One Good Crash

by Sabrina Stark

Once again, my thoughts turned to the bloodstained shirt from the night before. For the hundredth time, I wondered what exactly had been going on.

  If I were smart, I'd leave and never look back – not because I was afraid, but because he was acting like such a jerk. And really, did I even want Allie to work for a guy like this? Someone who'd say something so completely awful and then refuse to take it back?

  But the answer came way too fast.

  Yes.

  I would.

  Allie's last boss had been the biggest jerk on the planet. And the money hadn't been half as good, even though the hours were absolutely insane.

  I felt my gaze narrow. "When you say interview, do you mean you'll give her a fair shot?"

  "As fair as she deserves."

  At this, I had to scoff. "Do you mean for someone who showed up and cursed out your brother? Or for someone who tore up your house?"

  I didn't even mention the truck, because for all I knew, she'd be charged with a felony, and felons weren't exactly an employer's dream.

  Jax replied, "I mean for someone who comes highly recommended."

  That made me pause. "You mean by me?"

  "I don't see anyone else around." He pointed to his visitor's chair, the one I'd just vacated. "Ten minutes," he repeated. "You can time me if you want."

  As if I wouldn't. I gave him a thin smile. "I don't have a watch."

  In response, he pulled off his own wristwatch and set it on the desk – or more accurately on the typewritten job offer. He flicked his head toward the chair and said, "The timer starts when you sit."

  If I were more dignified – or maybe a little less eager to repay a friend – I would've told him where he could shove his watch and the paper it was sitting on. But I didn't.

  After all, Allie had driven ten hours to save my bacon. Surely, I could swallow my pride for ten lousy minutes in return. Silently, I returned to the chair and sat stiffly on the edge of the seat.

  I grabbed the watch and made a note of the time. And then, I waited.

  I didn't have to wait long. Already, Jax was sitting again. He leaned forward and said something I wasn't expecting. "I'm sorry."

  I blinked. "For what? Calling my mom a name?"

  "No. For what I'm about to tell you."

  Chapter 34

  It took him only a few minutes to relay what he thought I should know.

  My mom's sugar-daddy – the guy I knew as Dominic Jones – owned a limo company, a string of strip clubs, and an escort service that specialized in high-end dates – the kind that always ended happily, for the clients anyway.

  As Jax talked, I felt the flames of embarrassment licking at my face. Or who knows, maybe they were the flames of hell, because I was pretty sure I was in it. Turns out, my mom wasn't, in the old-fashioned term, a kept woman, but rather a high-end call girl.

  And the way Jax talked, my mom's employer was always on the lookout for fresh talent, and so were his various employees. Apparently, there was some sort of bonus structure, almost like a pyramid scheme, where the experienced staff earned extra money by bringing in – as Jax crudely put it – fresh meat.

  I knew exactly what he was implying. The meat was me – or would've been me last night, if only I'd been a little more accommodating to my mom's not-so-subtle suggestions.

  As he spoke, I considered all of the signs that I'd conveniently overlooked – my mom's obsession with my appearance, her insistence that I be extra nice to Dominic, and of course, all of that weirdness with the dress.

  Who knows? Maybe she had some sort of clothing allowance, and didn't want to waste it on something – or rather someone – who wasn't panning out.

  Where Tabitha fit into all of this, I had no idea. But I did know that her views on sex were a lot different than my own.

  Back in the day, my mom and Tabitha had been groupies together. I knew this, because even when I was a child, they never tired of telling me stories from their glory days, back when they'd been barely legal, or who knows, maybe not legal at all.

  When Jax finished talking, I didn't know what to say. Did I believe him? I didn't want to believe him. But I wasn't stupid. And yes, maybe on some level, I'd already suspected much of this on my own.

  After all, I'd literally run from the limo after my mom had started in with all of those weird hints and bits of advice.

  Be extra nice to Dominic.

  Don't forget to smile and laugh at his jokes.

  Remember, he might have some friends he'd like you to meet.

  Or maybe, we'll just have a private party alone.

  And then, there was the kicker. Have you ever thought of living it up for once, and making use of your God-given assets? A girl as pretty as you? Why would you want to wait tables when you could make a lot more as an entertainer.

  I gave a silent scoff. An entertainer.

  Like a dumb-ass, I'd kept telling myself that surely, she was referring to my singing ability, which granted, was nothing special, even if I did win that one high school talent show with my rendition of some old Joni Mitchell song.

  But last night, it wasn't just my mom's words that had me reaching for the limo door. It was the way she'd looked at me, like I was, well, meat actually.

  Very juicy meat.

  I shuddered at the memory.

  Now, in Jax's office, I sat in stupefied silence, processing everything I'd just heard. After a long moment, I glanced down at the watch. "Wow. Seven minutes." I blew out a shaky breath. "Three minutes ahead of schedule, huh?"

  When he made no immediate reply, I mumbled, "I guess I should thank you for telling me, assuming that I believe you."

  He frowned. "Which you will if you're smart."

  I stared at him. Talk about arrogant.

  "And," he continued, "if you decide you don't believe me? Lemme know. I'll put you in touch with my sources."

  His sources? I didn't even want to consider who those might be. "Regardless," I said, "I still don't like what you called her."

  Across from me, he looked anything but contrite. "Is that so?"

  I straightened in my seat. "Yes."

  Was I being silly? Probably. But seriously, who would appreciate hearing their mom called such an awful word?

  "Fair enough." His voice hardened. "And I didn't like what she was doing."

  I gave Jax a long, sullen look. Obviously, he was no angel himself, so why was he in a position to judge?

  "Look," I said, "I don't know why she does it, but as long as it's consensual…" I sighed. "Well, I guess it's really none of my business." I paused. "Or yours either."

  His expression darkened. "You think I give two shits who she fucks for cash?"

  I stiffened. After everything he'd told me, his language shouldn't've been shocking, but somehow it was. I didn't appreciate it or his tone, for that matter.

  I shot back, "Well, you obviously do care, or you wouldn't be calling her names."

  "I care," he said, "but not because of who she's fucking or what kind of money changes hands." His gaze locked onto mine. "I care, because she tried to drag you into it – her own fucking daughter." He gave a low scoff. "I mean, what the fuck?"

  As I stared at him from the other side of his desk, it suddenly struck me that he no longer seemed like the society type at all.

  At this moment, I couldn't even imagine him in a tux, even though I'd seen him wearing one with my own two eyes.

  No. The guy sitting across from me was ten times more primitive, and I couldn’t help but think of how correct I'd been in sensing something darker lurking beneath his polished surface.

  And yet, like a moth to the flame, and even in spite of my own anger, I was still undeniably drawn to him.

  Yeah, me and every other girl.

  Last night, I'd seen the way they'd all looked at him, like he was the meat, and they were the hungry carnivores on the prowl.

  Pushing aside that disturbing thought, I said, "Then why was Dominic at your party? I mean, you obviously don’t like
him, so what am I missing?"

  "A simple fact. It wasn't my party."

  I shook my head. "So who's party was it? Your brother's?"

  "No. It was Darla's."

  "Darla? The 'little redhead' in the flapper costume?"

  With a tight nod, Jax went on to tell me that Darla had borrowed the house for last night's event – some high-dollar charity thing to benefit a local sea-life preservation effort.

  Before I could stop myself, I'd already asked, "How much were tickets?"

  "Per couple?" He gave a casual shrug. "Five grand."

  "Five thousand?" I swallowed. "Dollars? You're kidding, right?"

  "No."

  "But I didn't pay," I said.

  "Right. Because you were my date."

  I gave him a look. "Don't you mean girlfriend?" Just saying the word reminded me of Morgan, that other girl who claimed to be his girlfriend. If she hated me then, she probably wanted to murder me now.

  Unless I was mistaken, I'd just been offered her job. And I still couldn’t decide if I felt satisfied or guilty. But that was a dilemma for another time.

  Returning to the topic at-hand, I asked, "But why would Dominic, a guy you describe as a total scumbag, be interested in saving any sea-life?"

  "Because he isn't," Jax said. "What he's interested in, is trolling for new clients." His jaw clenched. "And maybe some fresh talent along the way."

  I muttered, "Well, at least you didn't call me meat."

  When he made no reply, I stood. "So, do you want to interview Allie now? Or do you need a few minutes to prepare?"

  "Sit," he said. "I'm not done."

  I almost groaned out loud. "What? There's more?"

  He nodded.

  "But earlier, you stopped talking, like you'd reached the end."

  "I stopped talking," he said, "because I wanted to give you some time to process the first part before I got to the second."

  My stomach lurched. Honestly, I wasn't sure how much more I could take. In desperation, I reached out and picked up the watch. Already, we were at the nine-minute mark.

  Jax said, "Yeah. I've got a minute left, and I intend to use it."

  Just great. Not only was he a mind-reader, he apparently had some uncanny sense of timing, too.

  I had to remind myself that this was for Allie. So with a sigh, I sat back down and mentally started counting off the seconds.

  I'd barely gotten to three when he said something that caught me completely off-guard. "You're very beautiful. You know that, right?"

  "I, um…" Yes. I did know. It wasn't that I was conceited, but I wasn't blind to the fact that my mom was totally gorgeous, and I was the spitting image of her. Weakly, I managed to say, "Uh, thanks."

  "So, you do know?"

  Oh, God. He wanted me to admit it? "What am I supposed to say? Yes? That would make me kind of conceited, don't you think?"

  "No," he said. "It would make you smart."

  "And conceited."

  "Fuck that."

  Just great. More cursing. I said, "Is there a reason you're telling me this? I mean, obviously, you don't mean it as some sort of compliment, so I can't help but wonder why you chose to spend your last minute on this."

  "I'll tell you why," he said, "because there's monsters in this world who'd like nothing better than to take a bite out of someone like you." A new edge crept into his voice. "And if you ever forget that, ask me. I'll remind you."

  His statement was filled with so many contradictions that I didn't know where to begin. Like, why would I ask him? I barely knew him.

  In fact, odds were pretty good that I'd never see him again. My heart clenched at the thought, even if he was being a total jerk at the moment.

  I looked down at the watch. "Time's up."

  "Wrong," he said. "I've got ten more seconds."

  I crossed my arms and waited, silently counting down even as he said, "If I knew your dad, I'd beat his ass for letting you live with that woman."

  Great. Now he'd insulted both of my parents. I gave him my snottiest smile. "Sorry, but I don't even know my dad, so I guess you're out of luck."

  With that, I stood. "And just so you know, I'm sending Allie down in fifteen minutes. And unless you're some kind of welcher, you'll give her an honest chance."

  Chapter 35

  I was sitting in a chair just inside the front door when I spotted Jax's brother coming down the main stairway.

  At the sight of me, he stopped in mid-step. "You're still here," he said, not looking too happy about it.

  I gave him a stiff smile. "Yes. I'm still here."

  "I know. That's what I just said."

  God, did he have to be such a smart-ass? "Goodie for you," I muttered.

  He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with a white skull on the front. I couldn’t decide if he looked more like a college student or some kind of bad-ass. In truth, he looked like both, just like his brother.

  Jaden said, "So, what are you sitting there for?"

  "I'm waiting."

  "For what?"

  I really didn't want to say. A half-hour earlier, I'd practically dragged Allie into Jax's office for the impromptu job interview.

  From my current vantage point, I couldn't quite see his office door, but if things went South, I was in a good spot to catch Allie if she decided to make a break for it.

  It was for her sake, not mine. She still didn't know about the visit from the police, because I hadn't told her.

  Oh sure, I'd wanted to tell her, but I couldn't risk upsetting her right before the interview. I wanted Jax to see her at her best, not worried and glancing over her shoulder.

  As Jaden cleared the bottom step, I mumbled something about waiting for Allie.

  He made a scoffing sound. "The psycho?"

  I glared up at him. "She's not a psycho."

  "Could've fooled me."

  "Oh yeah? Well, maybe you caught her on a bad day. You ever think of that?"

  "No. I was too busy watching my nuts."

  "What?"

  "My nuts," he repeated. "A girl like that? She'd probably bite 'em off."

  "Oh, please." I rolled my eyes. "Your nuts are totally safe. I doubt she even thought of them."

  "That's what you think," he said. "So where’s my brother?"

  I hesitated. "I think he's in a meeting."

  Jaden's gaze narrowed. "You think? Or you know?"

  I was spared the need to reply when someone barged in through the front door without so much as a knock. It was Darla, the flapper from last night.

  Today, she was dressed in tan shorts and a crisp white cotton blouse. She looked to Jaden and demanded, "Where's your brother?"

  "Which one?" he said. "I've got a bunch."

  For some reason, that surprised me. So there were more than the two?

  Good Lord.

  "Cut the crap," Darla told him. "You know who I mean. Jax. Where the hell is he?"

  Jaden grinned. "Why? What'd he do now?"

  "He fired Morgan, that's what."

  Jaden's smile vanished. "When?"

  "Today. On the phone."

  "But he can't do that," Jaden said.

  "Well, he did," Darla said. "She's been crying on my couch for the last hour."

  Jaden muttered, "Shit."

  Darla frowned. "No kidding."

  And then, in unison, both of them turned their gazes on me. Darla said, "Who the hell are you?"

  I stood and summoned up a smile. "I'm Cassidy. It's, uh, nice to meet you."

  She didn't smile back. "You were at the party. Burgundy dress. Am I right?"

  "Um, probably."

  "What, you don't know?"

  "Yeah. Of course, I know. I just mean, there was more than one person in a burgundy dress."

  She gave me a dubious look. "If you say so. And why didn't you dress up?"

  "Last night? I was dressed up."

  "You weren't in a costume," she accused.

  "Yeah, well…" I hesitated. "Lots of peo
ple didn't wear costumes – most of them, in fact."

  Her frown deepened. "I know. Shitbags. It was like they didn't get the memo."

  I bit my lip. "There was a memo?"

  She waved away my question. "You know, the invitation." She made a sound of disgust. "Dumb-asses." She gave me a long, penetrating look. "So, what are you doing here now?"

  Okay, I realized that I was just a guest, but her demeanor struck me as more than a little rude. I wanted to throw this latest question right back at her.

  What are you doing here?

  But I didn't, because I wasn't so much a guest as an interloper. I said, "I'm just waiting for a friend."

  "Oh yeah?" Darla said. "Who?"

  "Allie. She's, uh, from Nashville."

  Why was I even telling her this? I glanced in the general direction of Jax's office. Probably, that was a mistake, because suddenly, Jaden and Darla were heading straight in that direction.

  The way it looked, they were going to give Jax a dose of holy hell for firing Morgan. For all kinds of reasons, I so didn't want that to happen. I scrambled after them. "Wait! I think he's in a meeting."

  Ignoring me, they kept on going and didn't stop until they reached his office door. Upon finding it shut, Jaden reached out and tried the knob. When it didn't budge, he hollered out, "Hey, asshole! Open up! We need to talk."

  "Yeah!" Darla echoed. "Like now."

  Through the door, I heard Jax's muffled voice. "Ten minutes."

  Jaden yelled back, "I'm not waiting ten fucking minutes."

  Darla called out, "Yeah. Me neither!"

  From behind the closed door, Jax replied, "Yeah? Well, too bad."

  Darla and Jaden shared a look. Jaden muttered, "The guy's off his rocker."

  Before I could stop myself, I said, "He is not."

  They both turned to look. Neither one looked particularly appreciative of my opinion.

  I cleared my throat. "I'm just saying, whatever he did, I'm sure he had his reasons."

  Big mistake.

  Darla gave me a hard look. "So what's the reason? You?"

  I swallowed. "What?"

  Her mouth tightened. "Are you Morgan's replacement?"

  "I, uh…" I squared my shoulders. "No. Definitely not."

  Even if I had been offered the job.

  Darla turned to Jaden and said, "So who is she, anyway?"