Claimed By My Billionaire Ex

Chapter 23

OLIVE

Icouldn't understand the strange expression on Lucas's face. The way he was talking, his body posture...even his tone. None of it sounded like him. This wasn't the strong bold man I'd gotten to know again. This was someone who had already become resigned to his fate.

But what fate? What was he hiding from me?

And how did he know that I was planning to take Claire and start over somewhere new?

"I don't understand," I whispered to him.

He squeezed my hand tighter and turned to face the podium Jessie was standing behind. "Just watch."

Senator Carter said something to Jessie and his wife. They all smiled and laughed. Jessie's wife kissed him on the cheek, and then Jessie approached the podium and adjusted the microphone. "Thank you all for being here tonight. It means everything to me to be able to announce to the world tonight that—"

Suddenly, the projector hanging from the ceiling flicked to live. A blue light flooded Jessie's face, blinding him. He lifted his hand to block the glare. Stepping down from the podium, he grinned.

"Looks like we might be having some technical difficulties." Pointing at his entourage, he waved at the projector. "Can we get this figured out?" Turning back to the cameras, he grinned. "One second, folks."

But as he stepped down from the podium, the projector now had direct access to the screen on the wall behind Jessie. And it wasn't just a light anymore.

It was a still frame of a video.

And not just any video. It was my video. Or rather Mayor Isaacs's and Senator Carter's. The one I'd stolen.

My heart skipped as Carter and Isaacs appeared on the screen. It had been edited and zoomed in so that Helen was cut out of it.

The two men filled the screen. Carter leaned over and used a credit card to chop up a few lines of cocaine.

There were gasps in the room. Reporters shifted from side to side and whispers soared across the museum, catching fire like sparks on dried brush. Cameras started flashing. To the side of the podium, Carter lunged for Jessie, grabbing him by the wrist.

Rachel lifted a hand to her mouth, her jaw dropping.

Jessie raised his hands. "Can someone turn this off?"

His people darted around him, trying to find the remote.

And then I glanced down and saw something silver and slick in Lucas's hand. Lucas was holding the projector's remote. Suddenly, his thumb pressed down, and the video started playing.

Senator Carter's voice echoed from a speaker in the ceiling, so loud that it filled the entire room, blurring out the whispers.

"So we're good with everything," Carter said on the tape. "My guy said he'll make it work."

Jessie Isaacs glanced behind him. "Honey, can you get me another drink?"

"Sure, baby." Helen's voice came from the side of the screen, and I realized she'd changed the way she spoke. Her voice was unrecognizable, and with her face cut off, it was impossible to tell who she was.

But that didn't make a difference. It was too late. To the right of the podium, Mrs. Isaacs gasped, her face flushing red as she raised her hands to her lips.

Beside her, Jessie froze, because, like me, he knew this wasn't even the worst part of the video.

On the projection, Jessie turned to Carter. He rubbed white spots of cocaine off his nose and widened his eyes as he addressed Carter. "It's the same guys who helped you?"