Sylvia Day: Aftershock

The amusement in his eyes faded. “Rutledge asked you to move in?”

“Something like that.” Told me was more like it, but...

He took a second. “I may have a problem with that.”

“Oh?” I twisted in my seat to face him more directly.

“You’ve known this guy a couple years, you said. But he only starts putting the heat on after you start working with me? He helps to break up my deal with Stacy, then follows that up with nabbing Isabelle. Now he’s wanting to share digs with you, the gal that’s got all my info and knows all my plans?”

Taking a deep breath, I processed what he’d said. “The day before yesterday, you seemed easier with it.”

“I’ve been doing some thinking.”

Okay. Crap. I felt like I’d been blindsided. “I don’t think it’s personal. In fact, I know it’s not. Jax always says business should never be personal.”

“It’s personal to me,” he shot back. That hit home. I’d said something similar to Jax when he’d thrown that line at me. “And it’s personal to Stacy. She’s not just going to want to succeed—she’ll want to be better than me. Have more than me. She’s going to want to prove that I made the wrong decision, and he’s on her side! Pembry’s got a lot riding on her. They’re going to want to keep her happy.”

He wasn’t wrong, damn it all.

“It works both ways,” I pointed out quietly. “I’m going to know what he’s into, too.”

I hadn’t really thought of my relationship with Jax that way before, as a situation that required tiptoeing around issues. Hadn’t wanted to. I wanted things with us to be real and straight and beautiful. But everyone I worked with wasn’t in sync with that hope, including Jax. Of course, Jax expected the hits to come from the outside, but no matter what, it seemed as though I needed to be a little more realistic about what being with Jax was going to entail.

You’re swimming with sharks....

Chad assessed me. “No offense, Gianna. But Rutledge might be out of your league.”

“Oh, he is for sure. That doesn’t mean I can’t handle him. That said—” I took a deep breath “—if you want someone else to spearhead your projects with Savor, I’d understand.”

His lips pursed. “I hate to say it, but that might be best.”

I’d planned on heading straight into work after landing at LaGuardia, but decided to stop at home first instead. My conversation with Chad had rattled me and I really felt as though I needed some time to pull myself together before going in to face Lei.

I slid open the large metal front door to the loft and found two of my brothers on the couch, playing a video game.

“Catch that one, dude,” Angelo snapped, jerking his controller to the right. “Come on! Fucker’s about to take me out.”

“Hang on.” Vincent surged to his feet, frantically hitting buttons. “I’ve got six of them on me.”

I paused on the threshold, feeling so grateful to be home. “Behind you!” I shouted to Angelo as a zombie lumbered up to his avatar.

Both guys jumped and two pairs of dark eyes swung toward me.

“You scared the shit out of me!” Vincent complained, hitting Pause on his split screen.

“Hey,” Angelo greeted me, returning his attention to his game. “How was Hotlanta?”

“Hot,” I said wryly, turning to pull the door closed behind me. The apartment smelled like bacon, and I could see the remnants of breakfast on the counter and sink. The guys were too used to having dishwashers take care of things at Rossi’s.

“You got the day off?” Vincent asked, strolling over. Dressed in shorts and nothing else, he reminded me why my high school friends had been so eager to come over to my house all the time.

“Nah. I gotta show up,” I said. “Just wanted to drop off my stuff.”

“Get your ass back over here,” Angelo muttered. “I’m getting slaughtered by these freaks.”

Vincent rolled his eyes. “Damn. I was hoping you’d take over the game, Gianna. You and Nico are the ones who like this shit.”

“Not right now. Hey, before I forget, thanks for putting me in touch with Deanna.”

“Sure.” He grinned. “Thanks for doing my laundry.”

I deliberately bumped his shoulder as I passed him on the way to my room. Our apartment was mostly one large massive space, but we’d put up some walls to block off bedrooms for a semblance of privacy. They were more like giant cubicles than actual rooms, but it worked for us while we were renovating the place.

It didn’t escape me that I was thinking about leaving a place where I was totally safe and secure to live with a lover who I hadn’t entirely trusted just forty-eight hours before.

I sank onto the edge of my bed and gripped my knees with damp palms. I was giving up a lot to be with Jax, and I couldn’t think of anything he was really risking to be with me in return.

My smartphone started ringing. Without looking, I dug into my purse and pulled it out. Seeing Jax’s name on the screen wasn’t a surprise. “Hello.”

“Hey, babe.” His voice was deep and low, intimate. “Glad you’re back.”

“Amazing how much everything can change over just a couple of days.”

“What’s wrong?”

It was wryly amusing that he knew me so well. Maybe Chad was right to be worried about me being an open book. “What isn’t wrong?

His tone turned brisk. “Be more specific.”

“Chad Williams has some understandable concerns about me, his project leader, sleeping with the enemy. Shacking up with you seems likely to be a deal breaker.”

“Who’s shacking up?” Angelo asked, scowling at me from my bedroom doorway. He was the shortest of my three brothers at an even six feet tall and he had the longest hair, the dark waves framing his handsome face and brushing his shoulders. A lot of hearts had broken when he’d married Denise.

“Fuck,” I muttered, wishing I could just hit a reset button and start the day over. “Get out!”

“I’m not in,” my brother argued. “You left the door open.”

“Well, close it!”

“Are you back together with that asshole?!”

I pushed to my feet. “Did I ask you?”

“Gia!” Jax barked through the phone.

“Hold on,” I told him, glaring at my brother. “I’m on the phone, Angelo. Close the door and mind your own business!”

“Is that Jax you’re talking to?” He barged into my room as if he had the right. “Let me talk to him.”

“Excuse me?”

“Gia! Damn it, talk to me,” Jax snapped.

“I’m a little busy right now,” I snapped back. “I’ll call you later.”

“Don’t you—”

I cut Jax off by hanging up, tossing my smartphone on the bed as Angelo made a grab for it. “Have you lost your mind?” I yelled at him.

“Rutledge certainly has if he thinks you’re moving in with him!”

Vincent’s interruption drew both of our attentions to the doorway. “What’s going on?”

“Get him out of here!” I told him, waving my hand at Angelo.

“Rutledge wants Gianna to move in with him,” Angelo said, facing Vincent and crossing his arms.

Vincent’s brows rose. “You got a ring?”

I threw up my hands. “I don’t believe this! It’s the twenty-first century. Did you know that?”

“The rules haven’t changed,” he said, crossing his arms, too. “He wants the milk, he’s got to buy the cow.”

My gaze narrowed. “Did you just call me a cow? And for your information, I’m not a virgin! I’ve had sex. More than once!”

Both Vincent and Angelo plugged their ears. Angelo hummed loudly.

“You’re both ridiculous!” I scolded them. “I’m an adult. I can do what I want.”