The next day, we met with Colin, and he explained how he made a shitload of money to go on dates that often led to sex. Every weekend that the guys and I would go to Vegas, Colin would try to get us to join S&R. It took a few years, and a lot of convincing, but ultimately, I decided that the money was too good to pass up. My mother, back in Tennessee, had become sick, and her medical bills were too much for her to handle. The Marines didn’t pay enough for me to take care of her, so after ten years of service, I quit and became an escort.
I grinned at the pretty cocktail waitress. “No, princess. I’m the one who would rock your world.”
Under the fluorescent lights of the casino, Cassie’s cheeks turned beet red. “Okay then. Well, what drinks can I get you guys?” We each ordered our drink of choice: a Negroni for me.
“Way to scare the poor girl,” Vinny chastised playfully after Cassie walked off.
“It’s true.” I shrugged.
“Are you going to ask me who I think will be next?” the dealer asked as she dealt another round.
“Sure,” Paul replied.
“I think it will be you, Brad.”
“And why’s that?” I questioned with a grin.
She motioned for Nick to hit or stay. “Because you got butt-hurt when Cassie chose Galen.”
I grunted. “I did not get butt-hurt.”
“Yeah, you kinda did.” Gabe smirked.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I didn’t.”
“One of you will be next,” Vinny said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
“Will you guys come back and tell me who it is?” the dealer asked.
“Sure,” Paul replied, “but my money’s on Galen.”
“Me too,” Nick agreed.
“You know,” Gabe said, “I’m betting on Brad.”
“Me too,” Seth agreed.
“I’m thinking Brad too,” Vinny stated.
I looked at Galen, and he held up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I just know it won’t be me.”
“Well, then, I’m saying Nick too.” I really didn’t think it would be him, but I knew barely anything about Galen, and Nick had had girlfriends in the past.
“Yeah, fucking right,” Nick replied. “I’ve tried being in a relationship, but it doesn’t work out with our line of work, and you know I ain’t quitting. Ever.”
“I’m not either,” I argued.
“And I just started,” Galen stated.
“Well, one of you will,” Gabe said.
“How does it even happen?” Galen questioned.
“Well”—Paul smirked—“you’ll meet a woman who you’ll start to care about, and then before you know it, you’ll never want to go a day without her.”
The Fallen all nodded while Gabe replied, “Exactly.”
Four Years Ago – Seventeen Years Old
My world came to a screeching halt when I was fifteen. In an instant, both of my parents were dead. The last night that I saw them, they were leaving the house for dinner. On their way home, my father had a heart attack while driving and crashed head-on into the center divider on the freeway.
They died on the way to the hospital ...
Keith sped through the streets toward the hospital where the cops had told us to go.
“What do you think happened?” I asked.
Keith shrugged. “Probably nothing serious. Just a few broken bones or something.”
My gut was telling me differently, and I was sick to my stomach as we got closer to the hospital. After Keith parked, we raced into the emergency department, looking around for our parents. I didn’t see them, and Keith stepped up to the desk.
“Our parents were in a car accident and brought in by ambulances,” he stated.
“The last name?” the lady asked as though a ton of people had been brought into the ER after car accidents.
“Davidson,” Keith replied.
She typed some things on the computer and then said, “Have a seat. A doctor will be out shortly.”
I couldn’t sit. Instead, I paced back and forth from one end of the waiting room to the other. I wasn’t sure how long I did that, but finally, a doctor came out and called us.
“Davidson?”
Keith jumped up from his seat as I rushed toward the doctor. “Yes?” we both said at the same time.
“Follow me, please.”
I swallowed and looked at Keith. Was he taking us to see our parents? I didn’t have much experience at hospitals, but from what I’d seen on TV, they usually gave an update in the waiting room.
We quickly followed the doctor into a small room that looked like a mini living room. He closed the door behind him and took a deep breath. With a look of sorrow on his face, he said, “As you know, your parents were in a car accident tonight.” Keith and I nodded. “I’m sorry, but they didn’t make it. They died on the way here.”
I blinked.
I blinked again.
“They died on the way here?” I repeated as a whisper, not believing my ears.
The doctor nodded. “Yes, the paramedics tried everything but they weren’t able to save them.”
“Are you sure?” Keith asked.
“Yes.” The doctor bobbed his head again. “Once the autopsy is done, we’ll know for sure the cause of deaths, but I’d say they both died from internal bleeding.”
I couldn’t speak; the news wasn’t sinking in. A few hours ago life was perfect, but then all of a sudden they were gone. It didn’t make sense.
“Can we see them?” Keith asked.
“Yes. You’ll be able to say goodbye shortly.”
That wasn’t true. Saying goodbye would involve having a conversation with them, one where I would get to hug my mother and hear my father’s voice. Not have a one-sided conversation and then leave, knowing I’d never get to see them again. Never eat my mother’s peanut butter cookies again. Never ask my dad for help with a math problem again.
Never get to tell them that I loved them again and they be able to hear me.
My legs buckled and I crumbled to the thinly carpeted floor as sobs shook my chest. I couldn’t breathe. Keith wrapped me in his arms and held me, whispering that it was okay.
It wasn’t okay.
My parents were dead.
Since Keith was nineteen, the courts gave him guardianship rights over me. The judge figured it was for the best since I’d lived in Vegas my entire life and because I wasn’t close with our family that lived out of state. They also assumed that the life insurance money would provide for us both. They assumed wrong because my brother was selfish.
It provided for him. And only him.
Our house was paid for with the life insurance money, and the rest of Keith’s half went to whatever Keith wanted to spend it on: strippers, hookers, drugs. We had to wait until I was eighteen to get the remaining money. In the meantime, I was left to fend for myself.
Since I didn’t want to turn out like him, and I needed to survive, I got a job at a sandwich shop after school and on weekends. It was enough to feed me and keep the lights on in the house and put food on the table for us. I didn’t have to worry about gas money or car insurance because I never got my license. How could I? A car had killed my parents, and the thought of getting behind the wheel again made me sick—literally sick and puking. So, I took the bus everywhere, even to school. Thankfully, I was graduating in a few weeks, and I’d already planned on starting classes online for hospitality management in the fall. Plus, once I turned eighteen, I’d finally get my cut of the life insurance money.
There was a knock on my bedroom door. “What?” I called out, looking up from my laptop as I sat in the middle of my bed.
The door opened, and Keith stood in the doorway. “We need to talk.”
“Talk about what?”
“Money.”
I rolled my blue eyes. “I don’t have any.”
He crossed his arms over his lean chest. “But you will.”
I glared at him. “You’re not taking my pa
rt of the life insurance money.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. I’ve let you live here for two years and provided for you—”
“Provided for me?” I got off my bed in a huff.
“Yes, I—”
“You’re fucking delusional, Keith. You’ve never paid for anything in this house.”
“I have, and it’s time you paid me back.”
“Pay you back? You’ve never given me a dime.”
“You eat the pizza I order and the Chinese food that’s delivered, right?”
I snorted. “Sometimes, but I’m usually at work or at school.”
“And it’s time you paid me back.”
“Fine. I’ll give you like a thousand bucks.” That was more than enough. I paid every single electricity bill, cable bill, water bill, and I did all the grocery shopping while he was out doing God knows what.
Keith chuckled. “You’re cute, but I’m taking it all.”
“Bullshit!” I pushed him, but he barely budged. “It’s my money. I have college to pay for.”
“Look, Little Dove,” he said, using the nickname my parents gave me. Dad had always said I was the pure heart of our family. “I’m on your bank account, and once the money is deposited on your birthday, I will take it. There’s no stopping me, and it’s better if you don’t fight me on this.”
“I need that money,” I cried.
“And that’s why you work.” He turned to leave and then called over his shoulder, “Don’t forget to get Hot Cheetos when you go to the store.”
I slammed my door and groaned loudly. How was I going to stop him from taking my money?
I had a plan.
The morning I turned eighteen, I set my alarm so that I’d get to the bank right when it opened, and I could get the money as soon as it was deposited into my account. But when I got to the bank and had the teller bring up my account to withdraw the money, she stated that it was already transferred into another account.
Keith’s account.
I didn’t know how he’d beat me, but he did. He even took the money that I got working as a sandwich maker. It was only a few hundred dollars, but my account was left with a zero balance. What kind of brother did that to his only sister? Apparently, the one who cared more about himself and drugs than his own blood.
I was left with nothing.
After taking my name off of the bank account and opening another one in my name only, I walked the few miles back to the house, needing to think about what to do next. I couldn’t move out because I didn’t make enough at Freshly Baked.
I felt lost and helpless.
By the time I got home, I realized that the only thing I could do was let Keith think he’d won. He could have my money, but when the time came, I was going to get my revenge.
Even if we were blood.
Present Day
Once the plane touched down at the airport in Nashville, I rented a car and drove to my mother’s house about thirty minutes outside of the city in a small, one-stoplight town. Saddles & Racks gave me the freedom and money to be able to go back home whenever I needed or wanted to, which typically was at least once a month.
“Mom,” I called out as I entered the two-bedroom, two-bath house that I’d purchased for her after my first year of escorting. Instead of buying a home for myself right away, I chose to help her. I made sure she had everything she needed and wouldn’t have to worry about paying a mortgage or rent. My father had divorced her when I was ten, and she never remarried. Escorting had paid very well in the three years I’d been doing it. My three-bedroom house with a pool, my luxury truck, my mom’s house, and her medical bills were all paid for.
“I’m in the kitchen,” she yelled.
I smiled and shut the door behind me, setting my bag down before walking through the small living room to the kitchen. The air smelled of home: lavender, vanilla, and my mother’s cooking. “Whatcha makin’?”
Mom turned and held out her arms for me to walk into them. “A peach cobbler. Mary is coming over with her granddaughter for afternoon coffee.”
I pulled back and looked into her chocolate eyes. Mary was the sweet older lady who lived diagonally across the street. She had become close friends with my mother. “How old is her granddaughter?”
She grinned. “Why? Do you want me to set you up?”
I narrowed my eyes. “No, I know you. This is already a setup.”
Mom chuckled and stepped back to continue sautéing the peaches. “Can you blame me? I want a grandbaby before I die.”
My mother didn’t know what I did for a living. When I started at Saddles & Racks, she was going through recovery from her double mastectomy. I spent a month on leave with her while she recovered before I made the decision to become an escort so I could help her out financially.
When I told her I was leaving the Marine Corps because I’d found a job in Vegas that paid well, she’d asked what it was, so I told her I’d be working in customer relations at various hotels—a tiny lie because it was customer relations at various hotels, I just wasn’t working for the hotels.
“Well, lucky for you, you’re not dying for another thirty or forty years.”
“And I better have a grandchild or two by then.”
“Right.” I rubbed the back of my neck. I had no plans of ever settling down or having kids. “So, I’m going to go change and then mow the lawn.”
“Do it shirtless.”
“Mom!”
“What?” She grinned. “I want Mary’s granddaughter to see your abs.”
“And how old is she?” I asked again.
She took the pan off the stove and then started to get her dry ingredients. “In her twenties.”
I took a deep breath. “If, and I mean if I think she’s pretty, I’ll consider taking her out while I’m here, but I’m not making any promises.”
“Deal.”
I watched as she poured the pie filling into the crust, gauging to see if she was in any pain or anything. She looked good. “How are you feeling?”
Mom smiled warmly at me. “Better. I think I’m ready to start looking for a job.”
“Really?” My heart swelled because all I wanted was for my mother to be healthy and like her old self again.
“My body has healed a lot since my surgery. I think I can handle it.”
“Maybe a part-time job,” I suggested.
She nodded. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
Even though Vegas was hot as hell, the Tennessee humidity in the middle of July was no joke.
Cutting off the mower, I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my forearm. I was shirtless, but not because my mother wanted me to be on display for Mary and her granddaughter. It was hot as balls out, and there was no way I was going to mow wearing anything more than absolutely necessary.
When I opened my eyes, Mary and her granddaughter were walking toward the house. Their eyes were glued to me, and the younger woman had a look of want on her face that I’d seen more times than I could count over the last three years in my line of work.
“Ladies,” I greeted.
“Hey, Bradley,” Mary replied. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise.”
She smiled. “This is my granddaughter, Holly.”
My gaze moved to the dark-haired woman next to her. She looked as though she was barely in her twenties. There was nothing wrong with that—I loved all women—but the younger women usually couldn’t afford me, and I didn’t date them.
She waved, and I smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Holly replied.
“Mom’s making her delicious peach cobbler—go on inside.”
“Thank you,” Mary said, and she and Holly walked up to the small porch. Just before entering the house, Holly turned her head and gave me one last look with a smile.
Great.
I put the mower in the shed near the garage and went inside to s
hower off the sweat and humidity coating my body. When I was done, I walked into the kitchen to see an empty dessert plate and a half-empty coffee cup in front of each lady. “Save any for me?”
“Of course,” Mom answered and started to stand.
“I can get it.” I waved her off to sit back down.
“Have as much as you’d like.”
“I will.” I chuckled. I loved my mother’s cooking and baking and always got my fill when I visited.
“I was just telling Holly that you live in Vegas. She’s never been,” Mom said.
I looked over my shoulder as I cut into the cobbler. “Really?”
“Yeah, I just turned twenty-one.”
I knew it. “It’s a fun place. You should go.”
“Maybe I will, and you can show me around?”
I put the cobbler on a plate and turned to see all eyes were on me, waiting for me to confirm that I would take this young lady under my wing in the City of Sin. “Yeah, I mean, everything you need to see is on The Strip. Not really much to show you besides just walking around.”
As I sat in the empty chair at the table, I felt my mother’s heated glare on me. “What?”
“You can’t let her wander around by herself.”
“She shouldn’t go to Vegas by herself,” I countered and stuck a sweet bite into my mouth.
“I wasn’t going to,” Holly confirmed. “If I ever go, I’m sure it would be with friends.”
“You’ll have fun. There’s a lot to do.”
“Anything in particular?” she questioned.
I could still feel my mother’s gaze on me, and because I was a gentleman, and especially because I wanted to make my mom happy, I said, “Actually, how about tomorrow for lunch we go to Dovie’s for a bite, and I can give you a list of things to check out?”
“I’d like that.” Holly beamed.
All the women were smiling again. I could get through one lunch and humor my mother, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to be the next to fall, even if my mom did want grandkids as soon as possible.
The next day, I walked to Mary’s house to take Holly to lunch. When Holly opened the door after I’d knocked, she was dressed in short shorts and a tight, bright yellow tank top with spaghetti straps that barely held up her tits. She had on a good amount of makeup, and her hair was curled. I preferred a woman who didn’t feel the need to cover up her face or try too hard to impress me. My dates always made sure to wear a shit-ton of makeup because they thought they needed it.
Gin & Jewels Page 2
