Chapter 26

JAX

"Oh…What the hell happened to you, man?" Noah asks, walking into my apartment and leaving my car keys on the wall table.

Wearing sweatpants and nothing else and nursing a beer, I gesture him to the kitchen.

I want to light a cigarette, but my mother doesn't like Noah to be exposed to smoke, so I enter the space first, drop the beer onto the granite counter, fish out a cigarette, and head straight to the window.

I crack it open and light my cigarette.

The aroma fills my lungs.

"How was it?" I ask, flicking my head toward the hallway where he left my keys.

"Your ride is awesome, man," he says, beaming with excitement, his cheeks flushed from the cold outside. "Mine, not so much."

"Here," I say, reaching inside my pocket and pulling out a wad of cash. "For your trouble. Make sure Mom doesn't see the money, or she'll havea ton ofquestions. You didn't tell her, did you?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"No way, man."

He drops his backpack on the counter and slides into a chair at the kitchen table.

My place is not far from my mother's, but it's far enough that he'll need a cab to go back.

"First off, it's not her business what I'm doing in my free time."

"I'm sure she'd disagree with that statement."

He waves me off, laughing.

"And then, it's fun, man. I always liked to play detective."

"Mm-hmm," I mumble around my cigarette,

He spends a few seconds studying my eyes.

"I gather things didn't work out," he says.

"No, they didn't," I admit.

"Girls," he says, raking his hand through his hair. "They're puzzling like hell, man."

"She's not a girl. She's a grown-up woman."

"Which is worse."

I laugh, but my amusement is short-lived.

Things didn't work out the way I thought they would.

I didn't expect her to fall into my arms, but it annoyed the hell out of me when I knew she was dying to have sex with me, and she still said no to me.

Truth be told, I could've had her in that alley.

I could've run my hand up her skirt, gotten her wet, and pushed her up against the wall.

I could've fucked her right there with those people watching.

If not, I could've made her drop to her knees and blow me like the good girl that she is.

She would've liked it and asked for more.

And I would've probably taken her home, fucked her the entire night, and made her cry for more.

But as much fun as that would've been, it would've scaredthe shit out ofher.

I feared it would've made her end things with me.

We weren't even close to doing that, and she had pulled away from me.

I wanted to make her mine without hurting her, but she removed that possibility.

And that makes me angry.

"What do you know about grown-up women?" I ask.

A knowing smile spreads across my brother's lips.

"I have this teacher…"

"Oh, spare me," I say, and we laugh.

"For real, man. She is fine. That juicy butt. Mmm…"

"Fucking horny brat."

"You asked me. I gave you an answer. Too bad you don't like it."

He smiles from ear to ear while watching me move around the kitchen.

"Are you hungry? I still have some lasagna."

"My mom would kill me if she knew I ate lasagna from the restaurant."

"She doesn't need to know," I say. "Besides, her lasagna is still the best."

I pull two plates from the cupboard while he pushes out of his seat andwasheshis hands.

"The food is in the oven," I say, and he helps me set the table.

"What would you like to drink?" I ask as he takes a seat at the table.

"Soda."

I remove a cold soda from the fridge and another beer for myself.

Later, we dig into our food.

"So what happened?" he asks when he stops shoveling food into his mouth and lifts his soda to his lips.

"She's stubborn. That's all," I say, my fork clinking against my plate as I rest my elbows on the table.

"I like stubborn."

"It's not as much fun as you think it is."

"You're not giving up, are you?" he asks before tilting his drink against his lips.

"Is that how you know me, kid?"

"That's what I thought."

A flicker of admiration gleams through his gaze.

He's always looked up to me. He's always idolized me.

Whenever he got into trouble at school, I straightened things out. People left him alone,mostlybecause they didn't want to deal with me.

He's never been the annoying little brother to me.

He showed me respect because people showed me respect, and all his peers envied him for having me as his brother.

Things got even more serious when I stood up for my sister, put my father in his place––and let's be honest here––served time.

Some people were happy I got charged with a crime I wanted to commit.

They thought I'd be put away for a lot longer. But the judge was lenient and sided with me, considering the mitigating circumstances and the fact that I didn't have a prior criminal record.

Other than that, my father and I had never seen eye to eye, not even when we were a family.

I always knew how much of a liability he was.

He was reckless and careless and did not take care of things.

My mother shared stuff with me more than once, and I got to know the ins and outs of a destructive marriage.

I promised her I'd never become him.

I physically resemble her, anyway, and Istay away frommy father's bad ways as much asI can.

He provided for us, but we all paid a price for that.

His temper flared for nothing, and he was abusive to my mother. It took her some time to convince herself she could liveon her own.

Bythat time, I was old enough to work, and going to college had never been an option.

In the beginning, we survived on two incomes and whatever my father had paid in alimony.

He insisted on joint custody, although they had struggled to communicate with each other.

My mother fought him and gained physical custody, but he had visitation rights.

My sister, who was a kid at the time, and Noah, who was only a few years older, seemed to like the idea of scheduled visits.

They didn't know his dark side as well as I did.

As crazy as it sounds, my father, who's a lawyer, had threatened us and promised he'd make our lives a living hell if we didn't comply, and I believed him.

The arrangement worked somehow.

That was untilhestarted a new family and became even more hostile and unreliable.

That's how he got Rylee in trouble. He and his fancy lawyer friends.

That's when everybody had to learn I'd stop at nothing to protect the people I cared for.

We never tried to make amends after my release. Andhenever visited me in prison.

A few people thought I wouldn't make it in that environment, and my father was probably one of them.

To their surprise, Icame backstronger, bolder, and even more frightening.

So, no wonder Noah's admiration for me only grew.

He knows I make money and rely solely on myself, and nobody dares to cross me.

"So what do you have for me?" I ask, setting my beer down after taking a swig.

I hired Noah to trail Melody.

He's the only man I trust when it comes to her.

I gave him my ride for his enjoyment while he used his old beat-up car to follow her around.

He trailed her tonight after she left that dark alley.

The kid takes notes, and it's all old school. Pen and paper, like my therapist.

"Yes," he says, dragging his finger down the words he scribbled down as if they were significant bits of information.

"She went straight home."

He ponders something while I let him play detective.

"Her windows were lit for about half an hour before her place went dark. That wasabout an hour or so ago."

"Are you sure she didn't sneak out?"

"Positive."

I smile, but he can't see me as he seems obsessed with his work.

"And it's not that neighbor of hers you have talked about," he says.

"Marlowe."

"No. It's not Marlowe. He left the building around seven, had dinner downtown, placed a booty call, and met a woman in a hotel lobby. My money is onhim still fucking her since they went straight upstairs."

"Isn't he a gem?" I murmur.

"That's what I said."

I study his face, proud of him.

"You hired your mignons to keep an eye on him," I say.

He whips his gaze up.

"Yeah. You said I could do that. But not the woman, though. They don't know about Melody Hill," he says in a breath, concerned I might have a problemwith that.

I nod in agreement.

"Good. You can use other peopleas long asthey don't know much."

"They don't," he reassures me, moving his eyes down. "And frankly, they'd do this type of work for free. They like it so much."

"You like it too."

He laughs knowingly.

"Are you kidding me? I might make a business out of it."

"Uh-huh… What else?"

"The other man, Thomas something."

"Everett."

"Yes.Hedidn't meet your girl the entire week. In fact, he had dinner and sex with two different women this week. He's seeing one on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other on Thursdays, so he was busy tonight."

"So his dick is working."

"What?"

"Nothing. How do you know he has them on a schedule?"

"They work for the same agency. I chatted one up, andsheknew about the other one.He'sone of their best clients."

A smile tickles my lips as I rub my fingers over my chin.

"Tell me more. Abouthim… And stop chatting up hookers. I'll take you to someone nice to pop your cherry."

His cheeks turn crimson, his eyes going down.

"I'm not a virgin, you know…"

"Blowjobs in the bathroom don't matter. You need to know how a woman's body works, not get lost like a mountaineer without a map and a compass."

"I know stuff," he mumbles, his eyes tilted down.

"Not the kind that matters. Girls and women are two different things. To woo that special girl, you need to know your stuff, kid. And a random girl won't teach you much. But enough about that," I say, shifting gears. "What did that woman say?"

"He's been their client for six months. He came highly recommended by another agency. He's clean, boring, and not into kinks. And he pays handsomely. He also gives them gifts. Not the biggest dick, but he makes things work somehow."

"She said that?" I ask him incredulously.

He nods, grinning.

"Yes, she did."

"I bought her an ice cream, and we sat at a table in a coffee shop nearby."

"You're nuts." I slap him jokingly upside the head. "That's not what your job was all about."

"You told me to gather information. I didn't do anything illegal.Shewas nice. I felt sorry for her."

"Did she give you her number?"

"No."

"Noah?"

"Yes, she did. But I won't call her unless it's job-related."

"Didn't she ask you why you wanted to knowall that stuff?"

He slumps back into his seat and finishes his soda.

"She did, and I told her my older sister had been dating that jerk, and I had secretly gathered information for her. She confirmed the man was actively dating. Apparently, there is some downtime with these sex activities, and they got to the pillow talk part."

"You, brother, seem to have gotten to the pillow talk part with her as well," I say, pointing to him with my finger. "Watch out with these women."

He goes pensive all of a sudden.

"What else you've got?"

"Nothing. Although, I've heard your sweetie talk on the phone. She's going to an art event tomorrow. ‘Or so she thinks.' I'm quoting her."

"She didn't see you."

"Of course, she didn't see me. I'm not stupid."

"Good. You did well." I run a hand down the back of my neck. "I'll take it from here. I'll let you know when I have more work for you."

"Anytime, brother," he says, pushing upright in his seat and eating more lasagna.

I watch him with vacant eyes for a few more seconds before rising from my seat and going to the other room.

I grab my phone and make a call.

"Hey… It's me," I say quietly. "I'll take all the jobs. And yes. You can book me for that circuit."

The voice at the other end of the line reaches my ear.

"Noted. I'll let him know."

With that, we end the call.