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“Jade?” Trent asks as he steps toward her. Jake looks at him in question but Trent ignores him as he comes up close to Jade. She tilts her head a bit as if trying to place if she knows him.
Shit, I forgot that they knew each other.
I don’t like how close he is to her, and judging by the tension in her shoulders, she isn’t too happy about it either, but I stay where I am. If she needs help, she will let us know, and if he pushes too far, I can sock him real nice in just a step or two.
“Officer Gray?” Jade finally says, the question evident in her voice, and some of the tension leaves her as she puts the pieces together.
Trent's stupid face lights up with a dopy grin that makes me want to punch him even more than I did when he made her uncomfortable. Why the fuck is he looking at her like that? He was ready to leave her behind just a week ago, and now he’s looking at her like her remembering him is the best thing to ever happen to him.
Fucker.
I let out a huff, and Rick shoots me a glare, but I wave him off. I know we don’t need to start shit, and I don’t plan to, but let him start, and I’ll happily finish it if Jade doesn’t finish him first. The thought of her laying him out makes his presence much more tolerable.
“I knew you were staying with the Spades, but I didn’t know you would be here.” He tells her as he continues to smile down at her.
“I didn’t know I was coming until yesterday when the guys told me. Apparently, I’m supposed to see if I want to go to college, and they thought this would be a good step towards me deciding on that.” She tells him in a sweet voice, and everything about this whole conversation is pissing me off. I don’t want him to be nice to her, and I definitely don’t want her to be nice to him.
“So you’re the girl from the sex trafficking rings Trent told me about, huh?” Jake says as he walks up next to Trent to look down at Jade.
Jake being in her face makes me even more uncomfortable than Trent did. I don’t like Trent for personal reasons, shit that’s between him and us, but Jake is trouble all the way around.
He’s slimy. Hell, he’s one of our top distributors for a reason, and while we're scary because we have power, he’s scary because he’s unknown. I have no idea if half the shit I hear about him is true, but most of it paints the picture that he isn’t good to women. He likes them sexy and compliant, but even if it is true, girls throw themselves at him because of his social and financial status. The thought of him trying anything on Jade has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge and my hand itching for my knife.
“Yup, that would be me.” Jade tells him as she stares him down, not a hint of fear or nerves, just a tiny smile on her lips as if she’s taunting him about it and not the other way around.
“You failed to get the point across on just how stunning she actually is, Trent, and you also failed to mention that she’s feisty.” Jake says without taking his eyes off her. He reaches forward and grabs her hand before bringing her knuckles to his lips and kissing them. I see Rick stiffen from over Jade’s head, but Jade remains still and relaxed as if this is no big deal.
Trent's ears turn red, and that lets me know that he has, in fact, been talking about Jade to his buddies. He’s always had the same tell that he’s embarrassed, ever since we were young, and it comes in handy knowing it as we deal with him often.
“How about you come dance with me, beautiful? Let me introduce you to some people so you can make a better call on if you want to go to college. These guys aren’t known to be the most friendly.” He tells her with a nod in our direction, and he’s not wrong, but he’s got a few screws loose if he thinks we’ll let her go off with him.
“Maybe later, Jake. Right now, we have business to attend to. I don’t come to these parties for the hell of it.” Rick tells him before he can haul Jade away. He has yet to release her hand.
“Not to mention, I doubt she would be interested in the company you keep.” I tell Jake, and Jade turns her head to look at me, the confusion clear on her face.
“Well, you didn’t really seem to hit it off too well with his sister a few minutes ago, Doll.” I say with a smile. It’s almost as if I can see the wheels turning in that beautiful head of hers. The moment it clicks, I can see the recognition in her eyes. She looks back at Jake, and her brows scrunch up in the most adorable way as she looks him over to see if I’m telling the truth. She doesn’t have to look hard, though. They may not be identical, but Amanda and Jake are twins and share many similar traits.
The moment she realizes I’m telling the truth, she snatches her hand back from his as if he’s burned her, once again wiping it off on her shorts. It seems when unwanted people touch her, it causes her to feel the need to clean herself off. I file that thought away for later.
“Don’t be like that, beautiful. I can’t control my sister's actions, so you shouldn’t hold it against me. Besides, she's probably just intimidated by you.” He tells her with a shrug before walking off towards the hallway and waving at Rick to follow.
“Let's get this over with, Spade. This party just got a whole lot more interesting, if you know what I mean.” He shoots Jade a wink over his shoulder before Rick follows after him, blocking Jade from his line of sight.
“Trent, why don’t you do the honor of showing Jade around while I’m busy? Then, once I’m done, I’ll come find you. I think Jade would be a wonderful addition to the campus, and I would hate for her to miss out because Zander is terrible company.” He shouts back to Trent before he rounds the corner and disappears. I move forward to go after him, but Rick shoots me a stern look before his eyes dart to Jade.
God, I fucking hate when he does that.
A few hits would be good for Jake. He could use a hit or two to his fucking ego to bring him back down to earth where he belongs.
I huff before I lean back against the counter and look at Jade, who is still standing too close to Trent for my liking, which pisses me off more because it just makes Rick right. I need to stay put to keep an eye on her, no matter how bad Jake could use a beatdown. Jade is the mission, and even if she weren’t, I wouldn’t be okay leaving her with Trent, let alone anyone else, at this bullshit party.
After leaving them back in the kitchen, I wandered around for a few minutes before heading out back and all but chain-smoking through my pack of cigarettes.
I should have brought more than one beer with me.
I stand with my back against the brick wall that runs along the side of the property nearest the fireplace. There are no neighbors around, but for some reason, Jake’s parents decided this part of the yard needed to be more private than the rest. I can’t complain, though, since it gives me a place to stand and observe close to the fire without exposing my back to anyone.
More than once, a drunk girl and her friends have gotten the balls to try and approach me. Usually, a well-placed glare is enough to make them change their mind even before they reach me.
