9. Josephine

9

JOSEPHINE

T he scent of pristine leather seats is one hell of a way to remind me that my car is everything but a new Ferrari. The events of the last forty-eight hours has my mind reeling with questions.

I had sex with Luca Devlin.

Not any kind of sex, but mind altering, reality shaking sex that makes me question who I am. Why did I like making him crawl to me? I don't want it to be because I never stood up to Duke. I need another opinion, but who the hell can I talk to about this?

My phone rings with Mojo's face flashing across the screen making my heart skip a beat with anxiety. It's like a sixth sense between us.

"Hey, Mojo."

"Jo." She drags the 'oh'.

"Yes, Mojo?"

"Where are you?" she asks.

"You know I hate when you do that. It's like you're trying to figure out what I'm doing to box me into doing something I don't want to do, like hot yoga."

She laughs. "Hot yoga is a great way to release toxins and relax the body. But, I'm only asking because Poppy called me. What happened? She sent me pictures. Some guy's with your car and they brought it to her service center."

"Are you sure? Your sister works at the Ferrari dealership. Why would my car be there? Someone or something punctured the tires. My, um, friend let me take his car and he offered to take care of mine."

Luca said he'd take care of everything, but I thought that, well, I don't know what I thought. I didn't think. I wanted to drive his really nice car, no questions asked.

"Who is this friend?" Mojo's question cuts into my thoughts.

"If you want to grab coffee with me, I can show you better than I can tell you."

"Deal. Meet me at that place with the milkshakes," she says.

We end the call with me eager to unpack it all, but a part of me wonders how much to tell her. Once she sees the car, Mojo is going to do what she does best, ask questions and talk me through the chaos of irresponsibility.

By the time I arrive at one of our favorite diners, Mojo's jaw drops as I pull up in Luca's Ferrari convertible. Her eyes widen as I reach over to open the door for her.

"Still want your milkshake?" I ask her with a wide grin.

"No, let's hit a food truck and vibe. How the hell did you swing this?" she asks, sliding into the passenger seat and running her hands along the leather interior.

Every movement she makes is similar to the ones I made getting behind the wheel nearly an hour ago.

"The lead actress role has a hell of a lot of perks," I tell her.

"Drive, talk, and drive, and don't leave anything out!" Mojo demands as I pull away from our favorite diner to head toward North Point Avenue. We find a truck, grab our food, and head closer to a parking lot near the water. Picnic tables on a wide patch of cobblestone between the parking lot and walkway let us sit down to eat.

Mojo can't stop her eyes from moving between me and the car as she eats. "Luca Devlin gave you his car to drive because someone stabbed your tires? Where were you parked?"

"I told you yesterday I had to meet Duke at the courthouse. It's official. He's no longer Jett's father. Or at least, he won't be in forty-five days. I've barely skimmed the paperwork, but I'm listening to you and getting out of his way."

"Who needs a father like Duke when you have a Daddy like Luca Devlin?" Mojo practically swoons as she marvels at the car again. "Let's take a pic for socials. I'll put something like, 'Nothing but the best for the bestie'. We can rub Duke's stupid face in your success. Especially since it all happened after he announced his exit. I'm sure he's lurking on my page, watching from the shadows like the creep he is."

We stop for a moment to let her take the picture before getting her opinion of the latest chaos.

"Did I tell you Luca got in Duke's face too? Luca made Duke apologize to me and everything. He put some wrestling move on him.”

"Oh shit. Luca is impressing me more and more.”

I nod in agreement. "I told Luca to meet me downtown to get coffee so we can look at the script. He was a few minutes early and bumped into Duke while we were leaving the courthouse. I thought Luca was going to throw him down those steps."

"It would serve him right. Wait a minute. You think he had something to do with your car tires being attacked?" she asks with a light chuckle.

"I wouldn't put it past him, but Luca stood up for me. It was cool, you know? Dad and Collin, even Jett, stand up for me to Duke, but there's something different about it when a stranger who doesn't have to, steps in to do the right thing. He let me take out some of my frustrations on him too."

"Who let you do what?" She purses her lips and turns her face slightly, emphasizing her side eye. She's forcing me to say it out loud, but I need the push to make sure I'm not losing my mind.

"Luca let me take out my frustrations on him. He said it was to get into the Cadence character. She's this siren the Starlight movie is about. She's an immortal shifter who changes from a beautiful woman into this deadly mermaid who sings her death song to men who've been horrible people."

"I heard it was something about mermaid zombies. That's so cool. Don't forget to put in a good word for me."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have even got inside the room if it weren't for you. I'm getting you on that set."

She grins that large commercial grin of gratitude, but her expression drops as she asks, "Wait, so how does that lead to you taking out your frustrations on Luca Devlin and driving around in his Ferrari?"

"The main male lead is captured and Cadence, well, she sings the death song while having sex with her victims. They know they're about to die and can't do anything about it. The guy resists her, but she's all powerful and takes what she wants physically and sexually, until the guy dies. Luca got me into the scene."

"That sounds like one hell of a role play. Movie producer and his budding actress acting out romance." She huffs out a breathy sigh of yearning. "That's the dreams movies are made of."

If only she knew.

"What happened between me and Luca wasn't romantic. It was rough, aggressive, cathartic?—"

"But was it good?" She teases.

"The best I've had in a long time. Do you think I'm crazy for moving so fast?" I blurt out.

"I would say yes if things weren't going so well. Mom says it's a fact of life that you never get something for nothing. You've given up a lot so when you have thirty-six hours of good luck, sit in it." She chuckles. "Seriously, as long as it's safe and consensual, it's no one's business. Nothing lasts and everything changes. That goes for the good and the bad."

"Fine, I'll let the most handsome man I've ever met do nice things for me?—"

She cuts me off. "He's a handsome and wealthy man who does nice things for you, but also lets you let loose on him. It's not like you're going to marry the guy and move him into the garage."

"He can't move in there even if he didn't own a phenomenal mansion on the cliffs. Collin's moving back for two weeks and then all of next semester for fighting."

"Shit, what happened?" The concern from Mojo is normal when it comes to Collin. We've been keeping him out of trouble for as long as either of us can remember. When I got pregnant, Mojo really stepped in to help me out when my parents were ready to let me live with my choices. She's been a pseudo part of our family for at least two decades.

I sigh, telling her, "He let Jett borrow his lucky socks."

We laugh and talk, finishing up lunch, when a weird sensation ripples down my body. My skin tingles as if someone's watching me, reaching out and tickling me with the tip of a feather. Scanning the somewhat crowded parking lot to the waterfront shops and restaurants, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Yet, something feels off.

Finally, the reason behind the feeling of dread lingering over me like a dark cloud reveals itself.

"Fucking Christ, look who's coming. Let's go." Mojo groans as Duke casually walks over toward us as we make our way to Luca's car.

I try to get inside, desperate to avoid any interaction with Duke because, unlike Luca, anything can set Duke off. One man let me slap him to my heart's content while the other seemed to get upset with me simply breathing. Still, in my nervousness to not engage in the oncoming argument, the car's door won't open.

I don't want to do something as clumsy as hop into it since the top is down. Convertible or not, my 5'4 height doesn't leave me a lot of room to successfully attempt that.

"You can't get inside that car without this." Duke holds up the key fob I unintentionally left on the table beside our food.

Fuck.

"Great." Mojo huffs with a snarl. "I spoke him into being like the boogeyman."

"Give it to me so we can go," I tell him, holding my hand out, and stepping closer to Mojo.

"Sure thing, but only when you tell me how you were able to get your hands on this fucking car. I've been paying child support, but not enough for you to afford this." Duke's eyes hold genuine curiosity. The way he slides his hand across the trunk makes me cringe.

My anger pushes frustration through my words as I tell him, "None of your fucking business. Now, give me the keys before I call?—"

"Who are you going to call, cunt? Your boyfriend the bodyguard? " Duke chuckles with a roll of his eyes.

"No, the police you idiot," Mojo interjects to my relief and dismay. I don't want Duke attacking her either, but Monique Shewster is no pushover and never has been. She's always there for me. Even now, she rounds the car, moving closer to Duke as if she's ready to attack him.

"What do you think you're about to do?" Duke challenges Mojo.

I step forward, ready to work with Mojo for whatever we need to do to get the keys away from Duke.

"You back up," Duke turns and points at me. He continues to demand answers. "Josephine. Where the hell did you get this car?"

"Give up the keys, creep." Mojo's tone is firm as she pulls out her phone to most likely call the police.

"Why do you care, Duke? You literally handed me your walking papers this morning. You don't want to have anything to do with me."

"You could have told me things were changing for us financially. You know, before you let that gorilla put his hands all over me."

I cut him off with a laugh. "You have a lot of fucking nerve. Jett is only worthy of having you as a father if I'm footing the bill for you?"

"You should pay me! I never wanted that kid in the first place. You promised me, Jo. Promised! Now, I walk and you pull this shit out of your ass like a fucking magician. Is this that guy's car? Is that old fuck footing the bill?"

"Luca's not old, and my life is not and never will be any of your business," I fire back.

Mojo's pissed. Her lavender mohawk goes up into a ponytail as she readies to attack him. "The cops are on their way, shithead. Give up the keys."

"Or what?" Duke scoffs. "I'm sure the police would love to hear your explanation about this car. You probably stole it or sucked that guy's cock?—"

Mojo doesn't let him finish before her kickboxing classes swing into action, raising her foot swiftly to kick him in the groin. The one thing Mojo doesn't expect is Duke's athleticism, or the fact he's already been put into grappling moves earlier this morning. He towers over both of us, his six feet to our five-foot- four frames. It doesn't take much for him to grab her foot and push her awkwardly to the ground.

Mojo yelps as she stumbles back, falling to the pavement behind the car.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing pal?" A jogger stops in their tracks, pulling out their earbuds to come help us.

"Fuck this. You were never worth it." Duke tosses the keys on the ground beside the car as I rush forward to snatch them away. The jogger approaches and Duke puts his hands up in surrender, telling the bystander. "I'm leaving, Captain Save-A-Hoe."

Somehow, even as Duke walks away, I have a feeling he'll show his face again. As I thank the stranger for intervening, I rush over to Mojo, who's sitting beside the car, disappointment and tears in her eyes.

I sit beside her. Soft murmurings come from her as she stomps the ground, but winces in pain.

"I'm sorry, Monique. Thank you for sticking up for me." My voice is soft with regret for her getting hurt.

She rests her head on my shoulder, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "Fuck him. Fucking shit."

"You sound like Jett." I tell her with a slight nudge of my shoulder.

She chuckles. "Well, Duke is a shit. I should have had him."

I lean away and turn toward her. "Mojo, I love you. You are one of the strongest people I know, but Duke played professional football. It doesn't matter if he only played for a season. He's not some run-of-the-mill scumbag trying to jump you in a dark alley. I actively avoid attacking him physically. It doesn't end well, and he can find a way to take it out on Jett."

She slaps her forehead. "Shit, I'm sorry, Jo. I wasn't thinking. He?—"

"Brings out the worst in everyone." I finish for her. "We have forty-five days before his parental rights termination is final. I don't want to give him any reason to come after us. Are you okay? How's your leg?"

She groans, turning her leg from side-to-side, squinting her eyes and flashing her clenching teeth. "I'll be fine. I think I hit my head, but come on, it's almost time to pick up Jett from school. I want to see his face when you pull up in this bad ass car."

I wrap my arm around her, squeezing her tight. "Yes. A bad ass car with my bad ass bestie, to grab my —"

She pops out of the hug. "Don't you call my Jett, bad."

"Are you sure you don't want to get checked out?" I ask her with a giggle.

"Jo, I'm going to be fine. I'm not going to the hospital and you can't make me."