Without even having to look down at the note, I knew what it was. Casually, I took it from Goldie and thanked her.
“So, you guys can go back to what you were doing,” she said while she licked her lips, enticing me to bring her up to the Bourbon Room. That’s what she did every damn day of my life.
“Don’t you have some practicing to do?” Kace asked, noticing the letter as well and helping me out because right now, I was seconds away from grabbing Goldie and dragging her upstairs.
“Shock alert, Kace doesn’t want to have any fun,” Goldie said sarcastically as she waved her hands in the air.
Looking over at Kace, I saw the irritation start to bubble. The man had a short fuse. The tension between Kace and Goldie would get bad if I didn’t intervene so I grabbed Goldie’s hand, pulled her in for a sweaty hug and gave her a kiss on the head.
“Get out of here, little one, before he explodes,” I whispered into her ear, making her chuckle.
Before parting, she looked up at me and said, “God, you’re so fucking hot.” She kissed me and then took off. I watched her little body walk away from me and was apparently caught up in her man-eating swagger because Kace smacked the side of my head to get my attention.
“Fuck,” I said as I held my head and turned to him. “What the hell?”
“Focus, dickweed, what is in the letter?”
If he wasn’t such a brother to me, I would be kicking his ass out of here but that would never happen, even though he was an ass, he was the only true family I still had.
Opening up the letter, I shut the door to the workout room, took a deep breath and read the letter out loud.
Jett,
It was an honor to see you the other night. It’s always a prideful moment for a father to see their son succeed in life and find someone who can make them a better man.
You can deny it all you want but I know how that girl makes you feel, there is no question about it that she means everything to you, despite what you tried to portray. It’s all in your eyes, son.
So, you have two choices, you can either back away from Lot 17 and let me have it, or I can take Goldie for myself. It’s only a matter of time until I take her away from you, it just depends on when it is.
Your choice, son, I hope you choose wisely because I would hate to see that pretty little girl in the hands of my associates, or better yet, in the hands of Rex Titan.
Your Father
“Motherfucker,” Kace mumbled as his hand drove through his hair.
“Fuck…”
“What are you going to do?” Kace asked, grabbing us both a water.
“The only thing I can do. She needs to leave.”
Chapter Twenty One
“I Will Be”
Lo
“Are you kidding me? This does not fit me, Tootse. There is no way Jett will let me wear this outside of this dressing room,” I said as I stood backstage while Tootse did a fitting for an outfit that I was supposed to wear in two nights.
It’s been a week since the “incident.” It almost seemed like every couple of days there was an incident between Jett and me but ever since the big one, there haven’t been any. He’s been more withdrawn and he’s been doing a lot of talking on his phone but in a secretive way. I didn’t like it. I felt like he was planning something and was waiting to break the news to me.
“Yeah, this fabric isn’t as stretchy as I thought it was going to be,” Tootse mumbled as pins stuck out of her mouth. “I think I have to scrap the whole thing.”
“Do you have time for that?” I asked, trying to make sure my nipples weren’t showing.
We had a still life presentation coming up in two nights and we were supposed to resemble trees. We were going to get our bodies painted and Tootse was making dresses that had ivy hanging down them but the fabric underneath wasn’t cooperating over my curves at the current moment, making Tootse’s life difficult.
“I don’t but I can make it work…somehow,” she said while studying the dress.
“Ohhhhh gooooood,” Babs moaned as she flopped herself on the floor, right in front of me. She was wearing standard Jett Girl gear and was holding her stomach. “I ate way too much.”
“A plate of gumbo and two pieces of pecan pie will do that to you,” Pepper said as she walked in, wearing the same gear.
“You know I love pecan pie. Chef was tempting me, that evil bastard.”
“Kace is going to kill you,” Francy said while staring at Tootse’s ass.
“Why?” Babs said while looking up at Francy.
Francy tore her eyes off Tootse to say, “Because, your stomach has grown about five inches in the past hour.”
Babs looked down and poked her stomach and laughed. “Fuck, you’re right. Oh well. I’m on my way out anyways.”
The room grew silent as we thought about Babs’ words. It wouldn’t be the same without her. We were a family and it would be sad to lose Babs, really sad.
“Ah fuck it, where’s the tequila,” Babs shot off as she started feeling around the floor, thinking there was alcohol around her.
“I think there is some back here,” Pepper said as she started poking around behind the curtains.
“Don’t even think about it,” Kace’s voice sounded off as he appeared as if out of nowhere. “Don’t you girls have some studying to do? Pepper, I know you do.”
“Yeah, studying of your body,” Francy mumbled, causing Pepper to smack her leg and give her an evil glare.
Kace must not have heard her because he seemed unaffected. His eyes scanned the room and when they landed on Babs, his brow creased.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Babs lifted her shirt and showed off her stomach. She patted it with pride and said, “About to give birth to two pecan pies and a bowl of gumbo.”
Kace gave her a disgusted look as she slowly pulled herself off the floor, saluted us and went off to do who knew what. I tried not to think about it because I was too grossed out. I loved Babs, I really was going to miss her.
“Wow, stare much, “Francy said to Kace. I looked up and saw him tear his gaze away from me and clear his throat.
“Get upstairs, Francy and Pepper, you two have an exam tonight.”
“Tyrant,” they muttered as two other Jett Girls walked away. Kace was plucking them off one by one.
“Tootse…” Kace said, indicating that it was time for her to leave as well. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought Kace was trying to get me alone.
“Yeah,” she called over her shoulder as she continued to pin my dress and study it.
“Don’t you have something you have to do?”
“Yeah, it’s called what I’m doing right now. I highly doubt Jett would want Lo to do a presentation with only body paint on.”
“That’s right, I wouldn’t,” Jett said in his deep southern voice, shocking us all. He never came down to the Toulouse Room so to see him backstage was a little surprising. Looking up at me, he winked and then turned to Kace and Tootse. “No need to continue, Tootse, she won’t be needing the dress.”
“Ooo, I get to be naked,” I said clapping my hands, earning a scowl from Jett.
“No, you’re not going to do the presentation.”
I turned to Kace who turned to Jett who looked at me with determination. What the hell?
“Okay, soooo, does this mean you’re firing me? Because if that’s the case, I demand to do a recount.”
“A recount?” both Jett and Kace asked at the same time.
“Yeah, you know, from the dick committee. Isn’t that where you go to make all your dickhead decisions?” I asked Jett.
Man, I was feeling spicy today. Tootse giggled below me while still pinning my dress, even though apparently I didn’t need it.