Everyone is silent for a few minutes. Elijah is the first to speak. He’s rubbing the back of his neck again. It draws attention to his hair that’s pulled back into a knot at his nape. It’s dark blond. I can’t tell how long it is because it’s all tied up in the same thin leather strap he wore last night.I love his hair. It’s beautiful.He speaks, and it breaks my hair trance.
“As appealing as it sounds to go out with a woman who has been forced to date me, I think I will have to politely pass on this one.”
Damn. That one hurt. More than it should.He’ll have to politely pass on this one?I shouldn’t even care. I have no business dating anyone right now. I do, though. I care. That probably means that I should stay away from this guy.
“What the fuck?” Jax is outraged. “We serve you the opportunity of a lifetime, and you have to politely pass?”
“I don’t mean any offense. I just prefer my women...interested.”
“She’s interested. You’re interested aren’t you, V? Tell him how interested you are.”
I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything. Instead, I will the Earth to swallow me whole. Unfortunately, in classic universe working against me fashion, the Earth does not swallow me, and I’m forced to face this awkward situation, so I handle it the only way I know how, with venom and sarcasm.
“Oh, please do forgive me, Mr. Washington. I am so sorry that I didn’t fall at your feet hard enough. Never mind that I risked life and limb sticking my hand down a stranger’s throat to save him from a SELF-INFLICTED drugging. Please do forget that I didn’t force that same STRANGER to go to the hospital and instead gave him a ride TO MY HOME, where I carried his heavy ass up stairs and into MY BED. Let’s not mention how I stayed up the entire night watching over said stranger because I was terrified that he might get sick in the night and I wouldn’t hear him choking on his own vomit. Then, that same stranger wakes up and gets all pissy that I didn’t tell him my name quickly enough, so he leaves without so much as a thank you!” My chest is heaving with unspent rage. Elijah is looking at me like I just scalped him, and I’m waving the hide in his face. He’s stupefied. I look back at Jax and Marshall, and they look just like Elijah. Pulling the cap down further on my head, I turn on my heels, and sashay out the door.
That’ll show him. You fuck with the Vaughn, you get the venom.
Chapter 7
Elijah
I’m stunned. The not so twins look how I feel. We’re all still processing everything that just happened.
“Dude, she did all that for you and then you got pissy and left without a thank you?” Jax sounds like he may be changing his mind about me.
“What the fuck man? Do you have any idea how tough that girl is? She doesn’t serve anyone outside of this bar.” Marshall is officially off Team Mr. Washington.
I’m rapidly losing support here, and I’m realizing I want it. Maybe even need it. The men look at one another, and something transpires in their silence. They nod without ever speaking a word aloud.
“We officially rescind our campaign support, Elijah. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.” Marshall is the one to inform me as Jax lays my license on the bar.
Both men turn to walk away, and I can see the window of opportunity closing right before my eyes. “Wait, wait, wait.” They stop, but neither man turns around. “I fucked up. I thought she wasn’t interested. I thought I had done a bunch of dumb shit for a girl who only felt obligated to take care of me.” They look at one another. Another silent exchange. They turn in synchrony to face me.
“You wish to earn back the support of the family.”Ah, fuck. The Godfather Jax is here. I think I preferred the detective duo.
“Yes. I want to earn back the support of the family.”
Both men are wearing downturned lips and droopy mob eyes.Are they both the Godfather?
Marshall tilts his head side to side. “The family doesn’t do somethin’ for nothin’. What can you do for the family?” I can’t decide which of their Italian mob accents is worse.Their terrible British was definitely better.
I am certain that I absolutely do not have time for this shit. “I don’t know, Vito. What does the family want?”
Marshall breaks character for a moment with a pleased smile and an enthusiastic head nod. “I’m Vito. He called me Vito.” He’s speaking to Jax, who just rolls his eyes in response.
Marshall clears his throat, vaulting back into character. “Maybe the family helps you now, and we leave this return favor open to be fulfilled at a later date of our choosing.”
I don’t know a lot, but I know you never want to owe a favor to the mob.Or is it Mafia? I’m not sure there’s a difference. Enough hair splitting.Again faced with desperate times, and all I have are desperate measures. “Deal.” I reach out and shake hands with two of the weirdest men I have ever met in my life, sealing a deal that I’m not sure I can follow through on.I bet they ask me to steal something weird from the city zoo. I’m not getting in the lion pen. I’ll steal a flamingo, though. Flamingos seem bitchy but non-threatening.
It takes another moment for the duo to explain how best to redeem myself. They also promise to extend their proxy support. At this point, I don’t even care if she’s forced to date me. I can win her over if I can just get enough time with her. I don’t know what I was thinking this morning. My already mutilated heart and recently wounded pride got the best of me, and now I’m paying the price. Even before she put me in my place, I liked her, but now,I have to know her. I just need time.
My phone rings again in my back pocket, and this time I look at the screen even though I know who’s calling. It’s her. She wants to drag me back there. Back into responsibilities that I just don’t want to deal with right now. Silencing the call is a reflex at this point.
Hopping on my bike, I have renewed purpose and far less self-pity than I felt when I got off of it. I know exactly where Vaughn lives, now having walked home from there just this morning. This was not a short walk, and still, my head wasn’t clear. I was plagued with memories of everything I had said and done the night before. I still don’t remember anything after we got into her apartment, but the events before left me feeling pathetic and desperate. Not now. Now,I regret nothing apart from the way I left her apartment this morning.
My DoorDash app confirms that the first stage of the plan is still being prepared, so I slide on my helmet and drive toward Vaughn’s apartment.Vaughn. Damn, that’s a cool ass name for a badass chick.
I wait at the bottom of her stairs for the food to arrive like a damn creeper. Finally, a gangly teenage boy walks up with several sacks of takeout.
