Page 20 of All Jacked Up

I didn’t want to tell him that I’d sat across the table from him two nights ago. He hadn’t recognized me, and I was going to keep it that way. Besides, the threat of him picking up my book and knowing I had written that? Nope. I’d probably die. Curl up in a ball and die.

Me: The name isn’t important.

Ransom: Yeah, it is.

Me: Why do you need it?

Ransom: I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Me: I don’t think this is someone you can control.

This had turned comical.

Ransom: Did Jeremy Tucker leave you alone in high school? And DylanMcGreeves?

I read those names and cringed. It had been a long time since I’d thought about either of those two. They were the ones who had taken the most jabs at me. My weight. My mouth, because my braces—which I’d worked extra to save money for because my mother had refused to—made my already-big lips stick out like a duck. It had been one of their favorite things to call me. Duck or Tubby or Beached Whale.

Ransom: Did they? Even after I graduated?

They … had left me alone. One day, it had just stopped, and I couldn’t remember when, but by the time I graduated, I no longer avoided places where they might be, and I’d quit taking the long way to class to stay out of the hallways where I might run into one of them.

Me: You made them stop?

Why hadn’t I known this?

Ransom: I did.

Me: You didn’t tell me.

Ransom: I didn’t see a reason to. Ihandled the dipshits. Now give me a name.

My chest felt warm as I read over his words again. That was the guy I’d spent the past ten years texting. Not the one I’d met two nights ago. What was it about me now that had made him dislike me on sight? Would it have been different if I’d told him who I was? No, again, I couldn’t have done that. It was best that I hadn’t. If he knew I was Juliett Romeo then he’d eventually figure out he’d been written into my books- in very sexually graphic situations. Then I might just die of humiliation.

Me: Thank you. Sixteen-year-old me needed your help, but twenty-seven-year-old me has it under control. I’m not sure what about me, uh, annoyed this guy so much. I hadn’t even spoken to him when he reacted rudely. I guess the sight of me was enough. Must not have been his type.

I rolled my eyes as I sent it, then grinned.

Me: Besides, I’ll never see him again.

A sadness sank over me. I hadn’t thought about it. Not seeing him again. I’d always imagined the day that I did see him, we’d talk, have drinks, maybe get together when I was in town for dinner. Be friends … and, yes, I also added him being attracted to me into the fantasy. Among other things. That was never goingto happen.

Ransom: If you do, you’re giving me a name.

Six

Ransom

The door to my office opened without anyone knocking. Looking up to see who it was from the spreadsheet I was trying to figure out, I wasn’t surprised to see Than sauntering in. But really, it could have been any of the guys. None of them thought about knocking first.

He held up a large manila envelope. “This came for you. Ted just dropped it off,” he said, then looked at the back of it. “And it’s sealed.”

The wagging of his eyebrows was annoying. I knew what it was, and I didn’t want him or any of the others to see it. I’d hired Ted to do the job for a reason. He wasn’t family. He was a criminal. The genius kind who hacked into systems all over the world and fucked shit up. The family had our own guy who did this, but what I had needed wasn’t family business. It was my business.

“Put it on my desk and leave.”

He frowned. “What? Not gonna open it? See what he found?”

Yes, I would once he got his ass out of my office. I might even take it and leave. I didn’t want to be disturbed while I went over it.

---