DON'T BREAK THE RULES

Chapter 34 - Secrets

Joe walked around the island in Jamie's walk-in closet.

He had been pacing for about three hours before he heard the creaking of the bedroom door opening. A few seconds later, footsteps approached the closet door and he shuddered when the gleaming blue eyes appeared seconds later.

"How d'you sleep?" His tone was immersed in colours that Joe almost forgot he had been forced here against his will. Instead of answering, Joe scoffed and turned away, continuing to wander around the island as if it would get him somewhere. Instead of causing Jamie's heart to sting, it instead brightened his smile and he stepped towards Joe with a tray filled with all sorts of breakfast foods. "I made this for you."

Joe paused in his steps for a moment; the different choices made his mouth to water, his bottom lip slightly quivering as he saw the bacon and sausages, the pancakes that he adored, the scrambled eggs Jamie knew he loved.

But this was manipulation.

In an instant, Joe's hand slammed into the tray and knocked it out of Jamie's grasp, the food falling onto the floor that Jamie meticulously swept and moped every day. He thought Jamie would burst into flames, slam him into the clothes and curse at him until he had a headache. Instead, Jamie simply smirked and sat comfortably on the island.

"You think I want your food?" Joe hissed, his fists squeezing at his sides. "I want to go home."

Jamie blinked, his eyebrows lifting instantly. "Is that so?" That question made Joe uncertain, but he nodded his head anyway. Jamie folded his arms with a mocking smile. "And which home are you referring to? Your grandmother's house? Where she kicked you out for stealing her money and not having a job?" He noticed Joe's muscles began to soften. "No, not that one."

"You have no idea what you're—"

"Or maybe Fred's house?" Jamie jumped from the island and stepped towards the door, turning his back towards Joe as he glanced at the ceiling. "With his wife that dumped all your clothes outside, that home?"

Joe felt as if his heart had been stabbed with thousands of tiny needles and Jamie knew every single word was hurting him even more than the last.

"No, you mustn't be talking about that one." He paused for a moment, the silence letting the tension seep within the atmosphere. Joe struggled to inhale, as if the air had gotten thicker. Jamie raised a finger in the air. "Bingo, I know what you're talking about."

He began stepping towards Joe, his height making Joe feel as if he was minuscule, weak and a failure. Jamie stared down him, his blue eyes peering deep within his soul, Joe wondering if he could read all the thoughts crossing his mind.

"You're talking about your ex-husband's home." The way Joe's eyes widened, Jamie knew he had his the spot that hurt the most. "The house you were supposed to move into?"

Joe gulped, stepping backwards only for Jamie to take a step forward and close the distance between them. "That house? You were supposed to trust him all over again as if he didn't divorce you?"

He leaned forward, bringing his lips near Joe's ear, close enough for Joe to feel the warm exhales against his neck. Jamie chuckled quietly before adding, "Tell me, do you have any idea why Connor divorced you? Out of the blue?" Joe felt as if his nerves had all gone to sleep, unable to move a muscle. "Stop talking to you as if you never even mattered. He didn't tell you the real reason, did he?"

He gulped, "...the real...reason...?"

"He divorced you because..." Joe thought his heart would stop beating, but Jamie never finished the sentence. When Joe turned to meet his gaze, Jamie had the longest sinister smile on his lips, as if observing all of Joe's emotions had sent him into a heat trance he could not resist.

But Joe was not in the same mindset. "Because of what?!"

"He's the one that should tell you, not me." Jamie stepped away from him and headed for the door. "I'll be back at lunch."

"No, wait—!" and the door was slammed shut, Joe hearing it lock on the other side.