Page 54 of Bourbon Kingdom
Involuntarily, my eyes shut from the sweetness of her voice. I missed her so goddamn much, I didn’t have the strength to face her. It would be too painful.
“Jett, please turn around.”
With shaky legs and an unsteady heart, I turned my chair and came face to face with my little one.
Her face was covered in smeared make up, her costume—which was hideous—was crumpled and dirty, and there was a small red patch on her face, probably where she was pressed against the ground. Even though her hair was in disarray and her bravado was lacking, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to steady my voice.
“I-I thought you would want to see me,” she said with a shaky voice, her hands twisting in front of her.
“And why would you think that?”
I could tell with every angry word coming out of my mouth that I was hurting her, but I had to protect my fragile heart.
“Because I told you I would be back.”
“You’re back because you got caught, not by choice.”
“That’s not true, Jett. I was going to be back here tomorrow, actually. Right before the police showed up, I was going to steal Rex’s phone and gather evidence. I had it all planned out.”
“Did you?”
“I did,” she said, puffing her chest out.
“And what were you going to do with the ‘evidence?’” I said, using air quotes.
“I was going to give it to you, so you could show someone, and finally win Lot 17. I was trying to help, Jett.”
“I didn’t need your help, Goldie. I had everything under control.”
I could see the moment her attitude switched from scared to pissed. It was almost comical.
“You had everything under control? So, hiding me away, keeping me in the dark, and fraternizing with a kiwi is having it under control? Well, shit, I would hate to see what it’s like when you’re completely out of your mind. It would be rather entertaining.” She crossed her arms and looked down at me.
“I knew what I was doing,” I said strictly.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, she asked, “Does it really matter? It’s all over now, can’t we just move on? I told you I would be back, and here I am.”
“Do you really think it’s that easy?” I asked, while standing. “Do you really think you can walk back in here as if nothing happened? You stole the one and only thing I asked for you to give me. You stole my control. You took that away from me. You didn’t trust that I could take care of you.”
“I did too!” Goldie shouted. “I just was sick of hiding under a rock, living my life in a shadow. I wanted to live my life with you, Jett. I wanted to help protect you; I wanted to help.”
“I didn’t need your help,” I gritted out.
Throwing her hands up in the air, she said, “God, you’re infuriating. You can’t control the world, Jett. Sometimes you have to put your trust in others.”
“When I put trust in others, they end up hurting me. You can’t trust anyone in today’s society, not even the people you think would never hurt you.”
Goldie sucked in her breath at my statement. “Are you saying you don’t trust me?”
Losing my temper, I punched my desk and shouted, “You left me! You grabbed my heart from my chest and left me. You left me to go to the one person who could make or break me.”
“To save you!” Goldie shouted back. “I did it for us.”
“You wanted to save me, Goldie? You wanted to protect me? Then you should have fucking stayed; you should have protected my heart, which I’d handed to you. You took advantage of it, though, and gave me back my collar.”
Tears welled up in Goldie’s eyes as she ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “I did that to help you, to help us, Jett. I want to live my life with you. How come you can’t understand that?”
