“I don—I don’t have it,” he stutters.
Leaning in, I allow the hooked edge to angle up, slicing into the meat under his chin, blood trickling down the blade and onto my glove. “Then I suggest you get it.”
“Fine,” he wheezes. “Please.”
I remove the knife, standing straight. “Wonderful, Georgie.” I pause. “May I call you that? Georgie?”
His Adam’s apple bobs.
“Let me explain to you how this is going to go.” I reach into my breast pocket, withdrawing a handkerchief as I wipe the red from the hooked edge of my knife. “First, you’re going to tell me everything you know about the person who came in three days ago. And then you’re going to pay my friends here,” I tilt my head toward the twins. “What you owe us.”
“But I just said I—”
I lift my hand. “I understand, I do. And like I said, I’m a reasonable man. If you can’t pay today, we’ll be back tomorrow. But I feel I must warn you, I don’t like to be kept waiting, Georgie. I’d hate to see what becomes of our friendship if you test my patience.” I tsk, shaking my head.
“I’ll get it.”
“Smashing.” I grin. “Now, tell me about this person.”
“It… it was a woman. Said there was a new boss in town, and she was doing a courtesy by allowing me to show my loyalty upfront.”
Rage clamps on my insides. Of course.
“A woman,” I repeat. “What else?”
“Th-that’s it,” he says. “That’s all I know. I was warned by my neighbors to not fight when y’all came asking for your dues, and I didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot.”
I rub my chin with one hand, blade twirling through my fingers with the other.
“I’m telling you the truth!” he pleads.
Sighing, I place the knife back into my pocket. “I believe you. Be good to my boys, understand?” The twins smile in tandem, stepping forward to take my place.
They’ll rough him up a bit, do the dirty work I don’t care to do. Send a message.
A ball lodges in the center of my chest, twisting until all I can see is red. Whispers aren’t good for business, and that’s what this annoyance will cause. Whispers.
A woman.
There’s only one woman I know in business with a powerful man, and they both just came to town.
My gloves are spackled with drops of blood, so I remove them, placing them in my pockets as I push through the front door. Suddenly, I’m jolted backward, a small frame crashing into mine. Clenching my jaw, my arms reach out. A whiff of vanilla hits my senses.
“James?” Wendy’s voice flows through my ears, and just like that, my irritation drains away, a smile taking over my face.
“Darling,” I purr. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“You’re telling me.” She grins. “What are you doing here?”
I twist around to look at the shop, George’s wife standing behind the front counter, flicking her eyes to the sidewalk every few seconds.
“Just paying my respects. I know the owners.”
“Do you?” Angie asks. “I’ve heard their scones are to die for.”
I glance at Wendy’s friend, my smile tightening. “I’m sure they are.”
“Do you want to come in with us and grab a snack?” Wendy asks.
“Unfortunately, I can’t stay, no matter how much the view has suddenly improved.” My thumb runs along her jaw, a warmth expanding in my chest when the apples of her cheeks redden. “Go out with me tomorrow.”
“I work until three.”
“Perfect. I’ll pick you up there.” Leaning down, I press my lips to hers. I meant it as just a peck, but her tongue slips out and tangles with mine, and I force back a groan, the noise from the sidewalk fading away as I get lost in her taste.
It will truly be a shame when I have to break her.
I’ll move on, of course, without a second thought, the joy of having finally accomplished my life’s desire washing away any of the empathy I have from knowing she isn’t the one who did anything wrong. But sometimes you must make sacrifices for a greater purpose.
“We might stop by the bar tonight,” her friend says once we break the kiss. “Will you be there?”
“I wasn’t planning on going,” Wendy tells me.
“You should,” I reply. “I’ll be busy, but I quite like the idea that you’ll be close.”
She grins, her eyes softening as she leans into my touch. “Okay.”
“Good girl.” I press a kiss on her forehead and step back just as the twins exit the building. “Tell Georgie to put anything you want on my tab.”
Wendy’s eyes widen. “You have a tab here?”
I brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “Darling, drop my name anywhere in this town and you’ll never pay for a thing again.”
“Which name?” her friend pipes in.
I glance at her, my jaw clenching. “Pardon?”
She sucks on her bottom lip. “I’m just asking… which name? James? Or…”
The corner of my mouth twitches. “I believe you know the answer to that.”
Wendy sucks in a breath. “Hook?”
I incline my head. “That’s what they call me.”
“Why?” she asks.
“Just an unfortunate nickname, I’m afraid.” I wink and turn to the twins, nodding at them to head to the Escalade idling at the curb. “Do me a favor, darling?”
She lifts a brow.
“When you come to the JR tonight, wear something blue.” I lean in, my breath ghosting along her ear. “It’s such a lovely color, and I want to spend all night imagining the way it will look shredded on my bedroom floor.”
She sucks in a breath, and I press my lips to her cheek before stepping away and into the car, my cock stiff and my heart pounding.
19
Wendy
I’m sitting in the formal living room of my home, waiting for Angie to pick me up. Wearing something blue. Jon’s across from me, working on yet another model plane.
“Dad called this morning,” he says, his voice cutting through the silence.
My heart jumps to my throat. I highly doubt it was a personal call just to say hello, and disappointment settles in my gut like a brick, knowing without Jon saying the words that he told him. Over the phone.
Jon’s fist tightens around his paintbrush, pausing from where he’s filling in a black line down the side of his plane. “Look, he told me, okay? So you can stop looking at me like that.”
I inhale a slow breath. “Told you what?”
“That I’m going to that stupid boarding school. It’s fine.”
Sighing, I lean back into the chair, resting my arms on the cushioned sides. “It is?”
His eyes flick to me over the rim of his glasses. “Would it matter if it wasn’t?”
“Of course, it would.”
He tosses his paintbrush down, running a hand through his jet-black hair, so similar to our mother’s. “There’s nothing you can do to change it, Wendy. It is what it is, and you sitting there looking like you’re about to burst into tears isn’t helping the situation.”
My chest pulls tight. “I’m not—”
His eyes narrow. “You are.”
“I just want you to be happy. That’s all.” I raise my hands.
He doesn’t respond, his attention going back to his craft. The silence is suffocating as it wraps its way around my throat and stuffs into my ears, allowing room for my thoughts to grow wild and uninterrupted.
This is the only thing I’ve asked my father for, and yet, somehow, he still couldn’t follow through, choosing to take the easy road, to cast Jon’s feelings aside as if something as huge as this doesn’t really matter. Another charred and heavy log is thrown on the fire of my anger, simmering at the base of my gut.
“He said I’m going tomorrow.”
The words are soft and short, but they pummel me in the chest anyway. “Tomorrow?” I gasp. “Is he coming home to take you there?”
Jon’s lips curve into a small smile, but it isn’t happiness I feel vibrating through the air. “Wendy, be real. The driver will take me.”
Flames lick up my insides, heating my veins. “I’ll take you.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.” I force a smile. “I’ve gotta see it for myself if I plan on visiting every week.”
Jon groans. “You are not allowed to visit every week.”
My grin grows. “Well, you better let me take you tomorrow then, otherwise I’ll come all the time, and I’ll make sure to be extra embarrassing.”
Jon chuckles, his eyes sparking the tiniest bit. “Wendy, you’re never embarrassing. Just… overbearing.”
My hand flies to my heart. “Should I be offended by that?”
“No, it’s…” He shakes his head. “It’s nice.”
The knot in my stomach unravels at our banter, the familiarity bursting through me like a long-lost friend. But it’s quickly swiped away by the knowledge that after tomorrow, it will really just be me all alone.
We’ve been at the JR for two hours and I’ve yet to see James.