“Don’t let Jasper get to you, Mo. He’s stressed as fuck right now.”
“I know.” But it wasn’t just now; it was always. Jasper was a powerful man who expected everyone to do what he asked of them, no questions asked. For years I’d been his happy little soldier, so I knew the last thing he needed now, with Sadie hanging on for dear life and some unknown shooter out in the world, was me changing shit up.
“I’m fine. Just a little emotional, probably from all the hours I’ve been working lately.”
He didn’t believe me, but thankfully Hulu was a man’s man and knew how to take a hint. He shrugged his big shoulders and stuck close to me.
“Then let’s get you up to your suite so you can get some sleep. What do you have up there, Egyptian cotton? Ten million thread count?”
I let out my first real laugh of the day. “Ten million?”
He shrugged. “I’m not fancy. Spent years of my life in the desert sleeping in a tent.”
“Eight hundred. I’ll buy you some.”
“Don’t do that. I might like ’em too much, and then I’ll be fancy like you.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“For you? Not at all. I’m a big burly son of a bitch, though, can’t walk around bragging about my fancy-ass sheets.”
“Sure you can.” I bumped his shoulder as we stepped off the elevator, feeling the tension of the long day seep from my shoulders the closer I got to the door. “The women will love it.”
“Well now, that’s a much better selling point.” He laughed and waited until I stepped inside my condo before his smile faded. “Lock the door. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I will. Thanks, Hulu. Have a good night.”
He winked and stood there, waiting for me to close and then lock the door. When I did, he gave two sharp knocks, and then I heard his whistling as he walked back towards the elevator.
Why couldn’t I have fallen for a guy like that?
Because you’re too fucked up for a good guy.
Oh, right. That.
Chapter Seventeen
Jasper
Well, shit. I couldn’t have fucked up that interaction with Mo more if I tried, and it really fucking pissed me off that I even cared. What was up with Mo, anyway? She was a good-time girl, mouthy and sassy and always with a smile on her face. That was what I liked about her from the very beginning, a mouthy kid who put on a tough front because life had required her to. Lately, though, something was up with her.
She wasn’t just defiant, refusing to work shifts when I needed her to; she was also quiet and sullen. Her attitude was growing worse by the day. Something was definitely up with her, and I planned to find out what. I’d do it tomorrow before she started her shift. I couldn’t afford to lose Mo, not while Sadie was still out, and I had to deal with Lucky Lopez.
A whore. She accused me of treating her like a whore, and what the fuck was I supposed to do with that? A whore was exactly what she was. Maybe she wanted to sugarcoat it, but she straight up had sex for money and not just with me.
It was no secret that Mo liked the finer things in life. Designer shoes and handbags, fancy vacations and room service meals prepared by five-star chefs. Those things cost money, and she had no problem moonlighting as a sex worker to pay for those things.
So why the fuck was she so angry about the way I treated her? I took a shot of Velvet Fire, smiling at how much it would piss off Virgil that I shot his sipping whiskey, and then I slammed the glass down hard as I replayed that last fuck in my office.
I wasn’t a cuddler, but Mo’s curves were tempting enough that I sometimes wished we’d cuddle, just for a few more minutes, but that was it. She was a fuck, a damn good fuck but still just a fuck.
Did she expect flowers or chocolates? That wasn’t what we did, but still, the instinct to drop a few hundred on a nice gift was strong, especially if it would get her to help out at Lucky Lopez until she was no longer needed.
“Fuck!” I reached for my phone and dialed Maisie because I didn’t need to hear Kat’s shit.
“Jasper, what’s wrong? It’s four o’clock in the morning.
I frowned at the phone. “Nothing. I need a favor.”
Maisie yawned. “I’m good, Jas. How are you?”
My shoulders fell in resignation because I knew there was no way around it. Maisie wasn’t an asshole like the rest of my siblings, but she was stubborn in her own way.
“I’ve been better, Maisie, but I’m glad to hear you’re all right. Did I wake you?”
“Nah. I’m up already. Drinking coffee and looking for belly dancers for a sunrise barbecue and arranging a luau in the desert.”