NINETEEN
Cane
“Hello?”I groaned, rolling over and answering my cell. I could hear country music immediately and winced.
It’s too fucking early.I glanced at the clock.No, it’s ten o’clock in the morning. Fuck.
“Late night?” Max’s voice was cold.
“Yeah. The bag and I had a few late-night rounds.”
“Is that what you’re calling them now?”
I rolled onto my back. “Typically, that’s what you hit when boxing—or what I’ve always heard them called, anyway. What are you doing today?”
“Looking at a bid for the project in Carefree.”
“Whatever makes you fucking happy.”
“What’s making you happy these days, man? Because from over here, you look pretty sad. And I don’t mean heartbroken. I mean you look pretty fuckin’ pathetic.”
“It’s too early for this shit, Max,” I groaned.
“Nah, it really isn’t. I’m fixin’ to tell you a few things, and I thinkyou should listen. First, that stunt you pulled last night was bullshit. Straight up, Cane—that was bullshit. You know it.”
I closed my eyes as I recalled the fuckup from the night before. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
The country music in the background died out. “So here’s the thing. You either like her or you don’t. But youdon’tfuck with her. She’s Kari’s sister, so I will make sure she’s fine. That’s my responsibility to Kari, not my responsibility to you. If you want to go fuck the Lesleys of the world, no one is going to stop you from that. But you have to let Jada go.”
“I don’t want to let her go.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized it. I grimaced at the thought of actually admitting that out loud.
Max was silent for a second. “Well, that says something coming from you.”
“Yeah. Fuck, I don’t know what to do. Every time I try to talk to her, she gets pissed at me.”
“I feel her pain.”
“Fuck you, too.”
Max laughed. “So make up your mind. Either be with her and be good to her or let her find someone else. I have the Simon angle covered, so don’t worry about that if that’s what’s going on.”
I sat up in bed and kicked off the blankets. “I don’t think Simon is much of a threat anymore. He’s buying Solomon Place, which amazes me, but once that’s gone through, it will be over. He doesn’t seem to have called or bothered Jada, and he hasn’t fucked with me. So I think we can relax.”
“Let’s hope.”
“I am going to get up and grab a shower. There’s a property I want to check out today. I think if we buy it, we can flip it really quickly. Then I need to go check on the expansion plans for Benjamin Estates.”
“Want to grab a beer afterward? Kari gets off around six tonight, and I told her I would drop off her laptop when she gets home.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Yeah. Just come by when you’re done?”
“Will do.” Max paused before continuing. “You think you’ll call Jada today?”
“She’ll just be pissed.”
“No doubt about it. But if you don’t want to let her go, you better start making shit right.”
JADA
