“He’s a shit, is who he is. Cal didn’t know him as well as I thought, and I’m still not really sure what he does, but he’s bad news, Jax. He’s competitive and provoked me right from the beginning. He started to exert his authority, trying to make it seem as if I wasn’t in charge of the game or the room. He made me feel about six inches tall.”
Just like dad did all your life.
“What happened?”
“I lost,” Scott says, his voice breaking on the word, and I really start to get scared. “I lost, and I kept losing. I just thought that the cards would turn at some point, you know, that my luck would win out. But it never did. I owe him a shit ton, Jax.”
“Okay,” I say, standing up, grateful that I’d kicked off my shoes earlier. I can feel the plush carpet beneath my feet grounding me. “Okay, this isn’t as bad as you think, Scott. If we have a good run and another few nights like this one, we can make 80k back. It’s not like we can’t?—”
“It’s not eighty grand.” Scott’s voice is low and hopeless now, as he stares at the floor.
I turn to him slowly, a knot forming between my shoulder blades. “How much?”
“Over two hundred,” he says, his voice choking on the number. “Minimum.”
The beat of the music pulses between us. I can hear the murmur of voices from the rooms downstairs, the pop of a cork, the shriek of laughter.
My night and the euphoria I felt earlier are distant memories. Six months looking after Flynn’s pride and joy, and my brother has managed to sink us almost a quarter of a million dollars in debt.
“Did you use the cash from the safe to place bets?” I ask, my hands clenched at my sides. Scott doesn’t have to nod for me to know that hehas,in fact, been that stupid.
I turn away, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My long red hair is lying in a ponytail over my shoulder. The top of it has come loose, and wayward strands are flying everywhere.
“I’m sorry, Jax…”
“I thought you stopped,” I say bitterly, staring into my own eyes, wishing I were somewhere else,someoneelse.
“It was just between friends.”
“Are you an idiot? That’s always how it starts,” I exclaim, spinning around on him, only to find tears rolling down my brother’s cheeks.
Seeing Scott cry is so startling that I can’t speak. The last time I saw him cry was on his eighteenth birthday, when his girlfriend dumped him.
Even with the anger surging through me, my heart aches for him. After a few seconds of indecision, I go to him, kneeling on the floor and pulling him into my arms.
“You stupid fuck,” I murmur, stroking his head as he sobs into my shoulder.
We stay like that for several minutes, my knees beginning to ache from the position I’m in, Scott clutching me like a lifeline. I have no idea how to fix this, but I know Flynn can help. He’ll be pissed, angrier than he’s likely ever been, but he’ll know what to do. We always figure things out together.
“Monroe says he’s going to kill me, Jax,” Scott says, pulling away from me and rubbing at his eyes. “And if I can’t pay a portion of what I owe by the end of next week, he’ll break my legs first.”
Chapter 4
Jax
“We have to tell Flynn,” I say resolutely, but Scott immediately pushes me away, leaping to his feet, as he shakes his head.
“You can’t. Jax, youcan’t. If Nick doesn’t kill me, Flynn will.”
“Well, what do you suggest? I’m amazed he hasn’t worked it out already; he’s usually obsessed with the profits on this place. How the hell have you kept it quiet?” I say, as Scott chews on his lip.
Restless and needing something to do, I walk to the door, grab my shoes, and shove them back on my feet. When I turn back to face him, the safe door is hanging open like a yawning mouth, spewing out all my brother’s secrets, and I go to it, kicking it shut.
“How did you lose so much?” I ask angrily.
“Nick kept upping the bet. Every time I lost, he would say that we could let it slide. He’d up the bet, I’d lose, and then he’d do it again. I always thought I could win, Jax. I would never have done it if I hadn’t thought I would get the better of him eventually.”
“Youknowthis is a problem for you, Scott,” I say, as I slump against the edge of the desk. My fingers rise automatically,beginning to braid my ponytail in a familiar rhythm. “How could you do this with Flynn’s money, with the club’s money?”
