Jax #2
But that only made me angrier because Parker wasn't my partner. She was doing this to get leverage over me while also making it glaringly obvious that I couldn't handle this by myself.
They mumbled to themselves a little before my assistant walked them out. We watched as they went with their tails between their legs.
“You've been watching me,” I told Parker, not willing to admit just how much her intervention helped me. “Not surprised. When you want something, you don’t stop until you get it.”
She turned to me with a smile that showed off her teeth, and they looked a little sharper than usual.
“See? Now you're getting it!” She handed me a business card. “Here, it looks like you'll be needing her. You have my number, so you can just send me a message if they come back for you, but honestly? Even being that guy’s ex-wife is a lot less powerful than being this lawyer.”
I took the card, barely registering the name.
“I don't need a—”
“By the way, your partners—Ax and Sloan, is it? Yeah, they use her.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. No one should know about the relationship between me and the club. I kept a lot of it on the down-low, given their other dealings. But somehow she found out.
Dangerous.
I looked up just as Parker was nearing my office door. My assistant was by her side, refusing to look her in the eyes. She turned back to me with a devilish smile.
“Again, you have my number.”
I stood there in shock, not really knowing what to make of Parker. But, just in case, I added the lawyer's contact information to my phone.
One more stop. One more stop, and then I could finally see Liz.
After the day I’d had, all I wanted was to see her. And we had a… date tonight.
Being with her helped me forget about everything else out there. It was like I could truly switch off my brain and let myself be used by her. It was so easy to fall into her instruction. Trusting her came easy—I just hoped that I could gain her trust as well.
And meeting some random information broker in a dingy parking lot is not the way to make that happen.
My nerve endings were on fire. I was standing outside my car with my hands in my pockets and looking over my shoulder every few seconds.
“God, at least try not to look like you're doing anything illegal, okay?”
I jumped at the sudden voice right next to me.
Looking down, I saw a girl in a jacket with her hoodie up. Her short black hair peaked out a bit, but her face was covered by wide sunglasses.
“Are you—”
“Yep.”
She shoved a file into my chest, and I grabbed it with both hands, realizing it was noticeably light.
“This is not like my usual clients. This one is… boring, and kind of dumb.” She sounded annoyed, like she was bothered I’d given her this assignment to begin with.
“What's his in with the police?”
“High school friends,” she said before she looked up at me over her sunglasses. “The worst thing he's doing is drinking himself into a stupor and gambling all his money away. Recently, he paid someone on the dark web for an AI-generated video. I'm guessing you saw it already?”
I nodded.
“Is there anything…?”
I didn't really know what to ask, but she seemed to get the gist. She shook her head.
“He's mostly just an asshole. He spends time on social media commenting on girls’ videos, calling them whores. Though lots of times he's actually already subscribed to their OnlyFans. Weird, huh?”
I cleared my throat. None of this would help me or Liz.
I let out a sigh of disappointment.
“What do I owe you?”
“This was a low-lift job, so I won’t charge you much. I want you to do something for me.”
I shifted uncomfortably under her stare.
“I can't give you anything about my clients.”
She rocked back on her heels. “It's not about your clients, per se… You go to a club—one that your friend Sloan hasn't allowed me in. Well, I want in. You know, to see what all the hype is about.”
I never thought Club Pétale would follow me like this, but I also wasn't surprised that she had done her research on me as well.
“Why won't she let you in?”
She shrugged. “I may or may not have broken into their database once or twice.”
“Once or twice?” I asked.
I started looking over my shoulders again, but this time, instead of being worried that someone would come upon us, I was getting a little scared of what the girl in front of me could do.
“Just put in a good word for me and we'll be even, okay? I've asked a couple people to do the same, but that didn’t work, so just… Use your charm, I guess? Your client was a waste of my time, and I would feel bad charging you as much as I usually do for something this stupid.”
“Okay…”
She turned and started to walk away but then stopped.
“Guys like this hate it when their dirty laundry is aired.
I'm sure you know about why he and his ex-wife were together, so I didn't put that in the report. But his image is everything to him. His parents are always checking in on him, his work has already put him on leave. If anything else happens to… damage his reputation, it would likely be the end of him.”
Given what Liz had told me, she was right. Their parents had been ashamed when they got pregnant right out of high school. Not married. No job. No house. They pushed them together to save face.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. It wasn't a lot, but it did get my thoughts in order. I still needed to think about what would be strong enough to make him disappear, but it was a start.
She nodded. “Don't forget about my favor! I know you're going there tonight, so there’s your chance!”
I couldn't help the shiver that ran up my spine.
Information brokers are fucking scary.