Page 58 of Jake's Angel

“Okay, focus. What’s your plan here, Aves? You can’t tell the guys anything about Thomas. They’ve been looking for him for years and assumed he’s dead. If they find out he’s not, and he’s had contact withyou, they might remedy the fact and you’ll never get your answers.”

“And neither will you.” I see the glimmer of hope in her eyes. She needs to know the truth about the man who abandoned her and her mother. Whose shit decisions and inexcusable actions left them alone and hurting.

“Yeah, I already thought about it last night. My original plan was to leave town, have him meet me somewhere far away from here.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far.” I flail my arms around in a small tantrum. “Details are your thing! You always have plans and the escape routes and all the techy shit to pull it off. I was flying solo on this one. I hadn’t thought very far ahead.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down. I’ll help you, but you’ve got to tell me everything, and then you need to give me at least two to three days to work some shit out. These guys are going to be on us like white on rice for a while. Especially now that everyone knows you’re Gabe’s daughter. You’re club royalty, now. Which means they areallgoing to be vigilantandon their best behavior.”

“What are you talking about?”

She sighs, gripping my shoulders, staring me down.

“It means I’m going to need time to outsmart these fuckers so we can go meet with Thomas and get the answers we’re seeking. But …” She glares at me, a hardness I’ve never seen in her eyes before. “But …if he does anything I don’t like. If he hurts you or my family in any way, I will unleash the wrath of the Fury like he has never seen. My own consequences be damned. You got me?”

I chuckle. “You sound like one of them.”

A wide smile lifts at the corners of her mouth when she proudly answers, “Iamone of them.”

“I don’t think Thomas will hurt me. He’s the one who told me not to run. He said I should stay with the Kings. Something about they take care of their own.” Handing her the burner he gave me, I tell her, “Here. Read it for yourself.” I watch as she reads through the messages.

“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but if he crosses us …”

“Yeah, I know.” Sadie pulls me in for another hug. We’re both tired and emotionally drained, but I feel better now having Sadiein my corner while I figure out what really happened the night of my mother’s death.

Our bonding moment is abruptly halted when Jayde’s voice echoes off the walls.

“Enough of the sappy shit. Let’s get you two cleaned up and presentable again. You can’t be seen walking out of here with me while you two are looking like this.” She waves her hand at our puffy, tear-streaked faces and disheveled clothes. She tosses a purse the size of my duffle bag onto the sink and starts putting stuff onto the counter.

“Here.” She hands Sadie a wad of clothing. “I got this from my closet, but it’s yours. You can have it back. Now go change.” Sadie does as she asks without question. “Don’t you dare smudge any of make-up on the shirt, either. I want it back when you’re finished with it.”

“Didn’t you just say these were my clothes?”

“Yes, and I want them back when you’re done with them. I’ve had them for this long and you’ve never noticed, which means they weren’t missed. Ergo, they now belong to me by default.” I can hear Sadie’s laughter, though she’s trying to hide it from Jayde.

“As for you.” Spinning to face me, she reaches into the bag and pulls out a short light purple sundress and hands it to me. “From what I hear, you’re royalty now. I think it’s about time you acted like it. Trust me. You’ll need to own that shit around here.”

“What?” Walking into the stall behind me, I undress, making a pile of my own clothes on the floor.

“You saw those women out there, right?”

“You mean Drea and the others? Yeah, I saw them. Your brother asked me if I wanted to become a club whore like them.”

The room erupts in a fit of laughter. “He did not!”

“Yeah, he did.”

“Oh my God. What did Daddy and Gabe do when they heard about it?” I shrug at her question. “Oh, I guarantee he won’t do somethingthatstupid again. Not if he wants to keep his balls where they are.” Jayde’s lost in her own laughter for a minute, then remembers what she was trying to tell me. “Okay. So, those women, once they learn about you being Gabe’s daughter, they are going to be like piranha in a pool of blood. Some will befriend you because they want you to get them in with the men. Some will befriend you to your face and stab you in the back when you’re not looking because they need you to like them, but they don’t want you near the men in the club. The others, like Drea, will boldfaced be an asshole because she sees you as a threat.”

“I’m not a threat to her. I couldn’t care less about what she does or who, for that matter.”

“Though it may be true, she has a hard on for Hawk and my brother. If she sees the way Jake looks at you—yeah, I saw the way he looked at you in the store. If Drea caught on to it too, she’s going to be an extra special brand of bitch to you.” Jayde glares up at me from under her long lashes. “Watch your back around all of them.”

“Don’t worry, Aves.” Sadie swings the door to her stall wide as she saunters out, causing the door to slam back with a loud thud. “The man-eating-twat-waffle won’t bother you so long as you’re with me. She’s already been warned about fucking with me.”

“Ha! You should hang with Skyler. They’re all afraid of her.” Jayde smiles widely.

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