Page 15 of The Gentleness of Rage

“Need a house, furnished, if you have one,” Slate explained, and Slick clucked his tongue.

“Got one that has just gone through the deep clean today. Pretty nice, three bedrooms with two baths and a half bath,” Slick said.

“Dude, I don’t give a fuck about bathrooms. Is it in a decent area?”

“Yeah. This for you?”

“Nah, my rental is good. It’s for Jaelynn. She’s living at the Greenslade Apartments,” Slate stated.

Slick whistled. “Not even druggies stay there. That’s a shithole, and I’m being polite.”

“And I will be covering her rent,” Slate added.

“Okay. Girl can move in today. Want to come and collect the keys?” Slick asked.

Slate appreciated Slick not questioning him paying for Jaelynn’s rent. But he guessed Slick would be straight on the phone with Drake. Slate’s brothers were all nosey bastards.

“I’ll get a prospect to pick them up, I’ve a few things to do,” Slate replied and hung up after giving his thanks.

Slate tried Harley, Tye, and Christian before getting Jared to do his bidding. He informed the prospect to collect the keys from Slick and then fetch groceries. After seeing Jaelynn’s cabinets, he told Jared to buy everything she might possibly need.

Once done, he headed back inside and ordered a pizza. Jaelynn needed feeding. She looked too thin.

Slate collected his tools and gathered everything else, taking down the locks he’d fitted. Jaelynn wouldn’t be staying, and he wasn’t going to leave them here either.

He sat and played games on his phone while she slept and glared at the sofa, which kept digging springs into his ass. About an hour later, Slate heard Jaelynn stir and glanced up as she entered the living room. She looked surprised to see him present still.

“Come eat, I got pizza. Didn’t know what you ate, so bought two and colas. You can pick off what you don’t like,” he ordered, and Jaelynn’s eyebrow rose.

“You’re very bossy,” she stated but hurried over and opened the box. Jaelynn grabbed two slices using his plate and started eating.

“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Slate promised, and Jaelynn eyed him warily. He let her eat and then handed her a few more slices. When Jaelynn began to shake her head, he growled, and she chomped on one.

Slate was amused when she point-blank refused anymore pizza but was relieved when she opened a second can of cola.

“Why did you stay after I was rude?” she inquired, hiding a little burp.

“Because, babe, your life is in the shitter, and I can help,” Slate replied, leaning back and getting stabbed in his ass. “Fuck me.”

Slate shifted his butt as Jaelynn looked amused.

“You start work at the bar in a week’s time. Night shift on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That’s from seven till two. Mac’s gonna pay you the going rate, and it’s cash in hand.

“No, don’t argue, you will be safe there. From eleven to three, you’ll work at the landscaping business that Ezra owns. I’ll apologise now because Ezra and I aren’t the tidiest of people, and we hated paperwork,” Slate said.

Jaelynn looked stunned and opened her mouth to talk, but Slate continued, “That will also be cash in hand. You’ll be required to do filing, send invoices, and print shit up or type quotes for Ezra. You will start that next Monday, too. That’s Monday through to Friday. As you ain’t working bar on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you can speak to Ezra about doing more hours on those days.”

Slate grabbed a drink and waited.

“You got me two jobs? That pay cash in hand?” Jaelynn asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.”

“And want nothing in return?”

“Nope.”

“You are a guardian angel,” Jaelynn breathed, looking stunned.

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