Jake’s Angel (King’s Of Fury MC #2)

Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

AVERY

Sadie called me on the burner phone and said Thomas was ready to meet us. It wasn’t easy sneaking out of Jake’s house. I feel bad, but then it will save the morning after awkwardness.

And replace it the awkward questions—like what the hell are you doing in a stranger’s SUV?

“Why are we in Mr. Parisi’s car? If Mack or Jake find out, we will never be allowed to leave our bedrooms, let alone the house,” I ask quietly.

There are two men in the front. Neither has spoken a word to us other than to inform us Mr. Parisi will be joining us later in the evening.

“Calm down. Everything is going to be fine,” she says. “We couldn’t tell them we were going to see Thomas, but Vincenzo said he would have his men escort us as a means of protection. It’s not the club, but we didn’t go off on our own either.”

“You know your logic is shit, right? You’re fucking delusional if you think any of this is going to smooth things over for us,” I whisper-shout. “I love you, but you realize you are my clearly psychotic best friend who has a death wish and you are taking me into the depths of hell with you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Sadie says, not looking up from her iPad. “There.”

“What did you do?”

“I sent an email with our location and where we are headed to Hawk. He won’t be able to track me without Loretta or my cell phone.” She smiles. “I gave him a bone. Let’s see what he does with it.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Ew.” I cringe. “You don’t think Mr. Parisi will tell them he’s helping us?”

“I’m sure he will, but how and when, I don’t know. Vincenzo likes to fuck with people.” She shrugs. “It’s one of the reasons I like him.”

We pull into an underground parking structure. Signs along the ceiling read The Oasis Resort . The driver takes us all the way to the bottom of the parking structure and parks near the elevators. Both men exit the vehicle and come to open both our doors. Sadie looks at me and smiles.

“Classy.”

I don’t say anything about it being the norm when you live with my grandmother. Even something as simple as opening our own door is beneath a West.

What about for a Mackenzie?

No. I can’t think about Jake like this.

One and done.

Liar.

One of the guards swipes a card and the elevator opens. Inside, he takes off his glasses and a red light scans his eyeball.

“Why is he doing that?” I whisper to Sadie.

“Because Vincenzo doesn’t trust anyone.” She turns her head sideways, biting her lip as if she’s trying to keep from saying something.

“What? What is it?”

“Promise me something. No matter what you see or hear in Vincenzo’s penthouse, you can never speak about it.” She stares at me expectantly. I’m confused. “I mean it, Aves. You can’t tell anyone about anything. He’s very protective and likes to keep his personal life very private. What he’s doing now—for us—it’s a big deal.”

I nod. “All right. You have my word.”

Once we get to his floor, the doors to the penthouse open, revealing a large open living space. One entire wall is floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city. There’s a stair case in the center of the room leading to another floor. Behind the staircase are two large rooms. One a formal dining room with a bar off the kitchen and the other a living room with a long couch and toy bins along the wall.

“Nora?” one guard calls out. An older woman dressed in a black uniform comes into the room wiping her hands on her apron with a small dark-haired boy following closely behind her. The woman leaves the room with the two men speaking in another language, I presume Italian. I’m a little unsure of the situation or what I’m expected to do. One thing about living with Eleanor, there was no room for a social faux pas, because she told you exactly what she wanted you to say and do.

I’m finding myself at a complete loss here. I look at Sadie for guidance. She doesn’t say anything, but she smiles excitedly. I’m about to ask why, but the little boy running at her with a matching smile answers my question.

“Sadie!” the boy squeals, plowing into her legs and squeezing her. “Are you here to play with me? Did you bring your game?”

She drops to his level and returns his hug. “Hey Antonio. I’m sorry I forgot my game, but I’ll bring it next time.” His little face looks so sad. “Would you like to meet my friend?”

He looks around Sadie, hiding half his face behind her shoulder. “Who is she?” I hear him whisper.

“She’s my best friend—Avery. Your daddy is going to help her.” He eyes me skeptically.

“Is she nice?” he asks quietly, but not quiet enough. I laugh.

Squatting down beside them, I reach out my hand and introduce myself. Sadie whispers something to him, and he quickly releases her and stands tall. He rolls his shoulders back and shakes my hand. “I am Antonio Vincenzo Parisi. It’s a pleasure to make your ac-acqu … what’s the word, Sadie?” I tuck my lips to keep from smiling.

“Acquaintance.”

“Yeah, that,” Antonio says, pointing to Sadie. This time I don’t hide my smile. He’s too cute.

“It’s nice to meet you, Antonio. Thank you for letting us visit your home.”

“This is not my home. I live with …”

“Ahhh, Antonio. Why don’t you find Nora and ask her to make us some snacks, please? We’re going to get washed up.” Antonio shrugs, then takes off running down the hall, shouting for Nora.

“You’ll be staying in the room to the left of the staircase upstairs,” one of the guards says, dropping our bags on the floor, scaring the hell out of me.

“Where did he come from?” I still don’t know their names.

“They are never far away. Vincenzo has several guards for his son. Some you won’t ever see, but they’re here.”

We pick up our bags and head upstairs.

Sadie leans over and whispers in my ear. “You can shower. You should probably change into something a little less walk of shame and more tell me about my fucked-up past before we meet with Thomas.” She cracks up laughing at my admittedly freshly fucked looking self.

“Bitch! I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Please. Like I wouldn’t have known. Jayde called and told me all about Jake going caveman on you, hauling your ass out of the clubhouse over his shoulder.” She laughs. “Plus, you have his smell all over you.” She sniffs the air, scrunching her face in feigned offense.

“Whatever.” She’s right. I do smell like him. But it’s only because I sprayed his cologne on me last night when I got up to use the bathroom. I’m not proud of my clinginess, but I wanted to hold on to the memory of our last night together for a little longer.

When we get to the room appointed to us, Sadie opens the door and immediately jumps onto the bed. “Oh my God. You have to feel this bed, Aves. It’s so comfy.” I set down my bags and join her on the monstrosity in the middle of the room.

“Seriously, who sleeps here? This thing is huge.”

“That’s what she said,” Sadie giggles.

“Look, in all seriousness, are you sure you want to go through with this meeting?” I ask. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to go through with it after everything he’s done to you and your family …” I turn over, leaning up on my elbow to see her.

“Nah. I’m good. I’ve talked to him before, just never in person. He’s one of the reasons I keep so many burner phones. When I moved with Mack to Baron’s Edge, Thomas tracked me down. He managed to get my number from someone and sent me a text telling me he was working in the area and would always keep an eye on me. He said I should reach out if I ever needed anything. I never did.” She shrugs her shoulder and starts picking at her nails.

“You know, Thomas set up a trust account for me so I would have a way to take care of myself when I turned eighteen. It’s so I can pay for college or whatever. I guess he figured if he paid me off, then everything would be good between us. I wouldn’t notice he abandoned us all those years ago.” She scoffs. “I didn’t want anything from him at first, but then when Mack made such a big deal out of me going to college and what he wanted me to do with my life, I decided I should take the money. I pulled the public papers on the cabin, found out who owned it, and started working on what I wanted. I mean, hey, at least I can say he was good for something in my life, right?” Her face does not match the tone in her voice. She’s trying for nonchalance, but there is pain in her eyes that she can’t hide. Not from me.

“Anyway, I’m not here for him. And I’m not going to meet him with you. I’ll be a distraction. You’ll meet him alone. But I’ll be watching,” Sadie says. “If this looks like a trap or if anything seems off to me, we give up on the meet-my-asshole-traitor-father-plan. Deal?” She demands.

“Deal.” I reply. “Changing the subject, what happened to you last night? I noticed Hawk drag you down the hall, but I didn’t see you again before I left. What was that all about?”

“His usual bullshit. He thinks he can tell me what to do and loses his shit when I don’t listen.” She shrugs. “He’s known me since we were kids. He refuses to see me as more than a little girl. He won’t accept I’ve grown up and can make my own damn decisions. He got bent out of shape because I took you to the nightclub and evaded the prospects.”

“Evaded? Sadie—you drugged them!” I shout, laughing at her nonchalance. We break into a fit of giggles.

“Whatever. It’s only Valium. It won’t hurt them. Besides, if they’d stop trying to control my every move, I wouldn’t have to go to such extremes. They all need to learn I can take care of myself,” she grumbles. “They chose to forget about me when I left for Baron’s Edge. So, why can’t they forget about me now?” I can hear the hurt and anger in her voice as it shakes a little with every word.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve got my own money. Own my own home. Hell, I’m starting my own business. They need to learn to let me live my life the way I want to. Not their way . Not the club way . My way,” she whispers.

Not sure what to say, I squeeze her hand. I’ll do whatever I can for Sadie. I know she can’t go with me wherever it is, so I decide to go from here. She’s right. She has her own life started now. A home, a business, and her family, as dysfunctional as it may be. Even if she is hurt and angry with them right now, she needs them.

Choosing to let this go for now, I lay my head on her shoulder.

“We should’ve had breakfast this morning. I’m fucking hungry.” Sadie grumbles. “I guess you’ve given up breakfast, though, huh?”

“What?”

“You stopped eating breakfast.” She teases. “Or was it only you just stopped eating whatever Jake brought or made for breakfast?”

“Shut up. He was trying to be sweet, and I was mad at him. Don’t act like you don’t have your moments.”

“Yeah, you were being stubborn, and still are, I might add,” she sasses. “You know, starving yourself is not the way to prove to a man you’re pissed at him. But then neither is fucking his brains out. It sends mixed signals.” I reach for the pillow and slap her with it.

“I’m not stubborn and I’m not pissed. I’m realistic. He doesn’t want me, Sades. He wanted to have sex with me. Now that he has, I’m sure he’ll move on to someone else,” I say softly. -But it’s okay. I wanted Jake to be my first. I chose to give myself to him. I knew what I was in for.”

It still hurts to think about everything he said in the moment, but I’ll keep those to myself.

A girl can dream … and get herself off when the need arises .

“If he does still talk to me, I’m sure it will only be because Gabe is asking him to keep an eye on me and he doesn’t want to be rude.”

“Jake doesn’t care about being rude. Hello. You’ve met him on several occasions and he’s rarely polite. Wasn’t it you who pointed out the fact he’s a—how did you put it? A walking penis?” Her voice raises, and we both giggle. “Still proud of you for that, by the way.”

“Ok, you’re right. He doesn’t care about being rude, but he doesn’t care about being with me either. He got what he wanted, and so did I. It was nice, and now it’s over. Can we please change the subject?”

“It’s not over and I know for damn sure it wasn’t nice . You don’t glow the way you do when it’s nice.” She uses her hands to make air quotes, and I laugh. “I don’t see anything about Jake being nice. Moody, smartass, protective and overbearing. Absolutely.” She taps her finger on her chin a few times as if contemplating the meaning of the universe, which I know is bullshit, especially after she opens her mouth again. “Or did you mean nice, like he has a nice penis? I mean, I guess that could be.”

“Sadie!” I shout. She cackles in the obnoxious way that only she can when she’s gotten under my skin about something. My face is flaming red. I pick up another pillow and swing it at her, but she blocks my shot. “You just wait. Someday some guy’s going to spin your head and I’ll be the one laughing. I can’t wait for the day someone tames your ass.”

“Tames me? Please. I don’t need a man to take care of me or tame my ass. I do just fine taking care of myself.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I can’t help the look of disgust that crosses my face. “Oh, don’t act so innocent. You know you were playing your own fiddle until Jake came along and taught you how to play with a different instrument.”

“Oh my God. You are so fowl sometimes. I do not play with myself, and I really wish I didn’t know you do.” A throat clears, and we both jump.

“Mr. Parisi will arrive soon. If you would like to wash up before we eat?” Nora motions to the ensuite bathroom. “Linens. Toiletries. Help yourself.” She bows and makes a quick exit.

We fall back on the bed and laugh hysterically.

“I hate you,” I manage to gasp out between laughs.

“You love me and now you know I love myself. You should try it sometime, in case things don’t work out with Jake. You’ll be able to have a party of five all by yourself.” She wiggles her fingers in the air. I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts.

“He’s not interested in all the other women, you know?” Sadie says once we’ve calmed down. “I’ve known Jake a long time and I’ve never seen him like this over a girl before. He’s never stuck around for breakfast, and here he brings it for you every day.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not what our purple-haired friend says about it.”

“And what did Jake say when you asked him about Drea’s claim to him?” I snatch a pillow and shove it under my head, playing with the hem of my T-shirt. Sadie runs her fingers through my ponytail, something she does when I’m upset.

“He said it was bullshit. Explained what it means to make someone an ol’ lady and how club whores are after their cuts. Then he told me I was his. But I’m sure it was the muddled sex brain talking.”

“Oh, shit.” Sadie sits up, excited. “He said you were his? And what did you say? Did you agree to it?”

“I mean, yeah. He was eating my …” Sadie’s brows raise, and her smile is wolfish. “I couldn’t think straight.”

“I’m sure it’s difficult to make decisions when all your blood is rushing to your clit and his tongue is working its magic.” I roll over, burying my face in the pillow. Sadie can’t control her laughter.

Such a bitch sometimes.

After she calms down, she shakes my shoulder. “Avery, look at me.” The change in her tone has me rolling back to look at her. “He’s in this for the long haul. The guys don’t claim women lightly. It’s sacred to them. Like marriage.’

“No.” I shake my head. “I want to believe him, Sadie. With all my heart. But he feels guilty for a past that’s not his fault. He wants redemption. I want love.”