Indulge

by E. B. Walters

  A different front desk manager was on duty and couldn’t tell Lex what the cops or their internal investigators had learned about the poisoning. The call to Jocelyn’s room went unanswered. He’d called before he spoke to Douglas, and his assistant had said she was in.

  Lex left her a note and was walking away when a petite redhead waved to him. She couldn’t be more than twenty and was red-faced as though she’d been running.

  “Mr. Fitzgerald,” she called in a breathless voice, and Lex stopped. Like Jocelyn, she had an uppercrust British accent. “My name is Marta Ellis, Ms. Grayson’s assistant. She’d like to see you.”

  Lex frowned. “I was told she wasn’t in her room.”

  “She didn’t want to be disturbed, until she realized it was you. Please, come with me. She really needs to see you, sir.”

  Lex followed the girl to the elevator. She stared straight ahead, but he felt the nervous energy coming from her. The last time he’d seen Jocelyn, she’d had a different assistant. She changed them often.

  The elevator opened, and he followed Ms. Ellis to one of the suites. Jocelyn opened the door, and the first thing he noticed were the rivets of red coloring the whites of her eyes. She had been crying. She was also wearing a robe as though she’d been in bed. It was barely six.

  “Lex, dahling. What a surprise. Come inside.” She reached up and kissed his cheek, then stepped back. “Looks like you’ve recovered from last night.”

  He ignored the dig at last night’s binge drinking. “What’s wrong?”

  She chuckled. “You never mince words, do you? Ellis, two martinis. Dry with extra olives.” The girl scurried away.

  Jocelyn knew him, including his favorite drinks. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she’d planned all this. Opening the door in a silk gown and a robe that left very little to the imagination. Looking vulnerable because she had been crying. He’d confided in her that he couldn’t stand to see a woman in tears. And of course, his favorite aperitif with extra olives, just like he liked it. He wasn’t going to stay long.

  She indicated the couch then took the chair adjacent to it. The smile she gave him was wobbly as though her tears weren’t far away.

  He scooted closer and rested his elbows on his knees, his eyes not leaving her face. “Talk to me.”

  Her eyes welled, and she made a disgusted sound as though annoyed and lifted her chin. She blinked her eyes repeatedly. “I feel ridiculous breaking down like this.”

  “We knew each other for years before we started sleeping together,” he said calmly. “I’d like to think we are friends and you can still talk to me if you have problems.”

  She gave him a wobbly smile. “Your directness is one quality I’ve always admired about you, Lex. The other is the ability to make problems seem insignificant.”

  He took her hand. “What happened?”

  “It’s Grandaddy,” she said, sounding both annoyed and hurt. “I came to the U.S. to close an important deal in Silicon Valley, but it fell through. We were outbid by a Dutch rival company. He’s livid.”

  Lex was a good listener, and she loved to vent about her grandfather. The old man might have started way before his time in the electronic industry, but he was now a dinosaur. Without Jocelyn, Grayson Inc. would have gone under years ago. He was also old school. He believed that one was only as good as their last deal. Jocelyn’s father had refused to live under his thumb and walked away, leaving Jocelyn behind. With her mother dead, Jocelyn was all the man had, something he kept forgetting. Usually, she never failed to close a deal.

  “I was distracted and didn’t realize the Dutch had two teams. I don’t plan to go home empty-handed.” Her assistant handed her a glass. “Thanks, dahling. I’ll stick around for one more week before heading home.”

  Her assistant miscalculated the distance between their hands, or maybe she was just nervous, something he’d noticed in the elevator. The glass dropped, the cold liquid drenching Lex’s shirt and pants.

  “I’m so sorry… so sorry…” the girl wailed.

  Lex jumped up, lifting the shirt off his skin. The damn olives slid down his shirt. “It’s okay.”

  “You, silly girl,” Jocelyn snapped, getting up too. “Get a towel.”

  “It’s fine,” Lex tried to reassure her. “This will wash off.”

  “The shirt is ruined, Lex,” Jocelyn said.

  Lex yanked the tails from his pants and removed the offending olives. He shrugged off his jacket just as Ellis returned with a towel. Both he and Jocelyn reached for it. He dabbed at his chest, wishing he could just leave. She’d seemed so vulnerable at the party, and his protective instinct had appeared. Still, coming here had been a stupid idea. What had he hoped to accomplish anyway? Jocelyn was a big girl who could deal with her ex getting hitched.

  He realized she was unbuttoning his shirt, all the time cursing her clumsy assistant. “All this is unnecessary, Jocelyn. I wasn’t planning on staying for long.”

  “You cannot leave wearing wet pants and a wet shirt, Lex. Get a bathrobe, Ellis.” The girl disappeared into the bathroom. “There’s a Domenico Vacca store downstairs, and I just happen to know the woman who runs it. She’ll find you a shirt.” She grinned. “Don’t look at me like that. If I wanted to get you naked, I wouldn’t resort to spilling a drink on you or drugging you. And I would definitely not let you keep your pants.” She grinned, reminding him of their times together. She tugged his shirt and helped him remove it.

  Ellis returned with a bathrobe, and Jocelyn snatched it, then shoved the shirt in her hand. “Go downstairs and tell the concierge to take you to Sasha. Tell her you need a shirt. Show her that one so you don’t get the wrong size.” She turned to Lex and grinned. “This brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

  He chuckled, tying the sash.

  “I’ll get you a drink, and then you can tell me why you came to visit me on the eve of your wedding. Oh, and I want to hear about last night. Did the doctor tell you what drugs those girls slipped you? You were out so fast they had to be powerful.”

  Lex frowned. What the hell was she talking about? “What drugs?”

  “The ones the girls at Sloan’s party put in your drink.” She came back with the drinks and handed him his. “Didn’t they tell you?”

  Lex put his drink down without touching it and searched her face, conversations he’d heard with his friends flashing through his head. “No. My memories from last night are sketchy at best. I remember arriving with Dom. Then you and I talked briefly before rejoining the party.”

  “We ate, drank, and watched the women dance. Then came the lap dancers. You had two, one in front and the other in the back.”

  He recalled a girl, but Jillian had replaced her.

  “Others were entertaining your friends, too. You kissed the dancer, got up with her, and left the room. The other dancer followed. A few minutes later, we heard a scream and a bump from your room. The guys stormed in and found you out cold on the floor.”

  How could he not remember any of this? “You sure Jillian didn’t replace the lap dancer?”

  “No, dahling. Jillian came later. You were hallucinating. The drugs’ side effect, the doctor said.”

  “Doctor?”

  “Sloan called one, and Rake picked him up while Dom interrogated the girls then got them off the island with the others.” Jocelyn sipped her drink and shook her head. “I can’t believe they didn’t tell you.”

  What the fuck was wrong with his friends? How dare they hide this from him and call Jillian? She must have seen him out cold. What explanation did they give her? He didn’t want to think of this as betrayal because they’d been through so much shit together, but they’d better have a damn good explanation for keeping him in the dark.

  “Then what happened?”

  “You didn’t just sink into oblivion right away,” Jocelyn said. “You were restless, probably fighting the effects of the drugs. I did what I could to calm you down. Jillian arrived just when you completely l
ost consciousness. The rest you know.”

  No, he didn’t know. He couldn’t remember a damn thing, except Jillian giving him a lap dance and waking up beside her in the morning. Of course, that had been an illusion. The girl had looked and smelled just like Jillian. No wonder Jillian had asked him if he was okay and who she was the next morning. She’d known. Why hadn’t she said anything?

  Lex was caught between asking for more details and just shutting up.

  “She didn’t tell you, did she?” Jocelyn asked and reached for his hand. “I’m sure she has her reasons to be quiet, Lex. Personally, I wouldn’t want to keep something that big from you. I hate secrets. They erode trust. I mean, those girls could have been planning to blackmail you or something even worse.” She searched his face as though trying to read his reaction. “I wish I knew what happened afterward so I could tell you. Jillian wasn’t too happy about my presence. She threw a drink in my face and told me to leave when I was only trying to help.”

  Lex didn’t like the way she was harping on Jillian. Jillian was only guilty of going along with his friends. Chances were they forced her to.

  “I didn’t really blame her, you know. I wouldn’t want to see my fiancé in another woman’s arms either.”

  Yet she hadn’t said anything. He didn’t know how he felt about that. He needed to make calls. The door opened, and her assistant appeared with a shirt.

  “I’m sorry you had to hear it from me, Lex,” Jocelyn said, squeezing his hand.

  “It’s okay.” He removed his hand from hers, stood, and indicated impatiently to her assistant to give him the shirt. Jocelyn was still talking, but he tuned her out as he got rid of the robe and shrugged on the shirt. “I have to go.” He reached for his jacket.

  “But you never told me why you came to see me,” Jocelyn said, eyes searching his.

  “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He closed the gap between them and gripped her hands. “I hope you close the new deal, and next time you are in town, give me a call. We could grab dinner or something.”

  She smiled. “Oh. I’d love that.”

  He dropped a kiss on her cheek and shrugged on the jacket on his way to the door. He yanked it open, turned, and gave her a brief smile, then continued to the elevator. Lex was already dialing Sloan’s number.

  “What happened last night?” Lex asked, his voice calm.

  Sloan groaned. “You’re not cursing.”

  “Would it make you feel better if I did?” Lex asked.

  “Yes. You only curse when mildly irritated. When pissed, you are scary calm.”

  “I’m puzzled by why my friends would hide something this big from me.” The elevator opened, and Lex entered. The couple inside stared at him with wide eyes. “Why involve Jillian when you should protect her from such ugliness?”

  Sloan sighed. “You know how I often hire girls from Serenade Lodge for my parties? Warwick’s people got to two of the dancers, paid them five grand to drug you and take pictures.”

  Blood drained from Lex’s head. “Go on.”

  “We deleted them. The girls he used weren’t your average party girls. They followed his instructions to the letter, which included taking the damn pictures and hiring two male dancers to go to Jillian’s bachelorette party at Eros.”

  Lex almost tripped getting out of the elevator. “Are you saying the dancers…?”

  “At Jillian’s party were working for Warwick’s people,” Sloan finished. “The girl sent one of them the pictures, and he showed them to Jillian.”

  Lex stopped walking, white-hot rage flashing through him. The son of a bitch. “I see.”

  “You were out when I received a call from my sister that Jillian kneed the man and destroyed his phone before the women could see the pictures. Troy took the phone after subduing the men and removed the sim card.”

  Lex cut through the foyer without seeing the guests milling around as Sloan continued talking. He explained Jillian demanding to see him and Rake flying her to the island.

  “You should have seen her, Fitz. My doctor tried to come up with excuses, but she wasn’t having any of it. She wanted the toxicology results done and refused to take no for an answer. She was amazing. I want my own Jillian. A woman willing to kick ass for me.”

  Would she be willing to lie to protect him, too? His gut told him yes. He wasn’t thrilled about it, but he could see her doing it.

  Lex adjusted the phone piece and pulled away from the Montage. A car started and eased behind him. He kept an eye on it. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he could swear it was following him. Instead of going directly home, he took a detour and kept an eye on the black SUV.

  “Then she wanted to know more about Warwick,” Sloan continued. “I’m afraid I cannot refuse your future wife anything. I’m not sure which one is more potent. The way she stares you down and won’t take no for an answer or the utter disappointment on her face when you don’t give in to her request. So we talked.”

  He’d been at the receiving end of both looks. They were both potent. Lex slowed down and pulled into a gas station. The driver of the SUV pulled ahead, slowed down, and entered the gas station across from his. He definitely had a tail. Warwick’s people? Too bad Douglas wasn’t around.

  “Why the hell did you decide to keep me out of the loop? We made a pact to always deal honestly with each other.”

  “I’m to blame,” Sloan said. “I figured you didn’t want to deal with Warwick now. You know, your wedding tomorrow, honeymoon, and of course, the deal next week. You want to kick my ass, go ahead,” he added.

  Sloan was a terrible liar. Always had been. He just made a slip by mentioning next week’s deal. None of his friends knew about it. He was also the only one in their group who didn’t curse. “How did you convince Jillian to go along with your crazy plan?”

  “I’m charming.”

  “It was her idea, wasn’t it?”

  “No-oo. All mine.”

  “What did she do? Twist your arm? Cry? Not telling me hasn’t stopped Warwick’s people,” Lex added, his eyes on the SUV.

  “Actually, her concern was for you. Hmm, how did she put it? She doesn’t want you worrying about Warwick on your wedding or during your honeymoon because these are supposed to be fun, relaxed, and memorable. She also mentioned the important business deal next week that needed you to be on top of your game. So she asked me not to tell you anything until after the deal was done. Did I mention that I think I’m falling in love with her?”

  “She’s mine.” In every way. She had his back, his heart, his body, and his soul.

  “You’re a lucky man, Fitz.”

  “I know. We need to follow the money trail and sever the connection to Warwick. Without financial backing, his network will collapse. Tell Lucien and Cade to step up their game. ”

  Sloan laughed. “Jillian already told them the same thing, only she was nicer and more effective. They already have a lead.”

  “Good. I gotta go now. See you tomorrow.” He terminated the call and called his cousin. “Are you at my place?”

  “On my way there,” Eddie said. “Amy forgot Raelyn’s special bracelet. I just dropped it off. What’s up?”

  “I need a favor.” Lex quickly explained what he wanted, then sat back and waited. One phone call from Eddie should do the trick.

  Less than five minutes later, wailing sirens filled the air. Then two squad cars converged on the SUV, lights blazing. Lex watched the scene unfold—the cops ordering the two men to step out with their arms up then questioning them. Eddie arrived at the scene and spoke briefly with his former colleagues. Then something happened that had Lex cursing—the two men lowered their arms, shook Eddie’s hand, then went back inside their SUV. By the time Lex parked beside his cousin’s car, the cops had pulled away.

  “What’s going on?” Lex asked, so furious he wanted to punch someone.

  The corners of Eddie’s lips twitched. “These are Douglas’ men. They are, uh, keeping an eye on you, bi
g guy.”

  Damn! That should have been his first conclusion. Paranoia was starting to kick in because of Warwick. “If you dare laugh…” Lex warned and walked past his cousin who didn’t contain his mirth. Lex spoke briefly with the two men, then followed his cousin back to the penthouse.

  ~*~

  As far as Jillian was concerned, the evening went downhill after her confrontation with Vivian. The women’s incessant chatter irritated her. The children’s high squeals hurt her ears. And Vivian’s presence grated on her nerves. The bitch should have just left after their showdown.

  She didn’t appear moved when the others teared up when Jillian came downstairs in her wedding dress and the family heirlooms her grandmother had passed on to her. She even walked with them to the north lawn as they rehearsed the wedding procession with poor Douglas standing in for Lex and Troy for her father. The only time the children calmed down was during their practice walk. Three of the Fitzgerald grandchildren joined Sophia and came behind the ring bearer—Jade’s little boy, Sean.

  Estelle and her grandmother’s excitement made the evening bearable. Both women had sent wedding announcements to their local society newspapers and shared anecdotes from their weddings. As she listened to them, Jillian wished she could escape to her room. Their anecdotes only reminded her that her wedding wasn’t going to be perfect. Every last one of them had known that their man loved them before they walked down the aisle. Lex hadn’t said he loved her, and there was a psycho out there determined to ruin her wedding.

  “Tired?” her grandmother asked.

  Jillian smiled. She was, but she didn’t want to spoil everyone’s evening by leaving. Her grandmother was enjoying herself and so were her in-laws. Even Sophia had bonded with the younger kids and was watching something in the home theater.

  “I’m okay, Grandma.”

  “No, you look exhausted. I think it’s time for the bride-to-be to retire,” her grandmother said, raising her voice. No one argued. “And I should be heading back to the hotel. Thank you for an enjoyable evening, Estelle.”