10. Chapter 10 #3
Rush lifts off the chair and scrolls down on the phone, taking an extra step that I didn’t bother to do before I picked up the call. “It is Drummond Motors.”
Suddenly, Jagger’s face sobers. “Why were they calling you? I didn’t know that they called you directly.
Wesley said that he didn’t want anyone bothering the staff here, unless it’s from the prescribed list that I supplied him with.
You were not on that list. I told him specifically to address any financial issues with me first, since I know how overwhelmed you are. ”
That statement shocks me. I had no idea that Jagger did that for me. It still doesn’t remove the sting enough to make me back down though. “It wasn’t Wesley.”
“Who was it?” Halen asks. “One of his goons?”
There is no point in lying. It will only come out later if she squeals. “It was Freddie.”
Rush’s brow lifts. I lift a hand. “Don’t worry, man.”
Halen is humored. He chuckles. “What, are you fucking her, too?”
My gaze darts to his. “Fuck you, man.” My voice is raised an octave.
I go back to address Jagger. “Look, I didn’t want to tell you, but Freddie and her little friend Reya are trying to fuck with me.
It’ll probably go away on its own, but that’s why I was so pissed at the meeting.
She had just called me, and I saw Jinny and thought Jesus fuck, another complication. ”
With his arms crossed over his chest, he sits back down on the corner of my desk. “What sort of game, man?”
“Freddie’s words were that Reya is hung up on me. She wants to go on a double date with her and Axl, and I told her that I want no part of it.”
Rush intervenes. “Axl? What the fuck does she want with Axl?”
Halen lifts a hand. “Relax, Romeo. I saw her giving him more googoo eyes than she was giving you.”
Rush frowns. “Still. What is it with that guy? He’s a fucking train wreck, and yet, he seems to have every chick in the room, without fail.”
Halen interrupts. “Yeah, didn’t he and Jinny have a thing going, too?”
Jagger is frustrated. He gets back up off my desk. “Can we focus here? What sort of game is Freddie trying to play? Is this petty high school shit, or is this something that’s going to get back to Wesley?”
I look at him like he just asked me if I jerked off this morning. “You’ve got a multi-billion-dollar deal with the top automotive manufacturer in Europe, and you’re worried that some gutless cunt is going to sully that over a fucking blow job? Get your head out of your ass, Jagger.”
He raises a hand. “Look, we don’t need anything fucking up that deal, now I mean it.
If she wants you to go and kidnap and kill fucking puppies with her, you’re going to do it.
What’s the big deal, anyway? You go out on a double date, you eat something, and you call it a night. I think you can handle that.”
My voice is a squeak. “Have you lost your mind? Why the hell would I entertain any of that? She’s insane. They’re both insane. And going out on a date with them is not going to help.”
With his finger pointed at me, his eyes wild, and his voice blunt, he says. “You will not do anything to fuck this up, Led. Go out. One night. Hell, fuck her for all I care. Fuck both of them for that matter. But if you do anything to jeopardize this deal, I’ll fucking kill you.”
I want to punch him. I want to knock his fucking teeth out of his head.
But deep down, as much as I hate it, as much as the thought of having anything to do with any of those three people makes my fist ball up, I know that he’s right.
What’s more, I know that he would do it for me.
When push comes to shove, in this business, you do what you have to do to stay in your place on the totem pole.
I fucked up taking Reya back to my place when I knew that she was part of this deal.
Like an idiot, I let my stupid hormones and my fucked up head get in the way.
Had I been thinking clearer, I would have shaken it off.
I would have said no thank you. But no. I took her back to my place and let her fuck me with her mouth and didn’t return the favor. I used her.
Now, Jagger is a level-headed guy, and I know that he only gets upset when he’s right.
He’s let me off the hook dozens of times for things that he didn’t have to.
He gave me this job. He made me a rich man.
And as I look at his face and see that he isn’t fucking around, I relent.
“Fine. I’ll take her out and let her off easy. ”
Halen snorts. “Don’t you mean get her off easy?”
Rush elbows him, but he’s covering his mouth, trying to conceal the chuckle in vain.
Jagger’s gaze is still on mine, but it softens, even though he says nothing.
There are so many things that I need to say to him. So many things. But the truth is, I don’t know if I’ll ever have the heart to tell him half of it. So, I do what I always do, and I swallow my pride, do the right thing, even though it’s the right thing for everyone else, just not for me.
...and then I worry about the one person that I never thought I’d worry about.