Page 7 of Queen Of Dark Money

Ispent the next half hour in that uncomfortable ass seat, one foot propped up on the cushion next to me, chewing on a stray chunk of my hair asIentered in my details and filled out the ‘sign up for an account now’ forms that felt copied and pasted at this point.Eachone had its own quirks, but by far my favorite one was the one that asked me for my availability.

Whatwas this, corporateAmericaretail?

Igiggled and selected thatIcouldn’t work onWednesdays, and for the reason,Isimply wrote inhump dayyyyylike a fucking moron but hit submit nonetheless.Afew forms later, a familiar nurse came around looking for me.

“Miss?Yourmother is awake and asking for you.”Sheglanced around the empty room with a sympathetic and sad smile on her lips, one that instantly made me cringe.HowsadImust look, sitting here in the dim lighting of the visitor’s lounge, all alone and scrolling on my phone while my mother fights for her life in the next room.

Whata fucking great model of daughterhoodImade.

“Thanks,”Imuttered, stretching asIrose, my hands curling into fists as my back arched andIheard several vertebrae crack back into place. “Doyou–oh, she’s already gone.”

Ishrugged off the feeling of self-pity and disappointment and headed for the door.Ididn’t want to keep my mom waiting any longer, and it wouldn’t do to have her wondering whatI’dsnuck off to do.Wedidn’t have secrets.

Well, we didn’tused to.

Imight just keep the last thirty minutes of my life a secret though.Shedidn’t need to know how lowI’dstooped or how farIwas about to fall.She’dtell me it wasn’t my job to care for her; she’d insist thatIneeded to go live my life and forget about her.Icouldn’t do that.IfIwas only going to have one epic love in my life, abandoning it in such a tough time was akin to rejecting the only giftI’dever get from the cosmos.

Fuckthat.Badkarma and all that shit.

Ifound myself standing before the door to her room in the blink of an eye, and my lungs scrambled for air.Ihad to fight to take a breath and calm myself beforeIwent in there and scared the fuck out of her with another one of my anxiety attacks.Shehad enough on her plate already–it wouldn’t be fair of me to put my own shit on there, too.

Mypalm lay flat against the metal handle, fingers curling tentatively around its’ curved surface.Nowor never.Youcan do this, bitch.Bestrong for her, like she’s been for you all your life.Determinationand love settled in my soul, and with a heavy exhale,Ishoved the door open and pasted on a huge, optimistic very much fake smile for her benefit.

“Hey, momma bear!I’mback–you won’t believe the cafeteria options . . .”

CHAPTER THREE

RIVER

Itwas never quiet at the biggest strip club inKhulaCity.Buttonight was an exception.Tonightwas meeting night, and for that, we needed anonymity, seclusion, and quiet.

Workingfor the biggest crime syndicate in the city had its’ perks, but it had drawbacks, too.Sure, their dirty money funded half my fucking business ventures, but they also demanded a certain level of obedience, like we were their trained monkeys, show dogs expected to jump at a moment’s notice.

Atfirst, they wanted meetings on weekends, but when they coerced me into opening the club for them,Itook weekends off the table.Noway in hell wasIshutting down and missing out on one of the biggest money-making nights in the business.Icouldn’t give a shit less if they used my businesses to launder for their criminal enterprises.ButIdrew the line at fucking with my own bank.

Isank my six-foot frame into a nearby chair and glanced around, swirling the bourbon at the bottom of my glass, not thatIhad any intention of finishing the liquid that sat there, mingling with the melting ice.

Asigh from my left drew my attention, and my head lolled to the side, hair dangling over the back of my chair asIstared at the man in the doorway, staring at the empty stage.

JasperfuckingStone.Thebiggest pain in my ass and, unfortunately, my sort-of business partner and fellow money launderer.

Thebastard carded his hand through that straight blonde hair he was always sporting, no doubt from a fucking bottle–you didn’t get hair that shade naturally.Itwas too bright, too reflective.Almostlike he ripped it straight off an albino deer or something.

“AmIthe first one here?”

Igestured at the empty room around us, rolling my eyes. “Thefuck’s it look like?”

“Noneed to get violent,Blake, it was just a question.”Hefolded himself neatly and elegantly into the seat across from me, eyeballing my glass with interest. “Cana man get a drink around here, or shouldIhave brought my own?”

Igrunted an affirmative and jerked my head toward the nearby service cart, where a few extra glasses and a bowl of ice sat waiting.Iwas nothing if not prepared. “Helpyourself.”

Ididn’t expect him to pour the liquor like he’d been a barback once upon a time, but the movement was fluid and practiced, just like everything else this fucker did.Therenever seemed to be a thing he didn’t do with the elegance of someone who’d done it their whole lives.Butthere’s no way in hell he’d been around to be this good at all that shit.

Unless, of course, he was a vampire immortal.Icouldn’t help but snicker at my own joke, which obviously drew his attention.Thankfully, instead of asking questions, he just rolled his eyes and looked away, sipping slowly at the alcohol in that pretentious way he had about him.

Ofall the empty chairs he could have sat in, he had to pick the one closest to me.Becauseif there was anythingJasperStonewas aware of, it was my absolute hatred for him.Ionly tolerated him out of necessity.

Butwhy?

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