Chương 13 - The Woman Behind the Armor
Jessi began visiting regularly.
Not as Ivan's employer.
Not as Sterling & Vance's CEO.
Simply Jessi.
She helped Fiona with homework.
Badly.
“You got this wrong,” Fiona announced.
Jessi examined the math problem.
“Impossible.”
“It's third-grade multiplication.”
“I run an international corporation.”
“And you got it wrong.”
Ivan laughed from the kitchen.
Jessi threw a pencil at him.
For a while, happiness felt almost ordinary.
But Jessi still woke from nightmares.
Ivan discovered that one evening when she fell asleep on his couch.
She suddenly jerked awake.
“No!”
Ivan sat beside her.
“You're safe.”
She struggled for breath.
Her hands trembled.
“I hate this.”
“What?”
“Being afraid.”
“Fear isn't weakness.”
“You always say irritating things when I'm vulnerable.”
“It's one of my gifts.”
She smiled.
Then became serious.
“I spent years believing if anyone saw what the accident did to me, I'd lose everything.”
Ivan remembered the first night.
Her scars.
Her terror.
Her threat.
“And?”
“I lost more by hiding.”
He didn't touch her.
He let her decide.
Eventually Jessi reached for his hand.
Their fingers intertwined.
No dramatic kiss.
No confession.
Just two people sitting quietly while the city moved outside.
The next morning brought another problem.
Victor's trial was approaching.
His attorneys planned to argue Jessi had fabricated portions of the conspiracy to protect her corporate position.
They wanted her medical records.
Photographs.
Every detail she'd fought to keep private.
Jessi looked at Ivan.
“I don't know if I can do this.”
Ivan squeezed her hand.
“You already survived the thing they're asking you to talk about.”
Her eyes filled.
“That doesn't mean talking about it won't hurt.”
“No.”
May you like
He nodded.
“But this time you don't walk into that room alone.”
