Page 82 of Under His Control

I hesitate because I’ve kept this secret to myself for so long.

“I’m the one who sent the video of Mom’s confession to the prosecutor.”

His caress stills. “It was you?”

I nod. “I tried to get her to come forward on her own. She refused to do it. So I secretly recorded us talking about what we’d done while we were at a picnic.”

Jacob stares at me in amazement.

“How did you manage that?”

I give him a small smile. “I leaned my phone up against a tree and asked the right questions.”

The entire time, I was afraid that she or someone else would spot my phone, or she would get suspicious about my baiting questions. She was too caught up in vindictive glee, celebrating how Jacob would regret robbing her of millions of dollars.

Men like him always think they’re better than me because they have money. That I’m some dumb bitch who’s only nice to look at or only good for a fuck.

I always show them they’re wrong to underestimate me.

I’ll show him too.

When the prosecutor called us in for an interview about the video, she gave Mom a choice: come clean right then or she would investigate if the video was true. If it was, Mom would face worse consequences for her perjury.

“My lawyer told me about the video but I never saw it,” Jacob says. “Did your mom know it was you who made it?”

“Not for sure. I cut it down to a short clip. It looked like it was someone else recording us. She always suspected it was me though.”

He lets out a soft huff.

“Instead of sending me to prison, you sent your mom.”

I grimace. “I don’t like hearing the truth out loud.”

“Sorry, I’m just…” He squeezes my arm again. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

I look away for a moment then meet his gaze again.

“I wanted to. It wouldn’t have changed anything. You still lost a lot even though you kept your freedom.”

He doesn’t respond but he’s looking at me like he’s seeing me in a whole new light. His gaze dips to mouth before he pulls me close and wraps his arm around me.

Flutters fill my stomach as I sense where this is headed. I try to escape his hold. He turns me and pins me against the fridge. As he lowers his face to mine, I press my hand to his chest to keep him back.

“You made me a promise, Jake.”

“Let me break it a little,” he murmurs.

“You’ll want more than a little.”

I’ll want more than a little too.

His heart is beating faster under my palm just like mine is drumming too. It feels like he’s moving closer and he’ll kiss me anyway. I’m shaking, every part of me silently begging him to do it.

He releases me quickly and turns away, striding to the front door.

“There’s some other stuff in the car.”

His voice is gruff, and he shoves his feet into his boots before storming out of the house. I cover my warm face, frustrated with myself for denying us what we both want.