Page 97 of Bourbon Sins
“Are you going to stay?” The sadness in Kace’s voice as he asked me the question surprised me, as if he would actually be sad if I left.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I don’t know if I can stay here if he keeps inviting up every other girl but me. I know his rules, his house, but a part of me feels so incredibly connected to him, like we were two souls drifting and finally found each other. I know it sounds stupid, but I can’t help it. He’s captured me and not being able to see him, hear him, or touch him while I live under his roof is just torture. I don’t think I can live like that.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Not sure.” I shrugged my shoulders, “But I have to figure something out soon, because I can’t continue living this way.”
I got off my bed and went to my closet where I turned around to face Kace. “I’ll be home later tonight.”
He just nodded before I headed off to get changed, not even questioning me.
It’s better that way.
* * *
I tracedthe letters on my parents’ gravestone in the Lafayette Cemetery while tears streamed down my face. Tourists walked past me, which reminded me why I hated my family’s vault being in the ever-popular cemetery. A tour guide walked past me and noted there were over 500 vaults here. Tourists took pictures of the above-ground cemetery—whichwasfascinating, I would give them that—but given this was the only place I could sit and talk to my parents now, it was frustrating.
I wished for privacy, I wished for the opportunity to talk to my parents without being interrupted every two seconds by a tourist exclaiming they found a gravestone from the 1800s, as if it were a fun scavenger hunt. If I was wishing for things, I might as well wish my parents were still here with me. But, their souls were at this gravestone, their ashes scattered over the Mississippi River.
“I miss you guys,” I mumbled to myself scooting closer on the ground and continued to run my fingers over their carving. “I don’t know—”
“Hello.”
A screech escaped my mouth, and my hands flew to my heart from the startle. Quickly, I wiped my tears away and looked up to see Jett staring down at me. The sun was behind him so I could only see the outline of his body, but I would know that frame and that voice anywhere.
“What are you doing here?” I asked snidely, while I gathered my legs in my arms. “Stalk much?”
“You were crying.”
“Wow, did you pay a lot of money for that detective degree?”
He ignored my sarcasm and asked, “Why were you crying?”
“Why do you care? Just get out of here, you found me, congratulations, you can win stalker of the year now. Kace gave me the night off.”
“Why were you crying, Goldie?”
The way he said my name, with such concern, broke the microscopic thread I was hanging on by. Tears streamed down my face as I buried my head in my knees and wished for Jett to leave. I didn’t want him to see me like this, completely and utterly weak. I prided myself on being able to be strong and stick up for myself, and the fact that he was seeing me at such a broken moment in my life made me feel extremely self-conscious.
A warm arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me into a comforting embrace. I gave in to his gesture for a second before I pulled away and scooted closer to my parents’ gravestone.
“Don’t,” I commanded and held up my hand. “Don’t act like you care when I know you don’t.”
“That’s not true—”
“Isn’t it? When was the last time you even thought about talking to me? You got what you wanted, you fucked me, worked my pussy like your own damn toy and then you pushed me aside. So don’t come over here and pity me; I don’t need your fucking pity.”
“I never promised you anything, Goldie.”
“I know,” I practically shouted, “I know you didn’t, but damn it Jett, you sure didn’t make it easy on a girl when you were sending me flowers, notes, and acting as if I was God’s gift to earth.”
Jett sat there speechless next to me as his pupils moved back and forth, observing mine, looking for answers. How could a man so smart, so powerful, and so commanding be so incredibly dumb?
“Let me ask you this one thing.” Jett nodded, so I continued, “Why me, Jett? Why did you pick me?”
Running a hand through his hair, Jett exhaled loudly and he leaned against a wrought iron fence that encased a giant mausoleum. As he sat next to me, I couldn’t help but soak in every last inch of him, from his pressed jeans to his simple black shirt to his perfectly styled hair. His jaw ticked as he thought about his answer and the image of my tongue running across his jaw consumed me. I was hopeless.
“The first time I ever saw you, I was visiting my mom, just like you’re visiting your parents today.” Jett cleared his throat and said, “My mom’s family is on the east side of the cemetery. I like to come visit her often, just like you visit your parents. One day, I was coming to visit my mom after a rough day and you were sitting in front of her stone, drawing it.”
