Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ihave the world’s coldest shower in Jazzy’s bathroom—using her shower gel didn’t help my raging boner either.
With her fruity scent surrounding me, I gripped my cock and gave it a couple of tugs before I stopped myself.
As much as I want a release, I know it’ll be better if I wait. Hold out for her.
I get dressed again, leaving off my tie and jacket, folding the sleeves of my dress shirt up to my elbows, and putting my shoes back on. I use Jazzy’s brush to comb my hair, and then I’m strolling out of her bedroom… at the same time her father is walking up the stairs.
“I thought you left,” he says, eyeing me suspiciously.
“I tried to,” I admit.
“Jazzy okay?”
“She’s in the gym,” I tell him.
“Why?”
It’s the same question I had. I lift a shoulder. “Something about working out with her brothers.”
Carlo smirks. “They’re not working out. They’re making her practice self-defense.”
“They’re fighting her?” I ask, my brows shooting upwards.
“They’re her brothers. They’re not going to hurt her.” Carlo shakes his head. “Plus, she’s good.”
“Of course she is. She’s good at everything she does.” I smile.
“Except choosing men to fall in love with, it would seem,” he says as he walks past me.
“Except that,” I agree. Because let’s be honest, no one is ever going to be good enough for Jazzy, not even me. Doesn’t mean I’m ever going to let anyone else have her again. She is mine. “You know I’m going to marry her.”
Carlo stops. He doesn’t turn around, though. Instead, he shakes his head and continues walking.
I guess that’s progress. He didn’t say I couldn’t. Not that I need his permission. We’re nearly thirty fucking years old. We don’t need our parents’ approval. But it would be easier for Jazzy if she had it.
I make my way downstairs and head into the gym.
I want to say goodbye to her before I leave.
I pause in the doorway. Jazzy’s on the mat.
Her shoes off, her hair up in a messy bun, and a light sheen of sweat coating her body.
Fucking sexy as hell. I stare, watching as she easily drops Aiden on his ass.
“Again,” CJ calls out, and then he looks to me.
“Really? Haven’t I done enough?” Jazzy groans.
“No. Again,” CJ says.
“But he makes it too easy.” Jazzy’s eyes meet mine, and her entire face lights up. “Wanna wrestle?”
“With you, always.” I smirk.
“Nope. Not happening,” CJ snarls. “Jazzy, this is serious. You need to practice and hone these skills. It’s been too long since you’ve even seen the inside of a gym.”
“It’s not like I’m going to be attacked in a gym when or if it happens,” she says.
“It’s not fucking happening,” I grunt.
“I’ll fight you.”
My head snaps to the left. To Aurelio, that fucking asshole Jazzy kissed in the casino lobby. He smirks.
“Sure, if you want to get beat by a girl.” Jazzy laughs and bounces on her feet.
“You really think you can take me?” Aurelio asks her.
“I know I can.” Jazzy is confident. But I’m already making my way over. Fuck if I’m going to let her near that asshole again.
I pick her up and move her to the edge of the mat. Then I turn back to a smirking Aurelio, and before I can think better of it, my right fist swings out and connects with his chin.
I hear Jazzy gasp. “You don’t get to fucking touch her,” I growl.
“Yeah? Who the fuck is going to stop me? You?” Aurelio shakes his head.
“Yes.”
And then the asshole is swinging at me. I dodge it, landing one of my own on his torso before kicking my leg out behind his. He hits the mat with a thud, and I don’t give him time to get up before I’m sitting on top of him, connecting blow after blow with his face.
“Oh my god. Stop!”
I can hear Jazzy, but I don’t stop. I’ve wanted to hit this fucker since I saw him kiss my girl. She’s mine. Not anyone else’s and I’ll be fucking damned if I’m going to let anyone get near her again.
Aurelio flips us and now I’m trapped under him.
Or at least I let him think I am. I bring a leg up between our bodies.
My foot pushes against his chest and he falls backwards.
I’m on my feet within seconds and so is he.
Blood drips from his face. He’s barely landed a hit on me.
I manage to either block or dodge every swing he takes, and he’s getting pissed.
“CJ, do something!” Jazzy yells out.
“Why?”
“Because Jake will kill him,” she says and I stop, which gives Aurelio the opportunity to throw a punch to the side of my face. Fucking hell, the guy can hit… when he can land them.
“That was your one shot,” I growl before tossing two more consecutive blows to his face.
“Okay, that’s enough.” CJ pulls at my back. I’m about to headbutt him to get him off me when I stop myself. This is Jazzy’s little brother. I can’t hit him. “Damn, Jake, I did not think you had that in you,” he says.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Aurelio grunts at me.
“Sure you are.” I smirk, knowing full well I can handle whatever he tries to bring at me.
“Stop, both of you.” Jazzy is now standing between us. “Jake, come with me. Now.” She doesn’t give me a chance to respond before she’s holding on to my arm and dragging me out of the gym. She stops outside the door and spins on me with her hands on her hips. “What the hell was that?”
“What?” I ask, playing dumb.
“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Fight Aurelio?”
“You mean hit the asshole you were climbing all over in the casino lobby? The one you let kiss you? Gee, Jasmine, I don’t know why I’d want to wipe the smirk off his asshole face,” I deadpan.
“You let Aurelio kiss you?” Carlo asks, walking towards us.
“No,” Jazzy says at the same time I say, “Yes.”
I narrow my glare at her. She narrows hers right back at me.
“I didn’t. I let you think we were kissing. We were not kissing. I wanted to make you jealous,” she clarifies.
“Well, congratulations! Mission accomplished, Jasmine,” I tell her. “I need to get to the office. Your security will be here in an hour. Don’t leave the house and make sure you listen to them.”
“I think that hit Aurelio landed on you knocked something loose in your brain, Jacob, if you think you get to stand here and tell me what I can and can’t do,” Jazzy says.
Fuck, she’s hot when she gets worked up.
“The fact that you’re my fiancée grants me the right to ensure your safety, whatever it takes.” I lean in and press my lips to her forehead, not giving a fuck that her father is watching our little fight? Argument? I don’t know what this is.
“I’m not your fiancée. You haven’t asked me yet. And I don’t even have a ring,” she says.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to remind her that she does have a ring. I put it in her safe last week with my mother’s jewelry. I don’t think Jazzy has even looked at it yet. “I’ll see you tonight,” I tell her instead.
It’s around lunchtime when I get the message.
TC:
Meeting tonight 8pm.
I don’t respond. It’s not necessary. I have to show my face. The last fucking thing I want to deal with right now is The Court. But I also won’t let them push my family’s legacy out.
I’ve thought about it a lot over the weeks since my parents were murdered. There are times where I despise the organization and everything it stands for, but then there are times where it’s handy to have so much pull. Like right now, sitting in the DA’s office.
“Mr. Westmead, you do know what this information will do, don’t you?” he asks.
“I’m aware.” I nod. I was going to hand this shit over anonymously, but fuck that. I want this asshole to know he can’t ignore it. If he does, I’ll make sure he not only loses his job, but he won’t have the opportunity to work in this country ever again.
“The Levines are a highly-respected family. To go after them would be… tough,” he says.
He’s scared. Without a word, I pull out my phone and dial the Vice President. I could go right to the top. I have the POTUS’s direct number as well, but I don’t want to bother him with such a minor issue.
“Mr. Westmead, how are you?” Victor Hughes answers cheerily.
“Hughes, I have a question for you.” I put the call on speaker so this asshole district attorney can hear every word.
“Hit me,” Victor says.
“How difficult would it be to replace the DA in my city? If, for example, I gave you evidence of them ignoring intel that could land a very influential family behind bars for insider trading?”
“I could have it done within a day. What family are we hypothetically talking about here?” Victor asks.
“The Levines.”
“Always fucking hated those assholes. Is this evidence iron clad? Because they’re going to have the best defense attorney money can buy.”
“Their assets will be frozen upon investigation,” I reply.
“And the evidence is solid.” I made sure every T was crossed.
It was easy once the Levines took my bait.
Did exactly what I thought they’d do with their stocks.
Stupid bastards. I don’t tell him that there won’t be any funds left for that family to hire anyone.
“If the DA won’t prosecute, call me back. I’ll have him replaced within a day with someone who will,” Victor says. The call goes dead.
I look across the desk while lifting a challenging brow. “Do you need any further encouragement?”
“No, Mr. Westmead. I’ll get it done.”
“Good, make sure you do. And give me a heads up on when you plan on making the arrest,” I say.
“Why?”
“So I can have my popcorn ready.” I smirk. I need to make sure that’s the day I also wipe the Levines’ accounts. I know their assets will be frozen, but I want them completely destitute.
And when they’re at their lowest, when they have nothing and are facing the rest of their lives behind bars, that’s when I’ll swoop in with an offer to buy out their companies.
They won’t be able to refuse. It will be a shit offer, and nothing near market value, but they’ll be desperate for the cash flow by that time.
I leave the DA’s office in a better mood. As soon as I’m in my car, I put a call through to Logan Carnegie, using the encrypted app I have that eliminates the chance of anyone listening in. I have no doubt tonight’s meeting is to induct him.
“Westmead,” Logan answers.
“You get the message about tonight?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“You get the tape done?”
“I did. She was a fucking talker too, man. Good mouth on her, that one.” He chuckles.
“Spare me the details.” I do not need to know how Mrs. Van Baron sucks dick.
“Levine will be handled within the week. We keep this shit on lockdown until then. That’s when we hit the media with it.
Two of America’s finest families wrapped up in scandals within days of each other.
The media will go nuts.” I smile at the thought.
I can already see how crazy Van Baron is going to go at seeing his wife leak his dirty, sordid secrets while she sucks another man’s dick.
“I hope for both our sakes this plan of yours works, Westmead,” Logan says.
“It’ll work.”
“They haven’t hit Wickenshem yet. You think they’ve got him scared and siding with them?” Logan asks.
“I’m sure he’s fucking pissing his pants.
But he was already on their side. They all voted to take out the current underworld bosses.
Why the fuck these old fuckers want to play at being mobsters, I have no idea.
But I do know, if they take out any of the current leaders, there is no way the De La Sangre Cartel is going to sell product to them anyway. ”
“How do you know that?”
“They’re a close-knit family, that one. I know Lopez well enough to know if you attack any of them, he will come for you. He’ll wipe out your entire bloodline, not just you,” I say.
“It’s not smart to fuck with the cartel. I did tell my father that when he mentioned it to me a few months back.”
“What did he say?” I ask.
“Just mentioned the idea the other old farts were throwing around, about taking over the Strip. It’s not just the drugs they want. They want the casinos,” Logan says.
Jazzy’s casino. Like fuck are they getting anywhere near her business. Technically, it’s her father’s, but she is going to be running that place before long. I know she is.
“See you tonight,” I reply before cutting the call.