Playette

“Oh look, Jasper’s here.”

I freeze as I slide Carter’s phone back into his pocket and walk out the back. Just before I reach the door a hand touches my hip and pulls me back.

“Darling, you aren’t running from me, are you?” I spin in his grasp and reach up to kiss his lips, and for some reason he lets me. He even kisses me back. It’s soft and hard all rolled into one.

“Jasper,” I say his name and I bet he can taste all my bad choices.

“Isadora…” he breathes, pulling away from my lips, “… you’ve been a bad, bad girl. Haven’t you?” He looks down and realizes why I kissed him, I have a knife in my hand directed at his crotch. “Isadora, you may get to leave. But I will find you.”

“I’m counting on it, Jasper.” Leaning in again, I kiss his lips then pull away lifting the knife from his cock and smiling.

I slip out the back door and run as fast as I can. It takes me close to an hour to get back to my uncle—my feet are hurting and my head’s thumping in pain.

“You’re drunk.” My uncle shakes his head as I wobble on not so very straight legs. Pretty sure I may have ran into a few bushes along the way too.

“No.”

“Let me guess, you didn’t kill the other one?”

“No.”

My uncle huffs loudly, walking past me and shutting the door behind me. “You need to get rid of this car, for all you know they’ve already tracked it.”

“Yeah, I will.” I crawl onto a mattress on the floor in his office and crash.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”

I jump and sit bolt upright on the mattress. Jasper is standing over me and looking directly at me. I slide my hand under the pillow and come into contact with my knife.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” He nods to the pillow, indicating the knife I now have firmly gripped in my hand.

“Where is he?”

“Do you mean that man who tried to stop me from coming in?” He looks behind him and pulls out the office chair. He takes a seat and rests his gun which is firmly grasped in his hand on his lap.

How is it possible for him to look this good? It’s totally unfair actually, especially when I know I look like shit.

“Yes.” Fucking hell, he better not have hurt my uncle, he’s the only family I have left in this world considering this bastard and his family took mine away from me.

Jasper taps the gun on his knee, then he bites his lip, the one with the scar, and I remember how good he tasted last night. Before he says another word the door opens and Carter steps in, looking as bad as I feel, he cringes when he sees me.

“Boss.” I can now hear the grunting of my uncle as the door is wide open. “This bastard is strong and he’s not talking.” Carter shuts the door, leaving us to ourselves.

“You played me well. Too damn well. I knew there was something up with you, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Who would have thought a girl who works at a strip club could be on a big vendetta. You truly are remarkable. We could’ve been a great team…” he chuckles, “… we could’ve ruled the fucking world.” Jasper stands and my heart jumps a beat.

“It would never have worked, Jasper. You kill for the fun of it. What normal person does that?”

He cracks his neck from side to side, closing his eyes as he rolls his shoulders. “I’m meant to kill you. I should kill you on the spot, right here, right now. I’ve done it before. Carter told you about my father, he tells me everything, but what he didn’t tell you was how I killed my mother.” He drops to a squatting position so we’re at eye-level. “Would you like to know?” I shake my head in answer but he continues anyway with, “Too bad.”

He stands, and begins pacing the room. Back and forth. He doesn’t pay me much attention, he’s too lost in his own head. I know if I move he’ll kill me. It’s what men like him are made to do. It’s what he was born to do. He is his father’s son after all.

“She was beautiful, did you know that? So fucking beautiful. It was hard to stay angry at her when she smiled, it made me think I was the most important person in the room.” His eyes take on that faraway look as if he’s seeing her standing here, right now, in this room with us. “She reminds me of you, actually. Your beauty could rival hers. And trust me when I say, not many could. It’s how she got my father, the most powerful man in the world, to fall in love and impregnate her so she could trap him.” He pauses. “You see, I was never what she wanted. I was simply the means to hold Father. She wanted power. She wanted money. Both of which my father had. What she didn’t expect was for him to love me in ways she couldn’t. And in the end he loved me more than her. Even as I put the gun to his head, he told me that.”