“First, he didn’t break my heart. I wouldn’t ever give any man that kind of power over me,” she says. “Second, he’s my friend, and if you’re not going to be nice, you need to come back another time.”
My eyes bug out of my head. Is she seriously taking my side right now? And who is this woman? The one who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself. The Jazzy I knew was always so soft-spoken, afraid to make anyone upset. She was a people pleaser.
“Jazzy, Emilio is downstairs. Can you go tell him I want him up here?” This comes from Emmanuel.
“Are you trying to get me to leave so you can finish him off?” she asks.
“No, I’m trying to get you to get my idiot teenage son up here because he listens to you a lot more than he does me,” Emmanuel says.
“I’m not leaving you two with Jake.” Jazzy shakes her head.
I know why they want her gone. They want to have a chat about things she can’t be privy to. “I’ll be fine. I also wouldn’t say no to a bottle of whiskey if you can swipe some from one of the bars,” I tell her.
“Seriously?” she grumbles at me. “If I leave you with those two, I’ll probably never see you again.”
“Well, in that case, you should probably kiss me goodbye.” I smirk.
“I will fucking shoot you in front of her,” Emmanuel says calmly. But his face is nothing but rage.
Jazzy glares at her uncle and then turns back to me.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, promise,” I assure her.
“Your promises don’t mean shit to me, Jacob. You’ve broken them before,” she says before she turns and walks out. Leaving me to my demise apparently.
As soon as the elevator doors ping closed, her uncles start in on me. “You and I both know you had that coming,” Louie says.
“You didn’t fight back? Why?” This comes from Emmanuel.
I don’t say anything. I don’t need to. As much as they don’t want to admit it, they’re worried.
“What are you doing hanging around Jazzy again? What’s your game here?” Louie asks.
“I don’t have a game. And we’re friends,” I say.
“Friends? You expect us to believe that all you’re doing is being her friend?” Emmanuel presses.
“I don’t really give a fuck what you believe. Whatever happens between Jazzy and me is just that, between her and me. No one else.” I’d never speak to her father like this. I have too much respect for Jazzy to do that. But these fuckers? Fuck them.
“You know, your being around puts a target on her back. One she doesn’t fucking need,” Louie says.
“You think I don’t know that?” I’ve just spent more than a decade keeping away from her. “She moved back here. I didn’t go chasing her.”
“She had to come back,” Emmanuel says.
“Yeah? Why is that? What happened in New York?” I ask him.
His lips form a tight line. He’s not going to tell me.
“I know you’re the one who brought her home.” I looked into it. She arrived in the middle of the night on his private jet. “Fine. Don’t tell me. I’ll find out eventually.” I shrug and stand, because I’ve had enough of this bullshit. I do actually have an office to get to, a business to run.
“You taking this further?” Louie points to my face. He wants to know if I’m going to get The Court involved. I have no intention of doing that to Jazzy’s father. But it is entertaining watching the men who never sweat…finallysweat a little.
“No. I would never bring any harm to Jazzy,” I say.
“Then stay the fuck away from her,” Emmanuel counters.
I stare at him. “Would you stay away from your wife?”