What You Deserve : A Gem Stone Book

by Mary Martel

  If what this fucking guy said was the truth, and I believed him because you couldn’t make this shit up, then Gin had done me so dirty it was almost unbelievable. If she was alive, finding this out would be the death of our friendship.

  You couldn’t unfriend the dead, and I didn’t know how to feel about that.

  “Gem is not to blame for any of this, and I don’t care what you’re feeling right now, but I will tell you this—you’ll not be taking it out on Gem.”

  I eyed Franklin, and what I saw there made me uneasy. She was more than just a possession to him. She meant so much to him that he came here where he knew Chance wouldn’t appreciate him popping up, and he did that so Gem wouldn’t have to feel bad about being a bitch to me because of her sister’s lies.

  Yeah, fuck me, Gem meant everything to this fucking guy.

  I needed to figure out how to get rid of him and get him out of Gem’s life, because I knew he’d stand in my way of getting where I desperately wanted to be.

  His body jerked weirdly, and he muttered a disbelieving, “What in the actual fuck?”

  My mouth dropped open as a mint-haired girl in ripped jeans that were so tight it looked like she’d been poured into them, expensive looking black high heels, and a super clingy plain black t-shirt caught my eye.

  The worst part? Even though she was headed straight toward our table, her eyes were pointed at the stage and the girls dancing on it. And she looked enthralled.

  Fuck me.

  Gem was here at my job where there were strippers, and I was sitting at a table with her bodyguard buddy.

  I had no explanation for this shit and hoped like hell Franklin was a smooth talker, or this shit could go sideways real quick.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Titty Bar

  Gem

  I had never been to a strip club before and had to sit out in the Caddy taking several hits off a joint I’d swiped from Franks’ cigarette case just to psych myself up in order to be able to go inside.

  Franklin had lied to me.

  He’d been acting cagey all morning, then all of a sudden he got a text and claimed he needed to go home for reasons he decided not to share with me. After everything I’d found out about my twin so far, I absolutely was not having any type of shady business from Franklin in my life.

  No way, no how.

  So I followed his ass. Franklin wasn’t the only one who knew how to track the GPS on someone else’s phone.

  So I followed him.

  To a goddamn strip club.

  Unless Mr. Nines had taken on a new business endeavor my BFF had yet to share with me—which could happen, although I tried to mind my own business when it came to Franklin’s dad’s shady business dealings—then he’d lied straight to my face.

  What the hell was he doing leaving me, lying to my face, and then coming to some... titty bar? That was the name of the place! In neon bright pink lights the sign above the door read, The Titty Bar.

  The big man inside the door eyed me up as I walked in, but he didn’t say a word. What the hell kind of establishment was this where they didn’t card an underage girl but instead just let her walk in right through the front doors?

  I knew I had no claim to Franks outside of friendship, so I had no right to be pissed if he was sitting in here watching some greased up lady flinging her naked body around a pole while he clutched a handful of dollar bills.

  Nope.

  No business of mine.

  Right.

  That was what I told myself. It was all about him lying to me and nothing more. I was strong in my denial and by no means could I be jealous.

  Nope.

  Fuck no.

  I heaved a sigh as I walked into the dimly lit room. Now I was lying to my own damned self like an asshole. What the hell? I guessed lying was contagious.

  Kill me now.

  The interior was huge with a long bar that ran along the right side of the room. The stage was round and in the center of the room with a long catwalk that jutted out all the way to the wall where a shiny silver curtain hung. There were three poles on the round stage, and when I caught sight of the dancers up there, the rest of the room faded away to the background.

  If Franklin was here, I didn’t see him.

  The dark-haired, exotic-looking beauty on the stage didn’t care that there weren’t many people in here, she was still putting on the show of her life. Her long black hair trailed across the stage as she wrapped her long, toned leg around the shiny silver pole and she arched her body way back. She twirled round and round, all the while the silver sequins on her teeny tiny bikini top caught the lights, making her look magical as she spun.

  A soft, light touch on my shoulder had me flinching, and the magical spell the dancer had sucked me into abruptly faded away. Reality smacked me in the face, and I remembered I was standing in the middle of The Titty Bar looking like a besotted fool when I should have been searching for Franklin so I could bitch slap his ass into next week for lying to me.

  I turned to tell whatever creep who touched me to get lost, but froze where I was when another different, but still as soft and light touch came from the opposite shoulder. I whirled around and found not only Franklin standing before me, but Riley standing beside him.

  Franklin and Riley were together hanging out at The Titty Bar.

  What the fuck was this?

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the both of them. I felt like out of the two of them, Franklin had the most explaining to do, so I aimed my glare his way and left it there.

  “So this is home now?” I asked sarcastically, and my heart actually clenched painfully when he flinched. Franklin, my Franklin, actually flinched.

  What the fuck?

  “I lied, yeah,” he murmured so quietly it was a wonder I heard him over the music. “I’m man enough to admit it, but I’m telling you, Gems, I did it for your own good.”

  I sighed, already forgiving him. He was always looking out for me. I bet he came here to threaten Riley in some way because of me. I bet he even had one of his father’s goons track Riley down for the sole purpose of putting him in his place.

  “What have you done now, Franklin?”

  Franklin took hold of my hand and tugged me forward. Reluctantly, my feet moved toward him. When there was less than a foot of space between us, I placed my free hand in the center of his chest, my palm pressed flat against his crisp, white shirt, and stopped him from pulling me any closer.

  Franklin placed his free hand over mine where it rested on his chest and held our clasped hands up between us.

  For some insane reason, my cheeks started to heat. Were we having a moment here of all places?

  “I know you’re all fucked in the head right now over what you found out about your sister, and I know you probably feel like I lied to you today because I did. But you’ve got to know and understand that I’ll do whatever it is that I feel like I have to in order to protect you. Even if it means I have to keep you safe from your own stupidity. I did what I had to. Nobody got hurt, so it’s all good. Now let it go.”

  I didn’t have it in me to be pissed at Franklin. I was pissed enough at the rest of the world, I couldn’t be mad at Franklin too.

  “How did you know where to find me?”

  I shrugged my shoulders lazily, not about to give up my secrets so easily.

  “Maybe” —an irate voice cut into our little chat— “you want to tell me how in the hell you found me.”

  Riley had invaded our huddle, moving in close but not touching. All emotion wiped clean from Franks’ face as he turned cold eyes on Riley.

  I tried to let him go, but his hold on me tightened. I wasn’t interested in a pissing contest right now. I had Riley in my sights, and even though it hadn’t been that long since I’d seen him last, I ate up every inch of him with my eyes.

  “Jesus,” Franks growled. “Do you want to fuck him? I knew you were weird about him, but I had no clue it went that far. Fuck, Gems,
this complicates things.”

  Fuck indeed.

  I closed my eyes up tight and stepped into Franklin. He finally let my hands go, only to wrap them around me tightly. I wrapped mine around his middle and held on to him for dear life.

  I was so stupid it wasn’t even funny.

  Franklin’s mouth came to my ear and his lips brushed across my skin with each word spoken. “You’re so worried about me lying to you and hurting you, Gemmy, that you’ve lost sight of who the fuck I am to you. I’m not going anywhere, ever. No matter what. You and I are both smart enough to know things are changing between you and me, and in order for us to still stay standing together when it goes where it goes, you can’t be keeping secrets from me. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? We do this, but we do it honest. If you want to fuck someone else, you have to be honest with me about it.”

  I did. Fuck, did I ever understand him.

  This is why I loved Franklin so much. He didn’t mess around with anything, least of all his words.

  I nodded my head, silently letting him know I heard and I got what he said.

  His arm slid up my back, all the way up to my neck. He grabbed a hold of me by the back of my neck and moved me until we were face to face with our foreheads pressed together. I kept my eyes closed, knowing I wouldn’t be able to focus on him from this close anyways.

  “What’s going on?” Riley asked from super close. “I feel like something important just happened, and even though I’m standing right here, I missed the whole thing. Someone want to fill me in here? And can we take this back to the booth? We’re drawing a lot of attention, and I’m gonna get shit for this every time I come into work now.”

  Now that had me opening my eyes. Franks’ were open too, and I swear they shined with mischievousness. I was incredibly relieved to see no hostility toward either myself or Riley.

  We both turned our heads to the side, still touching, and Franklin didn’t let me go. Riley watched us carefully, and I was surprised to see he held no hostility in his eyes either.

  Huh.

  If someone had tried to run me over, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to look at them with even the tiniest ounce of friendliness.

  Guys were fucking weird. I’d never understand them.

  “You work at The Titty Bar?” I questioned Riley.

  Franklin snickered, and Riley’s face started to get red.

  “There’s nothing wrong with working at a strip club,” Riley informed me, sounding like he was upset or... maybe that was disappointment I heard in his voice. “Some people actually have to work for a living, princess, and I’m lucky enough to have been given this job by a family friend. I get paid cash under the table and it helps my single mother support our family.”

  “A family friend?” Franklin asked suspiciously. “Just exactly how well do you know Chance and his family?”

  Why was Franklin so concerned about Riley’s connections all of a sudden? Was he involved with a family similar to Franks’? That thought was terrifying.

  And, yeah, I couldn’t exactly take offense to Riley calling me a princess and talking to me like he thought I was some spoiled little rich girl, because that was exactly what I was. Still, it hurt my feelings because he didn’t really know me enough to judge me. He just knew that I had money because it was obvious and not something I ever tried to hide.

  But I hadn’t actually been trying to be a certain way with what I’d said. I was simply curious about him, and I’d been caught off guard about finding out he worked at a strip club and I couldn’t leave the ridiculous name alone.

  I pulled away from Franks and waved my arm in the direction of the stage where the exotic beauty still danced her magical dance while weaving her spell on the nonexistent crowd. “I don’t judge, Riles, and I more than get most people need to work for a living. I’m just never going to be one of them. I was born lucky in the sense I’ll never have to worry about money, but that’s the only thing I’ve been lucky about when it comes to the family I was born into. Except for Gin, but she’s…” I swallowed past the sudden lump in my throat and blinked away the tears forming in my eyes. I would not cry in the middle of this damn strip club. How embarrassing.

  “Dead,” I croaked out. “Gin is dead and I’m learning everything I knew about her had been a lie. So that’s all I had going for me. I had Gin and I have money. That’s not a good life, Riley. That doesn’t make me a pretty princess who doesn’t know what real life is or that there are struggling people out in the world. I do, trust me, I do. My damn home since I’ve been eight years old has been run by nannies who were not only the hired help but more my family than my own damn father who I lived with had been. Don’t think you know me or you can judge me because you knew my sister, who was a goddamn liar, and because you know I come from money. You don’t know shit about me, and until you do, keep your bullshit to yourself.”

  Now there were tears stinging my eyes for an entirely different reason and I hated that too. Why did everything in life make me feel like crying now? It was bullshit and I was over it.

  And it was all Gin’s goddamn fault, I was sure of it. If she was alive things would be different. She could tell me this was all some sort of sick joke and assure me she’d never lie to me before holding my hand and telling me everything was going to be okay.

  I had to get this shit out of my head. It was making me weak and feel like a little girl. I wasn’t any of those things and I needed to start acting like it.

  “Gem,” Riley said in a hushed voice. He looked sheepish and apologetic, which made me feel even more like an asshole. I still had to apologize to him for my behavior and for what my sister had done.

  Wrongs needed to be made right, and I was the only one left who could right them.

  “Riles?” Franklin muttered incredulously under his breath. “Now he’s Riles.” Then louder, he said, “Fuck me, Kenny, but it looks like I’m stuck with your bitch ass until she gets bored with you and moves on. Tell me something, do you like sucking dick? Because I won’t mind if she wants to share you with me. I won’t fuck you, but you’re welcome to suck my dick.”

  Jesus Christ.

  My eyes rounded in either shock or horror. At this point you could take your pick.

  “Franklin,” I hissed. “Why the fuck would even say something like that? Nobody is sharing anybody. That’s not what…”

  I faltered.

  That was not what? What I wanted this to eventually turn out to be? I wanted Franklin. I was uncomfortable with the knowledge, but it was the truth. I was fascinated with Riley to the point of obsession, and there was an attraction there that I wasn’t all too comfortable admitting to because of my sister. But Gin was no longer a problem, was she? They’d never dated, and he’d likely never had sex with her. That made it okay for me to lust after him.

  But I was no cheater, and I’d never even dream of stringing two guys along at one time.

  It looked like Franklin had decided for me, and I wasn’t comfortable with that either. Honestly, I didn’t know how he could be either.

  Because of my father’s relationships, I didn’t have a problem with odd pairings and relationships. To each their own. But that didn’t mean I ever wanted or dreamed of being a part of one because I hadn’t. I’d never even been in a real relationship before. I’d had sex with a few people and some even more than once, but I’d never dated and been committed to someone before. I’d never wanted to.

  “Franklin,” I said in a defeated sigh. “I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to be having right here or right now. I also don’t think we should be having this conversation in front of Riley. So I called him Riles? Big deal. It doesn’t—”

  He cut me off as he leveled his intense stare on me. It wasn’t all that friendly. “What did I say about honesty, Gemmy?”

  I snapped my mouth shut because he was right, and I was trying to bullshit all of us. Clearly it wasn’t working, and I’d been a dumbass for trying in the first pl
ace.

  Riley moved in so close his shoulder brushed against Franklin’s. Franks didn’t so much as flinch or try to move away from him.

  “Yeah, I’m thinking I definitely missed something important earlier and it had something to do with me too, so one of you should fill me in on what’s going on.” He leaned toward me and so much closer that I had this uncontrollable urge to reach out and touch him. “You were right though, this conversation shouldn’t be had here. Whatever needs to be said should be done so in private. You got a place where we can go to do that, or do you want me to come up with one?”

  Oh, I had a place. I had a big old empty house that now proudly housed a few pieces of furniture just waiting for me.

  That was a bad idea, and I really shouldn’t have smoked that pot before coming in here. I needed a clear head and my wits about me to be dealing with this craziness.

  “I don’t think—”

  Franks, the asshole, cut me off again. “Gem just acquired a house not too far from here. Right on the beach. She decided she wanted to be closer to where her sister lived and do her last year of high school where Gin went. I have your number, I’ll text you the address.”

  Franklin had Riley’s phone number? He must have gotten that from one of the goons as well.

  “I’ll stop by after my shift ends.”

  Shit.

  Riley was coming over to my house after he got off work, and Franklin was acting like more of a psycho than usual and was trying to initiate some weird form of matchmaking here.

  “Text me,” Riley said to Franklin.

  I felt like I’d entered an alternate universe where nothing was the same and all the people in my life acted like they’d had a brain transplant.

  I might as well throw down with the rest of them.