Jared's Revelation

Jared's Revelation
I was stunned speechless when he did the unthinkable — hoisted me like some weightless sack of potatoes upon his shoulder.
"How very dare you, Jared?!" I fumed, pounding on his back as he carried me away from uncle Pete's ward, away from Celine who was as stunned as I was but had a sneaky smile playing about her lips.
I narrowed my gaze at her receding figure on the sofa. "Are you in on this?"
She raised both hands mid-air, shaking her head. Then she waved. "Have fun. I'll be here till you get back."
My eyes only went narrower, anger tearing my insides. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Jared?! This isn't helping your case."
But he ignored me.
I covered my face when hospital staff who worked night shifts looked at us both in both perplexity and amusement.
"Awnn. So sweet." One young female nurse commented, smiling hugely.
I refusing keeping my head up to avoid meeting amused gazes who thought whatever Jared was doing was romantic.
Maybe when I wasn't angry, I might observe and consider but right now when I was seeing red, it was pure madness! Really humiliating! And I didn't want him touching me not after what he'd done.
I felt the night breeze caress my face so I raised my head to see he was outside the hospital building, heading for the parking lot.
"Where are you taking me to?" The question came out through gritted teeth.
He placed me gently on the passenger side, buckled me in firmly and occupied the driver's seat. I was already unbuckling my seatbelt but I heard the click signalling the doors were locked.
I faced him with fuming eyes and did the first thing that came to mind in that moment of blind anger — a hard slap across his face. "You let me go right this minute, you backstabbing bastard!"
He held his cheek, anger flashed but was quickly replaced by quiet sadness that I vehemently refused to let tug on my conscience. He deserved it and that was that!
"Open this door, Jared." It was firm order.
But he didn't budge, only stared at me.
Huffing in righteous anger, I faced my front and folded my arms. "Why?"
"I'm sorry."
"I don't give a hoot about your apology. I need answers. Why will you backstab me?" I kept my eyes front, not looking at his sad face.
"I didn't backstab you." He replied.
"Then what do you call going behind my back to seek bail of my number one enemy. The person who was responsible for ruining my first marriage, who has a hand in my father's death, who stole my father's company and she's part of the reason my parents' hard work is gone. Forever! Bombed into oblivion! Reduced to mere ashes and...and...and nothing."
My voice shook following my last statement. I bit my lower lip hard to prevent tears. Angry tears.
"I'd somehow suspected that the President wouldn't want to help uncle Pete when it came to matters concerning you, he was already disliking you from the moment you decided to fight my case and seek my truth..." He paused.
From the corner of my eye, I saw him gazing at my profile. "Is that all you have to tell me?" I asked rather harshly.
"So I knew that the one person that could help was Denise."
"Help do what?"
"At first, it was helping me apprehend Derek, her stepfather. She knows the man better so I figured she might have something for me."
"And did she?" I decided to face him but my anger was far from being exhausted. "I mean, did she finally apprehend Derek?"
He exhaled and shook his head. "No."
"So you..."
"Only because you went missing so I had to change the mission. Finding you became more important than finding Derek. You are more important and I know you're angry and disappointed I hid it from you, I'm sorry but I don't regret it. If it happens again, I'm definitely making the same choice."
"So let me get this straight. You bail Denise to help find Derek, then change the plan to finding me, yet she still couldn't find me. Dylan rescued me, Derek is still on the run, so your plan was wack. You just released Denise for nothing!"
"It's not for nothing." His tone quickened my heart's pace, piquing my curiosity as well.
There was more he wanted to tell him, I could tell from the way he'd responded. "Let's have it."
"She helped with capturing Mia. To be able to get Jerome's trust and get him to be less...guarded, we agreed she would date him. She already had this fantasy of having sex with him after watching that scandal video so it wasn't hard for her and Jerome fell for her seduction."
"So you're telling me Denise caught Mia? But isn't it possible she's doing it for herself? I mean, she has no one after Derek and you gave her the opportunity to latch herself upon Jerome who's both rich and connected. Denise is selfish. You pay her to get rid of her competition, the way I see it, it's a win-win for her." I argued, not ready to blindly believe his words.
"You might not believe this but she's not like that, at least not anymore."
I quirked a brow in disbelief, not expecting that from him. "Oh."
"See, I know she started out very mean and manipulative and every negative whatnot, but when I worked with her she did the job to a full stop. Yes, she's wild and crazy and can be annoying or frustrating or even both most of the times, but she did her best." He took a deep breath. "I know you might get angrier for what I'm about to say next but this is me honestly confessing. I made Kazim go away."
"What?!" Surprise had me blinking repeatedly as though I'd suddenly could not understand what my ears were hearing and my brain comprehending.
"Yes. I was able to get his number from your phone, met with him and told him to stay away for his own safety."
Anger increased to optimum. Kazim was my only source of getting things done and acquiring information. How dare he?! "How dare you?! He was my only means of getting things done! Oh my goodness!"
"He was going to get hurt at some point, Hailey!"
"No, he was not. You just wanted to stick your stupid nose in my business!" I raged.
"No, I was just trying to stop a young boy from getting killed. You were asking him for information that is enough to make the people behind that information pay anything to get his head. You think the President is not suspicious on how you, who just met him barely a year, already know so much about his past!"
"Regardless, it was not your call to make. Not your decision to take."
"I took it because you never would have. Your thirst for revenge, which is totally understandable and appreciated, would have hurt that boy. You think if the President gave the word or that Jerome succeeded in finding him, you'd be able to protect him?"
"The President can only remain suspicious and Jerome?" I scoffed, then continued. "Jerome had no idea anyone was working for me."
"Kazim is twenty one and yes, he is geek smart with an impressive IQ but he's a boy that could get hurt tangled in this drama. You know what I thought the day we met?"
"What?" It came out harsh, the way I wanted it to be.
"I have a son and he'll one day make a career choice you and me will not be able to stop. And Lord knows how smart Zion already is. How will I feel if it were my own son finding information about really bad people for a pay that is, I'll admit, exceptionally huge, but not worth his life? The boy kidnapped for you, Hailey. What if it was Zion? Would you want to know that your son was doing incredible work that was also risky and not do anything about it?"