The Rebel
Chapter 27

Stepping into the conference room, carrying her briefcase and her poise
with equal calm, Brenda glanced around the room where men and woman
were gathered and was quickly greeted by a KLM officer, who introduced
himself and the other board members before presenting her to someone
outside KLM’s employ.

“Jerry Jacks of J and J Jacks Enterprises, Inc.,” the KLM president, Justin
Reed, said and motioned for a tall, dark headed man to come forward.
“He's part of your competition.”

Brenda nodded and extended her hand to receive a firm shake and to meet
intelligent brown eyes. Jerry Jacks was younger then she expected. She’d
thought J and J Jacks would have a more sound leader. “Part?” she asked,
cocking an inquisitive eyebrow at Jerry.

“Half.”

She recognized the voice before she saw the man, and her smile was
instantaneous. But the face she confronted wasn’t the one she knew. It was
deeply set and his eyes were without the usual sparkle. The were cool and
calm. Glancing quickly from him to Jerry, she shook her head. “I don't
understand.”

“I'm Jerry’s brother and the other J in J and J Jacks,” he told her, reaching
out to take her hand. “Jasper Maximillan Jacks, but my friends call me
Jax.”

The information and the betrayal hit with incredible force. He wasn’t at
the meeting for or because of her. He’d come for himself and his own
company. Struggling to comprehend and to conquer disbelief that rapidly
changed to anger and betrayal, she managed to smile as she shook hands
with him as the stranger he was. “Any relation to John Jacks of
Anchorage, Alaska?”

“My father,” Jax acknowledged, his eyes not leaving her face.

“I've heard of him. And of you,” she said turning to Jerry.

Jax remembered the nightclub, too, and the man who had ruined the
evening and driven Brenda from his arms. At least for a night. “But not
of me.”

His fingers were warm to the touch, but she felt cold. She pulled her hand
from his. “I thought we met once, but I was wrong,” she declared, and
had the satisfaction of seeing him blink. At least she’d learned one lesson
from him. Never let emotions get in the way of business. She turned from
him to the KLM president. “Shall we begin?”

“By all means,” Justin Reed agreed, and motioned to the table, but he
frowned at Jax. “Did you have an accident? I see your face is bruised. A
door, perhaps?”

“Actually,” Jax said with a winning if not sheepish grin, “it was a
competitor.”

Laughter erupted but wasn’t long lasting. It died as everyone moved to
take their places at the table, and Brenda found herself sitting across from
Jax. It was a position she would have preferred to avoid. The wood
separating them seemed to emphasize the split between them. Emotion
clogged her throat, but control cleared it when Reed turned to her to begin
the proceedings with her presentation.

It was one of the most difficult things Brenda had ever had to do, but
feelings were put aside as she began the fight for KLM. And it was a long
battle.

The water pitchers set out along the table were emptied and filled again.
The neat pads of paper provided to write notes, and the tabletop
disappeared beneath a layer of white as handouts and financial statements
were exchanged. But an hour into the struggle, the first tendrils of defeat
began winding their way around Brenda’s heart.

Statistics and data she wasn’t familiar with were being brought into the
open. She was forced to guess at answers she should have known before
the questions were asked, and she silently damned Sonny for her
shortcomings.

He hadn't looked at the whole picture, and she should have been prepared
for his lack of diligence in his research. She’d stumbled on some facts he
hadn't put in his report. She should have realized there would be more...

“I think I’ve heard enough,” Reed finally announced two hours later.
“I’m ready to make a decision.”

Two of his officers immediately leaned closer to whisper in his ear, but he
waved them away and looked to Brenda.

“Your offer is fair. More than fair, but I know Harlan Barrett,” Reed told
her. “He’s a good man, and he’ll see that I walk away with a settlement
that will insure that I personally don’t go bankrupt. But there’s more than
me to consider here. There’s my employees, the ones who have worked
for KLM for years. I can’t forget them, and I can’t ignore the fact that
Harlan won't take them into account when he starts breaking KLM up, as
I'm sure he will”

Brenda opened her mouth to object, to deny the truth of his statement, but
she couldn’t. Her father would think of nothing but profit, not of those
who would end up on the unemployment line if KLM became his. “We'll
do all we can for your people,” she offered in compromise.

“I believe you would,” Reed assured her, but turned to Jax. “Yet I have
your guarantee that no one will lose a paycheck because of me.”

“There will be reorganization, changes,” Jax assured him soberly. “But
we will put it in writing that no one you employ will be out of work
because of the takeover.”

“That said,” Reed declared, standing and extending his hand to Jax, “I
accept J and J Jacks bid.”

Jax stood and accepted the handshake with a firm grip. “We'll do right by
your people.”

But Brenda barely heard him. She only saw him. The consummate
professional. The cool business executive. The stranger she’d fallen in
love with.

Jax saw Brenda slip out the door, but he wasn’t about to let her go. Not
before they talked. Not before he had a chance to explain.

Leaving Jerry to take charge of the final details, Jax hurried after and
caught her in the hall. “Bren.”

She swung to face him and Lilly quickly jumped out of the way. “Don’t
call me that!”

She was trembling. He could see it. He could also see the tears she was
trying to hide. Motioning to a room that appeared empty, he stepped
toward the door. “Let's talk.”

She stiffened, and for a moment he was afraid she’d refuse. But finally
the rigid control snapped and she preceded him inside, but the door was
barely closed before she turned on him.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Don't play coy, Jax, it doesn’t become you,” she snapped, and slammed
her briefcase down on a table. “Why did you do it? Why the deception?”

He shrugged helplessly. “You asked for my help, and I gave it.”

“I asked if you needed a job,” she accused, and crossed her arms to
confront him. “You lied to me.”

“I never lied.”

“You certainly didn’t tell the truth!”

“You didn’t ask for it. You assumed, and I gave you what you wanted.
An associate.”

She gestured wildly. “Why bother? You have your own successful
company to run. You didn’t have to pretend to be a penniless drifter.”

“I never pretended to be anything that you didn’t perceive me to be.” He
shook his head when she would have spoken again. “When I first met you,
you intrigued me. So did the situation. It was a challenge.”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “A challenge? Is that what I was? A
poor little rich girl who needed your help, and you, the big, bored,
powerful business executive had to see if you could give it?” She glared at
him. “Was it fun? Did you enjoy playing me for a fool?”

He gritted his teeth. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then how was it?”

Jax shoved his hands into his pockets and moved away from her to look
out the window at the city. “When I took the job you offered, I admit, it
was just a game.”

“A game?” she repeated in stunned disbelief.

His jaw worked. “I said was.”

“Was,” she repeated, unwilling and unable to see reason. “What was, was
my faith in you. I trusted you, and you betrayed me! You used me to get
what you wanted. Information on KLM.”

“You’re so wrong,” he denied.

“I don’t think so.” She swung towards the door, and he lurched across the
room to grab her.

“Please listen to me!”

She tried to twist free, but he held on tight.

“I tried to tell you the truth.”

“You should have tried harder.” She shook her head, refusing to let the
tears burning in her eyes fall. “I was so blind, so naive. I really can’t
blame you for the deception, can I? I let you use me because I wanted to
believe in something. In you. Because you had come to mean something
to me.”

She had felt something for him, as in past tense. Jax felt like he’d been
punched in the heart, his grip loosened and his hands fell to his sides.

Brenda walked a few paces away from him, before speaking again. “The
beach house in Malibu that was conveniently available. Yours?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“And the property in the canyons, too?”

“Investments.”

“So your my landlord?”

His jaw worked. “You can stay as long as you want.”

“Thank you, but I think I’d rather not.” She reached for her briefcase but
stopped. Keeping her eyes off him, she gave in to the pain and shook her
head. “Why did you have to pretend to be Jax McCarty? At the start, why
couldn’t you just have been Jasper Jacks?”

“An enemy? It’s how your father sees me,” Jax retorted, wanting to go to
her but knowing she wouldn’t accept the gesture. Her back was stiff with
rejection. “It’s how you would have seen me, too. If you’d known who I
really was, you never would have invited me into your home that first
night. You would never have wanted to see me again.”

“How can you be so sure?” she demanded. “How can you know that? I
can’t, and I won’t because you never gave me the choice.”

“No,” he agreed. “No, I didn’t. But I’m giving you one now. I’m asking
you to give me a second chance.”

It was tempting. With him looking into her eyes, it was more than
tempting, but she shook her head. “How can I? You tricked me. You
deceived me. I thought I could trust you. I thought...” She bit her lip. “I
thought I was in love with you.”

The declaration stunned him. It wasn’t what he expected, but it was what
he hoped. He realized that as she swung away, he recovered too late to
stop her. He moved, but with her cool reserve and inhibitions thrown
aside, she did what he thought to teach her to do all along. She slammed
the door shut with a decisive bang.

Bitterly his lips twisted. It was ironic that she’d accomplished the last act
and concluded the final lesson by closing it in his face.

To be continued...