“Her name is Kate,” Jay said through gritted teeth. “And you know who she is, because you wrote a nasty piece about her, and then you managed to track down where she was staying and broke in.”
I couldn’t lie, watching him angry at Hannah was turning me on more than I ever would have expected, and as he crossed the room to stare her down, I felt a shiver of lust trickle down my spine.
“I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, crossing her arms.
“You do, because we all know you did it, and you’re never going to do it again,” Jay continued. “And you’ll treat Kate with the respect she deserves.”
“Or at least stop breaking into my sister’s apartment,” I said. “I don’t care what you do the rest of the time. But leave me alone.”
Hannah laughed. “For the last time, I didn’t do it,” she said. “God, I’m insulted you’d even pin such a petty, stupid crime on me!”
“Cut the shit, Hannah,” Jay said. “I smelled that horrific perfume you love so much. It was still wafting around when the cops showed up.”
“They can’t arrest me based on my perfume,” Hannah said in an airy tone.
“I wish they could, it’s bloody awful,” Jay muttered, and I tried to hold back a snicker, knowing that right now really wasn’t an appropriate moment to laugh.
Hannah narrowed her eyes, finally cutting off her nice act. “Get out. Both of you.”
“Not until you admit what you did,” Jay said, his eyes flashing. “Should we get your boss and ask him or her to weigh in on this situation?”
Hannah rolled her eyes and dropped her shoulders dramatically. “Okay! Fine, I did it, I broke in. I didn’t mean any harm by it.” She eyed me up and down. “I just wanted to see what kind of slut you’ve decided to bang nowadays. After all, you normally have a type—blonde and thin. But she doesn’t really live up to that, does she?”
A hot flush of anger broke out across my cheeks. Just as I was about to get in Hannah’s face and do something I’d likely regret, Jay stepped in front of me and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“I just recorded this whole conversation, and I’m sure you don’t want anyone hearing it. So you damn well better leave Kate alone,” he hissed. “You’ll leave me alone too. You’ll go about your shady bullshit business and leave the two of us out of it, got that?”
Hannah visibly blanched, but she quickly regained her composure and sniffed. “What makes you think I’m even still interested now that I’ve seen all there is to see of her?” She eyed me again and I felt the same hot flash of anger through my body. “After all, she seems pretty ordinary.”
Jay clenched his teeth. “Just stop it, Hannah. Stop it or I’ll go to the editor right now and give him this recording. Your name will be mud and you’ll never get another job in journalism ever again. Got it?”
Hannah smiled, and she walked behind her desk and sat down with her knees primly pressed together. She was pretty, I couldn’t deny that, but there was such an air of dissatisfaction around her that I couldn’t imagine she got a lot of men to flock around her. She seemed so smug and superior.
“Got that?” Jay’s voice rang out loudly in the small office as he repeated himself.
Hannah nodded, obviously knowing she was defeated. The recording Jay had made could see her out of a job, not to mention in some pretty hot water with the police. “Ten-four, boss,” she said with a smirk on her face. “Anything else?”
Jay turned to me. “Ready to go? Or do you have something to say to Hannah too?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t want to stoop to her level,” I said, loudly enough for Hannah to hear me. Tossing my hair over my shoulder, I stalked out of the small office.
As soon as we were in the hallway with the door shut behind us, I practically collapsed onto Jay, adrenaline pumping wildly through my body.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking at me. His eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and concern. “She was really nasty to you.”
I shrugged. “Well, I didn’t expect her to be friendly,” I said with a wry smile. “And god, her perfume! You were right. It’s horrible! It makes me think of mothballs mixed with peach schnapps and bitterness.”
Jay smirked. “Told you so,” he said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Are you sure she’s going to stop?” I looked up at his handsome, rugged face. He was incredibly intimidating when he wanted to be, but Hannah seemed to have a hidden agenda of her own.