Page 109 of Bourbon Kingdom
She cried!
Goldie fucking cried! She was still crying. As the driver took us back to the Lafayette Club, she cried next to me, little sobs escaping her. I wanted to reach over and pull her into my embrace, to tell her it was going to be okay, but the rage that was boiling deep inside of me kept me at a distance.
I tried to control my temper, to realize that she did have a history with Rex and the information came out of nowhere, but the devastation in her eyes was hard to swallow. I couldn’t help but wonder if she would react the same way if something ever was to happen to me. How would she react? I would hope to God she would be more hurt than she was now. Then again, she looked pretty wrecked at the moment.
The car pulled up in the back driveway that connected to the garage and I quickly let myself out of the car, not waiting for my driver to open the door. The crunch of the gravel behind me let me know Goldie was following close behind. I was surprised she was able to pull herself out of the car, since she was so torn apart over what happened.
Shaking my head in disgust, I walked to the back entrance of the club, threw the door open, and then quickly walked up the back steps to the third floor. I avoided all the common areas, because I was in no mood to talk to anyone.
Funny how fast the mood could change between two people with one phone call.
“Jett,” Goldie called after me, but I ignored her and found my way to my office, where I quickly poured myself two fingers of bourbon. The warm liquid coated my throat, easing some of the tension that was building up inside of me.
“Jett,” Goldie said again, as she walked through my office and slammed my door shut. “What the hell? Why are you running away from me?” she sniffled.
“I wasn’t running,” I corrected her, as I took a seat in my office chair and turned it to look out the window.
I turned my chair away from her so she would get the hint that I didn’t want to talk to her, but I had a feeling that wasn’t going to matter. She was a stubborn girl, and if she wanted to talk to me, I could only imagine she would resort to climbing over my chair, if need be, to get me to open my mouth.
Yes, I was falling back into my old ways and shutting her out; I knew exactly what I was doing, but right now, it was because if I told her how I felt, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back.
The top of my chair was gripped by a small hand and I was forcefully turned away from my window; I was greeted by a very red-eyed and very mad Goldie, who had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking down at me, ready to unleash.
“You have two fucking seconds to tell me why you are acting like a dick right now or I am taking off. You can’t keep resorting to shutting me out. I am not fucking kidding, Jett. I will not stand for this.”
Running my hands over my face to give me a second to think, I took a deep breath and said, “I would love to have this little heart-to-heart with you, but I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I have to say.”
“What? Do you think you can only tell me things I like to hear? That’s not reality, Jett; probably fifty percent of the crap that comes out of your mouth is something I won’t like.”
“Fifty percent?” I asked with a questioning look. “That number seems absurdly high.”
“Don’t, don’t distract me from what’s going on here. Tell me why the hell you’re acting cold towards me.”
“You really want to know?” I asked, as I got out of my chair and started pacing my office.
“Yeah, I really want to know,” Goldie said in a mocking voice, trying to impersonate me. The woman knew how to press my buttons, and she was doing a damn fine job of it right now.
“Fine, I can’t stand the fact that you’re crying over Rex’s death. The thought of you being sad over him makes me physically nauseous. Seeing you weep over a man who did nothing but try to separate me from you is like a fucking knife to my stomach. Right now, I don’t even want you near me.”
“You can’t be serious,” Goldie responded, shocked.
“I don’t fuck around, Goldie,” I said, getting in her face. “You should know that by now.”
She stood her ground as I hovered over her, trying to startle her out of my office before I said something more damaging.
“You want me to leave?”
“Yes, I want you to leave,” I said without blinking an eye.
She crossed her arms over her chest again and said, “Well, too fucking bad; I’m not going anywhere.”
Frustrated, I blew out a long breath and went over to my bourbon to fill up my glass.
“Resorting to your bourbon again, you’re becoming a real lush, aren’t you? Can’t face reality, you have to hide behind a glass of amber liquid. I guess it’s your upbringing, push everything behind a fake wall so you don’t have to deal with it, then drink yourself into oblivion. Maybe you’re more like your father—”
I slammed the glass of bourbon into the wall as I turned toward her and said, “Don’t you ever fucking compare me to that monster, do you hear me?”
My rash actions startled her, as she kept her mouth shut and nodded her head. I could see that she’d started to shake from the anger pouring off of me.
