Page 40 of Wicked Attraction

Me. “Who?”

She laughed again. “What’s up, Jas?”

“I managed to piss Mo off somehow. Can you arrange a nice gift for her?”

After a long beat of silence, I frowned. “Maze?”

“I’m here, just thinking.”

“About?”

She let out a sigh. “Never mind all that. A thousand bucks nice? More? Less?”

“Fuck if I know,” I growled. “Just make it something she would like. Something nice.”

Maisie laughed at me. Again. “Sure. You want to give it to her yourself?”

“No,” I growled.

“Yeah, I think you should too. I’ll have it sent to you at Midnight Mass.”

I could have argued with her, but I was too fucking tired and not in the mood. “Thank you.”

“No problem, brother. None at all.” There was laughter in her voice as she ended the call.

That was my final fucking task for the night before I headed home. I washed down a sleeping pill with a glass of whiskey and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Nothing tasted betterafter a solid night of sleep and a few glasses of Velvet Fire than buttery toast and scrambled eggs with pepper. A lot of fucking pepper. It was the perfect cure to keep the hangover at bay because I had too much shit to do to deal with a fucking hangover.

“Jasper.” Thomas entered the dining room, where I was enjoying my breakfast. In peace.

“What?”

Thomas dismissed my tone and said, “We need to talk.”

I shoveled another forkful of eggs into my mouth. “About what?”

He let out a long-suffering sigh as if his breakfast had been interrupted. “Lucky Lopez, obviously.”

His tone pissed me off, and I dropped my fork with a loud clang. “It’s way too early for your bullshit, Thomas. Say what you need to say and get the fuck out.”

“There’s too much security at the club. That’s fine for the tourists, the weekend warriors who like to feel like they’re in a bit of danger. But the big money guys, the gangsters, they feel antsy. They’ll stop coming if we don’t scale back.”

He was right. I just had the same fucking conversation with Provo, but dammit, I just wanted to enjoy my fucking breakfast. I smacked a hand against the table, angry as hell.

“Just because you’re fucking Sadie doesn’t mean you’re in charge. Stay in your goddamn lane.”

The motherfucker laughed at me. “It’s more than that, and we both know it, but if it makes you feel better to minimize things between me and your mother, fine. I’m talking about business, Jasper, not personal shit.”

“This business isn’t yours to talk about.”

“No?” He folded his arms and arched a brow. “Then why even let me manage the club in her absence? Because you’re already spread too fucking thin, and you need the help, even if you are too fucking stubborn to admit it.”

“I don’t need help.”

“Right, I forgot, you’re a fucking magician. At all places, at all times. Then I hope you’re not too tired to take tonight’s shift since I’m not in charge.”

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