by Vivian Gray
Before getting out of the car, I checked my surroundings for anything obviously out of the ordinary. And then, just to be safe, I grabbed my gun from the glove compartment and stashed it in my suit jacket. I hadn’t shot anyone in a long time, but I wouldn’t hesitate if someone came at me.
However, I made it to the door without incident and ripped the note down. The paper had been torn from a spiral notebook, and it had two words written on it in black sharpie:
Call me
Below that was a hastily drawn Jackals emblem.
Angel.
An arrow had been painting on the door in some kind of sticky brown paint. I followed it to the side of the porch where a crudely wrapped box sat beneath a bush. Carefully, I peeled back the flaps to reveal a mound of fur. For a moment, I wondered whether Jasper had delivered a mink scarf to my door, but then the smell hit me.
Death.
I didn’t need to look any further to know the animal was dead. I scooped up the box, holding it as far away from my body as possible, and walked it to the dumpster next to the garage. Clearly, I was going to need to deal with Angel sooner rather than later, and when I did, I’d kill him.
Chapter Twelve
Marin
Work became more and more unbearable. The waitresses wouldn’t even look at me, though they all fell over themselves to greet Jasper every time he came into the restaurant, which was becoming more and more frequently. Kayla stopped talking to me at work as well and responded in concise sentences at the apartment. At first, I’d tried to make her tell me what was wrong, but as time went on, the answer was obvious.
Kayla, along with the rest of the waitresses at Jasper’s Grill, was jealous.
They were jealous of my fake relationship with our boss/motorcycle club leader. I wished I could tell them how willing I was to switch places with them. I wanted nothing more than for my biggest worries in life to be going to school and taking care of my siblings. Jasper had made good on his promise to take care of my family by passing along enough cash for new clothes and plenty of groceries, but we’d been going out every night, and I hadn’t been able to actually see my siblings in a few weeks.
We went to galas and business lunches and newly opened restaurants and, one night, the premiere of a documentary about gun violence. (I chanced looks at Jasper throughout the whole thing to see whether he was keyed into the irony of the situation.) And somehow, people cared enough to share our pictures online.
One of the few times Kayla had actually talked to me was to show me the headline in a local gossip blog:
Jasper Black and Do-gooder Girlfriend Get Cozy at Documentary Premiere
“Wow, I can’t believe someone cares enough about my boring life to write about it,” I said, excited to finally have a conversation with my best friend.
My modesty must have come off rather false, though, because she only rolled her eyes and went
back to eating her oatmeal.
In all fairness, life with Jasper was anything but boring. Even though I asked him not to, he kept showing up to our dates with extravagant gifts in the form of flowers and clothes and jewelry – he replaced the fake gold necklace he’d broken with a real gold one. We’d attend events, drinking the finest alcohol and eating food I’d only heard mentioned on cooking shows, and then most nights, we’d end up back at his house. I told myself every night that I wasn’t going to sleep with him, but then he’d put his hands on me, and I’d turn to putty.
We had sex in his kitchen, in his bed, in the guest room, and one night we didn’t even make it past the entryway. He would rip his way through my clothes and shove himself into me, and though it was rough, he awakened something inside of me. An animalistic side I’d never tapped into before. I tried hard to deny it, but I felt chemically attracted to him, as if something in my blood gave me a predisposition to having phenomenal sex with him.
Still, the lies ate away at me. I wanted nothing more than to tell Kayla the truth. I’d never been the kind of person who had a lot of friends, but Kayla had been my person. Though we were almost nothing alike, she gave the best advice and listened to my complaints. But now, I couldn’t talk to her, and even if I could have explained everything going on, she wouldn’t have wanted to listen. The last few weeks with Jasper had driven a wedge between us.
“Those girls are boring anyway,” Jasper said, stretching out next to me on the bed, his strong arm bent beneath his head.
We’d just finished having particularly rough sex – I could already feel bruises forming on my hip bones – and Jasper, in a rare moment of compassion, had asked how things were back at the apartment. I’d complained to him only once before about how the other waitresses had been treating me, and he’d snapped.
“There is much more at stake than your popularity. Deal with it and don’t tell anyone about our arrangement.”
His harshness had caught me off guard and ensured I would stay quiet on the topic of my relationship with the other waitresses. Now, though, he brought up the topic as though it were no big deal, and I tried to match his casual demeanor.
“She is not boring! You just don’t know her,” I said. Kayla was the least boring person I knew. If he thought she was boring, I must be the human equivalent of watching paint dry.
Jasper dismissed me with a lazy wave. “I know women like her. Trust me, she’s boring. All of those waitresses are shallow. Insipid. Trite.”
“What are you, a thesaurus?” I asked, laughing despite myself. “Plus, I am one of those waitresses, so I take offense to your comments.”
Jasper rolled over, the sheet only barely covering him, and lifted himself onto one elbow. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”
“About what?”
“About you being a waitress.”
“What? Like, how to be a waitress?” I joked. “It’s very easy. You just have to learn how to stack hot plates up your arms and not rage-throw beer in a man’s face when he “accidentally” grabs your ass.”
Jasper’s eyes widened. “Does that happen a lot?”
I nodded. “Way more than you’d think.”
“You should have pointed them out to me, and I would have kicked them out.”
“But then who would I serve food to?” It was a joke, but also true. The number of scummy men I’d encountered while working at the grill had nearly ruined men for me forever.
“You’re distracting me,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you about your future employment.”
I knew where this conversation was headed. I’d been broken up with by enough men to recognize the tone of rejection. “Are you firing me?”
He laughed. “No. Would you shut up and listen to me for a second?”
I resisted the urge to speak again and zipped my lips closed with my fingers, throwing the imaginary key over my shoulder.
“You’ve been having a hard time with the waitresses, and it is becoming pretty obvious. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a good work environment for you or anyone else. Tension isn’t great for morale.”
“It isn’t my fault—”
He held up a hand to silence me. “I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that you are the cause.”
“It could actually be argued that you’re the cause,” I said. He glared at me, and I held up my hands in surrender. “Sorry.”
He sighed. “I’ve been thinking about placing a higher priority on my charitable giving.”
If I’d been taking a drink, I would have spat it out everywhere. “Excuse me?”
“Being seen with you has been good for business. There are a lot fewer articles about my supposed illegal side businesses, and more and more families are coming into the restaurant. So, I figure the next best thing to being seen with a do-gooder,” he said, repeating the descriptor every article seemed to label me with, “is to become a do-gooder myself.”
If someone had told me a few weeks before that I would lie in Jasper Black’s bed and talk with him about donating to charity, I would
have pointed them in the direction of the nearest asylum. But I was definitely not insane, and it was definitely happening.
I sat there trying to wrap my head around everything, and then remembered how the conversation had started. “Wait, what does this have to do with me?”
“Well, since you won’t accept free money, and you are an inherently charitable person, I thought perhaps you could be my charity consultant.”
I recognized each individual word, but couldn’t seem to grasp their meaning. “Charity consultant?”
He nodded, readjusting the sheet around his waist, so even more of his toned midsection was exposed. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I’ll give you a budget and let you spend the money however you see fit. It will be a great way to engage with the community, and there is nothing people love more than a rich man who donates his money.”
“I’ve never run a charity though. I’ve only ever donated my time, and that was only to a few places that would look good on a resume. I’m not exactly altruistic.”
“Look who you’re talking to!” He laughed. “Compared to me, you are like Mother Teresa and Gandhi’s love child.”
I shook my head. “I think that’s blasphemy or something.”
“See! I need you to tell me things like that. Please do it?”
He needed me? Jasper Black didn’t need anybody, least of all me. But still, the idea was flattering. Plus, I’d been dreading going to work every day, and working with charities was the dream job I didn’t know I had. For so long, I’d been wondering where things with Jasper were headed.
I’d grown up believing that there was a predetermined plan for your life, but everything with Jasper had felt like a nightmarish side story. I’d lied to my friends and family, and the attraction I felt towards him only made things worse. What did it say about me that I could ever like someone like him? But now everything made sense. I was meant to accept this job.
I nodded. “Sure, I’ll do it.”
***
“You can’t quit,” Kayla said the moment I’d told her about the charity consultant position.
“I’m not quitting. I’m being promoted,” I said. “Jasper wants some help deciding where to donate, and he wants me to make those decisions.”
“You’re a waitress; you don’t know anything about dealing with a budget.”
“Thanks so much for your support,” I said, slamming the fridge closed. I’d been standing in front of it, door open, looking for something to eat for ten minutes, but suddenly I wasn’t hungry. This was the first real conversation I’d had with Kayla in weeks, and it was a fight. Not exactly what I’d been hoping for.
“I’m not trying to be mean; I’m trying to be honest,” she said, a nervous finger twirling in her dark hair. “You don’t think it’s weird that he’d give you such an important position?”
“First, it’s donating money to charity, not exactly rocket science. Second, I don’t think it’s weird. I’m his girlfriend, after all.” The lie tasted bitter on my tongue, but I couldn’t stand another second of Kayla talking down to me.
She rolled her eyes. “You are not his girlfriend. What do you really even know about him aside from how good he is in the sack? You two are dating, but he has never been over to our apartment other than to pick you up, and you never talk about him.”
“Your attitude hasn’t exactly made the apartment a warm, inviting environment,” I snapped. “You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder for weeks.”
“Because you’re being stupid!” Kayla roared out. “You are too blinded by his abs and the insane gifts he is constantly showering you with to see the truth. Jasper is dangerous! The only way this ‘relationship’ ends is with you hurt or heartbroken.”
I wanted to tell Kayla she was wrong, but the words wouldn’t come. She shook her head and left – headed to the restaurant to pick up an extra shift. The truth was, Kayla could absolutely be right. Our arrangement had no end date. If Jasper were smart, he’d dispose of me the way he did the Jackal I’d seen that night behind the restaurant.
And maybe he would. After all, he couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t run to the police and tell my story as soon as I had a chance. I wouldn’t, of course – not least of all because he knew where my family lived. Even if I could ensure my own safety, I would never be able to ensure the safety of each of my siblings. If I turned Jasper in, the Hellions would retaliate, and I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of their wrath.
No matter how much I tried to repress reality or spin the story, the truth was that Jasper and I would only ever end in ruin.
Chapter Thirteen
Marin
I spent the night lying on my bed, staring up at the yellowed ceiling, wondering how I’d found myself in such a precarious position. Accepting the promotion from Jasper meant more money and would be an amazing addition to my resume. Not to mention, I would be able to help people.
Jasper had shown me the budget he had in mind for his charitable giving, and it was considerable. I would be able to help so many amazing charities and make a real difference in people’s lives. However, I could also be putting myself at risk. My life was quickly becoming linked with Jasper’s, and I feared the more I let him into my life and became part of his, the more danger I would be in.
He’d already shown me where the Hellions hung out and partied, and I knew many of the motorcycle club members by name. I’d be able to pick most of them out of a line up with ease. That made me a liability. Jasper’s public image had already been boosted by me. What if we were nearing the end of the arrangement? Would he really just let me go?
I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow, wanting to scream in frustration, but unable to summon the energy. At some point, I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, I felt pillow creases on my cheek, and I rubbed at the sleep in my eyes. I searched for my phone wondering what time it was, and then I heard the knocking. Someone was at the front door, which explained why I’d woken up.
I laid back down and decided to let Kayla answer the door. I felt exhausted and guessed I could have slept all night and most of the next day. The knocking continued, and I didn’t hear Kayla moving around in her room. My phone screen turned on, blinding me. I squinted at it until I could make out it was only eleven. Kayla would have just finished closing the restaurant. She wasn’t home yet.
I groaned and rolled out of bed. I only had a pair of blue pajama shorts and a tank top on, so I grabbed my cotton robe from the back of my bedroom door and threw it on.
I looked through the peephole, but it revealed nothing but darkness. The fluorescent outside of our door had been flickering like mad for the past week, so it was no wonder it had burnt out. I opened the door only a crack, prepared to tell whoever was on the other side to come back in the morning, but as soon as I opened the door, I tried to close it.
My efforts were hindered by a black boot that wedged itself between the door and the frame.
“Hello, Marin.” Angel’s voice was oil slick and slimy. I heard the smile in his words, the joy he felt at my fear.
My heart was thundering as I pushed my weight against the door, trying to hold it shut. Angel easily pushed it open and leaned against it, arms crossed. He stopped there, though, and didn’t charge into the apartment the way I’d expected. I could have tried to run past him, but he would have caught me. I could have screamed into the hallway hoping a neighbor heard me, but he would silence me before anyone could even discern where the noise came from. My only real option was to talk to him, and hope he didn’t have anything evil in mind.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He smiled, revealing white teeth. He ran his tongue across his lower lip. “I see Jasper told you about me then? Good for him.”
The only thing Jasper had really told me about Angel was that I shouldn’t worry about him. The Hellions had more members than the Jackals, so they were well-suited to win any kind of war Angel wanted to start. The problem for me was that th
e Hellions weren’t standing behind me in my apartment.
I was completely alone, and I knew, despite Jasper’s assurances, I should absolutely be worried about Angel.
His eyes scanned my body. In the struggle to keep the door closed, my robe had gapped open, and my tank top had ridden up past my belly button. I closed the robe around myself quickly and met his eyes again, trying my best to show him I wouldn’t be so easily intimidated.
“How did a good girl like you find herself tangled up in this mess?” he asked, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
“If I told you that story, we’d be here all night,” I said.
Angel winked. “That would be fine by me. I have nothing but time.”
“What do you want?” I asked, talking loudly so the tremor in my voice wouldn’t be so obvious. I projected confidence in the hope I could trick myself into being less terrified.
“I have something of importance to talk to you about,” he said, leaning back to be sure the hallway was clear. As soon as he did, he stepped inside my apartment and closed the door behind him.
I felt cornered. With the door closed, Angel seemed even larger than he had before. He filled the space, stealing all of the air. I took a step backward, bumping into the back of the armchair Kayla and I had picked up on the side of the road the day we moved in. We re-covered it in a bright red fabric, and the only thing I could think now is that it looked like the color of fresh blood.
“It’s a little late for a chat,” I said. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow?”
Angel smiled and then shook his head. “I’ll be quick. Besides, you are always with Jasper. I had to catch you alone. And since your roommate is at work, I knew now would be a good time.”
I felt the threat in his words. He’d been following me, and he wanted me to know. While I’d been sleeping over at Jasper’s and coming and going from my apartment, he had been there. Or, at least, one of the Jackals had been – keeping an eye on me, watching my every move. Suddenly, I was glad I hadn’t been to my mom’s house in a few weeks. The last thing I needed was for Angel to show up at the house where my little brothers and sisters lived.