking. That his entire body was shaking.
He had no idea how in the world Jaz believed him, but the hurt in her eyes told him that he’d done his job well. That his poisonous words had hit their mark. And if they hadn’t, the check had.
Liam wished like hell there had been some other way, but once he realized Jaz wouldn’t go down without a fight, he knew there wasn’t. Her being alive and unharmed trumped whatever he wanted for himself. Jaz deserved to be happy. She deserved so many things, and for one selfish, utterly delusional moment, he’d thought that maybe he might be the man who could give them to her.