CHAPTER 13
JAY
A low grunt reached my ears as a soft weight wiggled over me, mumbling my name and candies in her sleep while she buried her face deeper into my neck.
I sighed as my hands roamed over her smooth back, her body molded to mine, every inch of her silky soft skin draped over me with nothing between us, smelling like vanilla and burnt orange.
Mine.
I couldn’t name a single thing in this world more precious than moments like this with her.
The way my heart steadied, my soul calmed, and my mind soothed in her presence, I didn’t want anything or anyone more.
My nose dragged along her hair as I slowly pushed it away to reveal her beautiful face. I couldn’t control the urge as I traced her pillowy pink bottom lip along my thumb. So perfect.
“Jay,” she groaned, peeking an eye open.
“I missed you.”
And those simple words transformed her face with a wide grin. “I didn’t because I was dreaming about a very hot fae from the book I read yesterday.”
“Of course, you were.” My hands crawled over to her ass, pulling her closer. “But guess what? It was my name that you were saying in your sleep.”
She faked a shocked look. “That’s not true. You’re lying.”
In an instant, I flipped us over, pinning her to the mattress, and a gasp escaped her lips, followed by a moan when my hard cock met her pussy, wet and warm for me.
“Jay,” she whined while her eyes glazed. Every single time she called me Jay, something in my heart snapped—only she got the privilege.
“Yes, baby?” I smirked, gyrating my hips along her folds. Her pussy was soft and dripping, begging for my cock to fuck her good.
“You can’t do this to me,” she complained, her lips curving into an adorable pout.
“Do what?” I asked, dipping in her heat just an inch. Her pussy swallowed me, clenching from my thickness.
“You know what…” She pulled me closer, nuzzling her nose with mine.
Just then the shrill tone of her phone went off, and her eyes widened. “Wait, what time is it?”
“Who cares?” I muttered, latching onto the creamy skin of her neck as I sank another inch. She even tasted delicious, just like she smelled.
“Jay,” she shrieked so loud that my ears buzzed. With a strength I didn’t see coming, she pushed me off, and I went crashing on my back .
“What the fuck?” I huffed, folding my arm behind my head as I watched her drape on one of my discarded T-shirts and scurry around the room in search of her ringing phone.
“We’re late,” she scolded, finally turning off the annoying alarm on her phone.
“We’re not. We have plenty of time.”
“No, we don’t.” She stomped her feet over to me, bracketing her hands over her hips. “We need to get ready now, and I still need to pack a few things, so I set the alarm an hour earlier.”
“An hour earlier?” I groaned. “To pack? I could think of a few different things we could be doing instead.”
“No.” She pointed a finger at me, trying hard to appear firm, but that only made her look so damn cute. “We’re going to be there for a while, and I need to make sure we have everything.” And with that, she darted around the room, mumbling to herself as she threw stuff inside her suitcase.
And I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Evelyn and I were going to attend Will’s wedding down south in Texas, and as much as I hated that motherfucker, she insisted I should be her date. Who was I to complain when my woman asked me? I loved to show her off to the world as mine any chance I could get.
It’d been a few weeks since we officially announced to the world that we were together, and everything had been pretty great so far. The media quieted down, and there was no update on Cece. The last I heard, that bitch was living with a friend in LA. I couldn’t care less, but something about her being this quiet bothered me since she loved stirring shit up. And something else about the whole situation bothered me. Her messages, her tone, and her wording were so unlike her. It was almost as if the answer was staring me right in the face, yet I couldn’t see it.
“Jay, this one or this one?” Evelyn’s sweet voice pulled me away from my thoughts as she held up two pink dresses, one lacy and flowery and the other silky and shiny.
“Both,” I suggested, which made her frown before she nodded, throwing them both inside her suitcase.
I shook my head as I slithered out of bed. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready,” I announced, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“Okay,” she mumbled, her hands digging around her closet.
Seconds later when I entered the shower, she came rushing behind me.
“Wait, I need to shower too. Let’s shower together.”
I rolled my eyes when she screeched as the water hit her. “It’s cold!”
I laughed, turning the water to extra hot while I spun her around from the downpour.
“You said no sex, and I needed to take care of that .” I raised a brow toward my rock-hard cock.
She blushed, biting her lip. “I didn’t actually say no. I guess we still have some time.”
And that was all I needed before I lifted her in my arms and sank into her velvety heat.
She groaned, clasping her arms around my neck as I stretched her little pussy. Rolling my hips, I thrust into her hard before I pulled out and slammed back into her again. Fuck, she felt incredible. I repeated it just the way she liked it. She went crazy in my arms as I fucked her hard, her legs shaking, barely able to hold on to me .
But I wasn’t going to let my girl fall. I clutched her tight to me, digging my hands into her ass as I nibbled the skin on her neck.
The sight of her hooded eyes and flushed skin zapped something in me.
And it wasn’t long before I could feel her getting close.
“You ready, baby?” I asked, running circles on her little nub. In an instant, she screamed, her walls spasming around my dick, milking me dry as she came crashing in waves.
My blood rushed to my dick. Breathing hard, I dropped my face in her neck as I shot ropes of my cum deep inside her pussy.
“Fuck,” she panted, wiggling out of my hold as she landed on her wobbly knees. “Now all I want to do is sleep.”
I chuckled, keeping my hands around her. “I love you,” I said, lathering her favorite body wash that smelled like sweet vanilla, and her head rolled back into my chest as I washed her body.
“I don’t think I have the energy to wash you too,” she muttered, her eyes still closed.
“That’s okay,” I whispered as my hands descended between her thighs, and she shivered.
“Sensitive?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be careful.” I gently washed her folds and moved her under the stream. After washing away all the studs, she jumped out of the shower.
By the time I joined her, she already had her hair half-dried, cascading down to her hips, and was aggressively slapping some cream over her face .
“Jay, look what you did.” She pointed at the red mark forming on her neck. “I was supposed to wear a dress today.”
“Wear it anyway.” I shrugged, grabbing a towel as I left. A loud “asshole” reached my ears behind me. I didn’t care that I was one. Something animalistic in me loved the marks I left on her skin, especially the ones under her towel.
Within minutes, we were downstairs, and Evy went straight to Strawberry to give her cuddles while I made some coffee for her.
We were going to have someone come in and take care of Strawberry. I knew Evy was already missing her and was second-guessing the decision, but she accepted that we couldn’t take her everywhere with us.
Thirty minutes later, I pressed start on the engine and turned to my passenger princess, who looked giddy as fuck. “Ready?”
“Yes.” She clapped her hands.
I grinned, shaking my head as I sped out of the driveway. “Remind me again why we couldn’t have taken the jet to Texas?”
“Because a road trip is so much fun.”
“Of course it is. You’re not the one driving for thirty freaking hours,” I muttered under my breath.
“Which is why!” Her excited eyes met mine. “I packed you a goody bag.” And with that, she lifted off the seat and spun around to dig something from the back.
“Fucking hell, Evelyn.” I almost swerved off the road when her ass landed on my face, her dress riding up, revealing her red cherry lace panties bunching on her creamy ass. I maneuvered my right hand over her skirt and tugged the skirt down in case unsuspecting bystanders got a view of what’s mine, then I’d have to get out of the car and dig their eyes out.
“Got it.” She grinned, plopping back into her seat with a small black duffel, and I let out the breath I didn’t even know I was holding.
“Don’t do that again. Do you know how dangerous that was?” My lips thinned.
“Sorry.” She pouted, giving me her doe eyes, and I couldn’t help but fall for it. I tried my hardest to appear mad, but one look at her and a smile paved its way up my lips.
“Fine. Just…” I cleared my throat, adjusting my Ray-Bans. “Don’t do it again.”
“Okay.” She nodded with a little too much enthusiasm. That little minx knew she had me wrapped around her pretty little finger.
“Look, I packed everything for you.” She dug into the bag on her lap. “I have five of your favorite high-grade Swiss water so you are always hydrated, a thermos full of your favorite tea, apple slices with honey just how you like it, a container full of chocolate chip cookies, oh, and lots and lots of candies. I also got a fun interactive map where you can tick off all the places on the way, and I made a bunch of playlists and guess games we could play.” She presented each item, her eyes glittering from the sun and a silly smile dancing on her lips.
She was so fucking adorable in her pink dress, swallowed by my stolen leather jacket and white sneakers.
Somewhere in this past month, the darkness surrounding her eyes and the sadness in her smile disappeared. She radiated with happiness. There was a glow in her eyes that I hadn’t seen in six long years. It was almost as if she had shed off all her past wounds and grown into this new version of herself, realizing how much she deserved love and how worthy and beautiful she was.
It made me go all sappy inside when she saved those vulnerable moments just for me, moments when her inner child surfaced. She trusted me enough to know that I would be gentle with that side of her. Even back then, Evelyn wasn’t very vocal or expressive with everyone, just me and her aunt Marie, because she knew we would never judge or hurt her. It killed me to think she didn’t have us for a while, but it was in the past. I was glad we were never going back down that road now that I got my girl back.
I stole one of her hands and brought it to my lips. “I love you,” I said, brushing a soft kiss on it, and I didn’t let go, holding it in my lap.
“I love you too.” Heat bloomed in her cheeks like it was the first time she heard me say it. “So what do you want to do first?” She raised a brow.
“Anything you want.”
We didn’t do shit. Because only ten minutes later, a soft snore echoed through the car. The little menace fell asleep, and I knew she wasn’t waking up anytime soon.
I threw the bag into the back seat, removed my jacket, and draped it over her lap. She only sighed, cuddling closer as she sank into a deep slumber.
I lowered the volume of the speakers and let my thoughts drift away.
The whole thing with Dorian and Cece was still brimming in the back of my mind. It was the confusion surrounding it that made me fear—only because it involved my girl, and this time, I didn’t want to be blinded by whatever they were going to hit me with. With no word from Silas, it only made it worse. I knew it was only a matter of time before the rug was going to be pulled from under my feet, but I hoped this time I was prepared.
It was close to midnight when we reached Salt Lake City to halt for the night, and it was only when I parked next to the car that Tyler was tailing us in did Evelyn wake from her slumber.
She scrubbed her eyes and wiped the drool off her lips. “Are we already here?” she asked, her voice thick with sleep.
“Yep,” I said, holding out a hand as I helped her outside. I waited till Tyler gave me the cue to enter, and drawing my hoodie lower, we entered a hallway through the back that was emptied and secured for us.
“Are we at the hotel?” Evelyn’s nose scrunched. “Why are we walking through this dingy corridor?”
“Security measures,” I replied, pulling my arms around her.
“Oh, I forgot.” She gave me a small smile before a sheepish look crept over her eyes. “I’m sorry I slept the whole way. I didn’t even realize I was that tired. But I’ll make it up to you.”
“Sure, you will,” I muttered as we entered the suite.
“I will,” she promised.
After dinner, Evelyn was asleep once again, curled up like a tiny shrimp in the middle of the bed. Must be all the sleepless nights I put her through last week. I tucked the sheets over her and placed a kiss on her cheek before I softly shut the bedroom door and ventured to the living room area that had a fully equipped bar .
Pouring myself a good measure of scotch, I padded to the floor-length windows overlooking the city lights and the shadowy mountains beyond.
Restless energy swirled inside me for some reason.
I sighed, tapping my finger along my thigh as I finished my drink.
The shrill sound of my phone ringing reverberated through the room. Frowning, I slid it out of my pocket, and with one glance at the caller ID, my molars clenched with friction.
I knew it was her; it didn’t matter how many numbers I blocked—she called me in a different one. Despite my best judgment, I thumbed the call open.
“What?” I gritted through my teeth, and after radio silence for a while, curiosity got hold of me.
“This is a surprise,” Cece’s shrill voice filtered through the call. “Usually, I’d have to call a few times before you pick up.”
“What is it?”
“You’re impatient. Is your girl not keeping you satisfied?”
“Don’t speak of her,” I warned in a menacing tone. “If you don’t get to the point, I’m cutting this call and changing the number.”
“Fine. Fine. Fine. You’re no fun, Emmie. But it looks like you didn’t get my message last month.”
“I did.” The vein in my forehead started to throb. “And so did the cops.”
“Yeah, right, I got the call, told me how I should stay away from you and all. But listen…” Her voice turned serious all of a sudden, almost distressed rather than her usual cool and collected tone. “All you had to do was wire the money, Emmie. That’s the least you could’ve done after everything Fa ther did for you guys.” Her voice cracked at the mention of Dorian, almost as if somewhere in her deranged head, she truly loved him. “Now it’s too late. The stakes have gotten high; he’s asking for fifty million now, and I can’t do shit about it. You need to send it to me, or I swear my phone calls will be the least of your problems.”
My spine chilled. “Who’s asking?”
“No one.” Her voice sounded panicked. “I need to pay the debt the label owed, Emmie. They won’t leave me alone.”
“That’s not my problem, Cece. It was your own doing. But the last I checked, the money the label owed died with your dad, and you didn’t have to worry about that.”
“It’s bigger than that, Emmie. Look, I don’t want to waste my time talking in circles with you. You might want to look at the message I sent you.”
Frowning, I peered at the bunch of images that she sent me, and the grip on my phone tightened. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Cece.”
“Look, I don’t want to do this, but you’re making me. Send me the money by the end of the week, or those photos will be plastered all over the media.”
“I don’t do well with threats, Cece. It won’t end well for you,” I slithered in a glacial tone.
Her nervous laughter spurted out. “You don’t understand. It was the only way I knew to get out of this mess. Please, you have to do it. You don’t want your sweet girlfriend to see those pictures now, do you?”
“I’m done with this call. ”
I resisted the urge to hurl my phone across the room as I stormed to the bar and poured myself another glass—this time to the brim.
The burn of the alcohol washed down my throat, but it did nothing to cool the anger flooding my blood.
I had no clue how Cece had taken those pictures, but I knew exactly from which day it was. It was a couple of years ago when she’d been giving the hints and pestering me for months, so I agreed to a few dates, not wanting to hurt a friend—a time in my life I didn’t know day from night because I was high as a kite with only the thoughts of her in my mind. I knew only after two dates that I felt nothing for Cece. I remember when I told her amid the crashing waves at that restaurant in Malibu that it wasn’t going to work out—she was hurt and even faked a few tears. I couldn’t see that then, so when she kissed me, I let her.
I had no idea that it would haunt me after all these years.
Evelyn was going to be mad, especially when I told her that Cece and I weren’t together, hell, I didn’t even remember I fucking kissed that bitch until seeing those pictures.
I had a weird recollection of memories from those times, high from snow and Xanny, I was trying hard to hold on to my sanity. Cece was the least of my concerns. How fucking wrong was I?
Dialing Silas, I crashed on the sofa, exhausted but felt like a live wire.
“J.J., I’ve been meaning to call you.” He greeted me, and for the next five minutes, I explained what transpired between Cece and me .
He sighed. “I’ll get the cops on it, but the threats possibly aren’t going to cut it. We could extort her for blackmail, but given her medical history, it won’t stand in court. But I found something interesting. It looks like Dorian White had an offshore bank account that had over twenty mil, but it was wiped clean just weeks before his death.”
“So the money is missing?”
“Not really. He took it out and paid off a Douglas Smith, who, after some digging, I found out was heading the Alacteon branch in Miami.”
“Was?”
“Yeah, he’s dead too.”
I pinched the pressure between my forehead. “I think that has something to do with Dorian’s involvement with Julian but that still doesn’t explain Cece’s demands.”
“Yep, Miss. Cece is monumentally poorer than she once was, but Daddy set her up a nice trust fund where she can be comfortable for the rest of her life, and the IRS won’t touch it.”
“So why does she need the money?”
“No clue, but I found something interesting after you told me to look into your girl’s incident six years ago.”
“What is it?” My pulse spiked.
“It looked like Pacific White was in deep trouble six years ago too, and it was only after signing you guys that they got back on track. As for the incident, Cece wasn’t in LA that night. She was partying in Paris. The only person from the label at your show was Dennis Matthews.”
“Dorian’s assistant?” I remember him from back in the day. He was always following Dorian around and watching us with beady eyes. Even back then, something about him didn’t sit right with me, and now that I recall, wasn’t he there that day when Evy put Cece in the hospital?
“Yep, he seems to always be around, so I dug a little deeper and get this. Dennis was actually born in Seattle. No parents on the birth record for some reason, and after school, he came to work with Dorian in LA out of the fucking blue.”
“Weird. Is he family?”
“Nope. The hospital records from the incident show that Evy May was admitted, but initially her name was misspelled as Eva Marie, which the hospital flagged months later, and there weren’t any actual criminal records filed at the LA police.”
“So someone did their best to hide their tracks.”
“Yes, and they succeeded. My probable guess was Dennis and Cece were working together, and he must have seen Evelyn and wanted her out of the equation and set up the whole thing.”
“Probably. I want eyes on him. I don’t like how weird this shit is getting.”
“On it. I’ll get back to you if I find anything else.”
“Thanks.”
Rolling my head back against the cushion, I dialed the next person.
“J.J., I wasn’t expecting this on my diary.” Julian’s dry voice reached through the phone.
“Trust me, I wasn’t either.” I scrubbed a hand across my face. “But I want to know about your dealing with Dorian White. ”
“You mean the man who offed himself? He was desperate to make some extra bucks and thought it was a great idea to launder some shit right under my nose with my ex-employee. Suffice it to say, it didn’t end well for either of them.”
“I heard—someone called Douglas. He’s dead now?”
“Yes, I keep the East clear. No one lives to tell the tale otherwise.” Julian’s voice was exuberant with power—coming from generational wealth, the Stormholds had been manning the Alacteon divisions in the East, which were more than just a club but an intricate web of money, power, and secrets.
I sighed, telling him all the information I gathered.
“I admit the situation does sound weird, but I doubt it has anything to do with my end. Everything’s been all clear since Douglas was dealt with. But I can ask my people to look into it.”
“I have Silas on it already.”
“Ah, he’s the best. If anyone can find anything, I would bet my money on him, but I’ll still have an eye out. Until then, keep your girl safe.”
Downing the rest of my drink, I threw my phone on the couch and padded to the bedroom.
Even though it felt like there was a war waging inside my head, it all went quiet at the sight of her. Her hands were tucked to her chest, rising and falling with her deep breaths as calmness clouded her face.
Like a moth drawn to the flame, every cell in my body dragged me to her. Crawling beside her, I gently arranged her in my arms and the tension magically disappeared from my body when her weight landed on me .
She nuzzled her cheek on my chest. “Jay,” she mumbled heavily in sleep and then went back to softly snoring.
I tightened my hold against her and let my thoughts run wild. Cece’s threat and all the new information only added to the looming cloud inside my head. Nothing made sense to me anymore. I was going to give myself till this weekend to put an end to this, or else I’d rather pay so she could leave us alone.
I didn’t like living in this constant loop of looking over my shoulder, hoping my woman wouldn’t get hurt more than she already had because of me.
One way or another, I must find an end to this soon.