“Alright, man. I respect that.” Greyson took the envelope and stuck it in the pocket of his suit jacket.
“Next time you come back, bring your workout gear, I’ll give you a session myself,” Vinny grinned.
“You bet your ass I will.”
The two of them left on good terms.
“Vinny used to work at the shop with us. Good guy. Always wanted to start his own place. So I provided some capital and the venue.” He smiled at me. “You really should go, you know. He’s the best trainer I know. Every woman should have some fighting in her background.”
“Where to next?” I asked.
“A little place just up the road, best ice cream in town.”
Greyson
I sat down at the picnic table and looked at her, double dipped cone in hand. She was giggling at me. Actually giggling.
“What?” I asked as I looked her over.
“Just, you,” she said as she pointed at me. I’d taken off my suit coat and was sitting there scowling. “You’re wearing, what, a thousand dollar suit, eating drippy ice cream.”
The suit cost me more than that, but she had a point.
“It’s good. My favorite place in town to get this.”
She nodded. “My mom used to take us here on special occasions. Said it was where her parents took her.” Anne’s Dairy Creme had been around for years and years, and it was a staple of the area. She dug into her strawberry sundae. “I’ve always loved it, though. Best ice cream, ever.”
The way her eyes lit up sent a rush of something else through me, not lust. Something different. It was like she experienced everything for the first time, her reactions so intense. I liked that about her. It made me… feel.
Looking at her made me feel other things. I fought my rising cock as I stared at her. I didn’t want to get hard here, now. I wanted to take her back to my place and fuck her good. I wasn’t sure it would get her out of my mind, but I knew that it would at least give me a little fix.
I could almost taste her, the memory of her overwhelming my mind. I wanted her again yesterday, but I held back. Had to make it look like I wasn’t as strung out as I was. Had to try to convince myself I didn’t need it.
But I did.
“Why do you work for your dad? Why not do something else?” she asked the question and brought me up out of my fantasies.
“I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, Jo.” What the hell could I tell her? That if I tried to leave the family, I’d be killed. I cleared my throat and looked away.
“So, what do you have planned for us next?” she asked, cautiously. She got the hint. I appreciated the fact that she wasn’t going to push the topic.
There it was. My opening. And my phone took it away in an instant with its infernal buzzing.
“One second,” I said as I stood up and walked away from her, towards my car.
Fuck, it was my father.
The last person I wanted to talk to right now. If I didn’t answer it, he’d grill me. And if I did, I knew playtime was over.
He only called me when he wanted to summon me. So I did what any good son would do, I picked up the damn phone.
“Yeah?” I asked. I never bothered to greet him. We both knew he wanted something.
“Get your ass down to Warehouse B. I got some business I want you to take care of.”
“Can it wait, I have an appointment.”
“No, it cannot wait. Get Janson to reschedule. I’ve got some things for you to take care of.”
“Alright. I’ll be there.” I hung up the phone and turned towards Jo, who was finishing her sundae, sitting there looking as beautiful as ever. My good time was already ruined, but at least I could be a gentleman and take her back to her place.
“Sorry about that, got called into work. I was dealing with an issue with some of the equipment. Too hot for the workers, but not for me.” I shrugged as I threw my cone in the trash.
“You want anything for the road? I’ll drop you off at your place on my way.”
She shook her head. “No, I think I’m good.”
The spell lifted, and she saw me again, the real me. The one she was afraid of.
The entire car ride was silent, she didn’t talk, I didn’t put music on to lessen the tension. I needed this. It taught me a valuable lesson. Girls like her would never want guys like me. Not really.
Especially if they knew what we were involved in. That’s why one night was the best I could do. The best I could give anyone. It’s why I shouldn’t have come calling today.
But I couldn’t stay away.
“Listen, Jo. I have an event I have to attend next Friday night up in the inner-harbor. It’s a dinner for Representative Cruise, and I need to bring someone. I’d like you to come with me. I’ll knock some of the time owed off your sentence.” There, I made it a business deal, and she can’t say no. That way I could keep denying what I was feeling. That way I could see her again.
She looked at me, considering, her eyes calculating. “How much time?”
“Consider your debts forgiven.” I’d work it out with my father later.
“I’ll do it.” She swallowed. “Thank you for today, I needed that.”
“Okay. I’ll pick you up around seven.” It didn’t matter to me that she was doing it for the release of debt. It didn’t matter that I might take another beating for negotiating it without my father’s approval. I didn’t care.
I wanted her.
She was already making me reckless.
As soon as she was out of the car I took off. I needed time to separate her from whatever my father wanted me to do. It wasn’t going to be good, it never was.
Instead of clearing my head I grabbed my phone and dialed Janson.
“What is it, boss?” he asked.
“Jo. What do you know about her?”
“Uh, not too much. Working to pay off father’s debt, or something like that.” The hesitation in his voice let me know he wasn’t telling me everything.
“What do you know, Janson?”
“I-”
“Fine. Get the information.”
“I will,” he said.
“We’ll talk about it later, right now I have to do something for my dad.” I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the image in front of me. I didn’t have time to be talking to Janson; I needed to focus on what was right there. My father.
I pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse, and he was there. Waiting for me. I hung up the phone without another word to Janson
“What took you so long?” he asked as I stepped out of the car.
“Had to make a few calls, finish up with my client, and then head your way.” I squared my shoulders, made sure I was standing tall and looked at him without a hint of what I was really doing in my eyes. It was the truth- sort of.
He nodded. I’d learned not to apologize to him, not to let him see any sign of weakness. Not ever. James Fitzgerald was a mean son of a bitch, and he expected his son to be the spitting image of him. Mean, unforgiving, cruel when necessary. But fair.
And a Fitzgerald never apologized for his actions, but he did take responsibility. I did exactly what he wanted, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was pleased.
“Son, I’m glad you made it. I’ve got a couple of people who’ve… failed us. I wanted you to help me take care of it.”
I winced. I hated this part of it. I didn’t want anything to do with it, but if I showed weakness, he would only make it worse.
“Don’t we have people to do that?” I asked, “I’m really busy-“
“We do, but you know the deal. We have to take care of these things ourselves from time to time. Don’t want people to forget that we do enforce our own rules. Don’t want to get soft, either. This makes us hard. Makes us remember exactly who we are.”
We were monsters.
Chapter Four
Joanna
Seminar was finally over. Two and a half hours of searching through the book of the week, proving you read it with quotes, and trying hard to contradict the author without insulting them. It was a challenge, but it wasn’t a boring one. At least not to me.
I felt confident in the paper I submitted, and I felt good about school. Everything was going just the way I wanted it too. I was a little bit behind, sure, but everyone else was too. Graduate school was exactly what I wanted, and it was going well. I was happy. Content.
Until I saw my uncle’s private car pull up, along the street I was walking on.
Fuck.
“Get in the car, Jo.” Milo, my uncle’s driver, said. He waited, and I stood there.
“You can’t just come here to school,” I glared at the two of them. “You can’t ask me to do that here.”
“I can, and I will,” Uncle Dennis responded from the back of the car. I bent my head and opened the door, sliding into the seat across from him.
“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“My dear, is that any way to talk to your dear old uncle? Especially when I find out that you are working for the enemy.”
Ice ran through my veins. “Do you know why?”
“Because your father can’t help draining the allowance I give him each month at the races,” he glared. “Oh well, better than putting it up his nose. Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you, Uncle Den,” I said with all the sweetness I could muster. The man was usually very kind to me, but he had a dark side just like all the other men in the family. In both families.