by Ginger Ring
“Don’t worry about that. The business will pay. It’s a donation. Look, you have to be there anyway for work. Would it be so bad to just sit down and share a meal with him for an hour?”
Jasper arrived at their table, a huge grin on his face and a bouquet of red roses in his arms. He handed her the flowers and gave her a kiss on the cheek, something that the other bachelors had also done for the ones that’d bid the most. But this seemed personal. Several of the ladies who were nearby sighed. “See you tomorrow night for our date.” He winked and flashed a panty-melting smile. Her cheek flushed and she was too shocked to respond. Jasper said his goodnights to the others at their table and walked backstage as Sandy finished up the program for the night.
Jackie drew the flowers closer and inhaled the fragrance. The guy did know how to pick flowers.
“Well? Am I forgiven?” Madison fidgeted in her chair.
“I should be furious, but I’m not. I know you mean well.” Jackie’s gaze met Valentina’s. She had that hopeful demeanor of someone who was in love and wanted others to be also.
“But?” Madison frowned.
“No buts. I’ll do it.” Her companions visibly relaxed. “It’s not everyday that someone pays $10,000.00 for you to go on a date.” Jackie interlocked her fingers and placed them on the table. “That said, I’ll be working, so don’t expect us to be a couple by the end of the evening.”
“No, no. I just wanted to do something nice for you,” her boss admitted.
“So you bought me a date? Do I come across that desperate?” Maybe she did need to get out more, if it was the case.
“No, of course not, but I know Jasper really likes you. He’s a good guy, and I think you two will be a good match.”
“We’ll see.” Jackie stood up. “I’d better get back to work.”
The attendees stayed around for another hour or so. Most of the bachelors seemed to want to start their dates early and ended up hanging out with the one who’d won them. Well, except for Jasper. He’d left the premises, which both puzzled and disappointed her.
Jackie was exhausted as she finished packing things up for the evening. At least most of the wine was gone. Those bottles were heavy. Her tasks mostly included putting away decorations and jotting down notes for items that needed to be reordered for future events.
“Anyone want to come to my house for a cocktail?” There were shadows under Madison’s eyes, but she still was up for celebrating.
“I’m in.” Valentina raised her hand. “As long as Ryan’s watching the baby, I’m taking advantage of it.”
“Jackie, how about you? Want to celebrate being the big winner?” Her boss wasn’t giving up.
“Yes, come on. We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other yet.” Valentina’s phone buzzed, and she grinned at the photo that popped up.
“That would be nice, but I’d love a raincheck. I’m pretty tired. I also have to rest up for my big date tomorrow.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t think he’s as interested as you say, or he wouldn’t have left so early.”
“He was supposed to be working tonight, so he only had a few hours off.” Madison looped her purse over her shoulder.
“Well, they’re done now with whatever they were doing because they’re all at my house,” Valentina shared.
“Really? Is there something we need to be concerned about?” Madison oohed and aahed when Val showed her the phone.
“Not that I know of. Looks like they’re just hanging out.” Valentina passed her cell to Jackie, and her heart thawed for the hottest man in Genoa. It was a picture of Jasper holding a smiling baby in his arms.
***
Jasper
Despite having finally gotten a date set up with the girl he wanted, his days of being a runway bachelor were over. After his bit was done, Jasper drove to Valentina and Ryan’s house. Their stunning mansion was conveniently located next door to Roman and Madison’s home.
Roman, Arlo, Dominic, and, of course, Ryan were already there. They’d a meeting with the Mayhem biker club earlier tonight but, for some unknown reason, were now at a cop’s house. A cop who had married into the family. The Mayhem club had increased their order for guns, and the Caponellis were their main supplier—something Ryan didn’t need to know anything about.
“Hey.” Ryan opened the door and invited him in. As he trailed him to the den, Jasper could already hear the guys hanging out, drinking beers and laughing.
“Hi, Jasper. How’d the auction go?” Arlo smirked as he entered the room.
“Great.” Jasper took a drink of the beer Ryan handed him and set it on a nearby table. “Jackie won me, which means I won her.”
“Seriously?” Dominic raised an eyebrow. “They should pay the girl to go out with an ugly mug like you.”
“Ha ha.” He knew Dom was kidding. “In a way we did.”
“You must really like this woman.” Ryan joined in the ribbing.
“I do, and I had a little help from Maddy.” He bent over and picked up Isabella. “Hi, little lady.”
“I don’t even want to know.” Roman shook his head.
“How did the drop off go?” Jasper took a seat and balanced the baby on his knee.
“Now, that, I don’t want to know.” Ryan put his hands up.
“Everything’s good.” Roman nodded to his brother-in-law before turning his attention to the others in the room. “But something happened, and Ryan wanted to wait until you got here to talk about it.”
“Oh, yeah.” Jasper smiled as Ryan took his picture with his daughter. She had all the guys wrapped around her little fingers. Isabella was a beautiful baby with dark hair and bright blue eyes.
“Yeah, and it’s not good.” The mood in the room dimmed, and Jasper held the girl in his arms a little tighter. “A woman was found along the road last night. We’ve held it from the news for as long as we could, but it’ll be out in the morning.”
“What happened? And who is she?
“And why the secrecy?” Roman leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.
“The woman was raped and tortured brutally. Whoever did this left her for dead, but fortunately, she was found by a doctor on his way home from work. He was able to keep her alive until the ambulance arrived. We hoped she’d wake up enough to give us the details of who did this, but she’s still unconscious. If it hit the news too early, the guy might leave town, maybe already has, but we want to get him first.” Ryan exhaled. His face was pale. “It was the worst I’ve ever seen. This guy’s a fucking monster.” As an officer of the law, he’d been at several crime scenes, so if Ryan said this was bad, it was.
“What can we do to help?” Arlo spoke up.
“I’m not sure right now,” Ryan admitted. “But I’m hoping you might know something.”
“What makes you think that?” Roman leaned back in his chair.
“The woman has several tattoos—Russian tattoos. One of the other guys on the force used to work in Chicago. He recognized one as a bratva tattoo. Thinks that girl may have worked in one of their brothels.”
Jasper’s gaze met Arlo’s. Why would they have left one of their girls here? The Bratva had been breaching their territories in Chicago. Was this a sign that they were hitting here next? But why hurt one of their girls? None of it made any sense.
“Just keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, and keep your loved ones close to home,” Ryan warned.
“How’s the woman doing now?” Jasper couldn’t imagine what the poor girl and her family, if they even knew where she was, must be going through.
“Not good. I never thought I would say this, but if you come across the bastard that did this,” Ryan took a deep breath, “I don’t want to know about it, and I don’t care how you do it, but take him out.”
Chapter Ten
Jackie
Thank God it was Friday. The week had been busy and long, and normally, she’d be counting down the hours to closing time, but today was different.
Butterflies floated across her stomach, and that hadn’t happened in a long time, maybe never. The guy hadn’t been at work all day, and she still had no clue about what he really did there. The gist of it was that someone had to be around all the time to look after Madison. After trying to engage Dominic in conversation, he’d let it slip that the reason Maddy had a bodyguard was because she was a target. Any harm to her would be a direct hit to Roman’s heart.
Dominic worked most of the day installing an iron railing along the front of the building. The man was a master at it and could probably be paid a hefty rate for his craftsmanship. When she complimented him on it, he just brushed it off and went back to work.
Madison advised her to leave work early and get dressed up for the evening. They both had to be there a few hours before it started to supervise the decorating and finals details. She’d even used one of the gift cards Jasper had given her to get her hair done for the party.
Jackie drove to Firenza and parked toward the back of the lot. As she walked to the building, the boats on the lake could be seen floating by in the background. The late afternoon sun warmed her skin, and she stopped for a moment to take in the gorgeous day. Wisconsin winters could be brutal. Taking a moment to absorb the blessings of a perfect summer day was something to cherish, and remember, when the temps dropped below zero again.
Having not attended many parties, her dress wardrobe was sorely lacking. Thankfully, Madison had lent her a simple, black, knee-length sheath dress. It fit like a glove and went perfectly with the earrings Jasper gave her and the stunning matching bracelet that showed up today. Again, shame kicked in that she should return them, but was it so bad that she didn’t?
Flats were on her feet, and her heels were in her hands. Later, before the guests started to arrive, that would change. One of the family’s SUVs was parked out front. Funny how she was already referring to them as “the family.”
Jackie walked in the front entrance and quickly found Madison in the dining room. The woman had energy to burn and obviously enjoyed what she was doing.
“Hey, Jackie.” Madison pushed a chair closer to a table. “Everything is pretty well set, but if you can make sure to put the flower arrangements around, that would be great.”
Flowers. It looked like there was a wedding taking place. The arrangements matched the colors of the winery with their reds, whites, and greens. Each table would have a small bouquet that would go home with the lady.
“Oh, here is the seating chart, and the tray over there has the place cards on it.” She pointed in the direction of the tray and name plates.
It didn’t take long before Jackie came across the ones with Jasper and her names on them. Shit just got real, and it hadn’t dawned on her until now how similar their names were. They could have monogramed everything.
Whoa! Back up, girl. Don’t send out the invitations yet.
It was just a date. Like she expected all along, he’d probably be bored with her now that she’d said yes. What was it about guys loving the chase more than the catch? The journey being more fun than getting to the final destination.
Their assigned table was by the window and offered a great view of the lake. Each table would have the small floral bouquets on them, but a few had other things. Something that one of the attendees or both had requested. Their table had purple flowers. Jasper sure seemed to like purple. When she had time, she’d have to look up the meaning behind them. Maddy said it meant love at first sight, but he surely didn’t feel that way about her.
As soon as the clock hit six, the guests started to arrive. Her black pumps pinched her toes after wearing them for only two minutes, but they did make her legs look long as she stood next to Madison and greeted their guests. A lot of the bachelors were already there, and several introduced themselves to their dates before escorting them around the room or out to view the lake. The first hour, waiters worked the room, carrying trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
Jackie snagged a flute of the bubbly as one of the servers walked by, and she peeked at her watch. It was nearing seven o’clock and still no Jasper.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be here.” Madison smiled. “There’s no way Jasper is going to miss this after all he had to go through to get you here.”
“I’m not worried. I was just seeing how much time we had left.” She brushed it off instead of admitting that her stomach was in knots.
“Yeah, sure.” Maddy reached for Jackie’s wrist and touched her silver bracelet. “Is this new? It’s beautiful.”
“Yes.” Heat flooded her cheeks. “Jasper’s been sending gifts every day. This one arrived this morning.”
“It’s a Brighton. I love their stuff.” Madison let go so she could greet another newcomer but quickly turned her attention back to the woman at her side. “So what else has he sent?”
“Well, it started with flowers and chocolates.”
“I remember those. You were so sure that they were for someone else.”
“Then it became other things, such as gift cards, but then the jewelry started to arrive. I got the matching earrings.” Lifting her hair, Jackie displayed the Swarovski crystals that glittered on her earlobes. “I probably shouldn’t have accepted them, but…”
“But what? If he didn’t want you to have them, he wouldn’t have given them to you,” Madison reassured. “Never look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.”
“I guess so. I’m just not used to the attention.” It was the truth. No one had ever pursued her before, and she wasn’t sure how to handle the whole situation.
“Just relax and enjoy it.” This time it was Madison who checked her watch. “It’s time. Let’s get everyone seated.”
After circling the room, Jackie took a seat at her table. Alone. This didn’t make sense. He’d pursued her for over a week yet didn’t bother to show up for their date. Was this some kind of sick joke? Not to mention, everyone in the room knew he’d received the biggest bid of anyone. Whenever she risked a look to the front door, it was hard not to notice the looks of sympathy thrown her way.
A waiter showed up at her table and placed their salads on the table, one in front of her and one where Jasper was supposed to be. Tears threatened to fall, but she held them off. A man who didn’t show up for an important event didn’t deserve to be cried over.
Picking up her fork, she was shocked to see Madison take the seat across from her. “Do you mind if I eat here until we know what happened to Jasp?”
“Thank you. I don’t think I can handle any more of the frowns and curious looks people keep throwing my way,” Jackie admitted.
“I’m worried something must have happened. I sent a message to Roman, but it went to voicemail.”
They ate in silence until Maddy’s phone started to vibrate. “It’s Roman.” A smile always lit up her face whenever he was in the picture. Her face glowed as she answered his call. “I’m good. Everything is going as planned, but where the hell is Jasper?”
The server came to pick up the empty plates and replaced them with surf and turf. The food was delicious, but Jackie had lost her appetite.
“No. He’s not here.” Madison shook her head.
She leaned across the table and whispered, “He’s having the tech guy track his phone.”
Tech guys? It was still hard to get a handle on everything that went on in Madison’s life. Bodyguards, a tech team, and who knew what else?
“What? Are you serious? Yes, I will let her know.” The pained expression on her face had Jackie holding her breath. What the hell had happened? “Yes, I’d love for you to come over. I have a feeling Jackie will want to go check on him.” She paused. “Yes, I love you too.” Maddy put the phone away and looked her in the eye. “They tracked his phone, and he’s at the
hospital.”
“What?” The piece of lobster in her mouth almost lodged in her throat. “Was he in an accident?”
“He’s not listed as a patient, but he’s in the emergency room.” Her phone buzzed again. “Wait. It’s a text from Jasper. It says, ‘I don’t have Jackie’s number. Please tell her how sorry I am. Something came up. I will make it up to her.’ Damn right he will.”
“What kind of emergency?” Jackie risked a peek around the room again. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and had forgotten about her empty table, now that Madison had joined her.
“I have no idea, and Roman said it wasn’t family business, or he’d know about it.”
Jackie let the “family business” comment fly. They didn’t seem to be concerned at all about discussing things around her and were all but welcoming her to the “family.” It was unsettling, to say the least. She’d been complaining not too long ago about feeling bored, but there was a big difference between being bored and being stupid. She’d eagerly accepted putting a foot into this world, but it was important to keep the other one on the safe side.
“What do you want to do?” Madison sipped her wine.
“Do? I’m working. I can’t just leave.” She shrugged. “Besides, he didn’t say anything about me checking on him.”
“That’s true, but I know these guys. They never want to be seen as weak. You’ll hear from him soon, and he did say he would make it up to you.”
It still burned her chops that he hadn’t shown up, and she still didn’t know why.
“Are you finished here?” So lost in her thoughts, Jackie jumped when the server asked to clear her plate.
“Ah, yes. Thank you.” She dabbed at her mouth with the cloth napkin before returning it to her lap.
A few minutes later, he returned with dessert. Normally, she’d be drooling at the sight of chocolate cake and vanilla gelato, but the excitement of the evening had dimmed.
While their guests finished, Madison took to the microphone. She thanked everyone for coming and for their generous donations.
