The Cousins Series Boxed Set

by Lisa Lang Blakeney

  I'm reluctantly standing at Elizabeth's front door. I don't want to be here for a variety of reasons, but I can't wait to see what little miss perfect is going to say.

  "No problem. What's up?"

  I'm being unusually short with Roman's beloved because number one, we're not besties by any stretch of the imagination, and two, as if I don't have enough shit to deal with than become her beck and call girl. I don't work for her. I work for Roman. And I don't think she totally understands the concept that they're not a package deal.

  And then there's the other thing ...

  "You want lunch? I make a mean Cesar salad. Or maybe a glass of vino?" she chirps.

  I casually glance at my new Apple watch in an effort to drive home the point that I'm not here to hang.

  "I don't drink before five, and I don't eat before one."

  "Not in the mood for small talk then?"

  "Well I really hope you didn't ask me here for small talk," I say as I look around her living room, noticing the various changes she's made to her place since I was here last.

  It's been a while. I've seen Elizabeth here and there at the club, or we've talked briefly over the phone, but I haven't been back at her house at all. Roman hasn't had us over here for a meeting in a long time.

  "Why do I get the feeling that I've done something to make you angry," she astutely comments.

  "What makes you think that? You're cool, and Rome seems to like you a whole hell of a lot, so that makes us good." I lie through my teeth.

  "I guess I thought since you were his best friend, and he and I are seeing each other, that maybe the two of us would hang out a little or something. When I first moved in here you came over a couple of times, and then all of sudden you backed off."

  "We talked the other day," I say bored with this conversation already.

  "That was like three weeks ago, Jade, and that was about Roman's teeth."

  "I'm not the kind of girl that chitchats on the phone about her problems or celebrity gossip with other women."

  "I'm not that kind of girl either," she replies defensively.

  "This is no disrespect to you, Elizabeth, but I've got a shitload of things to do today. So if could you just get to the point of why you asked me to swing by that would be awesome."

  "All right," she snaps. "You say you have a lot of things to do today. Are any of them work related?"

  Where is she going with this?

  "Yes, why?"

  "Well I think Roman is losing his ever loving mind, and I think it's because he's bored to death. I'm not sure what you're doing, but he's not working or working enough. It's off-season in baseball, and Mendez has been keeping his nose clean. So that's over. And I don't know what the three of them could possibly be doing at The Lotus every week. They have a manager that takes care of all the day-to-day stuff. So it's obvious to me that he needs a new client. Maybe a few new clients. They probably all are going a little crazy."

  My phone dings notifying me of a new message.

  King Kong: We need to talk.

  The last thing I need is to have that conversation with Camden King. I'd be fine if we never spoke on it again.

  "Why are you telling me all of this?" I ask Elizabeth. "You should talk to your boyfriend if he's getting on your nerves. And if you have a question about his business, then ask him about it or meet with the King brothers. I have nothing to do with whether or not they take on new clients."

  "I know who I can ask, Jade, but I'm asking you. Do you agree with me or not on this?"

  I ignore the fact that she's irritated, and walk over to her small fiddle leaf fig plant and rub on one of the smooth leaves. I'm familiar with this type of houseplant, because my nana owned three of them. It was one of her favorites.

  "Sure I agree, but there isn't much I can do about it. The old man was the pro at finding new clients. The boys were better at fixing their problems."

  I don't bother telling her that the three of them have already met about this very topic. If she doesn't know, then things are still strained between her and Roman. It's his business to tell. Not mine. So I'll just play dumb.

  "So they need someone to scout out new clients. That's what you're saying?"

  "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying." I walk over to another one of her houseplants. "Your plants are really healthy."

  "Thanks, it's the fertilizer."

  I cruise around her living room. Never sitting down. Never really looking Elizabeth in the eyes since I've set foot in her house. I'm too angry with what she's done. I didn't want to have this conversation with her yet. I wanted to wait. I needed more information. More time. I'm doing a horrible job of holding my cards close to my vest.

  "Jade," she says my name to get my attention.

  "Yeah," I turn my head in her direction.

  "What is your problem with me? Did Roman say something to you about the two of us?"

  I raise an eyebrow at her last comment and then take a seat on her couch. Of course I know something is up with her and Roman. He tells me most things. They had some sort of falling out, although he seems pretty confident that it's nothing. I'm just not sure that he's seeing things clearly when it comes to this cousin of his. It's like she has a golden chalice in between her legs.

  "Has Roman ever told you how we met?" I ask her.

  "He's mentioned some of the story."

  "Well to make a long story short, my ex was beating my ass and spending my hard earned money on drugs for a long time. I was young, dumb, and a walking after-school special until Roman got me out of there."

  She nods as if she has any idea what it means to be abused. To be scared. To desperately need someone to give a fuck about you when you don't care about yourself. Of course she doesn't get it. She comes from the cushiest, white-washed life ever, and she's still getting shit handed to her on a silver platter thanks to Roman. This apartment she doesn't pay for is case in point.

  "It wasn't easy to admit to him what was going on. He was the only true friend I had, and I never wanted him to think less of me, but eventually I knew I had to trust someone. I made the best decision of my life when I finally admitted to him what was going on. I trusted the right person with my secrets."

  Her eyes just dropped to the floor. She knows exactly what I'm getting at, but I'm sure she's going to continue playing the dumb, doe-eyed, suburban thing of hers to the hilt. She does it so well.

  "So what does that have to do with you and I, Jade?"

  Yep, she's going to play it this way.

  "You need to learn who to trust."

  "I trust Roman. I trust the Kings. I trust all of you–"

  "No you don't." I immediately cut her off. "So if you want me to keep it really one hundred percent real with you, I'm keeping my distance from you until you get it right or until you're gone."

  Her eyes widen.

  "I wish you would just spit out whatever you're skirting around right now, because you're kind of pissing me off, Jade. Do you like Roman or something? Did you two used to date?"

  I laugh to myself.

  "Did you ask Roman that?"

  "No, should I?"

  "Have you been thinking that about us this whole time?"

  "Not until just now."

  "Do you know what I do for Roman?"

  "I guess you do whatever he asks you to do, Jade. You're his assistant. I know what assistants do. What are you trying to insinuate?"

  "That's right. I do whatever he asks me to do, and most of what he asks me to do lately is to keep a watchful eye on his cousin."

  As if he really pays me enough for this shit.

  "I'm sorry about that, but you need to take that up with Roman if you have a problem with it. I have no control over what he asks you to do. I have no control over him at all."

  "The fact that he asks me to do it is not the problem, Elizabeth. You're missing the point."

  "So what's the point?" she asks raising her voice slightly.

  "Part of watching you has a
lways involved me keeping an eye on that drug addict ex of yours. I'm familiar with drug addict boyfriends, so Roman knew I'd do a good job. Who knew you and I had the same taste in men."

  I notice immediately when her stomach drops, and I grin at her inability to lie well. She'd never make it in our world if her life depended on it. It only confirms my feelings that Roman is making a huge mistake by being with her.

  At first I thought it was a bad idea because she is his cousin, and then I thought it was an even worse idea, because he was much too serious about her. Far from the carefree womanizer that I was used to seeing. But now I know for sure that she's a bad idea, because she can't be trusted. In our world, that's the kiss of death.

  "I know that Ethan recently contacted you, because I'm paid to monitor his emails, Elizabeth. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he emailed you about a meet and you never said anything to your boyfriend about it. My boss. Imagine the position that puts me in now that you and I are supposedly cool."

  She continues to stare at me. I'm not sure if she's attempting to come up with a really good lie to cover her ass, or if she's simply speechless that I called her on her shit. It's hard to tell. I just don't know her well enough yet to say.

  "Are you going to say something to him?" she asks nervously.

  "Are you?"

  "I wasn't planning on it. Especially now. I didn't respond to the email, so I don't see what the point would be in upsetting Roman with it."

  "If you don't think it's a good idea to tell the man you sleep with on a regular basis that the dickwad ultimately responsible for an assault and robbery on you in your home has recently contacted you, then you are even stupider than I ever imagined."

  "Let's not get into name calling, okay? I know he's your friend, and you care about him, and you're obviously loyal to him, but I love him too. We both just have different ways of protecting him. I'm asking you to try and understand that."

  "I don't understand that sort of logic. I'll never understand that. The only explanations that make sense to me are that you either have unresolved feelings for your ex or that you don't trust your man. Either scenario is not good for Roman."

  "Wait I–"

  "And what if Ethan still does drugs? Chances are that he does. What if he actually does something to hurt you or get you hurt, and I could have done something to prevent it? Roman will have my ass. And I'm talking about both my job and my friendship with him are on the line. Two things worth more to me than I'm willing to risk."

  "So what are you saying?"

  I see the panic setting in her eyes.

  "I was waiting to see if you were going to email the asshole back. If you were stupid enough to do it, I was going to tell Roman immediately. But since you haven't, and he sent that email a while ago, I'm going to give you the chance to tell him yourself. And when he asks me about it, like I know he will, I'll lie and tell him that I must have missed it. I'll cover for you, just as long as you cover for me."

  "I didn't want him doing anything crazy, Jade. I didn't want him to get hurt or arrested." She tries to plead her case. "I don't want to tell him. Not right now."

  Probably not ever if she had her way.

  "Then we have a problem."

  "But I haven't contacted Ethan, and I wasn't planning to," she argues.

  "Maybe so, but now that we've had this conversation, it can't be unsaid."

  "Oh my God, Jade, you're putting me in an impossible position."

  "Seriously? I'm giving you the chance to save yourself and you still don't get it. If there's one thing I know about Roman, it's that a person does not gain his trust easily. And once it's broken, it's damn near impossible to get it back."

  Even though I know he loves her, I'm pretty sure that the same rules will apply to her too. I know it's just an email, but to Roman it will mean much more than that. Roman expects total loyalty if he lets you in. He demands it, because he gives it.

  "I need more time," she says.

  "How much more? You want to stretch this out so long that neither one of us will ever tell him? Is that your plan?"

  "You never wanted us together in the first place did you?"

  "No I didn't, and I never made that a secret to Roman. It's nothing personal, but Rome is a very complicated man. Distractions throw him off his game, and you have become his ultimate distraction. You think it's because he doesn't have any new clients that he's acting crazier than usual, but that's not it. It's you."

  "He's changing, and you don't like it. It scares you."

  What. The. Fuck.

  "I'm sorry, but last time I checked you weren't a fucking psychologist. He's not changing, and I'm not scared. You should be though."

  "I thought you and I were good."

  "We were cool ... until this."

  A text comes in from none other than the topic of our discussion.

  Roman: Where's my old address book?

  "Excuse me one second," I say. "Speak of the devil."

  The look on Elizabeth's face is priceless. She's scared shitless.

  Me: The dinosaur?

  Roman: Yes, I need a number out of there. I didn't transfer all the contacts to my phone.

  Me: Why?!

  Roman: JADE!

  ME: All right. It's at the club in the back of the second drawer of the file cabinet.

  Roman: Where r u?

  Me: A meeting

  Roman: I'm not paying for you to spend the day getting your nails done. Get back to the club.

  Me: You need to get laid.

  Roman: You're fired.

  Me: That's too bad because I have the key to the file cabinet.

  Roman. Get your ass in here NOW!

  I chuckle out loud and then turn my attention back to Elizabeth. By the look on her face, she seems to be upset by our text exchange. She's probably paranoid that I've already said something to him.

  "I didn't say anything if that's what you're worried about."

  "Did you tell him you were here?"

  "No."

  "What can I do to convince you to help me?"

  "Nothing."

  "Jade, please. I need more time to tell him."

  "You've got forty-eight hours. You want Rome busy with work? You want things better between the two of you? Then tell him about this shit, and you'll see just how fucking busy he'll become. The old Roman would have taken care of that loser the minute you told him what happened, but you must have a magic box in between those legs of yours, because I've never seen him leave loose ends like this."

  "I can see that you are very loyal to Roman, and while that is to be commended, the fact remains that I can handle my life in whatever frackin' way I choose to. If I choose not to tell him about a harmless email that would only upset him, then that's my business. Not yours."

  "He didn't email you for nothing. You can't be that stupid. If he's reaching out, there must be a reason. That's the issue. It's not going to stop with this one email."

  "I don't know if it will stop or not, but I'd like to be allowed the opportunity to see if it does before I'm forced to involve other people. So in other words, I want you to mind your own damn business."

  Finally! The girl is starting to grow a pair. Her eyes tell me that adrenaline is coursing through her body, and she's had it with this visit. She's livid. She walks to her front door and opens it for me. My cue to leave. I look at her for a moment, stand up, and walk towards the door.

  "Nice to see you have a little bit of a backbone, Elizabeth, I wasn't sure if your sweet, suburban ass had it in you. But two days is still all you've got. If he doesn't threaten to fire me about this in the next two days, I'll know that you haven't said anything."

  I think I got my point across. If she had slammed the door any harder behind me, she would have taken off one of my fingers.

  Some nerve.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ROMAN

  "Did you get it?" I ask Jade.

  "You know theft was never part of my job description
when you hired me," she says as she sips on a bottle of some weird diet green tea.

  "Your job description is to do whatever the fuck I tell you to do. I'm sure that's written down somewhere on your paycheck."

  "And I'm SO sure that I could sue your ass for the way that you talk to me."

  "You sure keep finding creative ways to get out of keeping your job. I think you're itching for me to fire you."

  "It'll never happen. I know where the bodies are buried."

  "You keep thinking that. So did you get it or not?"

  "I got it, I got it. Here."

  Jade hands me a stamped letter-sized envelope with my name on it. It's the letter from my mother. I had a hunch I knew where Joseph was keeping it, and I asked her to go over there under the guise of picking up some old vendor paperwork for The Lotus. Many of the old files are still in Joseph's home office, and I knew that he wouldn't be there on Tuesday. He always heads over to the boathouses on Tuesdays.

  "Did you have any problems?"

  "Of course not. Juliette let me in and gave me free reign. I made sure to take some Lotus files too, so it would look legit."

  Jade hands me several old Lotus files. I toss them on the floor and continue looking at the letter. It's been opened and then resealed with scotch tape. Clearly Joseph read it, didn't like what it said, and kept it from me. I'm not totally sure why he didn't rip it up though, but I'll be the first to admit that the old man is like an enigma to me. I'll never figure him out.

  "What's up with Elizabeth?" Jade asks totally out of the blue.

  I raise my eyes to meet hers. Why is she suddenly so interested in my relationship with Elizabeth?

  "What do you mean what's up with her?"

  "Just haven't seen her in a while, so I was asking. Is that a federal crime?"

  I cock my head to the side and squint my eyes. I've already told her that we were taking a little time off.

  "She's fine," I say suspiciously.

  "All right already. I'm leaving. You can never say that I don't ask you shit about your life, because I just did, and you acted like I was about to rob you."

  She's up to something.

  "Thanks for the letter, lazy lima bean."

  She grunts some sort of good-bye as she heads out.