Without another word, Bradley walks out, my door closing behind him. I shut my eyes and count to ten. I should have known she was back.Why the fuck didn’t I know?
Control. Whenever Jasmine is involved, all sense of control seems to escape me. Apart from the self-control it takes for me to stay away from her. That, I can’t lose. I would love to know why she’s been hiding, though. Because there is no other reason for her to be here without me knowing, unless she was hiding out at her parents’ house.
There’s been no talk of her prior to two weeks ago when my program pinged her at Aces. And this city loves to talk. Someone would have seen her, and the gossip mill would have been working overtime.
Jasmine is noticeable. And being that she is the eldest Bianchi offspring, she’s always been a hot topic of conversation. It’s also very unlike her to hide.
Standing up, I walk over to my drawer and retrieve two devices. There’s one place Jazzy talks openly. It’s also the only place I’ve never planted a camera or listening device. I figured that was crossing a line. It looks as though that line’s being obliterated now, because I need to know why she’s been hiding.
My gut is telling me something happened in New York. And whatever it was, it was bad enough to have her moving back home. The Strip isn’t at war. It’s not a family thing, because whenever the underground is getting heat, the entire city knows about it. The last few months have been quiet.
When I arrive at the cemetery, I look around, making sure no one else is here. This is fucked up. I know that. But it’s not like she can hate me any more than she already does.
Walking up to her mother’s tombstone, I pull out the listening device and hide it under a small angel statue. I look around again, trying to find somewhere to plant a camera. There isn’t anywhere that it wouldn’t be noticeable.
Leaving the camera in my pocket, I head back to my car. “Sorry, Jazzy, but I can’t let you have secrets from me.”
I remember when we were ten and we made a pinkie promise to never keep secrets from each other. I wonder, if she ever found out I’ve been spying on her, would I be able to use that promise as an excuse?
Chapter Three
My dad is hovering. I’ve just moved out of my parents’ estate and into the penthouse at Aces High, our family-owned casino. Where I’ll now be working. A job my father was all too willing to let me have. He hasn’tsaid anything, but maybe there is something to what my uncle mentioned about my father needing the help.
He’s not as happy to have me move out of the house, though. He’s barely left my side since I arrived. I even found him sitting on the floor outside my bedroom door the first few nights. Something I used to make him do when I was little and too scared to be alone. I’d wake up from nightmares, and he was always there for me when I did.
It’s a little bit weirder now that I’m twenty-nine years old.
“Daddy, I’m going to be fine. I have lived here before, you know.” I call him that, thinking it might ease his worries. It doesn’t.
“Don’tdaddyme, Jasmine. This is serious. It’s safer for you at the house,” he says.
“No one can even get up to this penthouse, Dad, and I haven’t lived at home for a really long time,” I remind him.
“That was before you came home all black and blue, Jazzy. I don’t like this,” he says.
When I turned up on my parents’ doorstep, unannounced for the second time in my life, with Tío E in tow, it took hours to talk my dad off the ledge. I’d never seen him so angry. He wanted blood. He wanted to skin whomever hit me alive. The problem was, he couldn’t, because I’d already killed him.
My mind drifts back to that night. Freddie’s body on the ground, surrounded by blood. There was so much blood. He had never so much as yelled at me before, so when he hit me and then did it again, I was shocked. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, but he wouldn’t stop. That’s when I reached for the knife.
Tío E insistedhe took care of the problem. Meaning the asshole who beat on me. I didn’t correct him. I don’t want my parents to know I’m a killer. My dad looks at me as if I could rise the sun itself. I don’t want him to ever look at me differently. Iknow it’s selfish to let Tío E lie for me. But I can’t bring myself to admit the truth.
“I’m sorry, Jazzy.” My father steps closer, wrapping me in his arms. “I just… Seeing you like that. I fucking hate that I wasn’t there to protect you from getting hurt,” he whispers as he holds me tight.
“You know, one day, I’m going to have to navigate life without you. You’re not exactly getting younger.” I laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
My dad smiles at me. “Why the fuck do you think I gave you brothers?”
I roll my eyes. The other two pains-in-my-asses pick that moment to walk into the living room. CJ is twenty and Aiden is eighteen. Both act as if they’re older than me, though.
“I’m taking one of the spare rooms tonight,” CJ says.
“Ah, no you’re not.” I scowl at him.
“Yes, I am. I have a party in one of the clubs downstairs. It’ll be easier than going home.” He shrugs.
“There are a million other hotel rooms. Take one of them,” I tell him.
“Jazzy, let him stay with you. He’s family. It’s what family does,” Dad says.