“Go get the money,” I tell him again, and I’m prepared to kick his ass all the way down the hall if he doesn’t move. Fortunately for him, he turns around and ambles that way.
Because I don’t trust the man as far as I can throw his fat ass, I follow. He’d be the type to pull a weapon on me if he’s got the figurative balls to do it, but I’m thinking not. This guy is pathetic.
I watch as he enters his bedroom, which has dirty clothes all over the floor and just a battered old blanket on the bed with no sheets or pillow. He goes to the closet and reaches up to a shoebox on the shelf.
“Stop,” I command, and he goes still. “Give me the box.”
“What?” he says as he turns slowly and hands it over. “You think I got a gun in there or something?”
“I sincerely hope not,” I tell him candidly. “Because if you do, that means you were going to pull it on me and I’m going to beat the living fuck out of you if so.”
“The money’s in there,” he grumbles.
When I flip the top off, there’s an envelope with a small stack of cash in it. I take it and toss the box on the floor. “How much is left of it?”
Jayce glares at me. “All of it.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say as I throw the envelope on the bed. “Count it out. And if you are one penny short of ten thousand, it’s going to hurt.”
“Fine,” he snaps at me. “I spent about a thousand of it.”
Nodding, I pick the envelope up and jerk my head toward the door. “Back in the living room.”
Jayce doesn’t argue with me, but I can feel the rage vibrating off him. I follow him through the hallway, and then give him a hard push toward the couch. “Sit.”
Jayce glares at me over his shoulder, but he turns and sets his bulky frame on the couch.
“Trista is no longer working for me,” I tell him as I take a position near the door. “She didn’t fulfill her contract.”
“That fucking bitch,” Jayce growls.
My voice is low and filled with menace when I say, “Talk about her like that again, and I’ll cut your balls off and make you eat them.”
Jayce’s mouth snaps shut.
“Now I want you to listen, and listen well, because this is the only warning you will ever get from me.” I take a few steps toward him, and his head tilts up to look at me. “I’m paying off the loan in full, and then you and I are square.”
Jayce’s eyes sparkle with opportunity. “That will work. You give me the money and I’ll go pay it off today.”
I react so fast Jayce doesn’t know what hit him, but it’s the back of my hand as I smack him hard across his face. It’s not enough to knock him silly, but it stuns him.
“Do you think I’m fucking stupid, Jayce?” I ask him calmly. He just stares at me with wide eyes as his hand covers the spot on his cheek. “I know you were charging Trista more than what you owed to the shark, so I’m going to hand the correct amount over to him. And then, as I said, you and I are square. Agreed?”
He doesn’t answer me at first. I can practically hear the wheels grinding in his head as he tries to figure a way to make something out of this. The way it’s turning out for him, he’s not getting anything from the favor I owe him.
Finally, he gives me a short nod. “Agreed. Now get the fuck out of my house.”
I look around with disgust. “Not much of a house.”
“Hasn’t been since Michelle left,” he mutters with a slight whine to his tone. I had no intention of bringing her up because there’s nothing to say, and I don’t even experience an emotion at all over her name. I have no clue why they broke up. Don’t care why they broke up. It’s pathetic if her leaving is what caused him to turn out this way. But I have more important things I care about so I’m moving on from that.
“Just leave,” Jayce says as he flings his hand toward the door and leans his head back on the couch. I get it… he’s having a shitty day.
Going to get shittier.
“Stand up,” I command.
His eyebrows draw together. “What for?”
“You hit Trista,” I tell him as I set the envelope on a tiny table near the door. “You’re going to pay for it. Now stand up.”
Jayce just blinks at me as if I’m crazy.
“I’m in a generous mood, Jayce. I’m even going to let you defend yourself. Now get the fuck up.”
He may be a slovenly pig nowadays, but he apparently still has some grit left inside as he stands up to face my wrath. “Let’s do this.”
Five minutes later, I walk out of the trailer, money held tight by bleeding knuckles. Jayce got three good hits on me, but I left him on the floor with a broken nose, some missing teeth, and bruised kidneys. He’s going to be pissing blood for a while.
I left him conscious because I wanted his assurances he’d never hurt Trista again. I wanted to demand he stay away from her, but I can’t do that. He’s her brother and despite how despicable he is, I can’t impede on a relationship if she wants one with him.
But he’ll be on good behavior because I was very careful and exact in explaining what I’d do to him if I found out he so much as looked at her wrong.
When I climb into the Range Rover, I hand the envelope to Kynan. “I’ve got to get some more cash, but I want you to pay off the loan shark Jayce got the money from.”
Kynan blows out a breath of disbelief that I’d do that. “By that, I take it he’s still alive in there?”
I nod as I start the engine, looking at the trailer for a moment. “My debt to him has been repaid. He’s nothing to me now.”
“And Trista?” Kynan asks as I put the car in reverse.
Throwing my hand over his headrest so I can turn in my seat to look behind me, I give Kynan a brief glance. “What about Trista?”
“You have to fix that shit with her,” Kynan says as I back out of the dirty driveway.
I shift into drive, hit the gas, and head back into the city. “There’s nothing to fix. I’ve tried calling her and texting her. She won’t respond, and frankly, Kynan… after what I did to her, I can’t expect her to want to talk to me.”
“But you weren’t going through with it,” he points out. “She needs to understand that.”
“She knows,” I tell him. “Didn’t make a difference to her.”
“So you’re just going to give up?” he asks me incredulously.
I turn to look at him for a moment, then back to the road. “Fuck no, I’m not giving up. But I am going to give her a bit of space first. She was pissed and hurt, and there’s no reasoning with pissed and hurt.”
“I can see that,” Kynan says with amusement in his voice. “Give her a few weeks.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” I tell him. “And to keep myself occupied, I’m going out with Renegade Three.”
From my peripheral, I see Kynan’s head snap my way. “You what?”
“You heard me,” I say with a chuckle.
Renegade is the name for our special-ops groups. There are four of them, and number three is leaving for a mission in the Congo. This will keep my mind occupied while Trista gets her space, hopefully loses some of her anger, and be ready to listen to me when I return. I’m prepared to beg and hound her until she gives me a chance, but I know what anger, hurt, and betrayal can do to a person. I know exactly how Trista feels right now because I’ve been there. This is the best course of action to take right now.