Chapter Seventeen

JESSIE TOOK HER TIME GETTING dressed for her last night at Salvatore’s. She had plenty of time. It was only eight o’clock and she didn’t have to be to the bar until ten.

She and Jack had gone to an Italian restaurant to eat dinner. The awkwardness from this morning had faded and they were back to normal.

But Jessie still found herself remembering his lips on her and the way he had whispered her name as he kissed her. When that happened she would feel heat rise in her face and between her legs.

The meeting with Mrs. Dennison had been awkward, to say the least. Jack had delivered the information to her about Violet Davis. Mrs. Dennison had no knowledge of her and had been shocked by the revelation that it appeared her husband had likely been having an affair.

They had also let her know that it did appear that the debt was a legitimate one, but it was proving difficult to find concrete evidence, since illegal activities weren’t often kept track of electronically or in traditional filing systems. The conversation that Jessie overheard might have to be enough proof, although they would make one final attempt tonight to find something concrete among the records that Jessie knew Tony kept in his office.

Jessie straightened her hair and applied her makeup. Then she slipped into an extremely sexy little light pink dress that barely covered her ass and dipped low in the front to show off her cleavage.

Jack didn’t say a word when she joined him in the common area, but his eyes were all over her. He looked away when she made eye contact with him, his expression blank.

“I’ll be there later,” Jack said as Jessie left to head over to the bar.

He was planning to give her only a fifteen-minute head start, and then he would be in a cab headed there himself. He had no intention of leaving her in that bar with Tony Martinelli. He was sure to think Jessie wanted to fuck him, and if she turned him down, he would likely think she was a tease. Men like him wouldn’t think twice about forcing a girl to fuck if they felt entitled to it, and Jack was pretty sure that at this point Tony would feel entitled.

Even though he knew Jessie had self-defense training, he still wasn’t comfortable leaving her to fend for herself. Gus had been the best in the business and he’d gone down, not even seeing it coming.

When Jack arrived at Salvatore’s, Jessie was already on stage.

He automatically surveyed the room and took a seat at the bar. He ordered a Captain and Coke and listened to Jessie singing. The song was familiar to him. Fleetwood Mac. Dreams. One of his mother’s favorite songs.

Jessie had told him that the clientele at this bar tended to be older, so she had adjusted her song list to include some older songs that she knew, songs her parents listened to. The way Jessie sang the song, though, she made it sound new. She put her own spin on it.

He glanced at her occasionally. She looked amazing. He was trying like hell not to think about the kiss the night before. The way her lips had felt against his, how overpowered and yielding her body had felt beneath his hands. The way she had looked up at him, her blue eyes nervous and unsure, but curious. The sound of her breathing as it got heavier. Fuck, he was starting to get hard again just thinking about it.

After her second set, Jessie made her move. Tony was waiting for her at a table.

“I’ll be right back, Tony,” Jessie had said, leaning in to talk close to his ear. “I have to go to the little girls’ room and powder my nose.” Tony ran his hand up the back of her exposed thigh and let it rest on her ass. He gave it a little squeeze and nodded.

“I’ll wait here for you sweetness.” Tony winked at her.

From his place at the bar, Jack noticed Tony’s hand on her leg. He thought about how soft the skin on Jessie’s thigh felt when he had his hand on her last night. Jack finished his drink and asked the bartender for another. He was pissed off watching this asshole paw all over her. He noticed that Jessie’s smile never wavered. She was a good actress. She gave no visible sign of the revulsion that she had told Jack she felt whenever Tony put his hand on her.

JESSIE TURNED THE DOORKNOB TO Tony’s office and slipped inside. He kept the door locked when he wasn’t there, but tended to leave it unlocked when he was at the bar and going in and out.

Quickly, she rifled through the drawers in the file cabinet behind his desk, finding nothing more than stacks of credit card statements and copies of bills and a stack of porn magazines and DVDs.

God, were all men so horny? Seemed like all any of them thought about was sex. Jack. Tony. Good guy. Bad guy. Didn’t matter. They were all the same apparently.

She stood behind his desk and investigated the contents of the drawers. In the top drawer she found a ledger book. Flipping through it, she found that it was filled with handwritten entries of names and amounts, some with notes scribbled in the lines next to them. She scanned through as quickly as she could. She was getting nervous. She’d been gone too long. Tony would start to wonder where she was.

Then, suddenly, there on the page, she found it. Along with some jargon that seemed to have something to do with sports, she found an entry for Sam Dennison. The information clearly reflected all bets and payments, along with the balance owed. Was it undeniable proof? Probably not. Was it the best she was going to get? Definitely.

Jessie snapped a picture of the page with the camera on her phone. She was shoving the journal book back in the drawer when she heard steps approaching.

She had just closed the drawer and stashed her cell phone in her small purse when Tony walked in. He looked surprised to see her standing behind his desk, and then suspicious.

“What are you doing in here, doll?” Tony closed the door behind him and started coming toward her.

Jessie stayed cool. She sat on his desk and smiled at him.

“I was so disappointed last night when you had to leave. I was hoping we could have a few minutes alone.” Jessie fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He came around behind the desk and put his hands on her thighs, roughly pushing her short dress up even further, looking down between her legs as he exposed her lace panties.

He leaned close to her and she could smell alcohol on his breath. She had found it sexy when she smelled it and tasted it on Jack, but it didn’t have the same appeal coming from Tony.

“I don’t like people coming into my office when I’m not here,” Tony said. “Don’t do it again.”

He pressed his hand against her ass and roughly drew her to him. He glared at her coldly, while one of his hands rubbed her inner thigh.

Jessie placed her hands over top of his. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” she said sincerely, her innocent blue eyes peering up at him.

“How ’bout I let you make it up to me. I’ll let you suck my cock and we’ll call it even. How’s that sound?”

Jessie smiled like it was a great deal. But she was nauseated. This guy was repellent. What a pig. He clearly viewed women like whores. She hoped that Jack didn’t also treat women like this. It would truly make her sick if he did.

“Is that what you want, baby?” She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on his lips, playing her role to perfection.

He smiled his greasy smile and nodded, leering down at her.

“I can’t wait to make you feel good, baby.” Jessie pressed her hands against his chest. “Why don’t you sit down and get comfortable?”

Tony was really starting to like this broad. She sure knew how to treat a man. He figured she probably wanted something from him. They all did. But this one seemed different. At least she showed him respect and seemed to know that her place was to look good, please him and keep her fucking mouth shut. Maybe he’d keep her around for a while.

Tony let Jessie gently push him into his leather office chair. She ran her hands across his chest and began to loosen his black tie. He kept his hands on the sides of her thighs, pulling her pink dress up around her hips so he could look at her in those sexy lace panties she had on.

She slid the tie off from around his neck and draped it over her shoulders. Slowly, she twirled around, letting him appreciate the way she looked from behind as well as from the front. He whistled and let his hand stroke across the back of her panties.

“You’re a hot little number, aren’t you? Can’t wait to see you on your knees, taking my big cock down your throat.” His voice was husky, his beady little eyes glazed over as he leered at her.

Jessie noticed that he was hard, his erection obvious and straining against his black pants. She pushed down the revulsion she felt and stayed in character.

She pulled the silk tie from around her shoulders and slowly draped it over his chest, running her fingers across his shoulders as she brushed the silk lightly against his cheek.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Jessie began, as she slowly moved the tie over his eyes. “I want to play a game with you.” She started to knot the tie behind his head.

Tony laughed. “You’re some kind of a surprise, doll. You seem so innocent… wouldn’t have expected you to be kinky.” He seemed to be willing to go along with her game.

Jessie slowly began to unbutton his shirt, taking her time.

“I’m just full of surprises,” she teased.

“Yeah, me too,” Tony responded, his voice husky. “Wait ’til I get my cock up in that sweet snatch of yours and you’ll really be in for a surprise.”

“Can’t wait, baby,” Jessie whispered, on the last button of his shirt. She spread it open and ran her hands over his bare chest, which was covered in thick, coarse, black hair. He was already breathing heavier and he made a growling sound as her fingers hesitated on the button of his pants.

“Yeah, get down on it, girl,” he muttered. “I’m going to fuck you all the way down the back of your fucking throat.”

Jessie felt sick to her stomach. He was so revolting. Yet she leaned forward and let her hair brush softly against his face and chest as she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. She pressed her hands lightly into his hips as she pulled on the waistband, prompting him to lift up so she could slide them down to his ankles.

He was panting now, his erection pushing the material of his boxer shorts up like a tent.

“Wait here for me, baby. I’ll just be a minute,” Jessie whispered.

“Where you going?” Tony asked, reaching out to caress any part of her body he could get his clammy hands on.

“I need to go get something from the bar. I’ll be back in just a couple of minutes. Don’t move. You’re going to love this.” Jessie kissed his cheek. “It’s going to feel so good, baby.”

“Well hurry up and get your ass back here,” Tony growled, starting to get impatient. “Enough bullshit… I’m ready.”

Jessie grabbed her bag and slipped out the door quickly, her heart pounding as adrenaline pumped through her body. Out in the bar she headed straight for the door without making eye contact with anyone.

Louie, the doorman, stopped her.

“Where you going? You sick or something?” he asked, grabbing her arm.

Jessie shook him off and nodded her head, pushing past him. Once on the street she waved down a cab, hopped in and gave the driver the name of the hotel.

Once the cab merged back into the traffic, she sunk low in the seat and breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and texted Jack.

Jessie: Got it… just left. Had to move fast. Meet me at the hotel.

JACK WALKED INTO THE HOTEL room, but Jessie wasn’t in the common area. Her bedroom door was open. He poked his head in the room.

He could hear the shower going in the bathroom. The door was closed halfway. He stood by it, unable to stop himself from envisioning Jessie, naked in the shower.

“Jessie… you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Jack sat in front of the television until Jessie reappeared in the common area. Her hair was damp and she wore baby blue pajamas.

Tiny shorts and a tank top.

Jack had no ability to stop himself from checking her out from head to toe, taking in all that gorgeous skin. He took a deep breath as he felt his cock wake up and take notice, too.

Jessie seemed completely oblivious not only to how sexy she was but also to his reaction to her.

She flopped down on the loveseat, pulling her knees up to her chest and crossing her ankles in front of her. She gave him the rundown on her evening, telling him all about sneaking through Tony’s office, snapping a picture of the ledger book, getting caught, and her subsequent actions to distract him so she could get out of there.

Jack was suitably impressed with her results, although he wasn’t thrilled about her playing those kinds of games with someone so dangerous.

“You would have done more,” Jessie argued.

Jack shrugged. “Maybe but…” he didn’t feel like having this argument again. She was too damn stubborn. “Well it’s over and you got what we needed.”

“What next?” Jessie asked enthusiastically.

“We’ll go home tomorrow. Then in a few days we’ll go check out the leads in St. Thomas. I’ve got a friend there who might be able to help us out.”

“Can we leave early tomorrow? I won’t make it home in time for church but my family has brunch together on Sundays,” Jessie asked.

Jack looked at her for a minute and then nodded.

“If you want to get home sooner, we can leave now,” Jack offered. “No reason to stick around.”

“Are you sure? You’re not too tired to drive?” Jessie asked, looking at her phone to check the time. It was already after one o’clock in the morning. “You haven’t had too much to drink tonight, have you?”

“I’m fine,” Jack assured her.

They got their things together and Jessie changed into comfy form-fitting leggings and an old concert t-shirt.

Thirty minutes later the valet pulled the Escalade around and loaded their suitcases into it. Jack began the drive home, which would take about four hours, give or take.

Jessie fell asleep not long after they got on the New Jersey Turnpike. He turned the radio up a little, but not too much to disturb her. Jessie called it his “angry” music.

He laughed softly to himself as he listened to the song by Radiohead that seemed appropriate. He thought about how different he and Jessie were. She was this sweet, perfect girl and he was some fuck-up who had no business being anywhere near her.

Jack glanced at her, thinking that she did look just like an angel. He thought about the way she had felt in his arms, how her lips against his had made his fucking head spin. He sighed. There was no place for any angels in his life.

He forced his thoughts to the case, trying to figure out why Sam Dennison had funneled such a large amount of money into that fake charity and then closed it out to Violets, LLC.

Why would he give such a large amount of money to his side chick? No doubt she was some hot piece of ass, but no pussy was worth twenty million.

Four hours later he pulled up in front of Jessie’s house and parked.

“Jessie,” he said softly.

She didn’t respond.

“Jessie,” he said a little louder, reaching over to touch her arm.

She woke up, opening her eyes and smiling sleepily at him. “Hi, Jack.”

“We’re home.”

Jack opened his door, got out and came around to her side. He opened her door for her and offered her his hand to help her down.

She took his hand but still slipped as she was stepping out of the car. He caught her and her face pressed against his chest. She inhaled. He smelled amazing.

“Honestly, Jessie. You’re so fucking clumsy.” Jack rolled his eyes as he steadied her.

“Sorry,” she giggled. “I’m so tired.”

Jack got her suitcase from the back of the Escalade while Jessie fumbled through her purse for her house keys.

Zoey’s car wasn’t there, which meant she must be spending the night at Chris’s house.

Jack took her keys and walked her to the door, unlocking it and ushering her inside. He turned the light on and set her suitcase down.

“Goodnight. I guess I’ll see you at work on Monday,” Jessie said.

Jack nodded. “Lock the door behind me.”

“I will.”

He left and Jessie crashed, too tired to think about anything that happened over the past few days.