Kace looked me in the eyes and said, “Don’t be a pathetic excuse for a man who only thinks of himself. Strap your sorry-ass balls back on and take charge before she goes and does something completely stupid, like marrying Rex Titan.”
Pain seared through my skin as the thought of Goldie marrying Rex became a possible reality in my head. That could not happen. Kace was right, I was being a narcissist. I was so wrapped up in protecting myself that I forgot that I wasn’t protecting Goldie, like I promised.
“Fuck!” I shouted, as I passed by Kace and headed toward my bedroom to grab a box that I should have passed along a long time ago. I didn’t need Goldie making me feel, making me want more than I’m ready for, but hell if I was going to push her toward a life full of misery. She was better than that. She had potential and, when I first saw her, I swore to myself and to my mom that I was going to help her fulfill that potential.
Chapter Forty Three
“Stay”
Goldie/Lo
I didn’t know how long I had been crying, but I knew it was for a long time because, by the time I peeled my tear-soaked face off my pillow, it was completely dark outside and I could barely open my eyes from them being so swollen. I knew I had to get going…that I had to leave before I was actually kicked out, but leaving the warm confines of the bedroom Jett so beautifully put together for me was heart-shattering. Even though I was confused as fuck as to who to believe, my heart still ripped apart from being torn away from Jett. The man did so much for me, even though he ended our “partnership” brashly and with little remorse. He still changed me…made me feel whole again.
I walked to the bathroom and wet a wash cloth with warm water to press against my eyes. I didn’t want to look too scary when I returned back to Lyla’s. She was more than happy to have me stay with her, but I was going to have to sleep on the couch, since Crystal with the massively large tits that scared the hell out of me, now occupied my old room. She didn’t question me on the phone, but the tone in her voice said we were going to have a very long conversation once I got back to her place.
I put down the wash cloth and stared at myself one last time in the perfectly lit bathroom. I had the same clothes on that I arrived with, sans underwear, since I wasn’t allowed to keep the “cheap polyester.” Stupid fuckhead of a man, I thought, as I walked out to my bedroom. I grabbed the pillowcase of my measly items, took a deep breath, and turned to walk to the door.
My heart lurched in my chest as I saw Jett standing in the doorway holding a flat medium-sized box. He was still in his unbuttoned business shirt and pants, but instead of his normal put-together exterior, there was blood on his now-wrinkled shirt and when I looked up at his face, his mouth was completely swollen and bloody.
I sucked in a gasp of air at his disheveled appearance. The only thought I had was that he and Kace had to have gotten into it because I spoke to Kace about an hour ago about driving me back to the French Quarter. He wasn’t happy and stormed off without muttering a word.
The urge to run to Jett and see if he was okay was overpowering, but I didn’t. Instead, I stood in place and waited for him to make the first move. My heart pounded through my chest as he slowly closed the door and walked toward me. At that moment, seeing the usually strong and stoic man look run down and almost desperate, broke my stubborn wall I was holding up. Why was I even thinking about walking away from this man? Why did I even question him in the first place? Maybe because I was desperate for him to confess any kind of feeling he had for me; I wanted to hear that he actually cared about me. The little reassurance of him admitting to any kind of need for me would have settled my need to run, my need to go see Rex, but instead, he just kept pushing me away and I didn’t know why.
Jett placed the box in his hand on my bed and stood a few feet away from me. He looked down at my shabby clothes and winced at my appearance. I didn’t blame him, I looked like a beast of a zombie.
He exhaled as he ran a hand through his untamed hair and then made eye contact with me as his hand slid from his hair to the back of his neck. “Goldie…” his voice was raspy as he spoke, “I uh, I don’t want you to leave, at all.”
His words caught me off-guard…completely. In the back of my mind where the inner teenage girl lived, who fancied unicorns and believed in romance, I wished that when he showed up he was going to sweep me off my feet and carry me into the sunset, but I knew that was far from reality. This was Jett Colby, the man that showed no fear, no emotions, and no need for anyone but himself. So you could imagine the way his confession affected me.
“Why?” I said feebly, not able to look him in his deep blue eyes because I knew, if I did, I would crumple into his arms.
“I want you here. You belong here and I don’t want to see you anywhere else or hear about you in anyone else’s bed. You are meant to be a Jett Girl.”
“But why did you pick me?” I asked once again, just dying for any kind of reason.
Jett exhaled again and sat on my bed as he rubbed his eyes. His toned abdomen muscles bunched together as he tried to figure out what to say. Even in his most disheveled state, he was still the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. From the scruff on his face, to the slight tan to his skin and the way his dark blonde hair fell to the side, he was perfection. He was the one man that made my heart stop when he walked in the room, the one man that I could see losing myself in.
“I wasn’t lying when I told you originally the reason I picked you. The moment I saw you next to my mom’s grave, I knew she brought us together…that there was a reason why you and I were there at the same time. I didn’t learn about Rex’s infatuation with you until later. I mean, I knew that he was paying you for sex, but I thought that’s all it was. I didn’t know he actually had some sort of feelings for you. There’s a lot that’s happened between Rex and I that I am sure he told you half-truths about, but I am not going to get into that because it’s in the past now. But, I want you to know, he has nothing to do with the reason why I asked you to come here…the reason I asked you to share your life and body with me.”
He looked up at me with such soulful eyes that it was hard to turn away; it was hard for me to be mad at him. I hated myself for not being able to put up much of a fight, even though I knew he would never give me what I wanted.
“I want you to stay, little one.” His term of endearment almost brought me to my knees. “I need you to stay,” he said lightly, as he looked down at his hands. “I know I can’t give you everything you want, everything you need and deserve, but what I can offer you is protection, a future and security. It’s not much, but it’s all I have for now.”
The way he said for now, made my heart leap. He made it seem like for now he can’t give me what I need, but there was the possibility in the future.
He looked up at me and grabbed my hand as he guided me to stand between his legs. His hands rested on my hips as his thumbs rubbed lazy circles. He looked so shattered, agonized…almost crushed.
When I first came to the Lafayette Club, Jett specifically said that I held the cards and, at this moment, he was right. I held the cards and I had the ability to either make or break this man with one single word. The stubborn girl inside me wanted to break him the way he broke me, but the girl that was falling hard for the man with the deep southern voice couldn’t do that.
I nodded my head silently as a tear ran down my face. Jett exhaled sharply as he rested his forehead against my stomach in relief, as if he was ready to combust if I didn’t answer yes. This strong man that held onto me put up such a front about not needing anyone or a relationship, but at this moment, I knew that was all it was, a front, a façade of the complex man he was. Inside, he needed someone more than he let on…he needed me.
I wrapped my arms around him and ran my hands through his hair as his arms wrapped around my waist and squeezed me. Yes, this man needed me, like I was the one who was saving him, not vice versa. I could tell by the way he gripped on to me and didn’t let me go for several mo
ments.
Once he pulled away, he looked up at me with such gentle and sweet eyes that more tears fell from my face. I ran my hands up his neck and to the sides of his face. My finger lightly grazed his swollen lip as he winced.
“Kace?” I asked.
He just nodded as I bent down and lightly kissed him on his lip. When I pulled away, there was a slight smile grazing his swollen lip. He stood up and wrapped my arms around his waist, which I didn’t put up a fight about. He wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head.
“I’m sorry, little one,” he whispered into my hair. “I’m sorry for treating you so poorly. I got scared. You do something to me that I can’t describe and it scared the ever-living fuck out of me.”
I smiled at the slight drop of his rather refined nature and cheered at his confession as my heart nearly beat out of my chest. I knew he didn’t want a relationship or love, but what he was giving me now, what he was sharing with me, was the start of one. If I had to take it slow with him, I would, because now that I had him in my arms, I knew that I would rather be with him and have him push me away when he was scared than not be with him at all. He was my future.
“Don’t make a habit of it,” I joked.
“You’re too good.” That made me laugh because I was nowhere near being good. I truly was living a Cinderella story, a girl brought from rags to riches. I had done things in my life to make a dollar that would always stay with me, so for him to say I was too good, especially when compared to the amazing things he did, I was nowhere even close.
“You need to get your eyes checked.”
“Don’t. Don’t put yourself down. When I say you’re too good, you are. You don’t see what I see.”
“I could say the same thing about you.”
He just shook his head and smirked at me. He released me, making me instantly feel empty as he stepped away. He grabbed the box off the bed and turned around to face me as he held the box out to me.
“Open it.”
I smiled up at him as I examined the box. “This looks too small for ranunculus.”
He cringed as he looked over at my nightstand. “It is, but there will be some in your room before tomorrow. I promise.”
“Jett, you don’t…”
“You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” he said with a smirk. “If I want to buy my little one flowers, I will. Now open the box.”
I lifted the plush top off the box and nearly gasped as I saw what was inside.
“Jett…”
“Do you like them?” he asked, as if his sanity wavered on me saying if I liked his gift or not.
“I love them!” I exclaimed as I pulled out the purple lingerie covered in black lace. It was exactly like the first set of lingerie Jett ever gave me, but this time, it was in Jett Girl colors. The demi bra was just big enough to cover me up and the unique crisscrossed straps that were on my training set appeared on this set as well. The lingerie was breathtaking. The meaning of the gift instantly hit me as I looked up at him.
“Goldie, will you officially become a Jett Girl?”
A squeal escaped my throat as I threw my arms around his neck and leapt into his arms. He laughed as he grabbed ahold of me and hugged me.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Of course.” I hopped down and held out the lingerie and then looked back up at him. “Are you sure? You really want me to be a Jett Girl?”
“More than anything,” he said, as he cupped my chin with his forefinger and thumb. “Now, get ready; you have an impromptu presentation in half an hour for a bunch of new members and I will be watching…carefully.” He winked at me and started to walk away, but not before I called out his name, so he turned around.
“Thank you, Jett.”
“No, thank you, little one.”
With that, he walked out of my room and left me in a state of bliss, confusion, and utter glee. What the fuck just happened? I looked down at the lingerie and knew this was it. I was officially a Jett Girl. My life was changing and I was ready for the thrilling, almost nauseating, rollercoaster ride I was about to go on with Jett. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chapter Forty Four
“S&M”
Lo
Rhianna’s song, “S&M” blared through the speakers as we all waved our hips side to side in front of all the new members. We were decked out in our Jett Girl gear, purple and black lingerie, black high heels, deep purple masks and black short wigs. We had black lace mini-knuckle gloves on and whips in our hands.
The synchronization of each crack of the whip with the beat of the song gave me chills as I looked down at the men who were mesmerized with our presentation. This was what I was missing when I was up here, the final feeling of being one of the girls, of actually being a Jett Girl.
I looked up at one of the cameras that I knew was specifically geared toward us for Jett to watch and I shook my tits right at it. Hopefully, Jett knew that was for him as we all spun around, shook our hips and cracked our whips side to side.
Fuck, we were hot. There were no lap dances tonight, since they were new members and they still had to be trained by Kace, but I knew our performance was going to grant some trips to the booths. We all looked too damn sexy for no one to have to take care of themselves.
“Sex in the air, I don’t care, I love the smell of it,” ran through the air as Rhianna belted the last chorus of one of my now-favorite songs. Hell, I completely agreed with the musical goddess. Sex was in the air and I’d be damned if I didn’t love it.
When I arrived at the back of the stage with my Jett Girl lingerie, all the girls cheered, kissed me and slapped my ass in congratulations. At that moment, I knew I was home. It might take a while or maybe even forever for Jett to open up to me and I might get extremely jealous and impatient at times, but I knew it was worth it, he was worth it.
The music died out as we walked back behind the stage and all took off our masks. We knew the masks were for our safety, but fuck, they were irritating at times.
“That was fucking hot!” Pepper said, as she waved her hand in front of her face. “Did that new set of lingerie give you super sexy powers or something?” Pepper asked me. “I think I came in my pants watching you.”
I laughed. “You know you’re supposed to be making eye contact with the members, right? That’s what you taught us.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Pepper waved me off.
“Let’s do shots!” Tootse yelled, as she held her hand in the air in a semi fist pump. I wondered if maybe she already had too many shots; hell the girl was crazy.
“I think that’s only fitting,” Francy said, as she pulled out a bottle of tequila from behind a chair in the back. “Oh, look at what we have here.”
I shook my head, “You guys aren’t trying to get me good and drunk are you? You know that only leads to trouble.”
“That’s the point,” Babs said, as she grabbed some shot glasses that were also hidden behind a chair. “Listen, whenever a girl is finally inducted as an official Jett Girl, we take shots. It’s tradition.”
“Bring it on then,” I said, as I grabbed a shot glass from Babs.
We all held our glasses out as Francy poured generous amounts of booze for us. Once she put down the bottle, she shook her hair and cleared her throat. “To our newest Jett Girl, may she be ogled by horny men, thought about while they slap their salami, and fucked by Jett to the point where she can’t walk.”
The girls all said cheers as I laughed out loud. We downed our drinks and held them out for one more, just as Kace was walking in.
“Where’s my glass?” he asked, as he sidled up next to Babs and Pepper.
“Here you go, boss man,” Babs said, as she gave him hers. I can drink straight from the bottle.” She grabbed the bottle from Francy and poured everyone another shot.
Kace held up his glass and looked me in the eyes. “To Lo, our newest girl, who is one smart-ass hellion who drives me to drink
every day. Welcome to the club, babe.” He tailed his toast with a wink, as my insides turned at the term of endearment.
Kace was the first contact with the Lafayette Club I ever had and the one who, at times, made me want to shove my head through a wall, but then was the first one to comfort me when I needed it the most. Jett was the man that I strived for and craved, but Kace was my rock. Without him, I would be back at Kitten’s Castle with random men’s thumbs caressing my asshole. I was grateful for both of the new men in my life.
Once we all chugged our shots, we set the glasses down and Kace’s phone beeped with a text message. We all watched him pull out his phone as he looked at the incoming message. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until Kace looked up at me and smiled.
“Get your ass up to the Bourbon Room, Lo.”
The girls all shoved me as they made crude comments and pelvic thrusted in my direction. I flipped them off and headed for the back stairs that led to the third floor of bliss.
As I walked up the steep stairs, I realized that this was exactly where I wanted to be. Not with Rex, not fighting for my sanity out on the streets. No, in this house, with my girls, the reckless Kace and the unflappable Jett Colby.
I opened the door to the Bourbon Room and was shocked to see Jett standing in the middle of the room, no shirt on…only unbuttoned jeans and his arms crossed over his magnificent chest. He pulled out his arm, pointed a remote at the stereo and started playing a seductive song I’d never heard before. He looked me up and down and said, “You have something to say to me?”