Chapter 30 Roderick
Iknew letting Jade go to that dinner was a bad idea, but it seemed to have gone better than I thought by the time Zander and I went back.
I’m still not sure what made Jake send for us, other than Randall having Jade alone.
She didn't want to talk about it, and then she took off to Kratos in the dead of night, so it wasn’t like I got to ask her.
Spencer talks us through what happened when they arrived and what it was that Randall wanted when he sent Jade away.
But I’m not really listening. He already explained it all to me last night, and as far as I can tell, Randall was just feeling him out.
He talked about Spencer’s parents and asked how we liked having Jade with us, going so far as to let him know that if she became too much, his doors were always open to her.
According to Spencer, Randall had been a creep with her all night, but during that conversation he’d been on his best behavior.
Amanda had come and pulled him away about something. He excused himself and left Spencer waiting. We’re not sure if he did that on purpose to get to Jade or if it just worked out that way, but in the end, he got her alone, and that’s the one thing we had been trying to avoid.
After Spencer’s done explaining, everyone's attention turns to Jade. I half expect her to shrink away from the attention, but of course, she doesn’t.
It’s so hard for my brain to remember that there are two very different sides to her.
It’s almost as if she can be two totally different people.
And while everyone might not know it right now, she’s completely hidden behind the mask of Froggie.
“What did he say to you?” Spencer asks her, and while his words are straight to the point, I can see that this is bugging him.
It was his job to keep an eye on her, and he might say he hates her, but Spencer doesn’t like to be less than perfect; none of us do.
Yet that's exactly what he was last night.
Spencer let Randall slip through his fingers, and in doing so, Jade ended up in his line of fire, and we have no idea what that means for her or us.
I also don’t think he hates her, but that’s his own issue to work out. We have enough on our plate that I can’t worry about that kind of shit right now. So long as he doesn’t put her in danger again, he’s not my concern.
“Demon?” Spencer says when she doesn’t answer and makes no show of having heard his question.
Kratos glares at him, and I don’t need him to talk to read his message loud and clear. He’s telling him to back the fuck off. Jade waves him off, but Kratos doesn’t seem like he will let this go so easily.
“He was just trying to scare me.” She says it like it’s no big deal, but I remember what she was like after he cornered her in the club.
She can play tough right now, but Randall is the first thing I’ve ever seen rattle her, and considering how she grew up and the company she keeps now, that's saying something.
“Well, whatever it was worked. You weren't exactly happy to be around him when I came in to grab you last night.” The look of concern on Zander’s face lets me know it was probably worse than he’s letting on.
He hardly ever takes anything seriously, but this is different.
She’s different, and he’s different with her.
Zander’s been half in love with Jade from the moment he found her in the pit, and I’m sure those feelings only grow every day he’s around her.
I can’t imagine he enjoyed seeing her afraid last night.
Shit, even Spencer was upset when Zander filled us in this morning.
We hadn’t talked about it much last night because Jade seemed like she needed time, but with her little runaway act, we had time to talk it out before coming here today.
“No, I wasn’t happy about it, and you guys won’t like it either,” she says with a huff, and if she didn’t have our attention before, she sure as hell does now.
“Randall wants me to accompany Jake to one of his upcoming charity galas.” Her face pulls in disgust, like it’s the last thing she wants to do, and I can understand that, but I had expected something worse.
Despite the severity, the room still falls into chaos.
I watch her as Kratos and Spencer argue about whether she should go, while Jake assures us he can watch her.
But I’m only half paying attention to them because Jade’s words might’ve said one thing, but her face says another, and judging by her expression, this is a lot more than just accompanying Jake to a gala.
“What aren’t you telling us?” I ask her, cutting over the other conversation around me. Jade’s eyes find mine, and she shakes her head.
“Always so damn perceptive,” she says, leaning back on the desk, propping her weight on her hands behind her. “What am I going to do with you?” She smirks at me, and I get the feeling she’s trying to distract me.
“Maybe try telling me the truth.” I challenge her, and she barks out a laugh without a trace of humor.
“Fine, you want the truth?” she asks, and I nod, despite believing the question is rhetorical.
“The truth is, we don’t really have a lot of choice with this, and you guys are going to hate it, but I’m going to that gala.
He can say it’s with Jake all he wants, but by the end of the night, I’ll be with Randall, and there's not a damn thing any of us can do about it,” she says in a rush, her voice steadily rising as she goes until she’s almost shouting.
The room falls silent. Nobody dared interrupt her, but now that she’s finished, I’m not sure that any of us know what to say.
“Why would he have you go with Jake if he wants you to be with him?” Trent asks, speaking for the first time.
“Because he has a reputation. He needs the people there to see him in the best possible light, and what better way to spin all this in his favor than having the girl who saved everyone on the arm of his son?” Jake explains, and while it’s the same conclusion I’d come to, I didn’t expect such venom in his tone.
Clearly, I’ve underestimated just how much he hates his father, not that it matters. That will only help us now.
Jade nods at Jake's words before sighing heavily and looking up at the ceiling.
“Randall has been promising me I would be his for years now, but I never had a contract up for purchase. If he were bigger in the underground, I think he would’ve just taken me and run, but he would’ve had a hit out on him so fast, and unlike me, they don’t play fair.
They easily would’ve let Amanda or Jake take the fall for him, and he wasn’t willing to risk the public backlash that might’ve come with it.
” She keeps her gaze trained on the ceiling, as if she can’t bear to look at us, and something about that rubs me wrong.
It’s almost as if she’s hiding something, or maybe just hiding from us.
Either way, I don’t like it.
“So why the fuck haven’t you killed him yet?” Spencer hurls the question at her furiously, and while I understand his anger, he should count his blessings when all she does is turn her attention to him instead of her knife.
Kratos looks like he’s seconds from snapping his fucking neck, but Spencer doesn’t even seem to notice as he has a silent stare down with Jade.
She sits up as she holds his stare, and I can feel the shift in the air.
“You think I haven’t tried?” she snaps, her voice quiet, but so full of emotion they take the whole room by surprise.
Jake looks concerned, and since he doesn’t know what Jade’s capable of or her history, I assume he’s concerned for her.
It’s almost funny to think about someone worrying about what Spencer might do to Jade, but nobody jumps to explain.
As far as I’m concerned, he already knows way more than he should, him and Trent both, but I don’t have a say, so I bite my tongue.
Beyond that, I’m more concerned about what she just said about Randall than about Spencer’s latest hissy fit.
“What does that mean?” I ask. She takes a minute to pull her attention away from Spencer to look my way, but when she does, I see the internal war that rages in her eyes.
Jade isn’t weak, not by a long shot. Hell, she’s one of the fiercest people I’ve ever met, but whatever she’s about to say makes her feel weak. She debates telling me before she caves with a sigh, her shoulders hunching as if she’s trying to make herself appear smaller.
Seeing her like this makes my temper flare, but I keep my mouth shut, balling my hands into fists as she explains.
“Randall has been buying up my contracts for the last ten years, maybe longer,” she says, leaning back on her hands again, and while she looks a little more confident, like herself, she also looks tired.
I have a feeling this is what she meant when she said we wouldn’t like it. Though that seems to be the case when anyone mentions something from her past.
“Ten years?” Zander asks in disbelief, as if he might have heard her wrong.
When she nods in agreement, he loses it.
“What the fuck? It doesn’t matter if you're nineteen, twenty-three, or somewhere in between. Ten years ago, you were a fucking child!” he shouts, and the sickening truth of his words sinks in not just for me but for the rest of the room as well.
Jade cringes, and I’m not sure if it's because he’s shouting or the truth of his words, but seeing her cower puts me on edge, and I shoot a glare at him. It’s unnecessary as he raises his hands in surrender, a frown pulling at his lips.
“I’m sorry, Doll. I’m not angry at you, just upset with that piece of shit,” he says, pushing a hand through his hair with a grumbled curse of frustration.