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I nodded, hating that Jacqueline was ever treated this way. I loathed the fact that a man had managed to convince a goddess like her to move in with him, and yet that was how he acted because he was too emotionally immature to deal with his own insecurities.

“I’m so sorry,” I managed to spit out, “So, your counselor finally told you how abusive it was?”

“Yeah. I still stayed with him for another few months after that, though. I wasn’t ready to hear what she told me. Part of me was convinced that I could even prove her wrong. Another part of me wondered if therapists nowadays just felt too comfortable throwing words like ‘abusive’ and ‘narcissist’ and ‘gaslighting’ around. That I wasn’t actually in an emotionally abusive relationship. I was embarrassed to admit that to myself, and she stayed on as our counselor until—ugh, I’m so stupid.”

“Don’t talk about my lover like that.” I scolded, planting a kiss on the crown of her head, “You aren’t stupid.”

“I felt stupid in the moment, though,” Jacqueline grumbled, “Anyway, I stayed with him another few months until I learned that he was cheating on me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” I couldn’t believe the nerve of this prick.

“Yeah, with someone else who worked at Blix.”

“What the fuck,” I rubbed my hand over my eyes, “You’re shitting me.”

“No,” Jacqueline shifted so that she sat up on her knees. The throw blanket was mostly over her as she tucked it around her chest, but there was a corner of it keeping my groin from making an appearance during this vulnerable conversation we were having, “I told Marco what I found on his phone and stuff, and—”

“Who’s Marco?” I asked shifting closer to her because I couldn’t help myself.

“My brother—my twin,” Jacqueline’s dark eyes lifted to meet mine.

“You have a twin? How did I not know this?” I mentally scanned all our past conversations and having a twin had never once come up.

“I never bothered to tell you until now,” Jacqueline smirked, shifting on her knees so that they rested against my thigh, “Anyway, Marco was there that same night with suitcases and cardboard boxes. He helped me pack up my apartment while I wrote my letter of resignation. I didn’t even give two weeks notice. I knew it wasn’t professional of me, but I just couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing him and the woman he was having an affair with. I didn’t even want to confront him. I just…left.”

“I’m so fucking glad you did.” I wrapped both of my arms around her waist, tugging her over onto my lap. She came willingly, and as she planted either of her thighs around my waist, I grinned at her.

“Yeah, me too.” She looked nervous as she untucked the blanket, letting me get an excellent view of her naked body straddling mine. She tucked either end of the throw blanket around the both of us, creating a little fort with both of our bodies. It was like she was shielding us from the outside world, and I loved it, “Vincent was an asshole about it, though. I think he couldn’t handle the fact thatIwas the one who lefthim. He didn’t even like me, but he insisted that I come back. He cared more about how my leaving made him feel thanwhyI left him. He even ended things with the woman he was seeing, but it didn’t matter to me anymore. When he started to realize that I really wasn’t coming back, that’s when he got mean.”

I frowned, so when Jacqueline glanced up from her hands resting on my chest to meet my gaze, I was surprised to see her tuck her lips between her teeth and hold back a smirk, “You look upset.”

“I am upset,” I admitted, “I want to do unspeakable damage to this guy.”

“Well, you already punched him in the face, so—”

“Wait—” I interrupted her as I sat up, using my grip on her waist to keep her in place as I did so, because Jesus Christ I had already forgotten about that, “That’swho that prick at the bar was?”

“Yeah,” She rolled her eyes, frowning again as she started running her hands up and down my chest, back and forth, “I hadn’t seen him in years before that. Since I started my job at Sun Steer, moved out of Marco’s and rented this place.”

I frowned, and she noticed my movement with a raised eyebrow, “What?”

I caught myself and shook my head, “Nothing.”

“No, tell me,” she slid her hands up my chest to start kneading my shoulders, “You made a face at a weird part of the story.”

I chuckled, leaning my head back against the couch, soaking up the feeling of Jacqueline fucking Williams straddling my lap and massaging my shoulders, “I did, but it’s for a ridiculous reason.”

“Just tell me.” She leaned toward me, her dark eyes bouncing between the two of mine.

I bit my lip in thought, and when her gaze dropped to my mouth, I finally admitted my childish thoughts, “Earlier I was just wondering if—god, I’m such a wanker for even thinking—”

“Leo, please tell me.” She leaned forward more, her breasts pressing against my chest as her arms wrapped around my neck. Jacqueline laid her head on my shoulder, letting her hair fall and tickle my skin.

“Fine, fine,” I sighed, wrapping both of my arms around her back to keep us chest to chest, “I got a little excited at the idea of shagging on every surface in this flat.”

Jacqueline didn’t stiffen in my arms at the admission, instead, she was quiet momentarily before asking, “Why?”

“Because then we’d replace any memory you had of him in this flat with—hopefully—a better one.” And that was when Jacqueline pulled back to look at me with a pinch in between her dark brows. I held my breath, waiting for the scolding. For the reprimand of how childish my thoughts were.