“That’s fine,” I say. “You might have to after we talk.”
“What’s wrong?” Mama Dae asks as she puts the gun down and backs up into the house.
I step through the door and the smell of her famous spaghetti sauce hits me.
All she does is cook.
And run a big crime business.
I walk to the island in the kitchen and put my hands on it.
“Mac…”
“The job is done,” I say. “The room is trashed. I did good.”
“Good,” she says. “I’m proud of you, Mac. That’s really good.”
“Is it?” I ask.
Mama looks puzzled. “You never get like this.”
“This is why…”
I reach into my back pocket and take out the picture of Jolie.
I put it on the counter, standing up.
Jolie looks fucking beautiful in that picture.
Standing with the sunset behind her. Her hair blowing in the beach breeze. Leaning on a metal railing. In her bathing suit. The tan on her skin… the look in her eyes…
“What’s wrong, Mac?”
“I found that picture in the house,” I say to Mama.
“Okay…”
“Who is it?” I ask. “The guy. The one that owed you money. Who is it?”
Mama curls her lip. “Are you trying to muscle me?”
I grab the picture and move toward her. “This is Jolie. This is the girl I love. And her picture was-”
Mama lifts the shotgun gun at me. “You better fucking control your attitude, Mac. Right now. Got it?”
I grit my teeth.
I stare down at Mama.
I’m ready to explode.
I shake my head. “I won’t calm down. Not with this.”
“Maybe you should come back tomorrow,” she says.
“Fine,” I say.
I walk to the door and rip it open.
I look back and see Mama putting the shotgun on the island.
“It doesn’t matter about his family,” she says to me. “At least not if he gets the message. He thinks he’s more powerful than he is. He’s not. He’s a loser. A liar. A scumbag, Mac.”
“You didn’t know about Jolie?”
“I know he has a family,” Mama says. “That’s it.”
“And you didn’t make the connection when I said her name before?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Mama says. “The job is done. Nobody got hurt.”
“Yet,” I say.
“Well, that’s not up to me. And if you were smart, you’d stay away from her, Mac. If she’s near you, she’s going to get hurt. And if this progresses with her father…”
I shake my head. “No. She’s not a pawn. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“You’re in love with her?”
“What if I say that I am?”
“Are you going to marry her? Have a family?”
“She can’t get hurt in this,” I say. “She’s got dreams. Plans. She’s a good person.”
“She’s fooling around with you though,” Mama says. “How good is her judgement?”
“I’d do anything for you, Mama,” I say. “But this one… she means more to me than anyone I’ve ever met before. I mean that.”
Mama nods. “Now you’re torn. Between life and love. That’s a tough call, Mac.”
Mama puts her hand on the shotgun.
That’s a warning.
I can’t have one foot in each situation.
“You want something to eat?” Mama asks.
“Maybe a small plate,” I say.
“Shut the door. You’re going to let bugs in.”
I shut the door but I don’t move.
Mama moves fast to make a plate of food for me.
I keep looking at the picture of Jolie.
I know what Mama Dae is doing.
Calming me down.
Wanting me to think this out.
There’s a chance Jolie knows more than she’s letting on.
There’s also a chance she knows nothing.
But between that… and being involved with me…
Jolie’s life is in danger.
Jolie lets me into the building.
I already put the picture of her in the middle console of my car.
I’m not sure how this is going to go.
The logical thing is this… I tell Jolie we can’t be together anymore or ever again. It’s really that simple. And it makes sense. I’m a bad guy. She’s a good person. She can finish law school, get her dream job, meet a nice guy, and have a good life.
It’s all there for the taking.
Everything she’s worked for in her life is in her hands.
Then when I have distance from her, I can keep an eye on the situation.
I’d make sure she has nothing to do with her father’s debts and no matter what it takes, I’d make sure Mama Dae does not do anything to hurt Jolie.
That’s it.
That’s the answer.
And it protects everyone.
It keeps Mama Dae happy.
It keeps what I do going forward.
And most of all… it keeps Jolie happy, safe, and in the unknown.
It’s the only way to make this right.
A broken heart is safer than an ended life.
I stand outside her door.
I don’t knock.
I just stand there.
Jolie opens the door.
And she’s just there.
In a blue long-sleeved shirt.
Tan shorts.
Her hair pulled back.
A smile on her face.
“Mac…”
She has a pen tucked behind her right ear.
I look over her shoulder and see her dining room table is full of open books.
She’s hard at work.
Chasing that dream.
So close to it.
“We have to talk, sweetie,” I say.
“Is everything okay?”
Say NO to her, Mac. Tell her nothing is okay. Tell her it’s over. Break her heart. Hurt her. Say something mean even. Whatever it takes…
I step toward Jolie and grab her by the waist.
She smiles at me.
“Did you miss me?” she whispers.
I pick her up and kick the door shut.
I kiss her.
I can’t talk to her.
I can’t say a word to her.
Her hands dig into my hair as she kisses me back.
She tastes like everything I need in my life to make sense of it all.
I don’t even know what the fuck that means.
I carry Jolie to her bedroom.
No more studying, sweetie.
Every step I take toward the bed and what’s going to happen next is the wrong step.
But I’m used to that in my life.
It’s all I know and all I ever do.
I kick the bedroom door shut behind me and put Jolie on her feet.
The blue shirt she’s wearing is on the floor in two seconds flat.
She battles back at me, taking my shirt off.
We catch each other’s stare for a second and time stands still.
I still have a chance to make this right.
To do the right thing here.
I touch her face.
She reaches back and unclasps her bra.
Then she put her hands to her sides and lets her bra gently fall forward.
My right hand moves down and I help pull it down her arms and let it fall between us. Then I touch her. Her soft skin. Her warm breast fits so perfectly into my hand.
I grit my teeth.
“Mac…”
I hurry to kiss her again.
There can be no talking right now.
Talking will fucking ruin everything.
I break the kiss and touch the front of Jolie’s shorts.
I open them and this time she’s wearing panties.
Her bra was white.
Her panties are a dark purple.
My heart threatens to explode.
She inches closer to me and reaches behind me with her right hand.
I feel her grab for my gun.
She pulls it out of the back of my jeans, turns and gently places it on the nightstand.
A symbol of her acceptance of what my life is.
That’s when I know for sure… I’m in love with her.
21
I sit on the bathroom counter with the fan on, smoking a cigarette.
It’s not the weirdest place I’ve had to sit to enjoy a cigarette, but it’s definitely the weirdest as of late since I’m used to just doing what I want when I want.
But Jolie… she has rules.
Even if I push at them.
Like walking through her apartment with my boots on.
But they were off now.
And they were going to stay off.
There was no smoking in the apartment but I bent that rule too.
She opens the door wearing nothing but that blue shirt of hers.
I drop my cigarette into the toilet and jump off the counter.
“Hey, sweetie,” I say. “I was just cleaning up a little.”
“Yeah, right,” she says waving her hand through the faint cloud of smoke I’ve left behind. “I kind of need a shower.”
“No more studying?” I ask.
“Funny,” she says. “It’s not actually studying. I’m working on a case.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I was chosen to help out on a real case.”
“That’s fucking great, Jolie,” I say. “What’s the deal with it?”
“It’s kind of interesting,” she says. “This guy in his fifties cashed out of everything he was involved with. Like super suddenly. He had millions in cash and disappeared to an island. He has two kids who are twenty-two and twenty. Apparently, this island trip was with a woman. She was his age. When they left the island, they were married and all of his assets were in her name. A week later he’s dead.”
“Murder?”
“Well, that’s the tricky part,” Jolie says. “There’s a lot happening there with that. The initial report was no foul play. But now more evidence is coming forward. But my part of the case isn’t so much murder as it is what happened with the financial documents.”
“Ah, right,” I say. “The little brats want their cash, right?”
“And his ex-wife.”
“Whoa. How does that work?”
“She claims she was the reason he made his money,” Jolie says.
“Does she have a case?”
“She kind of does,” Jolie says. “I mean, it depends on which side you’re on here. But she helped a lot. And when they got divorced, she got a payment and nothing else. She claims they had a verbal agreement for some equity in the company. And she claims she has records of him paying her more. It’s a mess, Mac. A gigantic financial and legal mess.”
“And you’re all over it, sweetie,” I say. “So horny for it, right?”
“I’m not sure I’d put it that way,” she says.
“Come here,” I say.
I grab her hand and pull her into the bathroom.
I make her face the mirror and stand behind her.
“Look at your face right now,” I say. “Besides being so fucking beautiful, look how happy you are. I didn’t buy into this law school bullshit at first, but you enjoy it, sweetie. So own it. Even if you were led that way, own it. It’s your thing.”
Jolie shakes her head.
“What?” I ask.
She turns and reaches for my face. “You’re good for me, Mac.”
I feel like someone just punched my heart.
I swallow hard.
“I’m not good for anyone or anything, Jolie.”
“Yes, you are,” she says. “We go good together. As crazy as it is. And I… I trust you. What you do. However you do it. I trust you. Sometimes it bothers me to think about it… but…”
My heart is no longer just punched.
It’s starting to break.
And through that I come up with an even crazier plan.
Keep Jolie close.
Keep her with me.
Let her meet Mama Dae.
Bring her in as far as I can so that she has to be protected.
Because if anything happens to Jolie, then I’m out.
I’ll walk the fuck away and be done with it all.
And if that puts my life at risk, then so be it.
Jolie is worth it.
“Did I freak you out by saying that, Mac?” she asks with a laugh.
I smile. “Not at all, sweetie. I bet I can freak you out though.”
“How?”
I put my lips to her ear. “I’m fucking falling in love with you.”
Her body is pressed against mine as the shower water washes over us.
I’m hugging her and she’s staring up at me.
Everything on us is touching yet that’s not my main focus.
I’m suddenly the guy who wants to stare into a girl’s eyes instead of at her chest or between her legs.
The water is so hot.
The steam floating above us is thick.
But the best part is that we’re hidden.
Jolie doesn’t know it or know why.
“You have something on your mind, Mac,” she says.
“Oh yeah?” I ask.
“The way you showed up. The way you keep looking at me. I know you’re not going to tell me things…”
“Remember when we were on the phone?” I ask. “When you called to tell me you felt like doing nothing?”
“Yeah,” Jolie says.
“We were beating the shit out of someone,” I say.
“What?”
“I wasn’t,” I say. “I was going to get involved, but talking to you was better.”
“Are you serious?”
“Punishment, sweetie,” I say. “It needed to be done. And I talked to you on the phone while it happened. Taz and Les handled it for me. Want to know what he did to deserve it?”
“No,” Jolie says.
My hands slide to the curve of her lower back.
“Do you think less of me now?”
“No,” she whispers.
She swallows hard.
“Want to know more?”
Jolie nods.
I grit my teeth.
I broke into your house, Jolie. I trashed your father’s room. It makes me want to ask how your parents relationship works. I didn’t know it was your house. But your father is in some serious shit. I need to ask you what you know about it…
“Ado wants cash,” I say.
“Okay…”
“He’s part of the crew,” I say. “He’s not in like he used to be. I had a situation a while ago where Ado and two others were making a play against me. Ado turned on them and that saved his ass. That’s a different story. Ado’s mother is dying.”
“Oh no,” Jolie says.
“Don’t let it break your heart, sweetie,” I say. “It’s just life. Life always ends. That’s why you have to do what you want while you’re here. Ado can’t get his hands on the cash and he wants to try and save his mother. She has some kind of cancer and is refusing treatments. So he wants me to float him some cash. And I told him to go fuck himself.”
“Why?” Jolie asks.
“I’m not a bank,” I say. “And it doesn’t work that way.”
“His mother is sick…”
“And she has the money to do what she feels is right,” I say. “What gives him the fucking right to step in and intervene? What if she did all the research on her own and made the decision for herself?”
Jolie smiles.
“What?” I ask.
“You’d make a good lawyer, Mac,” she says.
“Fuck that,” I say. “I’m just a greedy prick. He deserves to suffer. No matter what that looks like.”
> “Mac, that’s not-”
I put my mouth to Jolie’s to shut her up.
I’m done with talking.
It’s time to make some more steam in the bathroom.
Jolie left the shower and I naturally watch as she covers herself with a towel and exits the bathroom.
When she’s gone, I step out of the shower to get a cigarette.
Smoking a cigarette in the shower is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Not as great as what just happened with Jolie though. The water could wash away whatever it wants, but the touch of her skin is on my body like a fresh tattoo. The taste of her lips, her tongue, her beautiful, full breasts… every inch of her body I’ve had so far… and then the temptation of what I haven’t kissed yet.
I can’t lose her.
I can’t let her go.
Which means I’m going to have to tell her the truth. Pull her a few inches closer to the fire. But I won’t let her get burned. She’s going to get closer to the fire to stay warm. Walk that delicate line of warmth and burning.
No, fuck, I need her to be protected.
My gut tells me she knows nothing of her father’s debt issues.
And even if she does…
I take a drag of my cigarette and let the hot water hit my body.
Even if Jolie is involved, I’ll still protect her.
That puts me and my entire crew at risk.
But for Jolie…
I step forward and let the shower water kill my cigarette.
I turn off the water, get out of the shower, and flush the cigarette.
I dry off and put my jeans back on.
The walk from the bathroom to the bedroom is a long one in my mind.
I open the bedroom door and am shocked to find Jolie waiting for me.
Her towel is at her feet.
She has nothing else on.
And my gun is in her hand.
“How does this look?” she whispers.
Her finger is nowhere near the trigger. She’s holding it like it’s a firecracker about to go off at any second.
But she’s trying to be tough and sexy.
She’s trying to drive me insane.
And it’s working.
I slowly step toward her.
“I’m never going to forget what this looks like, sweetie.”
“Good. Can I put the gun down now?”
I laugh. “Nobody said to pick it up.”
Jolie’s hand shakes as she puts the gun back on the nightstand.
She shivers.
Her skin tightens. Her nipples become harder.
Mess You Up (Brooks Crest Book 1) Page 19
