“What?!” Pepper yelled, as she stumbled out of bed and pulled on my shoulder. “You’re seriously kicking me out of the club? You can’t be serious. What am I supposed to do? Just not get any while you and Goldie fuck like rabbits upstairs? How is that fair?”
Slowly, I turned around and faced Pepper. With a steely voice, I looked her in the eyes and said, “Did you or did you not sign a contract?”
Taking a second to answer, she finally nodded her head as anguish laced through her eyes. “You can’t do this to me, Jett. I need the club; I’m not ready to leave. Please, Jett.”
I ran my hand over my face and then looked her in the eyes. “The replacement isn’t for you, Pepper.”
Kace approached Pepper and me, wearing shorts now, and asked, “Who’s the replacement for, Babs?”
“No,” I said, while turning around to head up to my third floor. “The replacement is for Goldie; she’s done.”
Not wanting to talk anymore, I left without answering their questions. I was too tired, too drained to deal with anything.
Pepper and Kace? How long had that been going on? I really couldn’t be mad, and if I was honest, I wasn’t mad. I actually couldn’t care less. If they wanted to have sex, then by all means, let them have sex. I was at a point in my life where the Bourbon Room was meant for one Jett Girl and one Jett Girl alone.
The minute I got to my office, I poured myself a generous glass of bourbon and sat in my chair, facing the window, so I could look out at the streets of the Garden District. The streets were clear and the pale light of the moon shone down on the trees that covered the sidewalks like a canopy. I used to take pleasure in the view from my office, feeling like I could see all the sinners and saints from my desk chair, but now, the world was just black and white to me; the color that once filled it was gone.
The stairs up to the third floor creaked, and I knew it was Kace; I didn’t have to turn around to confirm my suspicion. I was surprised it took him so long to actually come up to check on me.
“Dude, what’s going on?” he said, as he sat in the chair in front of my desk.
Not turning around, I answered, “She left me; she gave me back my collar.”
“Why?” Kace asked, sounding just as distraught as me.
“Didn’t quite get a clear answer about that,” I said, as I turned around and rested my hands on my desk. “She said it was about time someone protected me, and that she would be back, but…” I shook my head as I gathered myself. “She took it off, Kace. She took off her necklace. What the hell am I supposed to think? That was the one thing I could rely on, the one piece of security I had when it came to keeping Goldie as mine. Now what?”
“She said she would be back?”
“Apparently, but I have no clue if it’s the truth, if she was just stringing me along. Fuck,” I swore, as I took a huge gulp of my bourbon. “Kace, I can’t function. I don’t know where the fuck she is, what she’s doing, or who she’s with. What does she think she’s doing? Going to ride into who knows where and start karate chopping people?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Kace joked. “I’m sure she has a plan.”
I gave Kace a pointed look. “This is Goldie we’re talking about.”
“True,” Kace said. “She’s a wild card, though, no one knows what she’ll do, let alone what will come out of her mouth. You have to have faith in her, Jett.”
And there it was. That’s what this all came down to, faith.
But to me, without being able to have any control over the situation, I had a pretty hard time having faith. Ever since I could remember, I’ve always had control in every aspect of my life, even when I was living under my father’s roof, I had control, but with Goldie, I lacked that control. She really was a wild card, and taming her was an enjoyable challenge for me, but right now, I fucking wished she just would have let me take care of things.
I felt helpless.
Needing to change the subject, I sat back in my chair and asked, “How long have you and Pepper been fucking?”
The eloquence my dad tried to instill in me at a young age quickly vanished the minute my world was flipped upside down. Now, I really didn’t give a fuck what came out of my mouth. I had no filter.
Shifting in his chair, Kace answered, “Not that long. This was only the second time we’ve been together. First time was a drunken mistake, second time was a horny one.”
“Not getting any lately?” I asked, while finishing off my glass.
“Been kind of difficult lately, given all the bullshit happening around here. Haven’t really had much time to go pussy perusing.”
“So, might as well dip your pen in the company ink.”
“Hell, you do it,” Kace replied with a smirk. “Why can’t the right hand man get a little action?”
“Have you ever touched Goldie?”
I knew the answer, I didn’t even have to ask it, but the jealous fool I was let the question flow out of my mouth.
“No,” Kace answered, while looking me square in the eyes. “We both know she wouldn’t do anything with me.”
“But you would welcome it?”
Why I felt the need to torture myself, I had no clue.
“Yes, no doubt about it,” Kace answered honestly. “Every damn day of my life I wish Goldie had never signed the contract, because the minute she left this club, I would have jumped on the opportunity to make her mine. She’s, by far, the most uniquely beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
I ground my teeth while I listened to Kace. I only had myself to blame for the answer to the question, but I was in a masochistic kind of mood and apparently was trying to sink myself into a deeper hole of depression.
“If you can’t handle the truth, then don’t ask,” Kace said, noticing my discomfort.
He was right, I shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help it. I hated that he liked her, possibly had stronger feelings for her, feelings that only I should have for my Little One.
“I hate that you have feelings for her,” I replied, voicing my thoughts. “It drives me insane that I see the same look in your eyes that I have for her.”
Kace shrugged and sat forward in his chair.
“We might have the same feelings, but the difference between you and me is that she only has eyes for you. From the very beginning, she’s always been made for you.”
She might have been made for me, but I didn’t deserve her. It was God’s cruel joke, to grant me such a beautiful and vivacious woman, but take her away the minute I open up, the minute I fall for her.
I was about to answer Kace back when my phone chimed with a text message. Desperate to hear from Goldie, I pulled out my phone and read the message. Unfortunately, it wasn’t from Goldie, it was from Rex Titan.
Rex Titan: Funny little visitor I had tonight, looking for a place to stay, a place as far away from your controlling dictatorship as possible. I will be sure to keep her nice and warm in my bed for you.
Pure rage rapidly flowed through my body as I read the text message from Rex a few times over and over again. Not just rage, but embarrassment…embarrassment for, once again, not being able to hold on to a woman, for once again losing another woman to Rex. I should have known.
Kace was badgering to know who the text was from, but shame washed over me, so instead of letting him know what was going on, I put on a strong façade, looked Kace in the eyes, and said, “Find a replacement for Goldie. We’ll need one with Babs doing a new night course for her business and Goldie no longer being a Jett Girl.”
“Jett…”
“Do your job and find a fucking replacement,” I gritted out, not wanting to hear Kace’s lecture.
“Fine,” Kace conceded, while getting out of his chair. “Same contract?”
Did I want the same contract? Did I want to revert back to my old ways of calling up a girl every night?
Turning around in my chair to look out the window again, I lightly said, “Same contract.”