Chapter 2 #2
With each word Logan spoke, the color seemed to bleed from Jake’s face.
Logan drove his point home. “See, the kind of men in that cage? They don’t want you to have a shot at succeeding in this life. They want you down in hell with them. Especially Morris. That prick wants to use and abuse, and he wants to destroy.”
Sweat covered Jake’s forehead. “My dad owes him money. I-I told you about what was going down to see if I could get an advance on my pay. That way, I could get rid of my dad’s debt.
Not all of it, but, you know, start working it down.
He…my old man drinks.” His hands twisted in front of him.
“He always has. As long as I can remember.” A ragged breath.
“But I’m good for the money, boss. You know I am.
I will work nights, I will work weekends.
You need a dishwasher, you need a valet driver, you need a handyman, you need a cleaner, I will do whatever it takes. ”
“You’re not working nights. Or weekends. Your ass is getting to the tryout I have scheduled for you. You’re gonna pitch like hell on fire, and you’re gonna get snapped up by the minor league team. You’ll stay with them a time, and then you’ll be picked up by the majors.”
There it was. Because he was watching Jake so closely, Logan saw the flash of absolute hunger in his eyes.
Logan nodded. “You’ll be in the majors, and you’ll send me a ticket to your first game.” He walked from behind the desk. “Your dad is in rehab. He’ll be there for at least the next six months.”
“B-boss?” Then a hard, negative shake of Jake’s head. “He—he won’t go.”
“He’s already gone. I handled it.” Before he’d even gone to sleep the night before.
“He won’t stay. I’ve tried before. Over and over again, I’ve tried to get him help!”
“I got him there. He’ll stay.” Had it basically been a kidnapping? Yeah, but whatever. Like Logan worried about petty details. Those were the details that someone like Charlotte stressed over. Someone who followed the law every single moment.
His fake PA was currently way too quiet as she watched him and Jake.
“You have six months,” Logan told Jake. “Your old man has six months. You both have shots to get the kind of lives you want in that time. You focus on you. He’ll get treatment. You go for the majors.”
“I…” Jake’s face twisted. “I have to repay you.”
“Did you miss the part about my ticket? Because that wasn’t BS. I will be getting that seat. And it had better be a prime spot.”
“There has to be more. I have to do more.”
“All right, fine.” Jeez. “Don’t get your arm broken in a dumbass cage fight. That’s more.”
“Boss…”
Logan looked at his empty wrist. His favorite sign for I’m-done. “I have things to do.”
“There’s no watch there, boss,” Jake mumbled.
“I still have things to do. Got a big high roller game scheduled tonight and believe me when I say that those high rollers can be total pricks.” Talk about prima donnas.
But the stakes were going to be killer, and Logan fully intended to wipe them all out because he would be playing in that particular game, too. “Here’s some advice for you.”
Jake was all eyes as he seemed to focus avidly on Logan.
“Keep your nose clean and stop trying to sweep up your father’s mess. He’s a grown man. At some point, we all have to take responsibility for ourselves.”
Jake threw himself at Logan. Hugged him tight. “I will repay you.”
“Oh, hell, now you’re clinging.” Great. Awkward. “Get the fuck out. Go throw some balls or something. Your arm doesn’t just warm up itself.”
For a moment, Jake hugged him tighter. Voice low, gruff, Jake rasped, “Nobody believed in me until you.”
Logan pushed him back. Stared straight at the kid. “More advice is incoming. Remember this.”
Jake nodded.
“You don’t need other people to believe in you. You have to believe in yourself. What you think and what you do? That’s what matters. You. Not them. Now, seriously, get out of here. Get warmed up and kick ass at the tryout.”
Jake’s grin stretched from ear to ear. He bounded for the door. “I will not disappoint you! I swear, I won’t!”
Did you miss what I just said? It’s not about me. It’s about you.
The door shut behind Jake.
Silence.
Then…
Tap, tap, tap. Charlotte’s heels. Coming closer.
He put his hands behind him on the surface of the desk. The better to lean back and the better not to grab her because she was moving to stand right in front of him. Her delectable scent reached out to him.
Passion and Candy.
Yes, please.
Behind the lenses of her glasses, her gaze assessed him. “What was that?”
“It was a young idiot named Jake.”
One eyebrow crooked. “I got that his name was Jake. I meant…” A long-suffering sigh. “Why did you just help him? For someone who claims to not care if the world burns down while you light matches and dance around the fire, I’m pretty sure you just committed a good deed.”
“Take it back,” he said instantly. “Right now.”
She shook her head.
“Not cool, spy lady. Not cool.”
Her head whipped around as she glanced over her shoulder. As if she expected someone to be there. Someone who’d heard his words.
Logan laughed. “No worries, it’s just us.”
Her head whipped right back toward him. “Stop trying to blow my cover.”
“Stop saying I do good deeds. I don’t.”
Her hands fisted on her hips. “Then explain the situation with Jake. You literally fought four men for him last night. You stopped the kid from getting his arm broken and facing a serious beatdown. You say that you don’t help others, and yet—”
“I said that I protect those who are mine.” An important clarification.
“Jake is one of my employees. The kid has been working for me since he was sixteen years old. He was waiting outside my hotel at one a.m. in the morning.” Like he’d forget their first meeting.
“Thin as a rail. Clothes dirty and ripped. Shoes that didn’t match.
He saw me exiting my limo, and he ran forward.
Barney was ready to throw the kid to the curb, but Jake begged for a job.
Not money. Not a favor. A job. Said he’d been trying to apply everywhere in town.
No one would hire him. So I put him in the kitchen. He started as a dishwasher.”
She waited.