Page 60 of The Broker

The other part Jared loved about this job was meeting kind people who just wanted a bit of attention. This man reminded Jared of his own grandfather. They had placed his grandfather in a nursing home about ten years ago, where he caught pneumonia and passed away the following Christmas.

Jared missed his granddad.

When he was a kid, the man used to take him to the cinema, where they would spend all Sunday afternoon watching back-to-back movies. When they got home at night, his gran had a delicious dinner waiting for them and his mother. Jared’s father did what most poor English men did in his neighborhood—once he unloaded his seed in his mom, he fucked right off—another unknown dude in an English pub.

Around them, the music changed, and the sex twins stepped out onto the stage. The crowd went wild, whistling and shouting lewd comments—a normality atLa Maison, especially with drunk, horny, rich men.

Watching as the twins took the stage, Jared wondered if the two ever crossed swords in the bedroom. According to Anders, that was the most commonly requested act the two received when entertaining in the private suites.

Gunnar and Anders were a package deal. They charged slightly more than other dancers for a private session, but the two claimed that the double-act experience was well worth the extra funds.

Anders never clarified whether the two brothers actually smacked swords together or if they remained firmly on their own sides during the double act. On stage, the two brothers often caressed each other’s bodies in a seductive manner, but they never touched each other’s junk or kissed one another.Yet, somehow, watching the two on stage always raised the temperature in the room.

Giving the old man a kiss on the cheek and a pat on his chest, Jared made his way to the bar where Diesel was currently adjusting the sausage in his drawers.

“Don’t forget to wash your hands,” Jared quipped as he signaled the bartender for a water.

Diesel sniffed his fingers and then passed them toward Jared.

“Ew. Fuck your sweaty ball sack,” Jared groaned, swatting Diesel’s nasty fingers away from his face.

Diesel chuckled. Always the man pig.

That was part of Diesel’s persona. He was the bad boy who didn’t give a fuck. The man who stayed out all night drinking and fucking, then spent all day snorting lines and sucking dick. Well, these days, it wasn’t so much snorting lines as it was lounging by the pool and doing yoga with Teo. But at night, there was plenty of dick-sucking, ass-pounding, and booze swallowing.

That was Diesel. A tiger never changes its stripes.

“Thanks, Levi,” Jared said, taking the water bottle and unscrewing the cap. He took a long drink, then wiped the stray drops of water as they ran down his chin.

Levi had been helping out behind the bar while he worked on getting his bartending license and learning how to mix drinks. For legal reasons, a licensed bartender mixed and served the drinks while Levi watched, learned, and passed out water bottles and soft drinks.

“You seen Isaac around?” Jared asked, scanning the perimeter of the room, hoping to find the blue-haired pain in the ass.

Levi shook his head. “Do you think he’s off sulking somewhere?”

They were in uncharted territories with this one. Normally, when Isaac got mad, shit like that bothered him for all of two seconds before he left the room and totally forgot why it was that he was mad—usually being distracted by some other unimportant thing. Another reason that Jared suspected Isaac had ADHD. But dealing with emotional trauma from his past? Jared wasn’t quite sure how Isaac would deal with that little problem.

“I’m sure he is probably playing video games in his room,” Matteo added, pulling up a barstool next to Jared.

He was probably right.

“Okay, let me know when he comes down. I should probably go spend some time with Boris. He mentioned earlier that he was in the middle of merging his company with another of the major petroleum companies in Russia.”

Matteo slapped Jared on the back. “That’s a good idea. Find out if there are any other bidders they are considering as well. I want to make sure we have all of our bases covered.”

Even in times of crisis, Matteo was always placing his pawns on the board.

Just as Jared turned to make his way over to Boris, a man’s voice was heard screaming, followed by a loud crash and the roar of a tiger.

Matteo’s eyes went wide.

“Raj!” Jared shouted, taking off toward the sound of chaos erupting outside.

Levi jumped over the bar while Matteo and Diesel leaped from their seats. All three charged after Jared, listening to the terrified screams and shouts exploding everywhere.

The warm September air slapped Jared in the face the moment he opened the back patio doors and ran outside.

In the gardens below, men and dancers were scattering everywhere as the large angry cat darted in and out of bushes, frantically searching for something.

---