Page 30 of Champagne & Handcuffs
“Yeah, man.” Paul took the bottle from Joss and kissed the side of her head. “I got this, gorgeous.”
“Since when? I mean, you haven’t been in Vegas that long.” I watched Joss walk around the island as I spoke and then sit next to me. That was when I noticed the diamond on her finger.
“Since about an hour ago.” She smiled—again.
“What?” I asked, looking from her to Paul who was pouring us shots of the clear tequila.
“I know it’s confusing. I’m going to brief you.”
Paul gave me a weird look, and Joss turned to him. “Seth is a detective from D.C. I asked my boss to bring him on board because I trust him.”
“A cop?” Paul asked. “The FBI brings in cops to help with cases?”
“When they need them,” Joss clarified. “Maybe I should just start at the beginning.”
I chuckled. “Start somewhere. This shit ain’t makin’ sense, Jossie.” I didn’t expect to be briefed in front of her fiancé. Well, I didn’t expect her to be engaged either. And it wasn’t protocol to talk about a case in front of a civilian. Was Paul a civilian? He acted as though he knew nothing about cops or the FBI given his last question.
Joss grabbed a shot glass and threw back the tequila. No salt. No lime. Just straight tequila. Then she did it again with the glass Paul had slid in front of me. I stared in disbelief. This wasn’t the Joss I knew.
And then a thought occurred to me. Was she still undercover? Had she said yes to this guy but it wasn’t real? Wait. I’d called her Jossie. Was she going undercover as Joss or another name? Fuck, I needed to know all thisbeforebeing thrown into Hell. My assignment was supposed to be given to me from her because I didn’t have time to be briefed. I got the call, packed and was on a plane in less than a day.
“Gorg—”
“It’s okay.” She took a deep breath and faced me. “Remember when I ran away at seventeen?”
I nodded and looked from her to Paul. That was a real life question. Paul slid another shot of thePatrónto me.
“I didn’t run away because I got into a fight with Cruella. I ran away because she sold my virginity. I was raped.”
“What?” I asked, causing the stool to skid on the hardwood floor as it scooted back. Growing up I’d always thought I would protect Joss no matter what. When someone said shit to her or Cat, I snapped. I was livid. But now, if this were true and she’d had her virtue stolen when she was seventeen …
I felt like a knife was in my heart, and I couldn’t breathe.
Joss took another shot of the tequila and then proceeded to tell me the truth about her mother. I paced the entire time as I listened to her explain that not only was Tony her mom’sDaddy,but she’d learned that Tony was her brother’s father and they ran a prostitution and sex trafficking ring. Yes,they. Bryce was in on it, and it all came to a head when Joss went on a date with him and then arrested him. A date with her brother. Twisted shit, I know.
The entire time she spoke, I stared at her. What Joss was telling me was unreal. I mean, I’d had a hunch that Cruella was a hooker, and now I knew for sure. It also started to make sense the way Joss had acted when she came to live with me. It took her awhile to get back to the old Joss, and she wasn’t one-hundred percent when she’d left for Vegas—even twelve years later.
“So,” I started, trying to form a sentence, “you two?” My finger went back and forth between them.
Joss smiled at Paul. “We’re real.”
“Okay but …” I hesitated again. “You’ve only been here a few months.”
“She tried to leave me, but I didn’t let her.”
Paul’s words stung. To this day I wasn’t over Cat. I’d catch myself wondering how she was doing and if she was dating or even married. That was where my job came in handy and then, of course,Facebook. You can find out a lot about someone just by going to their profile on social media. Even if it’s set to private, their profile picture tells a story. And not once in the ten or so years that I’d been randomly checking out Cat’s page had I seen a picture with a dude. I wasn’t stupid. I knew she was dating. The guys had just never made profile pic status.
“There’s more you need to know.” Joss bit her lip. “My undercover assignment was to work for a company called Saddles & Racks. They’re an escort service.”
“Okay?”
“And Paul—”
“Let’s just say I know how to fuck,” he stated.
“Paul!” Joss snapped.
“What, gorgeous? It’s true. You know it’s true.”
