Chapter Nine
EBONY
Three Months Later
I looked over to Jett standing by the bar with one of his men animatedly speaking. This was boring. Every night we came to a different one of Jett’s clubs where he would go off to discuss business and leave me sitting pretty in a bordered-off booth to ‘observe.’ I was sick of it. How was I meant to learn the business if he kept me tucked away like a porcelain doll?
Instead, I was left to watch the stupid bimbos on the hunt for their number one for the night. It was funny to watch because before I met Jett, I never cared much for my appearance or how I looked to someone of the other sex. Now, it was an entirely different story. I wanted to look my best for Jett. I wanted to drive him crazy with lust every time he laid eyes on me.
York sat down opposite me slouching back into the chair. “What are you thinking, princess?”
“I can’t help but feel as if Jett is using me for his arm candy.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Do I?”
York sat forward, leaning closer to me. “Eb… learn. If you want to be beside Jett, you need to find out how he became Jett Black. It wasn’t easy for him. He had to work damn hard and make deals he didn’t want to in order to be this person. It’s not all guns and money. There’s a dull side to this business which you need to know before you can reap the glory.”
“He doesn’t teach me the dull side, just makes me sit and wait for him like a whore.”
“Since when has Jett ever handed you anything?”
I waited for York to explain himself, but I realized what he was saying. Jett wouldn’t want me to be a whiney bitch, but he’d want me to force my way into his business. I had to show him I was ready.
“Go over there and show him you’re ready, Eb.”
Too late, Jett was coming back over to us. He took a seat next to me possessively placing his hand on my thigh which I loved. I loved his hand on my bare skin especially when we were out like this.
“Who was that?” I demanded to know.
“A patron.”
He turned to me, his eyes softening. “I have to go to Rome next week to take care of the business over there.”
“Okay, for how long?”
“Unknown,” he said before turning to York.
“Show Eb what to do when I’m gone.”
York nodded, and I felt my stomach flutter. This was it. This was his way of testing me while he was gone.
Jett stood up, pulling me with him. “Let’s dance.”
I allowed him to lead me to the dance floor leaving York alone in the booth. He ground against me once we got to the floor. Everyone gave us a wide berth, but I didn’t notice them once I was in the arms of Jett. He licked along my jawline sending my brain into a shutdown. I had to fight to regain some composure.
“What will I be doing when you’re gone?”
“Running the city, baby. It’s time for you to take over when I can’t be here.”
He kissed my neck moving one hand under my short dress giving everyone else an eyeful of my ass. Jett squeezed it pulling me into whatever lustful reverie I usually fell into when he touched me.
His words sprung back into my mind causing my heart to race. “You’re trusting me?”
“You don’t want to?” he asked, pulling back a little, a cheeky smirk on his face.
“Of course I do, but you don’t trust anyone.”
He chuckled. “True, but I need to see if you can handle it. This is your chance to prove yourself to me. Don’t fuck it up.”
Not an admission that he trusted me, but I’d take it. I pushed aside the giddiness and let Jett push me into him, his cock eliciting an excited response from the top of my thighs as I felt it through his pants.
I felt the eyes on me as we danced close together in between other clubbers. When I was in Jett’s arms, no one else mattered. It was just him and me.
Forever.
I felt a push, Jett moved back steadying me. It all happened so fast that I didn’t realize what was happening until half the dance floor had scattered. York was pulling me away. I turned to see Jett on the ground punching a patron with ferocity, blood spattered over his fists and arms and now his face.
The sight of Jett beating on the guy did funny things to me. The tops of my thighs were tingling with excitement, and I was unable to look away.
“Come on, Ebony.”
I let York take me away dragging me through the club to the Lincoln parked outside. He went back inside for Jett, leaving me alone. I’d never felt so alive. Jett was angry when he got in the car, seething. He looked over at me, his eyes dark and intimidating.
We spoke no words, nor were they needed. As York drove us home, I tried not to get too excited, but it was pretty hard not to when I knew what would happen once we were inside our apartment.
Jett had just proven he would do anything for me, including beat someone to death in front of hundreds of witnesses.
✽✽✽
Two Weeks Later
I watched the scene playing out in front of me with glee. York was punching the fuck out of the lout who refused to pay his debt to Jett. He thought Jett being out of town meant he could come to one of his clubs and spend all the money he should have been handing over to Jett. I’d counted him with five hookers and gambling over a grand in a nearby casino.
What an idiot.
“Enough,” I yelled. “This is getting us nowhere.”
York stood to the side, massaging his red, bloody knuckles. The creep sat in the chair, his hands tied behind him, eyes almost closed from the swelling. He was barely speaking, but when he did, blood dribbled out of his mouth pooling on his gut.
Grabbing hold of my blade, I slowly made my way over to him. His breathing became labored. What I could see of his eyes were widened and closely watching my movements.
“Where’s the money?”
“I don’t have it,” he managed to get out.
“Why come out to party then?”
“Just fucking kill me already.”
I laughed, running the side of the blade down his face. He tried to flinch away from it, but his binds and the pain he was in stopped him from moving very far.
“I don’t want to kill you.”
He turned to me, confused, just as I slammed the blade down into his thigh. The creep let out a strangled scream, his eyes looking down at the knife in his leg.
“Bitch.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m not going to hurt you.”
I turned to York. “Wife?”
He shook his head. “Nah, he’s divorced now. The ex doesn’t care for him, nor does he care about her, but he does have two kids.”
“No,” the creep gurgled. “You can’t. They’re just young girls.”
“Ah… daughters,” I said. “They can be pricey, hey?”
“Please… I’ll do anything. Just leave them be.”
“Such as pay your debt?” I asked him, leaning over so he was forced to look me in the eyes.
“Yes,” he heavily breathed. “Fuck. Yes. Okay, I’ll pay it. I just need some time.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” I said, slapping his face a few times before grabbing my blade and walking out of the room. York knew what to do with him now.
My hands were bloody. I had more business to tend to, and this just wouldn’t do. I didn’t want to scare everyone away from me from the get-go. I moved into the office, the club’s music causing the walls to thump around me. As I washed away the blood, the door opened. Turning, I almost gasped when I saw my mother standing in the doorway. She looked at my hands and then back up at my face.
“You’ve become just like your father.”
I turned the tap off and dried my hands on a towel feeling slightly proud she thought that. “What do you want?”
“I need help.”
I could have laughed if I weren’t so shocked. Was she really asking me to help her after all she had done to me growing up? All she had continued to do to me since I’d been out of juvie.
“Why should I help you?”
“I’m your mother.”
“Who tried to get me locked up not long ago!”
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, where’s Jett?”
“How do you know him?”
Her eyes changed, and a smile made its way onto her face. “He didn’t tell you?”
Anger grew inside me. “What the hell do you want with Jett?”
“I need his help.”
“Well, he’s in Rome,” I told her. The smile disappeared. “You’ll need to speak with me.”
“You?”
“Yes. Jett left me in charge.”
Adora laughed. “Why would he do that? Has he lost his mind?”
I didn’t have time for this, nor did I have the mindset to deal with this bitch. I knew I should have fatally shot her at the restaurant, and she could have joined her monster of a brother in Hell, but I hadn’t. Why the hell hadn’t I ended her miserable life?
“Get out.”
“Wait,” she came toward me. “I-I need your help.”
“That must have hurt you to say.”
“Please, Ebony…”
I sat down in the chair and motioned for her to sit as well. She sat on the edge of the chair, wringing her hands together. Her knuckles were white as she tightly gripped her hands together. I’d never seen her so out of control before.
“Fine, what is it?”
“Your sisters are in danger. I made… deals. I made deals to get them where they are, and now I have no money left to pay these men.”
“Why? Where did your money go?”
“Giordy was paying them for me.”
“And I took care of that for you, didn’t I?” I said, smiling. “How much do you owe them?”
“I’ll always owe them, and now I’m not young enough to satisfy them, so they want money.”
“Ew.”
“You do what you have to for your kids, Ebony. Please, Jett would help me.”
I hated that she kept bringing him into the conversation. “What has he done for you in the past?”
“Nothing, but I know he would help me if he knew.”
“What do you know about Jett?”
“He’s an animal. He can scare these guys away from your sisters. That’s all I’m asking.”
“And what has this family ever done for me?”
“Ebony, please. I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I swear.”
“I’ll think about it. Shut the door on your way out.”
“Ebony…”
“Adora-Lee, if you don’t remove yourself from this office, I will put that blade through your heart and feed you to the Rottweilers outside.”
She didn’t speak. Her eyes were searching mine to see if I would come good on the threat. The truth was, I would. I had no respect for her as a person, but if she was here begging for help, it meant my sisters were in danger. They’d never done anything to me, which made me lean towards helping, but I’d let her sweat it out for a little while.
York came inside a few minutes later as I was looking down at the finances of the club. His hands were clean, and he was wearing a new outfit.
“Finished?”
“Yeah, he’ll be paying any day now,” he said, sitting down in the chair. “You did good, princess.”
“I need to ask you something.”
“Sure.”
“Does Jett know who my mother is?”
“Yeah, he was mentored by Giordy and Luca. Your family was always around, especially Adora. Why?”
“But does he do things for her?”
“No,” York replied. “He wouldn’t do anything for her, not now he knows what she did to you.”
“She was here,” I told him. “Just now. She wants help.”
“Jett won’t help her, Ebony. You don’t have to worry.”
“It’s to do with my sisters,” I said. “I want to help them. I bet they had nothing to do with the bullshit my mother promised to people years ago.”
“So we pull them away from whatever it is putting them in danger.”
“They love being models,” I said. “I just can’t take that away from them. Part of me wants Adora to suffer, and that means letting whatever happen to them. But then there’s a part of me, the weak part, that wants to save them because she broke me, she failed me, and I don’t want them to know what that feels like.”
York sat forward, and I instantly knew I had overshared. I was Jett’s woman. I had no heart anymore, and that’s why Jett had put me in that damn place, to be rid of my demons, keeping the real me from showing. I couldn’t let that part of me show anymore. I needed to stop feeling.
“You are special, Eb. Adora was just selfish wanting the girls to have the dream she never had. She was young when she fell pregnant with you, and her dreams were squashed. I think she took it out on you because you were the eldest, the one who came along and stole that dream from her.”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It does, and Jett would do anything to make you happy… you should know that. Just because you care about your sisters doesn’t mean he won’t love you. If you wanted to save them, he would do what he could to make sure they were safe.”
I didn’t say anything. Even though he had told me he loved me, I still had my reservations.
“You know he loves you, Eb. He’s never trusted anyone before.”
I knew he did, trusting me with the business while he was away is huge and a scary task all in one. If I fucked up, I’d immediately lose his trust. Who knew what kind of relationship we’d have after that? Yet, I missed him. I didn’t like spending every morning and night without him. The bed was cold making me stay up all night learning the ropes however I could. I was damn tired, just wanting him back by my side. He’d know what to do about my sisters, and yet here I was struggling to make up my mind.
“What if they don’t want to be saved?”
“Would you force them to come along to save their lives?” he asked me.
“I don’t know what I would do.”
“Let’s go,” he said, standing. “Sooner we get it over and done with, the sooner you can get back to work.”
“They’re in New York.”
“No, they aren’t.”
I looked up at him, confused. “What?”
“They’re here… some model show. It was in the papers.”
I had stopped reading the papers because I hated to see how famous they were. I was envious they were the ones with the wealth and the fame. Adora had never given me anything other than pain and torture.
Her time would come, of that I was sure, but for now, I needed to help her.
I needed to help my sisters.