Jesse by Kathi S. Barton Read Free Book Online

Hunters were here to take
another pound of her flesh.
    “That’s very telling.” Curtis came into
the room with a beautiful woman right behind him. She was hugely pregnant. “This
is my wife, Kylie. And before you ask, no, she’s not in labor.”
    “I wasn’t. Why are you here? I kept my
end of the bargain. You can’t renege now.” She flushed when she realized how
rude she was being. “I’m sorry. I just want out of this.”
    “You’re free to go. I have some things
I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind.” She watched him open a briefcase that
he’d set on the bedside table. “Just some questions about what happened.”
    “What’s this going to cost me?” She
looked over at Doyle when he growled at her to behave. Again, she flushed.
    “Nothing but a little bit of your time.”
He was helping his wife sit as he answered. She watched how tender he was being
with her and how he looked at her with such emotion. He caught her looking at
them and he winked.
    What was wrong with everyone today, she
wondered? In less than ten minutes she’d been winked at twice. She had gone her
entire life without a single one. And now, a married man and…well, and Doyle.
    She had to get away from them. She’d
spent the last year all alone with only Doyle as her friend and now there were
all sorts of people wanting to be chummy to her. Getting up, she limped her way
to the bathroom with a hasty “be back” said over her shoulder.
    She wiped at the tears. Joey didn’t know
what the hell was wrong with her, but every time she thought she had a handle,
she’d break down again. It was that man, that bastard that had done this. He’d
hurt her, humiliated her too. He’d treated her as though she was nothing, less
than nothing.
    Joey could hear the voices on the other
side of the door, but couldn’t make out the words. She knew that Doyle thought
she was going to stay with him and his mom, but she had no intentions of doing
that. Joey knew Mrs. O’Donnell disliked her and wasn’t going to have the woman
treating Doyle badly because she was there.
    She knew that the woman was very ill and
that Doyle was caring for her, but man, the woman was caustic. Giggling a little,
Joey realized she was too and wondered briefly if that was why they didn’t care
for each other. She wiped again at her face and opened the door.
    “Fuck,” she said before she could stop
it. And when the pregnant Mrs. Hunter laughed, all hopes of thinking they might
not have heard flew out the window. She walked to her bed and began putting her
things in the bag that the hospital had given her.
    “I would like to speak to you, if you
don’t mind.”
    She glanced at Jesse and didn’t answer.
    “Please, Miss Foster. I would like to
tell you how sorry—”
    “Sorry doesn’t cut it, you fucking
jackass. You treated me like scum. Worse than scum, you treated me like I was
beneath you. I probably am, but there was no reason for you to point it out to
me.” She stuffed the shirt she’d come in into the bag. “Telling me that I
couldn’t leave here because you were the high and mighty Jesse M. Hunter, like
I didn’t fucking know that.”
    “I did not act high and might—”
    “I’m speaking here. You had your chance
and now it’s my turn. Where was I? Oh, yeah. The high and mighty Jesse M.
Hunter said I was to stay put like I was a dog and he was making me obey.” She
turned to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. “I’m not a dog. I’m
not a door mat either. For that matter, I’m pretty fucking amazing if you want
to know.”
    “I’m beginning to see that.”
    She didn’t know why his smile pissed her
off more, but it did. She was on a roll now and wasn’t letting him off the hook
just yet. “You acted like I’d hurt your mom and said I was to be nice to her,
respect her, or I’d pay. Respect is earned, you moron, or haven’t you ever
heard that? And be nice? Who the fuck do you think went in that burning
building