28. Jareth
Niki slammed down a glass of whiskey on the bar in front of me. I had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t the top shelf brand I’d asked for. I took a sip and forced myself not to wince. It was like drinking turpentine.
She grinned, an evil, I’m going to fuck with you look. I liked her even more.
“Hazel’s like family.”
I took another sip to prove I wasn’t bothered by her choice. “I know.”
“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you myself.”
“I know.”
She growled. “Aren’t you going to say anything else?”
“I don’t see the point.”
“Do you even care about her, or is she just a conquest to you?” Niki leaned in, fists clenched.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mike watching us, stepping closer, ready to jump in if needed. I hadn’t missed the look on his face when we arrived, and he had put two and two together.
“On the contrary, I care about Hazel very much. It is the only reason I’m allowing you to talk to me this way and get away with it.”
“You’re a fucking asshole.”
“I’ve been called worse,” I admitted with a shrug. “I’m not a nice man. I get what I want and do what I need to do to achieve the desired result.”
Niki’s face reddened and she slapped a hand down on the bar. Her flinty gaze cut right through me, proving she had perfected the ‘I want to kill you’ glare.
“Hazel, though, is not someone I can manipulate. She is everything I am not.” I decided to lay my cards out on the table. “I’ll only say this once. I recognize I am not worthy of her affection or even her love, but I’d rather destroy myself than hurt her. For some crazy reason, she sees things in me that I don’t believe exist and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that every day she knows how special she is.”
She blinked, not prepared for my complete honesty. The suspicious twist of her mouth told me she questioned my words. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Hazel considers you family. She values you and your opinion. For her sake, and happiness, I want to keep the peace. To do that, you need to know I’m not trying to screw her over or toy with her affections.”
She pointed at me. “I still don’t trust you.”
“You shouldn’t. She needs someone in her corner watching out for her to keep her safe, even if it’s from me.”
Niki rested her forearms on the bar. “Okay.”
I leaned in, keeping our eyes connected and I threw back the rest of that god-awful drink. My throat wanted to seize. Once that feeling passed, I finished what I had to say. “For Hazel’s sake, I want us to develop a truce. I care about her and don’t want anything coming between us.”
Niki’s eyes narrowed. “Noted.”
“I want your blessing and Lacey’s, but I don’t need it. This is for Hazel. And for her I’d do anything.”
Some of the anger eased from her face at my confession. “I’m holding you to that.”
“I’d expect nothing else.”
Hazel’s sweet voice filled the air and my attention shifted. “Hi everyone.”
A few people yelled back and cheered for her.
Her green eyes swung to the bar clearly hoping Niki and I worked things out. I smiled and lifted my glass while Niki offered her a semi-reassuring forced smile. Hazel’s smile told me she was happy with whatever progress we’d made.
“You want to prove to me that you’re all in with her?”
I turned to face her.
Niki pointed at Hazel who had started off humming along with the intro music. “Get her noticed.”
I frowned, not quite getting what she was hinting at. “You’d need to give me additional details.”
“Hazel is one of the best singers I’ve ever heard. Ever since we were kids, she sang. She once wanted to do it as a career.”
I nodded. Hazel had an incredible voice that swept the crowd away. You could feel the emotions of the song through her cadence and the way she drew people in. It was remarkable. Not everyone was capable of doing that.
“You need to get someone from that fancy music company to take a chance on her.”
Why hadn’t Hazel come to me if this was something she wanted?
Some microexpression on my face must have alerted Niki to what I was thinking. “She won’t ask you herself. We’ve told her plenty of times, but she doesn’t want to take advantage of your connection.” If Hazel had felt that way while we were boss and employee, it was likely she’d feel even stronger now that we’d gotten involved.
I gave Niki a curt nod. “Done.”
For the first time, a genuinely warm smile crossed her face. “You do that, Vizier, and we’re good.”
“Excellent. Then could I get a glass of your Weller twelve-year bourbon.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Just to fuck with me she poured something only slightly better than the last and then headed over to help another customer.
I took another sip and grimaced. There was no way I could drink this. I pushed the glass away and focused on Hazel.
Hazel’s friend Lacey settled on the stool next to me. “She’s phenomenal.”
“Undoubtedly,” I responded sincerely. “Are you here for the second round of the inquisition?”
Lacey chuckled softly. “I would, but I bet Niki already covered that.”
I nodded.
“Just don’t hurt her.” Lacey’s chocolate brown eyes met mine. “Hazel might not have said it, but I can see it in her eyes. She’s all in with you. I just want you to treasure what she’s offering.”
“I do.” I liked knowing I wasn’t the only one that had Hazel’s back. “Niki said Hazel’s always wanted to sing.” My stomach twisted, knowing that Hazel hadn’t shared this with me.
“Singing makes Hazel’s soul happy. I don’t think she could ever give it up, but are you asking if she wants to do it professionally?”
“Yes.” If it was what she wanted then I would do whatever I could to make it happen.
“Yes and no. When we were younger, it was all she talked about, but as we got older, it became more of a hobby than a career.” Lacey paused to watch Hazel sing. Just her presence alone lit up the stage and laid the crowd at her feet.
“So I shouldn’t talk to my colleague about her?” I didn’t want to push Hazel to do something she didn’t want to do.
“No, it’s just… you know Hazel. She’s really good at taking care of other people and putting their needs first. Sometimes I think she’s afraid that if she isn’t useful then we’ll leave her.”
I decided that it was time to find ways to punish Hazel’s parents even more.
“She realized pretty early on that her grandmother struggled to pay for everything. At nine years old, she’d do odd jobs around the neighborhood to make money to buy groceries. She’d forgo school clothes and all that other beginning of the year stuff kids want so Gran could pay rent. So at some point she pushed away her dreams and pretended it wasn’t something she really wanted so she could help pay the bills.”
I hated that Hazel had to struggle.
“She begged my parents at ten years old to be able to wash dishes for extra money. They said no until we turned twelve.”
I frowned. Twelve was far too young for Hazel to take on a job.
“She was determined to find something that would pay her under the table. They were afraid whatever place she found would take advantage of her and figured it was better to let her work here.”
Lacey wasn’t wrong. Hazel would’ve found something on her own. And I was happy she had the Belmonts by her side to keep her as safe as they could.
“I don’t think Hazel would admit it’s still her dream.” Lacey gestured at the stage. “But if you watch her up there and listen to her sing, her soul is crying out to have that opportunity.”
“When is she scheduled to sing again?”
“How quickly could you get someone here?”
“Let me check.”
I texted Lance Scott. I knew I had to handle this delicately. If I pushed and forced VS Productions to sign on Hazel, she’d never accept it. She had to know she did this on her own.
JARETH
I want to send a scout to The Wooden Nickel in Providence, Rhode Island ASAP.
LANCE
That’s not how this works.
Our company was not an equal split of ownership. If he pushed this, I’d use my influence to take over the remaining part of the company and destroy him.
JARETH: I’m not asking.
The ellipses kept coming and going, letting me know he was crafting a response.
LANCE
Fine.
JARETH
How soon?
LANCE
Two nights from now. And before you push, yes, that’s the earliest I can do.
“In two nights. Can we make it happen?”
Lacey’s eyes pricked with tears. “Should we tell her?”
“Not yet. I don’t want to make her nervous.”
“True. Let’s invite all her friends and family. She’ll do better with the news when she walks in and sees them.”
I nodded, already making a mental note of who to contact.
My phone buzzed with an incoming text. If it was Lance trying to weasel out of it, I would make him regret it. The moment I saw who it was, my anger dissipated. I’d been so busy since we returned, I hadn’t had a chance to let him know how it went.
TERRI
Hey, are you back from Bali yet?
JARETH
We are. Just got back yesterday.
TERRI
How did it go with Bill?
I’d been so wrapped up in Hazel I’d forgotten to message him after we met with Bill.
JARETH
He didn’t know anything.
Even though reaching out to Bill seemed like a wild goose chase, it still seemed there was something I was missing.
TERRI
I’m sorry. I really thought we’d catch a break with him.
JARETH
Not your fault. If we’re patient the Sultons will slip up at some point. We’ll get them for it then.
TERRI
Keep me posted.
JARETH
I will. Before I forget, I found a key in one of my dad’s books. Do you know what it might go to?
TERRI
A key?
JARETH
I don’t recognize it. I’ll send you a pic of it later when I get home. Maybe you”ll recognize it.
I’d been obsessing over this key since we found it. My instincts told me it was important.
TERRI
I’ll keep my eyes open for it. Not sure I can help, but I’ll try. You coming to my NYE celebration?
JARETH
Haven’t decided yet.
TERRI
Bring Hazel.
JARETH
We’ll try to make it. What are you doing the night after next?
TERRI
I have a business dinner, but can try to get out of it. What’s going on?
JARETH
Hazel will be performing at The Wooden Nickel at 7 p.m. I’d like you to be there.
TERRI
Not at Luminosity?
I grit my teeth. It was still a sore spot that she’d chosen to sing somewhere else.
JARETH
It’s a long story, but no. I have a surprise that night for her so don’t say anything about it.
TERRI
If I can’t cancel I’ll get there as soon as I can.
I ended the conversation with my uncle singularly focused on ways to help Hazel. I only hoped that when she found out she was as on board with this as her friends seemed to think she’d be. Now that we were together, money wasn’t an issue. She could pursue whatever dream she chose and I’d make sure it happened.