I lifted my chin. "Are you saying it wasn't the reason?"
His gaze met mine, and his tone softened. "You know it wasn't."
Okay, maybe I was being unfair. Even through my anger, I realized that he'd forced me to work today in order to keep me from away from all the trouble surrounding Cassidy's mom.
But I hadn't asked him to rescue me. In fact, I hadn't asked for anything. And I certainly wasn't going to start today.
I muttered, "Well, whatever the reason, it's too late to change it now, so…" I gave a loose shrug and didn't bother finishing the sentence. After all, what could I say?
Our last real conversation had been on Wednesday. And even that had been an argument more than anything. Since then, both of us had been professional to a fault.
No looks.
No smiles.
No talk of plans for the weekend.
Now, it was the weekend.
And I just knew it was going to be a bad one, because if I didn't get my emotions in-check, I'd surely lose it.
The executive suite was very quiet, with just the two of us facing off in my private office.
Normally, I'd be all excited, wondering what we'd end up doing, or where we'd be doing it. Now, I just wanted to leave before I made a fool of myself.
He reached back and shut my office door. "What is it?"
I shrugged. "What's what?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I repeated. "I'm just focused on my work, that's all."
At this, his voice grew eerily quiet. "Bullshit."
For some reason, this set me off. I pushed back my chair and stood. "You know what's bullshit?" I said. "You."
Chapter 55
I hadn't meant to say it, but now that it was out there, I couldn’t exactly take it back.
He looked annoyingly calm in the face of my wrath. "Yeah? How so?"
"Well, for one thing…" I bit my lip. There were so many things I wanted to say, but all of them were way too personal, especially considering that Jaden and I were nothing more than a fling.
In a flash of inspiration, I suddenly recalled something that he'd done a few months earlier – not to me, but to someone I cared about.
I gave him a challenging look. "There was that thing with Cassidy's job."
"What thing?"
"Oh, please," I said. "You know what. You stopped Jax from hiring her."
"If you're talking about your job, she did that to herself."
"I'm not talking about my job. I'm talking about a different job."
"Yeah? And what job's that?"
"I don't know," I said, "because she didn't get it."
I waited for a reply, and when none came, I sighed. "Aren't you gonna say something?"
"No. Because I don't know what you're talking about."
I felt my jaw tighten. Did I seriously need to spell it out?
Fine. If that's what he wanted.
Speaking very clearly and concisely, I said, "I heard that Jax wanted to offer her a job here. At corporate. But you talked him out of it."
"Yeah? So?"
I stared at him. "So, don’t you feel bad?"
"Hell no."
"Oh, well that's nice." I wasn't even sure what I'd been expecting, but this wasn't it. "So I guess you're pretty proud of yourself, huh?"
"Proud? No. But I don't regret it."
"Why not?"
"Lemme ask you something. You think she would've liked that? Working here? In this building?"
"Well, it would've been better than waitressing."
He gave a low scoff. "You know her mom's a hooker, right?"
I was glaring now. Her mom wasn't a streetwalker or anything, but yeah, she definitely got paid for it. But that was beside the point. "That has nothing to do with Cassidy."
"I never said it did."
"Then why'd you bring it up?"
"Because I met her mom, remember?"
I did remember, even if I hadn't been there myself. But Cassidy had told me the whole story about Jax and Jaden rescuing her from whatever her mom had in mind. The way it sounded, Cassidy was just one limo-drive away from being forced into the family business.
I was still trying to think of a sharp comeback when Jaden said, "Your friend – does she want that?"
Un-freaking-believable. "What, to be a prostitute?"
Jaden gave me a look. "No. To be employed by my brother."
"Oh." I paused. "Well why wouldn't she want that?" Even as I said it, it wasn't lost on me that I still hadn't told Cassidy who owned the restaurant where she worked.
For her sake, I didn't plan on telling her either.
But that was totally different.
Wasn't it?
Jaden gave me a hard look. "You tell me."
"Why she wouldn't want a job here?" I gave a tight shrug. "I can't tell you, because I don't know."
He stepped closer. "Yes, you do."
Damn it.
Maybe he was right. Maybe Cassidy would've hated working for Jax, even in a roundabout way. But I was in no mood to admit it, and besides, Jaden had been awful from the get-go.
I made a sound of annoyance. "Oh, like you care."
"I care about my brother."
"Oh yeah? Well I care about Cassidy. And maybe if you cared so much about your brother, you'd realize how lucky he'd be to have her working here." I straightened in my seat. "And you'd be lucky, too."
"You think, huh?"
"Yes. I do. They're great together." My voice rose. "What, you think she's not good enough for him? Because of her mom? Is that it?"
Jaden gave a bitter laugh, but said nothing in reply.
I waited for him to explain, and when he didn't, I demanded, "What's so funny?"
In spite of the laughter, he looked anything but amused. "You think I give two shits about her family? Or what she came from?"
"Well, you obviously do, or you wouldn’t have brought it up."
"No. I brought it up to make a point."
"Oh yeah? And what point is that?"
"Make that two points."
"Fine," I snapped. "Go ahead. I'm all ears."
"One," he said. "He doesn't want her as an employee, and mixing that up wouldn't've been good for either one of them."
The explanation – truthful or not – stung. It shouldn’t have. But it wasn't lost on me that Jaden and I had been mixing up business and pleasure for quite a while now.
And it wasn't working out, at least not for me. Not anymore.
I crossed my arms. "And the second point?"
"We both know why I made you work today."
"Oh, really? Why?"
"So you'd stay the fuck away from that nut-job." His voice hardened. "And her pimp."
The so-called pimp was the boyfriend of Cassidy's mom. Oh sure, she called him her boyfriend, but it was beyond obvious that it was more of a business thing.
And the way it sounded, the business was expanding.
Still, I said, "But it wasn't your call. And besides, I can handle myself just fine."
"No," he said. "You think you can handle yourself fine, but that smart mouth of yours gets you into trouble."
I stood. "Hey! I've been the epitome of self-control."
He gave me a dubious look. "Is that so?"
It was – except when it came to him. The whole time I'd been working here, I'd shown a surprising amount of restraint, even as I'd been snubbed and insulted by practically everyone in the building.
There were friendly greetings that went unanswered, conversations that grew quiet when I entered the room, friendships that were destroyed in infancy by whatever Darla was saying behind my back.
And yet, through all of this, I'd maintained my professionalism, no matter how much it bothered me. Lately, it had been bothering me more and more, even though I tried not to show it.
I smiled when I wanted to frown. I greeted coworkers who seldom replied. I'd kept my chin up for months now in spite of the fact that Darla and her minions w
ere obviously trying to drive me out.
But that wasn't the thing eating at me now. It was the one aspect where I'd shown zero self-control – him.
I had to be honest. A lot of this – cripes, maybe all of this – was my own fault.
I heard myself say, "You're right."
His gaze grew wary. In a careful voice, he said, "Alright. What's the catch?"
"Nothing. I just said you're right." I gave a hard scoff. "But trust me, I can do better." I sat back down and edged my chair closer the desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do."
He didn't budge. "No, you don't."
I gave him a thin smile. "What are you saying? I'm dismissed for the day?"
His jaw clenched. "This isn't about work."
"Yeah, well, it is from now on."
His voice grew quiet. "What?"
"Our little fling – or whatever it is – it's over." Unable to stop myself, I stood again. By now, I felt like a jack in the box – up and down one too many times, just like my emotions. With a muttered curse, I grabbed my purse and then my phone. "I'm done."
He still made no move to leave my office. Rather, he merely stood there, looking at me like I'd just slapped him silly. "You serious?"
"Dead serious." I lifted my chin. "So if you wanna fire me, now's the time."
He looked at me like I was a crazy person. "What the hell? You think I'd fire you because…" He shook his head, but never finished the thought.
That was fine by me. In my current frame of mind, I was more than happy to finish it for him. "…because we're not gonna 'fuck'? That is how you put it, right?"
His voice was barely a whisper. "Allie."
It hurt to hear my name on his lips. I pushed aside the pain and said, "So if you're gonna fire me, you might as well tell me now so I can grab all of my stuff and go."
"You know it's not like that."
Maybe I did know. But I was in no mood to be fair. "So I'm not fired? Is that what you're saying?"
He shoved a hand through his hair. "You really think I'd fire you?" For the second time in thirty seconds, he murmured, "What the hell?"
"Great," I said, shouldering my way past him. "See you Monday."
I didn't look back, even as I strode out of the suite and then all the way to the parking garage, where the truck was waiting in its usual spot. I cried most of the way home, hating myself for every sniffle.
Life had been so much simpler when I hated him.
Regardless, I was officially done, at least with the personal stuff. And I meant it, too.
Jaden was my boss. But that's all he was. Now, I just needed to remember that.
Unfortunately, this became harder as the weekend rolled on, especially on Sunday night, when Cassidy dropped a new bombshell that only added to my confusion.
Chapter 56
As the weekend crawled to a close, I was utterly exhausted from trying to pretend that everything was okay.
It wasn't okay.
If I were lying to myself, I'd blame it on new drama with Cassidy's mom or the fact that I'd barely slept a wink.
But the truth was, without Jaden, the weekend had felt long and empty, in spite of the fact that he'd called me at least half a dozen times.
I hadn't answered, and he'd left no messages.
Maybe I should've answered, but I knew the folly of that. We'd either argue or end up naked in each other's arms. Knowing us, we'd do both.
I couldn't let that happen, not if I wanted crawl out of the hole that I'd dug for myself. This was, after all, my own fault.
All along, I'd known exactly what he was. Cripes, he'd even warned me up-front, telling me in his own words, "I don't do relationships".
But had I listened?
No.
Now, my stomach churned at the certainty that I couldn't avoid him forever. Tomorrow was Monday, which meant that I'd almost surely be seeing him in less than twelve hours.
With a pang, I remembered that it would've been my turn to leave something silly on his desk – assuming that Morgan wasn't already there, lying nearly naked in wait, like she'd been doing on Friday night.
Now, I couldn’t help but wonder if Jaden had seen her at all. He hadn't mentioned anything on Saturday, and neither had I – only because we'd spent our limited time arguing about other things.
I was so lost in my murky thoughts that I practically jumped out of my skin when Cassidy burst through the apartment door and said, "You won't believe what just happened."
She looked flushed and happy, like someone in love. This was no wonder, considering that she'd spent most of the weekend with Jax. Oh sure, there'd been some rocky moments with her mom, but it was easy to see that their time together had ended on a fairly high note.
Refusing to rain on her parade, I summoned up a smile. "Something happened? What was it?"
"You'll have to see it to believe it." And then, she practically dragged me outside, where a brand new vehicle was sitting in our driveway.
It was a little purple sports car – a gift to Cassidy from Jax. Apparently, he'd just bought it today.
I couldn’t help but stare. "But it's a Sunday night."
Cassidy blew out a long, unsteady breath. "Yeah, I know."
"So, what happened?" I asked. "Did a dealership open up just for you or something?"
"Pretty much."
I gave a low whistle. "Wow."
"Yeah. No kidding."
"Sooooo…" I gave Cassidy a sideways glance. "Did you guys…"
"No." She sighed. "Not even close."
I turned to study her face. "You're kidding."
"I wish."
"Well, that's weird." I wasn't even sure what surprised me more – that he'd bought her a car, or that she'd actually let him. Normally, Cassidy was self-sufficient to a fault.
There had to be more to this story.
Next to me, she was saying, "Get this. He said the car was for him, not me."
I tried to think. "Oh. So it's like a loaner or something?"
"Not like that," she said. And then, she went on to tell me in a roundabout way that Jax had bought her the car so he wouldn't be worried for her safety.
Apparently, he'd seriously lost his cool earlier today when he'd discovered that she'd taken a ride share to his house.
On this, I agreed with Jax. In truth, I was more than a little horrified that Cassidy had done such a thing. I said, "You didn't seriously?"
"Do what? Take a ride-share? Yeah. I mean, people do it all the time, right?"
"Sure," I said. "But you shouldn't, not here, anyway."
"Why not?"
With a little shudder, I recalled that incident with her mom and the limo. With as crazy as things were, Cassidy shouldn’t be riding anywhere with any stranger, especially given her mom's connections.
I said, "Because your mom's pimp—"
She stiffened. "He's not a pimp."
Yes. He was. But it was useless to argue. Already, Cassidy and I had argued way too much about the monster that was her mom.
I tried again. "Fine. Your mom's 'boyfriend' is big into that sort of thing. He's got that limo company, the taxi service, and he's a partial owner in that local ride-share, too."
Cassidy blinked. "He is?"
"Yeah. You didn't know?"
"No. I didn't."
"He's bad news," I said, "especially for you." As I talked, I realized that I sounded an awful lot like Jaden, who'd given me a similar lecture about the very same topic.
But this was totally different. After all, no one had tried to drag me into the world's oldest profession, thank God.
Cassidy asked, "Why me?"
"Hello?" I gave her a look. "He was trying to recruit you."
Cassidy frowned. "Technically, my mom was trying to recruit me."
I almost rolled my eyes. As if that was an improvement.
Still, over the next few minutes, I tried to drive the point home that Cassidy needed to be a lot more careful. She was gorgeous and vul
nerable, too, especially since she was new the area and had no way of knowing who was connected to whom.
I was still making the point when Cassidy said, "But forget that. Wait 'til you hear what Jax and Jaden did."
Now, that made me pause. "They did something?"
"Oh yeah." She gave a humorous laugh. "And, they did it in ski masks."
My stomach lurched. "Ski masks?"
Chapter 57
We were still in the driveway, and I was still staring. Cassidy nodded. "Yeah, remember this morning, when you told me that Jaden had left a ski mask on your desk?"
I did remember. She'd been telling me about her date with Jax, and I'd been too down in the dumps to be decent company.
I'd tried my best to hide it, but had failed miserably. When she'd asked me what was wrong, I'd offered up some half-baked complaint that Jaden was always leaving stuff on my desk, including that ski mask on Friday night.
It was hardly the whole story, but lying by omission seemed a lot kinder than crying on Cassidy's shoulder, especially when she had more than enough problems of her own.
I gave a tight nod. "Yeah, I remember."
"Well," she said, "they went over to my mom's place and…" She bit her lip. "I'm not sure how to put this, but they, uh..." She paused, like she simply couldn’t find the words.
Now I was dying to know. "They what?"
"Well, you know how Dominic's in the hospital?"
Her mom's boyfriend?
I had heard something to that effect. In fact, just last night, Cassidy's mom had called repeatedly to complain about it. But she was such a drama queen that I hardly ever took her seriously.
Last night had been no exception.
Next to me, Cassidy still hadn't replied to my question.
"Well?" I said. "What happened?"
She cleared her throat. "They, um, put him there."
They?
Meaning Jax and Jaden?
I felt myself swallow. "What do you mean?"
As I listened, Cassidy went on to tell me that on Friday night, the two brothers had apparently lurked outside her mom's apartment and jumped Dominic – that pimp of a boyfriend – when he'd ventured outside.
As she talked, I tried to put everything into context – the mask, the brothers, the fact that Jaden had made no effort to see me on Friday night.
One Bad Idea: A Billionaire Loathing-to-Love Romance Page 24