Page 102 of Root

Jess clearly knows a few bikers in here. They give her double and triple looks.

We stay through a few drinks, and sure enough, a couple of fugly dudes with familiar patches come in.

The air changes when they do, becomes charged in a way I don’t like. But it’s also time to go; it’s getting to that hour when the clientele changes. “We should go, Jess. Get you tucked up.”

“Fine,” she says, letting me tuck her hand in my arm again.

Interesting. Almost like she wants others to hear about our weird-ass and fun date.

When we leave, a topless young thing comes up. “Tomorrow?”

She eyes me big Fuck Me signs in lights ,but I’m not going there. The girl belongs to the bar’s owner, and I’m not looking for trouble.

In all honesty, I’m more concerned about what Jessie’ll do if I flirt back with the girl over the feelings of a biker prick who likes to kill to get his way if I reject his offering.

Because that’s what the girl is, an offering. Her wanting to be served up is neither here nor there.

“Tomorrow,” I say, and I lead Jess out to the car.

“I suppose,” Jess says as we pull up in front of the mansion, “you want me to blow you.”

I lead her inside, then I pin her to the wall, taking her face in my hands. “Jessie, I’m not gonna lie. With a mouth as talented as yours, I’m always going to want a blow job.”

Her eyes glitter.

I kiss her deep, and my head spins as I come up for air.

“But not tonight. I’ll see you home.”

“Home?”

I deposit her at her room and go to mine, and I don’t look back.

Closing my eyes a moment, I take a breath, then strip down and shower and think over the evening.

So I played it hybrid-Nikolai tonight. A mix of us both. On the surface I learned nothing, and I might have once been all end of story with that. But Nikolai would see the bigger picture.

The look.

Desperation.

Her best—for her—behavior.

They’re both just below the surface explanatory. If someone has something on her, it explains the desperation and her being a good girl.

But what if one led into the other?

What if the desperation is deep-seated?

Nikolai thinks she’s working for someone. That would be the Ten64, since they’re the only new players around.

And they were the ones following, the ones she both wanted to see us together and to keep out of their way. It was a fine piece of craft on her part, wanting the darker parts of Queenstown to hide in and also the kind of places they’d go, as well as not fighting me over the flashy rich places.

What do they have over her?

Jessie’s not evil. I feel that and not just with my dick.

Jess is…complicated, and she likes me. Which means something.

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