Dynasty

by Jen Davis et al.

  “Or me?” Madison added as she returned to her seat. “You really need to raise your hand and get in there, Jackie.”

  Jackie just sat there and smiled. The ladies doing the bidding definitely had more money in their bank accounts than she’d ever had or could dream to have.

  There were twenty guys on the roster, and after two hours, they were up to number nineteen. Not knowing the listing, Jackie had no idea when Jasper might pop up on the runway, but they had obviously saved the best for last. Her stomach was in knots. Just because she wasn’t sure of her feelings for him didn’t mean she wanted someone else to have him, either. Each guy seemed to be hotter than the last. Mr. Nineteen did a little dance as he strutted down the stage. He was dressed like a cowboy, complete with a hat, jeans, and boots. They ladies hooted and hollered. Glancing around the room, everyone seemed to be having a great time.

  The bidding amount rose with each man. The cowboy was close to $5,000.00 already. It was amazing. Either the women in this town were very generous to charity, or they were desperate for a date. Madison squealed when the final bid hit $7,550.00. The man jumped off the stage and gave the winner some flowers and a kiss on the cheek.

  “This is crazy.” Valentina clapped along with the crowd. “This is really going to help get the equipment the fire department needs. You could do this every year for a different charity. Just think of all the good that would do!”

  “I know. Wouldn’t that be awesome?” Madison glowed.

  “Ladies, we have one more handsome guy hoping to win your heart.” The auctioneer drew their attention back to the stage. Earned It from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack began to play. That song oozed sex appeal, and so did the man who walked out onto the stage. It was Jasper. He flashed that breathtaking smile, and the ladies ate it up like candy.

  Usually, he wore three-piece suits, but tonight, he’d shed the jacket. Dressed in black pinstripe pants, a vest, and a burgundy shirt, Jasper was his usual stylish self. Tonight, he wore no tie, and the casual look made him even more appealing. The auctioneer introduced him as Jasper Lencioni, local business man, but left out the part about what kind of business he was in.

  Sandy started the first bid at a thousand dollars, and several hands went up. Jasper strolled down the runway like he owned it, and he did. As always, he had flawless hair. It was as if he’d run his fingers through it and the locks just magically fell into place.

  When he stopped at the end and turned around, her mouth dropped open. How had she never noticed his firm butt before? The guy was too perfect to be true. Jasper spotted their table and winked her way.

  It must have been all the wine, right? Jackie’s cheeks flamed. God, she wanted him. They always said competition was good. Well, right now, it was pissing her off. Tonight, someone else would win the guy that intrigued her so.

  “Come on, Jackie. I know you like him, and he likes you.” Madison nudged her with her elbow.

  “Even if I did, I don’t have that kind of cash.” Jackie tried to brush off the comment.

  “So you would go out with him if you could?” Her boss was obviously trying to play matchmaker.

  “Maybe.” She almost said yes, but she still held back. The man was a mystery to her. A mystery with a questionable background.

  The bidding hit $9,000.00, and several disappointed women shook their heads and dropped their hands.

  “Do I hear $10,000.00?” the auctioneer asked.

  “Oh my goodness.” Valentina squealed, but Jackie just wanted it to be over. She was already jealous of whoever the winner would be.

  “Do I hear $10,000.00?” the woman with the mic asked again.

  “Jackie?” Maddy touched her forearm. “I think you have a huge rip in your blouse.”

  “What?” That’s all she needed. To look like a hot mess while Jasper went to some wealthy woman dressed to the nines. “Where? I can’t believe this.” Her fingers felt around, but she couldn’t feel anything out of place.

  “On your side, under your arm.” Madison lifted Jackie’s arm in the air.

  “Are you sure? I still don’t see anything.” Maybe she wasn’t the only one who’d had too much drink. Madison was seeing things that weren’t there. Good thing the woman had a driver because she shouldn’t be behind the wheel.

  “Sold.” All eyes turned to the stage, where the auctioneer pointed to their table. “Sold to the pretty redhead at table five.”

  “What?” Jackie’s mouth dropped open, and she lowered her arm. “Oh. My. God.”

  “Congrats, you won Jasper.” Valentina clapped her hands.

  “I didn’t! I was just looking, looking…” She turned to face Madison, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed. “You set me up.”

  “I’m sorry, but I just think you two would be great together.” At least she admitted it.

  “For $10,000.00?” A lump lodged in her throat. Where would she come up with that kind of money? This went against everything that should be appropriate for a working relationship.

  “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 10

  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.

  The dinner for the winners of the charity auction was tonight. It was the night of her date with Jasper. As much as she tried to ignore him, it was like trying to block a mountain from her view. It just wasn’t happening.

  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 s
imilar 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?”