Page 97

Story: Triple Power Play 2

Wait, are donuts pastries?
No, pastries have fruit, right?
Anyhow, my favorite is the donuts with chocolate icing and custard filling. I must have eaten half a dozen already.
Speaking of which… “Is there a gym you two go to?”
“Yeah, actually, it’s a boxing gym,” Desi replies. “You’d like it.”
Dante cuffs his brother upside the head. “His hand is broken.”
Desi retaliates with a punch to the gut. “They have other equipment besides the ring.”
Ricky and I exchange an amused glance, and then his eyes dart to the side in a silent warning. The click-clacking of heels approaching is my only other indication before…
“Still suspended, Jackson?”
Life was going so well too.
“Still a bitch, Emily?” Ricky says, shocking the shit out of me.
She leans her hip against the arm of my chair, and my body radiates agitation. Why is she so close to me?
“Still spying for Jackson?” she spits back.
I scoff.Nope, just the government.
“He’s got these idiots for that.” Ricky gestures to the twins.
“We don’t spy, we protect,” Desi says.
“Others from Jax,” Dante jokes with a side-eye at Aurora’s supposed bodyguard.
“That’s why there are two of us,” Desi finishes.
I swear, they share one brain.
Emily gives the pair a once-over before she faces me. “My rent is due.”
The audacity of this girl.
My gaze remains fixed straight ahead, on the sky out the window. “Aurora pays you, and I gave you enough.”
She moves to stand in front of me, obstructing my view. “That wasn’t our agreement. The agreement was that you’d cover my expenses in New York.”
“I saidtoNew York, to get established. Ten grand is plenty.”
“I still have a condo in LA to pay for. You know, the one your girlfriend lived in after she caught you cheating.”
This bitch knows just how to trigger me. “She’s my fiancée, and she never caught me cheating because it didn’t happen. I’m not arguing with you, and I’m not paying your rent. Aurora won’t be working much longer. Stay in New York or don’t. I don’t care.”
“Why would you pay her rent?”
Fuck me sideways.
Emily turns to Aurora, who’s now standing in the living area, her hands on her hips.
“Because yourfiancépromised to cover my expenses while I worked for you. He also promised he wouldn’t be here, but like every other promise he’s never kept, here he is.”