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There is more to that story, but I don't think she wants to get into it right now. The ring of her cell phone again halts any probing I might have done.
"Oh my god, what?" Gabby answers without looking at the caller ID. Panic grips me when her eyes go wide, just before a loud knock on my front door startles the living daylights out of me. "Damn you, JJ!" Her hiss and stomping to the door do little to calm the fear coursing through my veins.
Her eyes never flick my way, even when I scramble my way to my feet and around the couch to place myself in between the staircase and the door. I don't know when she finished off the wine, but when she swings the door wide, all I can think is, I'm a fucking fool.
ChapterSix
JACKSON
"Let's go," I growl and grip the back of Jude's shirt, hauling his ass off the couch. I don't know why he's home again on a Saturday night, but at least I have backup.
"Fuck! What are you doing? Let go, man." Releasing him, I shove my feet into my tennis shoes.
"Gab is at afriend’shouse that shewalkedto. She's been drinking and planned on walking home alone. In the dark." I clench my jaw in agitation.What the hell is she thinking?
"What the hell? Is she with a guy?" Sliding into the passenger seat of my BMW, I make out his concerned frown in the dim light.
"She didn't say, but she really enjoyed pushing my damn buttons, though."
He sighs. "She's going to be pissed. Wait, how do you know where to go?"
I tell him about the conversation I had with her and her agreeing to me picking her up, so she sent me the address. Imagine my surprise when it's one of my properties.
"Oh, someone moved into the end unit?"
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, Jude. You were the one who ran the background check and got the new tenant all set up. So, let me ask you, who moved in? Because if it's a bunch of fucking frat boys, I'm going to kick your ass."
I swear, he doesn't take his job seriously whatsoever. "Uh, I don't remember." My grip on the steering wheel turns deadly.
"What the fuck, Jude? It's literally your job!" I was annoyed before, but now I'm livid with absolutely no information to go off of.
"Shit, sorry, man. They are all the same, you know? They checked out, so I handed them over to Gabby to get settled in." Eyes downcast, he runs a hand through his hair.
Part of Gabby's job isto get our tenants settled in and meet them, and that is exactly why Jude's job is so damn important. That woman is like a little sister to us, and he's not paying enough attention to the people he's sending her way.
"We will be discussing this later," I grit out, and slam the car into park in the driveway of one of my townhouses. Whipping out my phone, I call Gabs trying to rein in my anger.
I can't fucking stand the idea of her being in danger or vulnerable. And what did she do?All the above.
"Get outside. We’re leaving." She screeches out her confusion, which I ignore in favor of banging on the door. A door that I own but cannot open.
"Damn you, JJ!"
I hang up the phone and listen to the scuffling on the other side of the wood. I dismiss Jude's sigh as he sidles up next to me and leans on the door frame. His nonchalant attitude is at odds with the tension radiating from his pretty boy face.
Slipping on my indifferent mask, I step closer when the door is thrown wide, not sure what to expect.Maybe a pissed-off man that wanted to get laid?
It's not a guy who opens the door fuming; it's Gabby. Something I was correct about, though, is the empty bottle of wine hanging from my foster sister’s fingers. Standing tall with her chin jutted out, she scowls at us.
"Come on, let’s get you home." My monotone voice makes her lips purse even more.
"No."
"Sunshine," Jude says with a soft one, "it's time to go." No longer leaning, he stands and reaches for her, only for his hands to be batted away.
"I said to pick me up in an hour, JJ. Yet here you are, not fifteen minutes later, with cavalry!"
I raise a brow, taking in her flushed cheeks. "An hour to do what, though?" My words are suggestive as I take my eyes off her to find the asshole that deserves my wrath.
