Chapter 17

• Crystal's POV "What did I tell you about locking the doors?" Tessa asked the Latino man standing in the doorway. He gave her a flat look. "If someone comes walking into the house uninvited, they're never leaving." Sophie looked between her parents. "What does that mean?" He smiled down at her. "Nothing." "Fertilizer," Tessa muttered under her breath. He glared at Tessa. I looked over at Jackson and blew out a frustrated sigh. "Do I even want to know what you did to this guy?" I murmured to him. He didn't bother even looking in my direction. "We should just go," He said. I raised an eyebrow. And decided I wasn't going to listen at all. After all, the sooner we got the information Jackson wanted, the sooner I could be rid of his presence. I took a step toward the man-Jackson swore-and held out my hand. "Crystal Carver," I said. He didn't look at all surprised as he took my hand. "Gabriel," He replied simply. "Do I even want to know what Tessa got herself into this time?" "We're looking for someone that your wife previously had business with." Gabriel shook his head. "She's not my wife. I'd sooner bite the bullet than marry her." Tessa didn't look at all fazed by his comment. "Right back at ya, Sugar," She replied. Sophie's nose had crinkled up in confusion as she looked between her parents. "What does bite the bullet mean?" "Why don't you go inside and get out the cookie dough and you and I will make the biggest cookie ever," Tessa suggested instead of answering her question. Sophie's eyes got big and she started bouncing on her feet. "Really?" She asked. Tessa smiled and nodded. "You bet." Sophie let out a happy scream before turning and sprinting into the house. Gabriel gave Tessa a deadpan look as soon as Sophie was out of sight. "She doesn't need any more sugar." Tessa shrugged. "I'm the fun parent." "You're something alright." He rolled his eyes and picked up Sophie's backpack. "I'll leave you to your business then," He then shot a glare to Tessa. "And I'll make sure she doesn't destroy the kitchen until you make it inside. The kitchen that you will be cleaning tonight." She waved him off. "Yeah, whatever." She watched as he walked inside and closed the door behind him, then she turned back to Jackson. "How do you know him?" She asked bluntly. Jackson didn't react to her question. "I don't," He replied simply. "And correct me if I'm wrong," He started, changing the subject from himself for once in his life. "but Caucasian and Latino don't exactly make Asian." "Adoption, Jackson," Tessa snapped. "I thought you were smarter than this." Jackson rocked back on his heels with his hands shoved in his pockets. "I am, I just can't imagine why you would voluntarily adopt a child." Tessa rolled her eyes. "You wanted something from me, right? Get on with it because my patience is practically gone and bashing your face in is looking more and more appealing." "Where can I find Kurt Branson?" Jackson asked. Tessa shrugged. "I haven't seen him in some months. I only meet up with him on occasion when he's in town." "And what do you do when you meet up with him?" I questioned. "We bake cakes, sing karaoke, and braid each other's hair," Tessa snapped sarcastically. "What do you think we do, princess?" I glared at her and crossed my arms over my chest. "Do you have a problem with me?" Tessa pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket as well as a lighter and lit one up. "I have a problem with everyone, don't take it personally." "You don't seem to have a problem with Jackson." "I get something from him. Though right now he's doing nothing but trying my patience." She looked me up and down before taking another drag of her cigarette and then blowing the smoke in my face. "You've got nothing I want, so why don't you piss off." I waved my hand around to dispel the smoke. My anger with her going up a couple of notches. "You're awfully pleasant." "You came to me, and I'm not here to spout sunshine and rainbows at you. You're lucky I didn't open with aiming a gun at your head." She shrugged and turned her attention back to Jackson. "I don't know where to find Kurt, he usually finds me." "And he voluntarily comes back?" I couldn't help but snap. "Sugar, I'm amazing in bed," She once again looked me up and down. "Not that you'll ever know. We don't even do any talking. Seeing as how you can't keep your mouth shut, I'd imagine that's hard for you to comprehend." She looked back at Jackson. "He used to do business with the Martins though. You could always talk to them." Jackson seemed to ponder over this for a second before shaking his head. "They've all been arrested." Tessa shook her head. "Not the eldest son," She blew some more smoke out, this time at Jackson. He didn't react. "I forget his name, but supposedly he's on the straight and narrow now. How boring." Jackson nodded. "He's so different I tend to forget he's related to that family." He nodded to himself once again. "Yes. That would work." She nodded. "Hey, just out of curiosity," She started as Jackson turned away. "If I was to mention the name Jackson Storm to Gabriel, what kind of reaction would I get?" Jackson froze in his steps and didn't say anything. Tessa nodded. "That's what I figured." "I don't know what you're talking about," Jackson said as he turned around to face her again. His face was completely blank and giving nothing away. "Sure you don't, Sugar," Tessa replied as she dropped her cigarette on the floor and ground it under her boot. "Consider it a warning Jackson. I'll tell him who you are if you ever breathe a word about my daughter to anyone." Jackson immediately pointed to me. "She knows about your daughter too." I glared imaginary lasers at his head, wishing they were real. Tessa shrugged. "She'd be easier to kill in her sleep than you would." I turned my glare to her. "I'd like to see you try." There was something that sparked in Tessa's eyes as she stood straight and smirked at me in a challenging way. Jackson was suddenly at my back, his hand on my shoulder, his fingers digging in, in a silent warning. "I believe she could take you, Tessa," He told her. Tessa's smirk never faltered. Her gaze never wavered. "No, she couldn't." "Watch your back princess," She called over her shoulder as she turned and walked into the house. I glared at her retreating form until she was out of sight. "What a bitch," I couldn't help but mutter. Jackson shrugged and started to guide me away. "That's usually the nicest thing anyone ever calls her. Besides, you should be happy," He waved his hand in her direction. "We caught her on a good day." "This is her on a good day?" "That is what I said," Jackson told me. He suddenly stopped at the curb and stared at the spot where our car should have been. "Huh," He muttered before pulling out his phone. "Where's the car?" I asked him as I looked up and down the street. Jackson, however, didn't seem at all concerned with the location of the car. "This tends to happen," He told me. "What tends to happen?" "My cars have a tendency to disappear." "Disappear . . . as in stolen?" I questioned. Jackson shrugged. "Temporarily misplaced." I groaned and ran a hand down my face. "If you didn't drive around the most expensive car you can get your hands on, this wouldn't happen." Jackson scoffed at me before putting the phone to his ear. "There is no other way to travel." "I can name hundreds of other ways to travel." "And yet, I didn't ask for your input." I glared at him and he ignored me as whoever he was calling finally answered the phone. "Come pick us up," He said simply. I could, however, hear the response of the person on the other end since his volume was rather high and she wasn't a quiet person in any way. "I'd rather run you over," Julie replied. "Stand in the middle of the street for me. Feel free to smile." Jackson said nothing else as he hung up the phone. He turned to me. "Your friend is quite something." I didn't have the chance to reply, not that there was anything I could have said in response to that anyway. Mostly, I agreed with him for once. A car came screeching around the corner, and then fishtailed and came to a stop right up at the curb, just inches from hitting it. Jackson looked slightly wary as he eyed Julie in the driver's seat. I just rolled my eyes, thanked her for not trying to kill us and got into the backseat. A very frightened and pale Noah was clenching a laptop bag and his seat belt for dear life in the front passenger seat next to her. I reached a hand over and waved it in Noah's face as Jackson walked around and got in the other side. "I think you broke him," I told Julie when I got no reaction from Noah. Julie scoffed and pulled away from the curb, speeding through the neighborhood. "I barely hit ninety," She said and took a sharp turn. Jackson swore, Noah looked like he was about to be sick, and I just grabbed on to the handle on my door. Releasing it as soon as she'd made the turn. I was used to her driving. "He's fine," She added. Noah, finally, just shook his head and closed his eyes tightly. His lips were moving, barely, and I suddenly realized he was praying. "I've decided that she shouldn't be driving," Jackson stated as Julie took another sharp turn. I just shrugged. "Good luck getting her out from behind the wheel." Julie nodded her agreement, her eyes never leaving the road. The one thing I loved about her driving. The only thing I loved about her driving. "So long as it's got an engine, I'm driving," She stated. I thought it over in my head and I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. So long as it had an engine, she could drive it, steer it, pilot it, or whatever. And if she didn't know how to do it right away, she figured it out really quick. Her passion however, was fast cars. She didn't like to go slow, with anything she did. So if slow and steady was your speed you were out of luck. She thought of speed limits as nothing more than unnecessary road decorations. "And I gotta tell you," She said to Jackson. "I've been dying to get my hands on that steering wheel on your yacht." Jackson's face blanked. "Absolutely not," He said. Julie's smile could only be described as mischievously evil. "Whatever you say," She said. Jackson narrowed his eyes at her threateningly. Noah nearly hurled as soon as Julie hit an open street and gunned it through a red light. I just sighed and tightened my seatbelt, leaning back in my seat. I knew Julie's driving capabilities, I knew we weren't going to crash despite what Noah might think. I turned to Jackson, who had considerably relaxed since the ride started. He was leaned back comfortably in his seat, scrolling through his phone. I couldn't help but stare at him in bewilderment. He didn't even look over at me. "You're completely at ease with her driving therefor I know she's not going to intentionally kill us . . . at least not while you're in the car." I glared at him. "Where to now?" I asked him. He smiled at me in that smugly charming way that made me want to punch him. Though most everything he did or said made me want to punch him. Of course, there was the other part of me that secretly wanted something else, but I didn't entertain those thoughts. He reached across the middle seat between us to put his arm around me. I tried to shrug him off but his grip only tightened. "Now, I'm thinking we go back to the yacht, have a dip in the hot tub, pour some champagne . . ." He leaned in to me as he spoke, his voice getting lower, his lips against my ear. I shivered involuntarily, and it had nothing to with being cold. I could feel him smile against my skin, knowing the effect he was having on me. I looked up at Julie, who was still staring straight ahead at the road, whether or not she was paying attention to what was going on in the backseat, I couldn't tell. And Noah still had his eyes snapped shut, holding on to the seatbelt for dear life. Two can play at this game . . . I breathed in a slow, deep breath and then turned to him. Leaned in and brushed my lips against his satisfied when he was the one to shudder. "You know what?" I whispered, my hand trailing along the collar of his button-up shirt. "That does sound really nice," I said, my lips brushing against his with every word I spoke. He leaned in to me even more, his free hand starting to trail up my leg. "And you know what would make it even better?" I asked him as I ran my hand along his jaw. "What?" He questioned, his voice barely a whisper a thread of excitement in his tone. "If it was a girl's night," I whispered seductively. It took a second for Jackson to process what I said. He suddenly frowned, pulled back slightly. "What?" He questioned. I pulled away from him completely and turned to Julie with a wide smile. "What do you say Julie?" I asked. "Hot tub and some drinks?" Julie's wide smile told me that she'd heard the entire conversation already, even if she hadn't seen what was happening. "Oh yeah," She replied, her voice purposefully over-enthusiastic. "Sounds like a plan." I turned back to Jackson a very smug smile on my face at his look of bewilderment, like he was still trying to figure out what just happened. Then he just smiled his wicked smile and leaned back in his seat and laughed. "I'll win, Babe," He said. I frowned at him. "Win what?" He turned to me, that evil mastermind look in his eyes. "This game you're trying to play."