Page 7 of Wicked Attraction

I laughed. “Like I’d stand a chance against you, big guy.” He was built like a brick shithouse, just as wide as Jasper and a good five inches taller than his six-foot frame.

“Good thing I’m one of the good ones, then. Come on, Mo.” Hulu took up half the private elevator, but he smelled good, so I stayed quiet and enjoyed the silence. He swept the rooms and smiled. “All clear. Have a good night.”

“You too.” I stepped inside the lavish condominium and kicked off my shoes before heading to the waterfall shower. I liked the water hot enough to turn my skin pink. I was determined to wash off the smell of Jasper because I couldn’t allow him to infiltrate my dreams.

Not tonight, anyway.

CHAPTERTHREE

Jasper

“I just wish you’d fucking wake up,” I said to Sadie’s still form. She was lying in the hospital bed, looking peacefully asleep when that was the furthest thing from the truth.

The first bullet had caused nothing more than a flesh wound, slicing open the skin on the side of her neck. It was already healing, and the cosmetic surgeon had assured me there would be no scarring. But, if he was wrong, he’d have to deal with Sadie.

If she ever fucking woke up.

The second bullet had caused all the damage, including the headache and worry of the past two weeks. Two weeks and two days, to be exact.

That bullet, described by the doctors as a deep graze, had bled like a motherfucker. It was deep enough that they were concerned about brain activity and had recommended a medically induced coma to give her time to heal.

So here she lay, as still as a corpse, while the entire hospital flitted around to make sure the owner’s mother didn’t die on their watch.

“This fucking sucks,” I sighed and dropped down into the cushioned chair at her bedside and let my head fall back so the tears in my eyes wouldn’t fall. I didn’t cry. I wasn’t a child anymore. I didn’t do vulnerable. Or emotional.

I was Jasper fucking Ashby, head of the Ashby Organization, the oldest son of Sadie Rose Ashby, the baddest bitch the Nevada underworld had ever encountered.

But right now, she was just my mom in a medically induced coma.

I sucked in a deep breath and took Sadie’s hand in mine. We weren’t an affectionate family. The Ashby clan did not greet one another with hugs. We were not the hand-holding type of family, but we loved each other fiercely.

“I’m still looking for the asshole who did this to you, and I won’t stop until I find him.” My voice was breaking, but what the fuck. She couldn’t hear me. But I needed her to. “In the meantime, I need you to focus on getting better so you can get back to annoying the shit out of me.”

Those words surprised a laugh out of me because that was the truth. We were too much alike to work together in bland peace. We argued and fought. About everything.

“The business is fine,” I assured her because wherever the fuck her mind was, she’d want to know that. “And I’ll make sure it stays that way.”

She didn’t move, didn’t twitch, she didn’t do a goddamn thing except lay there. I didn’t even know if she could hear me, but I talked because the doctors said it couldn’t hurt.

“The strange fucking part of all of this is that I have no clue who did this. Savannah is no longer a problem, not as long as Charlie can keep her in check. The Black Jacks are no more. The Crusaders are a non-issue.”

Those weren’t the only Ashby enemies, of course, but those were the most likely suspects. “Who the fuck could it be?”

There was always a chance Addison Beck had run her mouth, and one of Mueller’s family members or even a fucking FBI agent had done it. Still, I needed proof, something tangible, before I took my revenge.

I sat there with her soft hand in mine for more than an hour, mind whirling with possibilities of who would be stupid enough, brave enough, to take a shot at Sadie Ashby. I had to focus on finding this asshole.

So do it.That’s what Sadie would say. She would flash a sardonic smile; one brow arched in a challenge and ask me what the fuck I was waiting for. Then she would hit me with one of her ridiculous gems.

“Like that little green fucker said,do or don’t do. There is no try.”

I laughed and pulled out my phone. “You’re absolutely right.” It was time to be the leader my family needed me to be. “Virgil? Yeah, family meeting. Tonight. Spread the word.”

I brushed a kiss on my mother’s forehead and took long, purposeful strides out of the hospital. Time to get shit handled.

When I made my way to the manor, the family had gathered around the dining room table. They weren’t as loud as they usually were. Everyone was subdued in Sadie’s absence.

“Hey.”

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