By the time she was finished, he had a good handle on how he would approach the interview. Hearing about a past lover had been more difficult than Jake had imagined. She was an adult, and like them all, she had a sexual past. Although he knew it had been necessary, after tonight, he didn’t ever want to hear about another man from her past.
“Is there anything else, MacKenzie, anything at all? I don’t want any surprises later on down the road.” Taking a deep breath, Jake braced himself for her response.
A shake of her head in the negative was what he had hoped for, so he decided to press on. What he was about to suggest to her was going to be difficult, and she would fight him. However, it was a fight he intended to win.
Mentally preparing himself, Jake knew there was no other way to approach the subject other than head on. “Tomorrow when we go out to meet the press, I want us to do so as an engaged couple.” Jake took his time voicing his suggestion. At the same time, he held her gaze, waiting for her eruption. When it came, it didn’t surprise him.
“Have you lost your damn mind?!”
“I’m probably the sanest person in this room at this moment.”
It took a few seconds for his comment to register with her. When it did, MacKenzie’s eyes bulged, and color rushed into her face so quickly, Jake thought she might explode.
“You just can’t help yourself can you, Jacob. Well, how’s this for insanity; I wouldn’t marry you if I were in the middle of Death Valley and you were my last drop of water!”
MacKenzie looked so please with her rejoinder; Jake decided he was enjoying himself even if she wasn’t. “Good that’s settled then.”
“What is the matter with you, didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“I heard you, yet I chose to ignore you because you’re not thinking straight. If you were, I would already be on my way to get a ring. Then we could tell my family our decision, and I could go and get some sleep.
“I said no. I won’t marry you!”
“Don’t worry, MacKenzie,” Jake said with a derisive laugh. “The engagement won’t be real. By your reaction, anyone would think you didn’t realize that.” Jake was deliberately pushing her buttons. The more he could get her off center, the easier it would be to get his way.
“Oh, don’t you worry about what I know. All you need to know is that this is not going to happen!” MacKenzie all but shouted.
“I need you to calm down and think for a few moments. Just hear me out before you say anything else, okay?”
When her only reaction was to stare him down, Jake took that as agreement and continued. “We think you are being used by my mother as a means to discredit us. By announcing our engagement, I will be in a position to redress some of the wrong she’s managed to do –”
“There has to be another way. I mean who will believe we’re engaged?”
Jake didn’t know if he was being insulted, but chose to ignore her tone of utter disbelief at his suggestion of an engagement.
“Everyone will believe it if we each play our part.”
“Everyone who knows me knows I’m not the marrying type. That just goes to show that you know nothing about me; otherwise, you’d know why this hare-brained scheme won’t work!”
“Have you thought about what your family will say once this story picks up steam?
“What, being called a whore and a bad mother isn’t enough?!”
“Believe me, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. This isn’t just about you, it’s your family and most of all it’s about Noelle. How will you feel if this is the legacy you leave for her?” Jake knew he was coming on a bit too strong, but he wanted her agreement.
“Let me worry about my family and Noelle. Neither of them is going to care about me any less because of some stupid story fabricated by Carlos Ernesto and your mother!” Her words were spoken with confidence, but she looked worried.
Jake could see he was getting to her, and while he didn’t want to, he tightened the screws. “You and Noelle are not safe while all this is going on. I know Diana, and she’s capable of much more than you can ever imagine. You need our protection. The only way to do that is to make sure the Ernesto’s and Diana realize that if they come at you, they come at us all.”
“Being married to Jason didn’t seem to stop her from attempting to kill Aviva!” MacKenzie threw out.
Jake had been waiting for her to make this very point, and he hoped she took him at his word. “If Diana had wanted to kill Aviva she would be dead,” Jake spoke without inflection. He wanted MacKenzie to realize that he meant every word he said. “Do not underestimate, Diana, she’s extremely dangerous. Josh is checking on her whereabouts right now. We have to be certain, but I’m pretty sure she’s back in the country, and jerking everyone’s chain.”
“Why is she doing this? I don’t understand.” MacKenzie questioned.
“She wants redress for something we did to her.”
“It must have been pretty terrible for her to behave in this way.”