Page 81 of Jake's Angel

I’m dragged out of my private pity party by Hawk’s whining voice.

“Ah, come on, Pres. What if I tell them to wear real clothes and cover up a little more?”

“It’s Sadie’s graduation celebration, man. She’s not going to want the place crawling with strippers and whores. This is a party for her. She has friends from town coming tonight, and wedon’t need them going home and telling their parents what we get up to in the clubhouse.” I add.

“Fiiiine.” Hawk answers, sulking like a kid who just got their favorite toy taken away. “Fucking bullshit.” He grumbles under his breath, but I hear him.

Church adjourns, and we all split off to go our separate ways to finish getting everything ready. Hawk and I go to our rooms to take our showers and get changed at the clubhouse. He and Blake are checking security and making sure the other prospects finished everything to Liz’s liking.

Me, I drove a cage up to Liz and Caleb’s and sit in the living room with Gabe and Pop while we wait for the girls to finish getting ready before driving them down to the party.

“Did you know Eleanor filled her head with all that shit about Maggie running off and calling Avery a bastard daughter of a debutant and a stranger? What the hell?” Gabe and Pop are deep in conversation. I shouldn’t be listening, but it’s not like they chose a private place to talk shit out.

“Eleanor is a piece of shit. I’ve heard several versions of what people assumed Maggie did. Who they thought she was.” Pop says. “Truth is, I’m rarely ever at the mansion anymore. Russ stays on the road or in the office as much as possible. It’s why I had to put Chuck on as Avery’s guard. Had I known Eleanor was filling her head with that shit, I would’ve told Russ. He would’ve put a stop to it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Gabe says, scrubbing the back of his neck. “There is more to this. Avery said her job was meant to entertain and look pretty. She wasn’t allowed to cook or do things for herself. The way she spoke about things has me wondering if something else wasn’t going on inside that house.”

“If you thought it, why didn’t you push Avery for more information? Ask her if there’s anything else you need to know?” Pop presses Pres.

“She was already shutting down on me, pushing me away. I didn’t want to risk her closing me out completely. Not to mention, she’s still a flight risk. She doesn’t trust us. Yet.”

“If she was being mistreated, Chuck would’ve reported back to me about it.”

“Unless he was involved.” Pres quips. “The man was shot the night my daughter ran away.”

“Avery didn’t shoot him, Gabe.” Pop’s voice is a raised whisper. “I know that girl in there and I’m telling you, she couldn’t pull the trigger to kill another human being.”

“Sadie could.”

Fuck.

“Uh hem.” Liz clears her throat as she enters from the hallway where the girls are somewhere getting ready. “Why don’t you two go on to the clubhouse and make sure everything is ready for Sadie to arrive?”

“We wanted to take them …” Gabe starts.

“Gabriel, I love you, but you need to take this conversation back down to the clubhouse where it belongs.Now.I’m not asking.” Liz says through gritted teeth. “If you want our Bug to make it to the party, you need to leave this house right this minute.”

Gabe sighs. “She’s still pissed at me, then?”

“Well, let’s just say you’re not on her top five favorites on her phone.”

“Got it.” He motions to Pop. They both give me a chin lift on their way out the door.

Jayde comes out of the hallway first, wearing a short black dress with a high neck and low back.Good girl.She’s mostly covered, which means I won’t have to beat some fucker for trying to get handsy with my baby sister. With local teenagers coming in things can get a little out of hand. Not everyone knows the rules, and not everyone cares.

Jayde walks over to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water.

“Are they almost ready in there?” I ask. I’m slowly losing my patience. I may have to play babysitter tonight, but I’d like to at least get a few drinks in and relax before it gets too crazy and little miss innocent decides we need to leave because it’s too much for her to handle.

I wonder how Avery will handle herself in our environment.

“I think Sadie is just finishing up Avery’s hair. Shouldn’t be long,” Jayde says, a smile spreading across her face.She’s up to something.“You want a lemon tart? Liz made them this morning.”

“Sure.” I answer, sitting down at the table. “I don’t know why you’re going through all this trouble, when you know Avery’s probably going to want to go home right at ten, when everything starts getting crazy. It’s a wasted effort, don’t you think?” I ask. Jayde’s eyes light up, and the corners of her mouth turn up just a little.

“I don’t know Jake. I think a girl should feel pretty no matter how long she’s going to be somewhere. Besides, she’s meeting a lot of new people, and she wants to look her best. You know, first impressions and all that.” Jayde shrugs her shoulders and takes another long pull from her water bottle.

“Just don’t get drunk and stupid. I don’t want to beat anyone’s ass tonight over you girls. That goes for all three of you!”

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