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still didn’t stop me from calling a taxi to take me to Jackson’s fancy mansion.
                  I paid the cabbie and sent him on his way not really considering how I was going to get home after I’d said what I came there to say.
                  I knocked on his door, actually, it was more like I banged on it not wanting to think about the fact that he might not be home—certainly not alone in there. I wasn’t sure which of those weekly women in the rotation would be in line for tonight, but I didn’t really care. I was angry and I was a woman scorned. The worst possible combination.
    The second he opened the door and saw me standing there, it hit me through my medicine haze that he didn’t show any signs of surprise. In fact, he didn’t show any emotion at all. He merely stood aside and let me pass.
                  Jackson had been expecting me. Probably thinking I couldn’t get enough of him. I barely gave him time to close the door before I turned and faced him ready to give him exactly what I’d been rehearsing in my head all afternoon.
                  All those carefully thought out words deserted me in the face of Jackson’s very seductive smile. I stood before him trying to focus on why I was here in the first place and not the smile. Then I remembered I hated him.
                  “Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt Ben?” I practically yelled those words at him but still no reaction. No emotion at all. “Let’s just forget how you treated me for the moment—I mean I wouldn’t have expected anything different from someone like you. But think about what you’ve done to your own nephew! How could you do that to him? How could you hurt him that way? You broke Ben’s heart. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
                  That, at least, brought him out of his complacency. I’d finally gotten a reaction out of Jackson Riley, but it wasn’t what I wanted. It was all anger. And he was coming towards me very purposefully. I didn’t realize, until my back actually hit the glass behind me, that I had been moving as well. Every step that brought him closer to me, I took a step away from him.
                  “As I recall, I wasn’t in bed alone.” That subtle little comment made me flinch. He couldn’t have hurt me more had he actually hit me.
                  “And Ben will be fine—once he’s away from you that is.” That last part he added very deliberately. Jackson wanted to destroy that tiny amount of resolve I was still clinging to. It worked.
                  I tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Ben isn’t going to fall in with all your plans for his life. He’s not going to Paris!” I expected to face more of his anger. Instead, he simply looked at me with that same calculating look I’d seen before.
    For the first time, I realized how foolish I’d been by coming here tonight. What had I hoped to accomplish? I couldn’t change his mind, or make him feel anything, especially not regret.
                  “He’s on the plane right now.” I knew he’d seen my skepticism before I could open my mouth and deny his words. “Care to make a bet? Pick up that cell phone of yours and call him right now… I dare you?” he added quietly.
                  Suddenly all the fight went out of me. I knew I was defeated. I’d never stood a chance really. Of course, Jackson always got what he wanted. Ben would be on that plane to Paris. I didn’t even doubt it anymore. There was no need to call. After all, I’d helped him make it all possible. I’d done exactly what he wanted. Jackson had won just as he knew he would from the beginning.
                  Now I only wanted to get away from him as fast as I could. To be alone with all of my realizations. “You’re right. I suppose you