“You killed an innocent human!” I raged. “You killed a man with a family, a daughter, because you were drunk off your ass and had a temper that was uncontrollable. You could be in jail if it wasn’t for me.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that? Jesus fucking Christ, you practically remind me every damn day of my life about what I did. I feel guilty enough as it is, I don’t need your dickhead of a mouth running off at me and reminding me of my greatest sin.”
We stood there staring at each other as we aired our demons. We were the only ones who knew of them and we kept it that way. Even though, most of the time, we fought until we were either blue in the face or we were in a fistfight, we still kept our demons to ourselves. It was a basic understanding in our friendship.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” I said, as I ran my hand through my hair. “I just…I just don’t know what to fucking do. She makes me lose everything I ever believed in. She makes me think that there is a possibility of a future. She brings up feelings that I never wanted to explore again and didn’t ever plan on exploring again.”
Kace walked toward the door and turned around to face me. “I think it’s time you shuck the vagina and pull your balls off the shelf. If anything, you just need to make it right with the girl because, how you’re treating her now is pushing her in the wrong direction. You’re about saving these girls, so fucking save her, Jett. Offer her a set, she deserves it and needs it more than anyone.”
Kace was referring to the lingerie set I gave every Jett Girl once they became official. I normally didn’t have their set made until I actually thought they were ready, but the minute I invited Goldie to become a Jett Girl, I had her set made. I knew, deep in my gut, that she was going to be a Jett Girl and now that I had her in my club, I had a choice to make. Do I keep her in the club and have her annihilate me one slow kiss at a time or do I push her away, save myself, and send her into the arms of Rex Titan?
Fuck…
Chapter Forty
“Love the Way You Lie”
Goldie/Lo
There he was, sitting at a table in the corner of the café in a finely tailored suit, one leg crossed over his knee and his arm draped across the back of his chair. He commanded the attention of every woman in the room and there was a reason why, he was sinfully sexy in every way. His dark olive skin, chestnut hair and almost-black eyes made him look practically sinister, but I knew better; I knew he had a heart inside.
The minute he spotted me walking toward him, he sat up straighter as the corner of his mouth twitched with excitement. It was the main difference between Rex and Jett, Rex didn’t mind showing his facial expressions, whereas Jett hid them very well, unless there was a lapse in his control and he showed a meager ounce of emotion.
“Kitten,” Rex said softly, as he got up and placed his hand on my arm, while brushing a light kiss against my cheek. “I didn’t think you were going to come.”
“I always come when you’re involved,” I said with a wink, making him shake his head.
We both sat down as the waitress brought us some coffee that smelled like absolute heaven. It was either coffee made from blessed coffee beans or I didn’t get out much; it was most likely the latter. It wasn’t like I was living in jail, but being able to venture out of the club, meet up with friends and enjoy the aromas of another kitchen other than the club’s was refreshing.
“I’m very content that you decided to come meet me. I wasn’t sure about your level of commitment to Jett.”
At that moment, a surge of guilt ran through my body. Yes, I was fucking pissed at Jett for his mind games and I wanted to break his dick off with one swift clench of my pussy, but I still had a sense of loyalty when it came to the man. He was the one who took one look at me and wanted to save me. Fuck, he wanted to save me.
What the hell was wrong with me? Even if he was a giant ass of a man, he still took care of me, protected me, and made sure I had everything I needed. He was a complex man, who I didn’t understand and knew nothing about, but then again, did I need to?
Talk about bipolar, I was pointing the finger at Kace and Jett, but I needed to turn that finger toward myself. One minute I want to kill the man and punish him and the next minute I want to walk back to him with my tail tucked between my legs and beg for him to take me.
I looked over at Rex and knew I was wrong. Coming to see him, against everything I promised Jett by signing my contract, was more wrong than the way he’d treated me the past couple of nights. Jett was all about trust and honesty, and right now…I was breaking that trust.
I started to shake my head as I backed out of my chair. “This is wrong, I can’t do this…”
“Goldie, I need to talk to you. Please don’t leave me until you give me that much.”
His charcoal eyes pleaded with me as my ass was almost out of my chair and walking out the door.
Fuck! I wanted to scream out of frustration and the turmoil that was running through my body. Why did I feel like I owed every man in my life something? I didn’t owe them anything, but the way Rex was looking at me, fucking pleading with me, I couldn’t leave. I had to listen to what he had to say, even though I knew I was just going to go back to the club.
I sat back down, scooted my chair in and waved my hand for him to proceed.
Rex blew out a breath of relief as he sat back in his chair. “I first want to apologize for not coming to you sooner, for pushing you to have to look somewhere else for help. That was never my intention. I was…tied up,” Rex said with a harshness to his voice. “My ex wasn’t taking very kindly to the divorce, so it took me longer than expected to extract myself from her.”
“I’m fine,” I said while shrugging my shoulders. “I found my way.”
“That’s what I don’t like. If only I was a week earlier, you wouldn’t have had to turn to that…oppressor. He does nothing but takes what he wants, when he wants it, and he doesn’t care who he hurts.”
Curiosity sparked my interest as I said, “You act like you have experience where this is concerned.”
Rex took a sip of his coffee and nodded. “I do when it comes to business and now when it comes to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jett and I go way back, too far back. When we were young, it was always a competition. We fought for the position as starting pitcher, for the leader in the society club,” I quirked my eyebrow and he shrugged his shoulders, “Rich boy problems, I know. But it mattered to us at the time. Now that we are older, we fight over land, status…and women.”
“Women?” I asked.
“Yes, when we were younger, we both had our eyes on this girl—Natasha. We fought tooth and nail to win her affection, to show her who the better man was, and the better man prevailed—me,” Rex said with a smirk. “I won her heart fair and square and Jett didn’t take that lightly. From the moment Natasha chose me, he’s been out to get me and he would do anything to seek revenge, not caring who he hurts.”
“What happened with Natasha?” I asked, while leaning on the table, more intent on listening to his story.
“I was a fool and married her.”
“Your ex-wife?” I asked, needing the confirmation, even though it was an answer anyone with half a brain would know.
He nodded. “I want to say I married her out of love, out of a connection I thought we had, but now that I sit back and think about it…I think I married her for all the wrong reasons, which was stupid. Yes, I loved her at one point, but not that undying love you find once in a lifetime and I think that’s what tore us apart.”
“Why did you marry her?”
“Well, I did love her and, being a businessman, I needed an attentive wife on my arm for functions. I looked better to investors as a family man with my head on straight, but deep down, I think I married her because it meant that Jett couldn’t touch her.”
I nodded my head, knowing that was what he was going to say. Did I judge him for it? No, not at all because who the hell was I to ju
dge? I sucked men’s dicks for cash and flaunted my tits for food when I was younger, so I had no room to judge anyone for what they did.
Rex continued, “After Natasha and I got married, I quit running into Jett; it was as if he dropped off the face of the earth. I would hear about him occasionally, lose a property to the bastard here and there and see him in the newspaper with his latest fling, but that was about it. He flew under my radar for the longest time…until now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told Natasha there was another woman, which she wasn’t happy about, so I can only imagine she went running her mouth to everyone who wanted to listen and Jett has some of the biggest gossiping ears in the city. He made it his mission to find who the girl was and take her away from me, not even give me a chance to make her mine.”
A big gulp ran through my throat as I tried to take in everything Rex was saying to me. There was so much information thrown at me all at the same time that I was having a difficult time digesting it all. Rex considered me his other woman? Just not a whore he paid for a good time? That was news to me. I knew he wanted to make a change and that he was looking for me once I joined the Lafayette Club, but I didn’t think he was looking for me because I truly mattered to him.
I didn’t get a chance to speak because Rex leaned forward, grabbed my hand, and brought it up to his mouth to place a light kiss on the tips of my fingers.
“He took you from me, kitten. He took you before I could offer you even more than he could, a relationship, a warm bed, and a man that cares about you…wants to make you his.”
I didn’t know what to say, or how to react. A part of my heart was melting at the fact that Rex wanted me, actually wanted me. The fact that such a powerful man wanted me to be his was something I was unable to comprehend, but couldn’t help but smile about. The luck that I experienced in the past nine years was pretty much non-existent, until the day I was picked up by Jett.
Jett.
As I thought about him, I started to think about Rex’s story and the cogs in my head started to turn as I soaked everything in.
“Wait, so you’re saying Jett came after me to get back at you.”
“Why else would he?” Rex said, without a second thought.
Ouch, that one stung, but then again, if I was in his shoes, I would think the same thing. I was nothing but a whore when Rex first met me. I was lucky enough Rex wanted to go slumming, sniffing around my crotch. Why the hell would two wealthy and extremely powerful men turn to me? Yeah, I had a good rack and gave one hell of a blow job, but it wasn’t like I was winning the Pulitzer for best journalism on the proper way to lick a man’s cock.
The more I thought about it, the more I recognized bullshit coming from someone and Rex knew me first, so that meant Jett was not only a master manipulator, but a fucking liar as well.
Steam started to pour out of every orifice of my body as I recollected all the times Jett told me how beautiful I was, how he called me little one like I was his fucking pride and joy, how he made me fall for such a malicious bastard. He worked me and he worked me big time.
I was such a fool to believe that I was fucking Cinderella, being picked up from rags and instantly blessed with a charmed life. Naïve was a good way to describe me, but fucking moron was even better.
Fuck.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but also, I’m glad you came because I needed you to know before you became too invested. I would love for you to leave that overbearing, tyrannical club and come live with me, be pampered and to never have to work another day in your life, but I don’t want to force you into anything. I want you to make your own decisions.”
I looked Rex in the eyes for any kind of a tell that he was possibly lying, but all I saw was complete and utter honesty. The sincerity in his dark eyes nearly split me in two from what he was offering me. He was offering me the comfort and security I’d been looking for the past nine years, so why the hell was I being so hesitant? Why wasn’t I jumping at the opportunity to be with him?
One thing was, I didn’t know him that well. Yes, we practically fucked every inch of each other’s bodies, even ears, but that didn’t mean I knew him. I’d never spent a night with him, never been to his place, and never been on an actual date with him. Then again, I never did any of those things with Jett either, except for the date, which I now wish I never went on because that night kept clouding my thoughts. It was a brief moment in time where Jett was actually human, a man that I could see myself with and it was a side I never should have seen because he gave me a taste of what life could be like, but would never be.
“I need some time,” I said, as my voice grew shaky.
Rex nodded and kissed my hand again. “I completely understand, kitten. Please take all the time you need, but please know, if you do choose me, I will be waiting for you, waiting to spoil you, pamper you, and make sure you never have to worry about another thing in your life.”
I just nodded my head as I got up from my chair.
“Can I drive you home?” he asked, while leaving some large bills on the table and guiding me out of the café.
“I don’t think that’s a great idea, but thank you.”
Rex silently agreed and pulled me so close to his body that I had no choice but to look up at him.
“Can I ask you one thing?” I nodded, even though I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear his question. “Do you love him?”
His question was not what I was expecting, but it still sucked all the air from my lungs. Did I love Jett? As I thought about the affection I had for the man that apparently only wanted me for revenge, I knew I could say that I didn’t love him…yet…I was awfully fucking close, which only drove me to have a slight panic attack right in front of Rex. Before he could see me lose my mind completely, I took a deep breath and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling away.
Once separated, I shook my head no. “No, I don’t love him.”
The relief on Rex’s face was something I would never forget, as if I just told him some of the greatest news of his life. Did the man really care that much about me? It was kind of crazy to think that I was able to capture him, to captivate him, and make him head-over-heels crazy about me. Still, there was something in the pit of my stomach that was telling me not to commit, that I couldn’t commit until I talked to Jett.
“I’ll be in touch,” I said, while parting ways.
“Think of me, kitten.” I just nodded as I walked away.
I needed to see Jett. I needed to find out the truth and if Jett was only using me to get back at Rex. Anxiety over the situation made my stomach turn in knots as I hopped onto the trolley to head over to the Garden District. The last thing I wanted to do was confront Jett again, especially after my outburst in the cemetery, but I needed to know. I needed to know if he was a complete fake, or if he actually cared about me…if he actually wanted to save me, protect me, and make me whole again.
Chapter Forty One
“Say Something”
Goldie/Lo
I stood at the landing of the third floor, unsure of what to do. I knew I wasn’t allowed up into Jett’s personal space unless I was invited and I sure as hell wasn’t invited tonight. Cold dread crept up my spine as I lent an ear to the Bourbon Room. If Jett was in the room with another girl, I would lose my shit; I knew I would. It was one thing to know that he invited the other Jett Girls up to the Bourbon Room, but to hear him pleasure someone else wouldn’t sit well with me.
The incredibly infuriating man drove me to jealousy, a jealousy that I wished I didn’t possess. In the past couple of months, Jett had plucked me from hell, sheltered me, fed me, dressed me and provided me with a protective shield that eased my nine-year-old aching heart. As much as I hated to admit it, he changed me; he helped me grow up and for that, I wanted him for myself, or at least I thought I did.
I was at a crossroads in my life. What man in my crazy, fucked-up life did I want to believe? Rex seemed so s
incere, so honest, that I had a hard time not believing him. Jett had been nothing but honest to me, but then again, he would also drop me faster than I could drop my panties for a good tongue flicking, so how was I to know that he was actually sincere?
Fucking men. Why did they have to be so damn confusing?
I was staring down at my Ked-covered feet when the door in front of me flew open, nearly making me fall backwards down the stairs from being startled.
Light shined through the doorway as the shadow of Jett Colby stood in the door frame. The door was not to the Bourbon Room, it almost looked like an office, but that’s not what my eyes were focused on. They were focused on the decadent man standing in front of me with his business shirt completely undone, showing off his impeccably defined chest and a mouthwatering trail of hair that reached the waistband of his unbuckled belt and dress pants. He was spectacular.
When I was able to pry my eyes off his body, I looked in his eyes and noticed how tired they looked and how his usually-polished hair was pushed up and to the side, as if he was running his hands through it over the last two hours.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, not angry but more deflated.
“I, uh, I needed to talk to you.”
He looked me up and down then ran his hand through his hair once again, while walking back into the room he was about to leave.
“Come,” he ordered, in that tone that made me drop to my knees and fuck anything that came near my mouth.
I followed him and was pleasantly surprised by what I now knew was his office. It was refined with deep grey walls, crisp black shelves that flanked the walls and a charcoal colored desk in the middle of the room, sending a message that Jett was not one to be fucked with. There were pops of color here and there, but for the most part, the room spoke masculine, rich and fucking sultry. Damn him, even his decorating sense turned me on.
Jett waved toward the leather-upholstered seat for me to sit in and I did as I was told. The ball of nerves that started to tie together on the trolley ride to the Garden District only intensified now that I was in Jett’s element and he was showing a great deal of skin, staring at me while his chin rested on his fingers, eyeing me like I was a piece of meat he was debating on tearing apart.