Page 7 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

“I fucking refuse to be sold to the highest bidder. I’m not even sure why Jareth agreed to it to begin with.” I threw a hand up in frustration. Now that I had him in my head, my feet were heavy on the carpeted floor, each step propelled me forward with another angry stomp.

I flicked a glance at Gage. He stared past me, his eyes on the hall and keeping me safe. I was the only one worked up from our conversation.

“I’m sorry, Jess.”

I guess I’d been wrong that he’d brushed off my comment.

Jareth had worked alongside my parents as a peer for years. He ran an incredibly successful textile empire, among a million other businesses he had his hand in. My parents had hired him as an advisor a year ago in the hopes he’d help them increase their bottom line. My Mother and Father cared more about the money they earned from the textile company they'd inherited from my grandparents than anything else.

I shrugged. It wasn’t Gage’s fault, or even Jareth’s, that my parents were dicks.

We got to my suite, and once again, Gage did his safety check before I was allowed to enter. With the door wide open, my gaze went to the club’s staff member assigned to me when I was here.

She gave me a nervous smile. I was pretty sure this was her first job. “Hello, Ms. Sulton. I was just freshening up your suite. I apologize for it not being ready. I thought I had another hour before you returned.”

I smiled at her. “It’s all right. How was my baby?”

“Oh, Reina was a doll.” She went over to the small cat bed and pointed out Reina napping.

I’d wanted to take my sweet toyger kitty to the pool with me, but with it being my first day back and knowing the other members might circle me like vultures, I chose to leave her in here where she was safe from prying eyes.

Gage cocked an eyebrow.

I gestured to Reina. “She hates to be left home alone. And she’s just a baby, Gage. She needs to know I didn’t abandon her.” Okay, Reina was a year old, but she was so tiny that many people often mistook her for a younger kitten.

He shook his head and gave a pointed look at the staff member inside my room. A young girl, not vetted by him, and she had been in my suite the whole time I was gone.

“She’s cool. Alden already did a background check on the employees here a few weeks ago.” I picked up Reina and snuggled her close.

I was pretty sure my attendant was included in that check.

Gage nodded and took up his position just outside the door of the suite. He stood with his arms crossed while he surveyed the area, looking for any possible threats.

“Do you think you could hold this for me?” I held out my handbag.

Gage looked at it then at me. “My job is not to hold your purse.”

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes like it was just an inconvenience that he wouldn’t do what I wanted and shut the door.

Damn it!

He was totally screwing up my plan to sneak off to a nearby marketplace. I paced the room, trying to work out a quick plan. Reina wove in and around my feet, effectively halting my frantic movements.

I ground my molars. They didn’t understand. Going to street fairs like this was something I used to do with my grandmother before she died ten years ago. We’d spend the whole day at the marketplace together. For today, I was willing to compromise and only see specific local artisans to determine if I should recommend their products for the business.

Going there made me feel close to her and right now, I needed to feel her presence to soothe the anxiety Jareth caused me.

“What do you think we should do, sweet girl?” Reina purred and tapped my chin playfully with her paw.

I had to find a way to leave my phone. Alden had installed a tracker on it and Gage would know I was on the move if I left with it. I bit my lip and checked my watch. I only needed enough time to get to the marketplace to check out the textile crafters I noticed on the website earlier this week.

The tracker was for my safety and so was the two-to-one vote that the marketplace was unsafe and a logistical nightmare. Without a word from me, they’d said it wasn’t worth the risk. The place was too open, and it would be hard to protect me in a crowd.

“If I was in charge, I would have assigned someone to check out the marketplace this summer,” I grumbled, as I cuddled her. She nuzzled my face and purred contentedly.

Even though I didn’t have authority over the business my grandparents had built, I still tried to give back to the employees. I visited the factories that made our textiles, worked with local talent, and encouraged our manufacturing to give them a chance. My parents’ greed didn’t always translate into good business sense.

“I know he’s just trying to look out for us, Reina, but I can’t stay cooped up like this forever.” I was the one to hire Alden, but so little had happened since the day I was attacked I’d started to wonder if my intuition was on the fritz. Maybe the person had been mugging me and wanted my purse, not following me and trying to get me.

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