Epilogue
“Welcome to Miami International Airport,” the pilot said as our private jet landed.
I didn’t think flying could get any better than first class, but Chase certainly proved me wrong, by flying me to Italy right after everything went down with Jose Escabar and Ramos. We spent a week with his brother there. And then, Jackson insisted on coming back to the States with us to help find Ana.
“Babe, it’s time to go,” Chase said as he held my bag.
I had been distracted looking out the window at all the planes and how close we were to them. I couldn’t imagine ever getting used to flying on a private jet all the time. It seemed so surreal to me.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I teased as I finally got up from the lounge chair I had been in for our flight.
“You two lovebirds coming or what?” Jackson asked from the front of the plane. “I don’t want to have to come in there after you two.
“We are coming,” Chase hollered back at his brother. “My lovely wife, let’s go find Ana.”
He pulled me up and kissed me gingerly, as his arms held me tight against him. It had been a month since Ana had left Liechtenstein and no one had heard a single word from her. I was certain that something horrible had happened.
While we were in Italy, Jackson had asked around and tried to find out who Gordon really was. He got a few leads but nothing turned up, until the day we were getting ready to leave. That was when Jackson heard that Gordon was really Stephano Copal, a big trafficker in the sex trade. Jackson’s contact was pretty sure that Ana was still in Miami, but that she was probably getting prepped to be sold.
“Hello, my lovely husband,” I replied to Chase as we kissed. “Do you think we should get going before Jackson gets mad?”
“Oh, Jackson is too even-tempered to ever get mad.”
He grabbed my hand and led me off of the private jet to the waiting car, which already had Jackson in it.
“Let’s go find your Ana,” Chase said as he opened the door.
Chase got into the vehicle with me, and I instantly cuddled up against him. My hand held onto his thigh. Our lips moved together as the car pulled away and we made our way toward the city.
“Are you two lovebirds ever going to stop kissing?” Jackson asked.
Chase just flipped him off and continued to kiss me. We were happier than we could have ever imagined.
BILLIONAIRE JACKSON
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Claire Adams
PART ONE
Chapter One
JACKSON
It was nice seeing my brother again and his new wife was adorable, but I really needed to get back to work. My self-imposed sabbatical had lasted well over a year. And as beautiful as Italy was, I was ready to get back to the real world.
“You two lovebirds coming or what?” I asked Chase and his wife.
Jordan was a beautiful brunette from Liechtenstein, who my brother had met online. It certainly wasn’t how I thought my billionaire brother would meet his future wife, but then again, who was I to question love? I was 36 years old and single.
Chase and Jordan had come to me to help them investigate where her friend Ana could be. They had an address and some contact information, but none of it seemed legit. Normally, I would have said no to such a low key job – my work life was typically much more exciting than a young Liechtenstein girl getting mixed up with the wrong crowd.
But as I started to investigate the man they called Gordon, I couldn’t help but want to help. My research had turned up that Gordon was actually Stephano Copal, who was well known in the area as not a good guy. I wouldn’t mind taking a guy like that down.
“Are you two love birds ever going to stop kissing?” I asked as I stepped back onto our private jet.
“We are coming,” Chase said as he helped Jordan up from the chair.
“Well, it’s about time. We need to keep things moving if we want to catch this guy off guard.”
“Are we going to catch him tonight?” Jordan asked.
Her innocence was very endearing. We had flown together from Italy back to Miami and I couldn’t find a single thing about the woman that I didn’t like. She was tough, yet sweet. Naive, yet knowledgeable in other areas. I could certainly see why my brother had fallen in love with her.
“No, darling, but we need to keep moving forward and staying out of sight if we are going to have any chance at all.”
“Do you know where we should start?” Jordan asked as her innocent, wide eyes looked at me. I could tell it was going to be very difficult to have her there with me while I tried to investigate what was going on.
“Chase, do you want to get Jordan settled into the hotel and we can talk about it in private?”
The place I wanted to head to first wasn’t really the kind of place a young guy like Chase should be bringing his new bride to. I had tracked down the money end of Stephano’s business, and it all funneled into a strip club in Miami called Feather Kitty. It was the most reasonable place to get started. We wouldn’t likely find him sitting there counting his money, but we certainly could find some real clues that could lead us on where to look next.
“Why can’t you just talk in front of me?” Jordan asked like any true newlywed would.
I loved that Chase had found himself a wife and Jordan seemed like a really nice girl, but Chase shouldn’t have brought her with us. Now that she was there in the middle of everything, it was essential that she stay out of the way. Her emotions about her lost friend could certainly put us all in danger.
“Well, we need to go to a pretty dangerous place and I didn’t think you needed to be involved in the planning of everything.”
“So, I help take down one of the most dangerous men in Atlanta, but you don’t think I can handle a conversation about saving my best friend?”
I looked at Chase to rescue me from the emotional mess that was his wife. I wasn’t equipped to deal with women; well, most women. I didn’t like to sugar coat things, and I certainly couldn’t tell what they thought when they didn’t come straight out and say it to me.
“Jordan, this is going to be dangerous and Jackson is trained for all this. We can’t get in his way. Let’s just get settled into the hotel and then we can offer him whatever assistance he needs.”
“God forbid we would include a woman in the plans!” Jordan said as she stormed off the plane and over to the waiting vehicle.
I just rolled my eyes. Emotional women were not my thing. It baffled me how they could get angry about absolutely everything and nothing all at the same time. Luckily, I had an even temper and didn’t fall prey to the mood swings of women.
“Sorry, she’s still a bit wound up from everything in Atlanta. We will stay out of your way. I promise.”
“I’m fine with you coming along, Chase, but I don’t need any women getting in my way. They are way too emotional for this line of work.”
“I understand.”
Chase didn’t understand at all. He had never worked as a private investigator. The whole base of our business was being able to keep a level head and gather information. Plus, I needed to be invisible when I went into the strip club. If Jordan came along, it would be impossible to keep a low profile. My job wasn’t to arrest people or even to prove if they were guilty or innocent. My job was to gather the necessary information and then hand it over to the people who hired me.
In this case, I would find out where Jordan’s friend Ana was and get that information to the local authorities so they could rescue her. I might have to take care of Stephano on my own before the authorities came, though, if I found out he had anything to do with the murder of my Rose. She meant more to me than any other woman I had ever met; I was going to make sure the man who took her from me paid. No matter who it was, he would pay for what he did. Rose had been such a beautiful woman, so peaceful and pure; there would have been no reason for her to be killed. No reason at all for that monster to take her away from me.
We all got checked into our hotel rooms, and I looked through my research to remind myself of the faces of people I needed to find. This job was about more than just doing a favor for my brother. There was so much more than that at stake. I couldn’t walk into the Feather Kitty and look like an amateur by staring at all the faces. I needed to look like any normal guy who was just at the club to enjoy himself for the evening.
After I had finished with my information overview, I headed over to Chase’s room to gather him and head to the strip club. I still didn’t think it was the best idea for him to come along, either, but it was better than all three of us heading into the club.
“Hey, are you ready?”
“Yes, Jordan is in the shower. Let’s go before she gets out.”
“Deal.”
“I love her to death, but no way are we going to take her to a strip club.”
“Chase, I know, man. She wouldn’t help us lay low, that is for sure. She seems really tired, anyways.”
We made our way to the Feather Kitty strip club and tried to blend in as much as we could. It was a high-end joint so it wasn’t going to be too difficult to blend as long as we had cash.
“Did you bring the cash?” I asked Chase as we waited to get through the front doors.
“Yeah, I have five thousand dollars in twenties.”
“That should certainly get us some answers. Now, just follow my lead and don’t pay too much attention to the girls. We don’t want to draw attention from the bouncers.”
“I think I know how to handle myself in a strip club, Jackson. I was single only a few months ago.”
“I know, Chase, I just wanted to make sure we were both on the same page.”
We made it through the entrance without much excitement. The bouncer simply asked to see our identification and then went over the basic rules of the club. Basically, don’t touch the girls unless you’re in a private lap dance room. He also suggested tipping well if we wanted any of the women’s undivided attention.
“How about we just have a seat and check things out for a little bit?” Chase asked.
“Yeah, over there looks good.”
The club was packed, but we found two seats near the front. It wasn’t ideal since we would have our backs to a lot of people, but it was good to help us blend in. If we could just look like normal guys hanging out in the club, that would be our best chance at getting to know the girls and seeing who might actually know who Ana is.
“I haven’t been to a strip club in years,” I said to Chase as we sat down.
“Don’t worry, I have.”
Chase looked really comfortable in the club, and I wasn’t about to ask him why he had been going to strip clubs so much in Atlanta. It had likely been where he started to get himself into trouble and took hard money loans out that he couldn’t pay back. I was just happy to see him doing well and out of trouble. It was nice to see him settled down with Jordan, even though it seemed a bit quick for my taste.
“Can I get you boys something to drink?” a sexy ass brunette asked.
She was dressed in a tight pair of cut-off shorts and a tiny plaid shirt that was tied right around her large breasts. It was impossible to look her in the eyes, but I assumed that was the point of the whole outfit. I instantly had to wonder why she was serving instead of dancing. Most of the servers had a few extra pounds or were really shy. But this girl had a rocking body and bubbly personality, it was a red flag to me and I took a mental note.
“I’d like to get a bottle of Grey Goose,” I said and handed her three hundred dollars in cash.
“It’s only two hundred for the bottle,” she said.
“Then the other hundred is for you, darling.”
She smiled at me and turned to get our drinks. As an investigator, I knew that the waitress was often the best starting point for who I would need to talk with later in the evening. Making friends with her would easily get me more information. Plus, throwing extra cash at a waitress didn’t draw as much attention from the bouncers as it did when you monopolized a dancer’s time.
“Now, welcome to the stage, Roxy!” the announcer called over the intercom.
The lights dimmed and the music increased in intensity as the dancer took to the stage. I could hear the click of her heels on the floor and focused on her intently as the lights came up for her to dance.
“Hello, Roxy,” Chase said as he turned his chair toward the stage.
“You’re married.”
“I can look. I just can’t touch.”
“Oh, are those the rules of marriage nowadays?”
“Shut up and watch the show.”
I couldn’t argue with Chase about watching the show. As Roxy came out on the stage, I could see why the crowd exploded with excitement. She was voluptuous and sexy as hell. Her red hair was pulled up and she had on a tight pencil skirt and jacket. It was some sort of naughty teacher costume and even I wished I was a student in her erotic classroom.
As the music played, Roxy took control of the entire audience, including Chase and I. She mesmerized us and we couldn’t look away. There was a power in her eye contact and she seemed to be able to make direct contact with each one of us all at the same time. Somewhere during the show, our drinks were delivered and I hadn’t even seen the waitress drop the bottle off. I was slightly sad I had missed an opportunity to flirt with her and gain an edge in my investigation.
Roxy’s show was fantastic. She had to be racking in the money at the club. Her fans were all cheering and even new guys, like us, had instantly become fans. When it was time to finish her dance, thousands of dollars had been thrown onto the stage when the stagehands swept it up for her. I could see how the dancing lifestyle would be addictive for a woman. One dance and flirting with some guys and she had made around $1,000. Not to mention what she would make in the private lap dances that guys would buy from her during the rest of the evening.
The stage crew got ready for the next act and it was time for the waitresses to come around to the tables and make sure we had all that we needed. Our brunette waitress came to us first, likely because of the large tip I had already given her.
“You boys doing all right?”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you so much. You know a friend of mine said he saw a dancer here named Ana a few weeks ago. Do you know what time she will be on?”
I could tell by the woman’s face that she knew Ana. Her look instantly went from pleasant and sultry to sad. Over the years, I had learned to read the slight changes in people’s faces to help me determine if they were telling me the truth or not.
“Ana doesn’t work here anymore. She only danced once, though.”
“Oh, that’s weird. Do you know where she is working now?”
“No.”
The waitress turned and left so quickly I couldn’t even squeeze in another question. She knew more than she was letting on – I just needed to figure out what it was.
Another couple of dancers came and left the stage, and our waitress never came back to help us. I figured I had scared her off with my talk about Ana, but at least we knew we were in the right location.
“A thousand dollars and come with me to the private room. I’ll tell you about Ana.”
It was Roxy, the sexy red-haired dancer who had blown us all away on the stage just a little bit before. I didn’t question her at all. I grabbed a thousand dollars from Chase and followed Roxy as she started through the club toward the private rooms in the back.
As she grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd, I felt my body involuntarily react to her touch. It had been a really long time since a woman as sexy as she was had touched my hand or any other part of my body. Not that I hadn’t had plenty of women since Rose’s death, but none of them had been as spectacular to look at as this red-haired bombshell.
“What do you like?” Roxy asked me as we walked past some bouncers at the entrance to the rooms.
“Oh, anything you want to give me,” I said, as I played the part.
“I’ll give you a great time,” she said and then leaned over to the bouncer. “High roller, give me privacy.”
The bouncer nodded his understanding and then eyed me from head to toe. I must have passed his test, and he turned back toward the crowd rather quickly.
As Roxy shut the door behind us, she leaned in close to me and whispered, “Camera in the corner, play the part. No audio.”
I instantly grabbed her ass, and she pulled my hands off and guided me to the couch on the other side of the room. The touch of her body pressed up against mine had already engorged me. It was involuntary and nothing I could resist. It was going to be hard as hell to stay focused enough to ask her the questions I needed to.
The music was thumping an erotically slow sound and her touch was sensual. I needed information on Ana though, and I couldn’t risk losing the opportunity.
“Did you know Ana?” I asked as I sat back on the couch and let my arms rest on the back.
“Let’s get something straight. I’m not about to get involved in any of this. If you are actually trying to find Ana, I’ll help you. But you need to know that my name cannot be brought up at all.”
She danced and moved in front of me while she talked, and the mix of seductive body movements and harsh conversation was surprisingly funny to me. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh.
“Oh, all right, Roxy. I’ll keep your name out of things. What do you know? Where can I find her?”
“My name is Roxanne, and it’s not that easy to find her. Stephano took her into hiding because he’s got a big buyer on the line for her.”
“So, he’s going to sell her? When?”
“I’m not sure. But she’s a sweet girl. She was my friend and I’d really like to help you find her. But Stephano will kill me if he knows I’m helping you.”
“He won’t know.”
Roxanne continued to dance seductively in front of me and then moved toward me and let her ass slide onto my lap. I played the part and tried to touch her again, just to let her push my hands away. I knew if they had cameras in the room, they expected that a high roller like me would want more than a lap dance.
“Touch my tits,” Roxanne whispered as she leaned back against me.
I obliged her and did as she said. This time, she didn’t move my hands away from her. This time, she let me play with her top, so I unclipped the bra and threw it to the ground. My hands glided over her double D-sized breasts, and for a minute, I got caught up in the moment.
She leaned her head back against me and her hips grinded on my hard cock, but I tried to stay focused. I had a job to do and even a sexy ass redhead like Roxanne wasn’t going to keep me from it.
“What happened?”
“She danced one night here. He showed the tape to some international clients and one of them liked her. They plan to come here and see her at the end of the month and paid Stephano to keep her out of circulation.”
“Do you have some ideas where she might be?” I asked as I let my fingers squeeze her nipples between them.
For a moment, I thought she might have been getting into our game as she moaned and pressed harder against me. I let one of my hands move down to her G-string and slide inside. I expected her to move my hand, but I was delighted when she did nothing. The wet touch of her body sent every sensation in mine into overdrive.
“We can’t talk here. 1820 Green Street, apartment number 10. Come by early in the morning and we can talk more.”
She grabbed my hand as she stood up and then I watched as she took my fingers into her mouth and slid down onto her knees. Everything in my body froze while I watched her eyes look up at me as she slid her lips around my fingers and moved her head in the same motion she would if she had been sucking on my cock.
“I’ll be there at seven,” I said.
I assumed it had all been an act for the cameras and she was just giving me the same treatment as any other high roller. The act was fantastic, though, and I wanted to bend her over the bench and fuck her right there. It had been a long time since I had lusted after a woman and the thoughts were not something I was comfortable with just yet.
Roxanne stood up and walked out of the room. She left me sitting on the couch with a rock hard cock and wondering what the hell had just happened. Bewildered and enormously excited, I made my way back out to Chase.
“We can go.”
“What? Already?” Chase asked disappointedly.
“Yeah, I got a lead while you were out here ogling all the women.”
“I get to look, but not touch. It’s all I could do.” Chase laughed as we left the club.