“Would you like breakfast? I make some pretty mean waffles. Just ask Hope.”
She giggled. “He burnt the first two waffles and had to throw them out.”
“I can make my own breakfast. You’ve done enough.” I lightly touched his arm and he pulled away.
“Let me. You go sit down and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“You better do as he says, Mommy.” Hope smiled.
I sighed and took my coffee to the table, where I sat down next to Hope. After setting the plate of waffles down in front of me, Jack took a seat across from us.
“Coco may be here before I get back,” he spoke as he sipped his coffee.
“All right. I’ll be on the lookout for her.”
As soon as Hope was finished eating, I kissed her goodbye and walked her and Jack to the elevator.
“Have a good day, baby.”
“I will, Mommy. You too.”
I stood and watched as Jack took Hope’s backpack from her and placed his hand on the top of her head. A feeling washed over me that I couldn’t describe. For a brief moment, it felt like we were a family. He was still angry with me for last night and his attitude still carried on this morning. He wasn’t happy when I pulled away from him. I shook off the feeling, went back to the kitchen, and poured another cup of coffee. A few moments later, I heard the elevator doors open and Coco walked in.
“Lorelei, so happy to see you out of the hospital.” She walked over and lightly hugged me.
“It’s good to see you, Coco. How’s everything going?”
“Meh. As well as could be expected, I guess.”
She took down a cup from the cupboard and poured some coffee into it.
“Where’s Jack?”
“He took Hope to school. He’ll be back soon.”
“Ah. Okay. Do I smell waffles?”
“Yes. Would you like some?”
“I would love some. I haven’t had waffles in years.” She smiled.
I took two waffles from the freezer and placed them in the toaster.
“I must say, it’s nice to see you here in Jack’s kitchen. The only woman I’ve ever seen here is Madeline.”
“Really?” I cocked my head in disbelief.
“Yeah. Jack never let the women he was with spend the night. It was always sex and goodbye. A swift kick out the door.” She smiled.
“We aren’t having sex any more. I’m just a guest in his home.”
“You may not be having sex now, but I’m sure you will be again.” She winked.#p#分页标题#e#
I could feel my cheeks redden as she stared at me.
“Don’t be embarrassed, sweetie. Between you and me, I think you’re a breath of fresh air for Jack and he knows it.”
Putting the waffles on a plate, I took them over to the table.
“Well, Jack screwed up when he found out about Hope and told me that he had made a terrible mistake and to forget about what happened between us.”
Just as I said that, I heard the elevator doors open and Jack walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, Coco.” He walked over and kissed her cheek.
“Hey, Jack. So tell me what’s going on.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jack
Pouring a cup of coffee, I sat down at the table across from Coco. I didn’t know how to tell her. This was going to be a double blow. It didn’t only involve our mother, but her boyfriend, who, for some unknown fucked-up reason, she loved.
“Our mother is being blackmailed. That’s why she had Bradley take the money from the company and put them in the offshore accounts.”
She cocked her head as a shocked look settled in her eyes. “Who would blackmail our mother? And better yet, why?”
I glanced over at Lorelei, who gave me a pained look. She knew this was something I couldn’t bear to tell my sister. This would hurt her deeply and I dreaded the words leaving my mouth. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.
“Jack?” She paused as she looked over at Lorelei and then back at me. “What the fuck is going on?”
I took in a deep breath as I prepared to deliver the devastating news to my sister.
“Joshua is blackmailing her.”
“What?” Her lips gave way to a small unsure smile. “Why? Why would my boyfriend blackmail our mother?”
“Joshua found out something about her and he threatened to go public with it unless she paid him off to keep quiet.”
“This doesn’t make any sense. What did he find out about her?”
“Apparently, our mother hired someone to go work for Flourishing Fashions Magazine to spy on them. They reported back to her and she stole their ideas, used them in our magazine, and put out the editions before Flourishing could.”