Waiting for the call that the garbage truck had arrived, the two sat in Harden’s office, both nursing drinks, eating cold fries. Catalyst had closed an hour ago, the kitchen much earlier than that. A few lingered, but soon the building would empty, leaving the two friends and the dead body.
“She’s not good for you,” Bruno murmured.
Harden’s head cranked slowly to the left.
“You’re distracted. Impulsive. Reactive.”
The latter wasn’t new. Distracted and impulsive, yeah, those two were not him.
“You have to make a decision,” Bruno said, which caused Harden’s hackles to rise. Friend or foe, no one told him what to do. “Either she’s in or out.”
Harden knew what Bruno asked and why he asked it. None of which made it easier to face, especially when he’d already decided. She was going to the beach house to be with her family after he discovered one thing.
Who the fuck was CDJ?
Chapter Twelve
The doorbell rang. Jentry tamped down her anxiety. The visit was inevitable after the post morning assessment of last night’s catastrophe. Actually, she was surprised Harden didn’t barge in and order her to pack her shit and leave. She was too much trouble to deal with so, “Bye, Felicia.”
She left Allie under Ms. Vicki’s watchful eye and crossed the living room to the front door. She didn’t look through the peephole. No one had access to the penthouse floor without express permission. It could only be Harden’s henchmen because the boss of the New York syndicate didn’t knock, he opened the door and entered the apartment like he owned it. Well, he did.
Jentry unlocked the door and found it was a henchman. One she hadn’t met. Disappointment floated to the surface which she promptly ignored. “Can I help you?” she said when she really wanted to snarl “go away” and slam the door in the man’s face. Why? Because she wanted it to be Harden. The clash they had last night was minor compared to what was on the horizon. No one enjoyed public humiliation, least of all, her. He ordered her to not disappear again. Fine. She wouldn’t, yet she knew that wasn’t the end of his demands. A man like Harden Gage would have a list he’d expect her to comply to. And she would. For now, her independence was on hold. She’d live in his apartment, eat his food, accept his generosity, until the danger passed and she could resume her daily struggle.
“Your sister’s in the lobby.”
“Um.” Shit! Her day went further down the toilet but was salvageable depending on… “Which sister? I have three.” Please let it be Josette or Jesenia.
The man shrugged. “I don’t know, ma’am. I didn’t get a name. Would you like me to find out?”
Jentry shook her head. Who was she fooling? Her mother kept a tight rein on Josette and Jesenia as she did when Jentry was in high school. Only now the reins were tighter since her fuck up. No way were her younger sisters allowed to escape Long Island for a visit to the black sheep of the family—even if she was living in a ritzy apartment in Lower Manhattan. That left the one sister Jentry really didn’t want to see. “You can let her come up.”
Her stomach churned as soon as she closed the door. That didn’t stop her from running to the bathroom to fluff her hair into a few loose curls and change her ripped shirt and stained sweats into a decent pair of yoga pants and shirt she got on her last trip to Goodwill.
The doorbell rang again. Her hand shook as she grabbed the knob and opened the door.
And there she was, her sister Jane. Oldest of the four. The good girl. Miss Summa Cum Laude. Rumor had it she was still a virgin. Phhleeasse. It was a rumor she created. Jentry knew the truth. There were a few notches on Jane’s bedpost. Unlike Jentry, Jane never fell for a pretty face with a list of promises and no way of keeping them. Jane was the apple of their mother’s eye, and Jentry was everything her perfect sister was not, including tall, willowy, light-skinned, and educated. Jane hadn’t fucked up and run away with the first boy who got in her pants, then got knocked up.
They hadn’t seen each other in months. Jane was away at Hampton University. By the time she returned to New York, Jentry had long moved out of their mother’s house in Jamaica, Queens, and Jane had met her niece once.
Frozen in the doorway, all Jentry could say was, “Hi.”
Jane blinked once. Twice. Then, suddenly, she lunged and dragged Jentry into her arms. Jentry folded like a house of cards. If it weren’t for her sister’s strong arms, she would’ve landed on the floor in the entryway of her temporary home.
No words passed between them, just sobbing as the two clung to each other. Eventually, they got their shit together enough to notice they had an audience, two men in the hallway and Ms. Vicki holding a crying Allie.
Dragging her sleeve across her face, Jentry climbed to her feet, shooed the guards away and took her daughter from the nanny. “It’s okay. Mommy’s okay. Look who came for a visit. Your aunt. Say hi to Aunt Jane.”
“Hi, Allie.” Jane waved at her niece, but Allie wasn’t having it. She turned her face into her mother’s chest and glared at Jane.
Jentry handed Allie back to Ms. Vicki and led the way into the apartment, choosing the kitchen with the breakfast bar acting as a barrier between them. Because conversations between them had been known to devolve into physical altercations, a.k.a. girl fight. Hopefully, they’d outgrown that. She wasn’t up to kicking ass today.
“You’re alone? No bodyguard?”
Jane hiked her thumb over her shoulder. “Relegated to the lobby. I guess Julius’s team and Harden’s team are oil and water, they don’t mix.” She waved her off as if to say, “Whatever.”
“Can I get you something to drink? Eat?” Which was more polite than blurting “How did you find me?” and “What are you doing here?”
Jane glanced over Jentry’s shoulder. “You have a Keurig.” She dropped her Louis Vuitton purse onto the barstool and shucked off her suede coat. Then she came around the breakfast bar into Jentry’s space. She picked up a K-cup and gasped. “Chocolate coconut dream! The beach house doesn’t have a Keurig. I’m gonna have to buy one when I get my next paycheck from JMI.”
Ten seconds here and Jane had taken over.
“JMI?”
“Julius Morgan International. I landed a job in accounting.” Jane opened the cabinets until she found a mug and started the machine. Then she went to the refrigerator searching for milk.
Of course, Jane got a job working for Julius Morgan. Sigh. “How did you find me?”
Jane folded her arms and leaned against the counter. “Calista.”
Not surprising. Best to get to the point and get back to her awesome life. “So, you didn’t stop by for coffee.” Jentry prompted.
“Maybe I did.” The Keurig finished Jane’s perfect cup of chocolate coconut dream. She brought the cup close and inhaled. “Maybe I came all this way because life is too short to be pissed off at my little sister.”
Jentry refused to get excited even though her heart raced. “Pissed off? You cut me off. Like a tumor.”
Jane looked down at the high-heeled butterscotch boots gracing her calves. “Well, you know me. I’m a bitch, especially to those I love. And I love you, Jentry. You know that. I just…” She put the cup down and wrapped her hands tightly around her waist.
Jentry studied her sister. From her downcast eyes to the hands gripping her sides, and her feet tapping on the tile, Jane appeared nervous, uncertain. Jane was never nervous. She didn’t fidget. She was self-possessed, self-aware, and driven. Jane got shit done.
“I was going through some shit. It’s a poor excuse for not seeing you, not seeing Allie,” Jane said hastily.
“What were you going through?”
Jane pursed her mouth and shook her head. Then she picked up her coffee and took a sip.
That sucked. Everyone in the family knew her business. Not like she could hide Allie. The tattoo on her back itched like fresh ink, making her rethink her judgement. Secrets and pain, no one was exempt, especially not the Playne fami
ly. Though she never wanted anyone to see her tattoo. No one.
“How’s everyone liking the billionaire’s beach house?” she murmured.
“It’s nice and crowded. I want to move but…”
Oh, hell no! This heifer did not drag her ass over here to wheedle an invitation to move in. Oh. Fuck. No. It would be just like her—
“Ma needs me,” Jane continued unaware of Jentry’s silent rant. “She’s gotten worse.”
Relieved, Jentry said, “What do you mean worse?”
“She’s worried, crying.”
Jentry wondered how that was possible. Laverne Playne was the alpha and the omega of their family. The sun rose and set on her. Dad worshipped the ground she hovered over. Her children obeyed her every word…except one. One stray sheep.
“Ever since we moved to the Hamptons and went on lockdown, we are on lockdown.” Jane rolled her eyes and stretched out the last word for five syllables. “Can’t go anywhere other than work and home, and that’s with bodyguards. Though that’s not a hardship. They are studs.” She snickered. “That one in the hall is hot.”
Who? Jentry hadn’t even glanced at the man, didn’t even know his name. She knew none of the men who dwelled in Harden’s circle. She’d met Pavel and Leonid that one time. But she’d only dealt with Bruno at work. He was nice, seemed kind, was good-looking, and did nothing to her libido.
“I can make an introduction.”
Jane sighed. “No. Mixing business with pleasure is a no.”
Huh? “You don’t work with the guy or for the guy?”
“But I do work for Julius Morgan, who is best friends with the guy whose apartment you’re living in.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Jentry grumbled.
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it. Really, I didn’t,” Jane said quickly. They both knew how fast this nice conversation could flip and slide downhill. On a good day, they were oil and water. On a bad day, they were bleach and vinegar. Do not mix or bring in contact with each other.
Jane lowered her voice. “How is it living with Harden Gage?”
Jentry leaned in and whispered, “I’m not living with Harden Gage.”
Jane huffed. “You know what I mean.”
“No. I don’t. I’m staying here, in a spare apartment, while he lives across the hall in the penthouse.”
Jane looked around. “I thought this was the penthouse.”
Jentry couldn’t blame her. The apartment was spectacular. It had everything she wanted and things she hadn’t thought of. Leaving here would be hard but she would do it. When the time came, she would pack up her kid and their few belongings, and hit the road. Where to? Well… Hopefully she’d have a destination and a future secured for them.
Jane let out a long sigh. “Whew. I was walking on eggshells. That man is scary.”
Jentry shrugged though couldn’t deny she felt the same way upon first meeting him. The man oozed danger. He also oozed heat. Sexual heat. The man epitomized a long, hard fuck. Not that she was interested. She wasn’t. Her libido was dead and not to be revived. Ever if she had any say in it. All she needed was a job and her daughter.
Every single woman at Catalyst would spread their legs in a heartbeat at the snap of his fingers. Power and money were a contagion she wanted no part of, yet here she was, caught up in it anyway. The blame lay with her. No one forced her to work at Catalyst. It came down to math. She could work four part-time jobs making minimum wage and still starve, or work at Catalyst with her clothes on and no pole in sight and be able to feed and shelter her child. Not in luxury, but it was the better alternative.
“How is it working for him?”
“Fine.” Jentry skipped telling her she was fired. Last night’s humiliating events shuffled through her head. Her heart had stopped when she saw him standing in the middle of the Split-Tail. He was bigger than life, the head of the New York syndicate, the blond boogeyman, and he had been standing in a strip club in the Bronx glaring at her. Never in her wildest nightmares had she imagined he would track her down and drag her off the stage. Demeaning as it was, the humiliation paled in comparison to when he saw the tattoo.
“He is sexy,” Jane whispered as if Harden were in the next room. “But dangerous. I like the bad boy as much as the next girl does.”
No, she didn’t. Jane’s idea of a bad boy extended to a guy with a souped-up Honda Civic who dirt biked on the weekend.
“Harden Gage is the poster child for Bad Boy Obvious Inc. He’s hazardous for a girl’s health for several reasons.”
Jentry’s hackles rose. Harden was many things. A businessman, beyond wealthy, sexy, a hard-ass, brutally handsome with his cold blue eyes, aggressive jaw, and body straight out of Men’s Fitness. She didn’t need to see him naked to know he was ripped. His suits told the story, and they did not lie.
“You working with him scares me, Jentry. Scares all of us, Calista included, and you know nothing scares her.”
Well, Jentry wasn’t afraid of him. Time to change the subject. “How do you like working for Julius Morgan?” She didn’t want to talk about Harden Gage anymore.
“Wonderful. I have no complaints. Things are good. Other than the crowded living conditions, I’m happy. I want you to be happy too.” Jane squeezed Jentry’s hand.
Happiness and Jentry didn’t belong in the same sentence.
“You should come to the house for dinner on Sunday. Surprise Mom and Dad.”
Jentry hadn’t spoken to her mother since she refused to join her family in the Hamptons. They’d had a blow out earlier in the month too. That’s when she’d started paying Mrs. Francis to watch Allie. Jentry wasn’t mother of the year, but she wasn’t a bumbling idiot who needed microscopic supervision, else her child would end up scarred for life, or worse, dead. In her mother’s eyes, Jentry was inept and Allie would be better off with her. Her mother had even suggested Jentry hand over her rights, “Just ’til you get on your feet.”
Never would that happen. She would never hand Allie over to anyone. Her daughter had one mother, and her name wasn’t Laverne.
“I don’t think so. Not yet. Maybe soon, but not yet.”
Jane squeezed Jentry’s shoulder. “I hear you.”
Good, now maybe she’d drop the topic.
“You know…”
It was too much to hope for. Jane was a dog gnawing on a T-Bone steak. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, let it go until every juicy bit was sucked dry.
“You and Mom are too much alike. You two are basically the same person. That’s why you rub each other the wrong way.”
“That must apply to you and me also.”
Jane’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. Here we go. Jentry prepared for Jane’s wrath. God forbid anyone point out her flaws. Perfect from birth, she had no flaws.
Jane shrugged. “I can agree with that.”
“Huh?” Jane shocked the shit out of Jentry. “Did you just agree with me?”
Jane tossed her head back and laughed. “Write the date down because it may never happen again.”
“Damn straight.” Suddenly, Jane was hugging her again. A desperate kind of hug. “I know you’ve been through a lot,” Jane whispered. “And we, the family, haven’t been there as we should have. We failed you. All of us. Maybe one day Mom will be able to say it. Maybe she won’t, but I know we did and as a sister, I’m sorry.”
Tears leaked from Jentry’s eyes and a weight she’d carried on her soul shifted. It wasn’t gone, it still bowed her shoulders, but it wasn’t as heavy. She felt lighter, buoyed.
“I know you’re not ready, but I would love for you and Allie to come home. We should all be together, as a family, especially in times like these.”
Jentry couldn’t deny it would be nice to walk into the beach house and find the love and acceptance she’d always craved but never received. Family, they could build you up or cut you off at the knees, often at the same time.
“I can’t, Jane. It’s too soon.”
Jane rel
eased her. “Okay. Alright. I’ll leave it alone. You’re safe here and that’s all that matters. You and Allie being safe. If that’s here, then you stay. I have no problem visiting you. I’ll even spring Jesenia and Josette for a visit. Maybe have a girls’ night.”
God that would be awesome. Afraid to get her hopes up, all Jentry could do was nod.
Jane wasn’t fooled. She chucked Jentry under her chin. “I promise to make it happen, sis. I swear.”
Jentry grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and mopped up her face. When she looked up, Jane was doing the same.
“Enough of this. Let’s go play with your niece.”
Chapter Thirteen
It was late when Harden finally roused from his bed. Two in the afternoon. Yet weariness clung to him. His agenda full, he should’ve risen hours ago. Getting home in the wee hours of the morning was no excuse. He crawled out of bed to find Gerard waiting with his morning protein shake. After downing the drink, he headed for the gym. An hour on the treadmill, another hour on weights, then the sauna. Three hours later he emerged from his bedroom dressed for the evening.
Bruno was already seated at the dining table indulging in a beef Wellington prepared by the chef. Harden’s plate waited for him at the head of the table. Quietly, they reviewed the events of the last night that did not have to do with the recently deceased Ralph Luce.
“Got word from our source at the police department. It’s official. They’re going to release Denizen back into our custody. The investigation’s over,” Bruno said between forkfuls.
Harden snorted. “Only took nearly two months.” The entire time the business remained shuttered. “We need to plan a reopening. A big splash.” He placed a call to Augustine, the man in charge of the club’s daily operations. He had a proposition for the man.
By the time their plates were cleared, the reopening of the club had been planned. Halloween gala. The theme, bedroom attire. Get all the sexy people together in one room and see what happens.
Plain Jane and Mr. Wrong (Plain Jane Series Book 4) Page 9
