The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) (25 page)

At her shrug, Jason’s attention was again jerked toward the window as something bounced against the car window.

“I’ll go first,” Jake volunteered, “I’ll stall them with my good looks, and while I have them captivated, you guys can sneak inside.”

At Jason’s look of continued irritation, Aviva piped in. “It’ll be okay, Jason. There’re cordoned off, see. Once we get outside, just keep walking. Only a fool would dare to take your photo considering the look on your face. They’d probably think you’d Hulk them to death if they tried.”

The look he shared with his equally large brother was in a word, sinister.

“Both of you are going to behave. I’m not sure I want flashing bulbs going off in my face either. But I know that I’m not about to bail your asses out of jail for assault!”

Neither of them bothered to answer her. Just as Jake stepped from the car the flashing blubs were gone.

Poking his head back inside, Jake looked at Jason and Aviva. “I must be losing my touch. I was sure they’d want to take my photo!”

“Whatever, man, I say we get the hell inside before they decide to come back!”

**********

The party was taking place on the upper floor of the club. Jake wasn’t really interested. He had seen it all before. He had grown up around wealth, and the opulence by which he was surrounded didn’t faze him in the slightest.

He was attending this party for one reason only. Something deep inside him was compelling him to make amends. He had acted so far outside his character that night with MacKenzie that when he thought of it, it never failed to embarrass him.

He had both her home and cell numbers. The acquisition of her numbers had taken him mere minutes. There was little he couldn’t find out if he set his mind to it.

Their brief conversation hadn’t gone well. As soon as she had found out that it was him on the other end of the line she had hung up. In the course of the subsequent weeks, he had even used Josh’s phone to speak to her in the hope of getting her to listen to his apology. It hadn’t worked. The woman was something else.

So here he was, surrounded by the glitterati, the fake and the good. Searching a room for a woman who didn’t even want his apology.

When Jake spotted her, she was actually heading towards where they were standing. But she wasn’t alone. Walking beside her was Carlos Ernesto and an older woman. When MacKenzie had first mentioned Carlos’s name he had of course heard of him. But if truth be told that was the sum of his knowledge of the man. Now he knew everything about him.

He even knew that the older woman beside him was his mother who had a penchant for younger men. But Carlos’s mother wasn’t the person who held his attention. It was Carlos himself.

Apart from a brief look that flashed between him and Jason, Carlos didn’t seem to be interested in their presence. His attention was directed on Aviva, and from where Jake was standing, Jason didn’t like it and he didn’t blame him.

Conversely, it seemed to Jake when Lorna Ernesto’s eyes shifted between him and Jason, they had her full attention.

“Aviva, you’re late. I told you Walters wanted to meet with us about the next album, and baby, that in itself is a coup. I’m on fire right now. Hell, I’ve still got a couple more tracks to release, and he’s already talking about the next album!”

“Hi, Carlos. From what I remember, you didn’t tell me a particular time for this meeting.”

From where Jake was standing, Aviva looked and sounded a little pissed off at Carlos. He couldn’t blame her. He had shown incredible bad manners. Without even a greeting or introduction, he had immediately dove into a speech about his success.

“Hi Kenzie, how are you? You look beautiful.”

Aviva’s comments in greeting to her friend turned Jake’s eyes back to MacKenzie, who in his opinion looked ill at ease. Why, he wasn’t sure, but Jake wasn’t so conceited as to suppose it had anything to do with his presence.

Jake also noticed that Jason was now standing directly behind Aviva. It seemed to him that his brother was almost daring Carlos to take a step closer. It also seemed to Jake that Jason and Carlos had some kind of history. That topic was something he would have to store away until the right time to ask questions.

“Hello, MacKenzie.” Jason said, giving her a smile in greeting.

“Hi, how are you, Jason?”

“Well, thank you. You remember Jake don’t you?”

“Yes, of course. Jake, it’s... how are you?”

Jake wanted to laugh. It seemed that she was unable to say anything other than
how are you
where the Kingdoms were concerned. She also refused to meet his eyes, her gaze fixed, as far as he could tell on his forehead.

“It’s nice to see you again, MacKenzie.”

“We haven’t met, I’m Lorna, Carlos’s mother. So you’re Jake,” Lorna held out her hand to him. His father’s son, he took her extended hand and performed a slight bow over it.

Turning to Jason, Lorna again extended her hand as she spoke. “That means you must be Jason.”

“Correct,” was all Jason said by way of a greeting. Watching MacKenzie, Jake never saw the elbow that connected with Jason’s abdomen. “Yes, that’s correct.” Jason amended as he shook her hand.

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

“I wonder why?” Jason asked under his breath. By the sound of his low spoken question, Jake could tell Jason had already lost interest in Lorna of the fluttering eyelashes.

“Jason,” Carlos broke into the conversation. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes, it has.”

Jake had to rub his hand over his mouth to hold in his laughter. He had known Jason had been pissed from the moment he and Aviva had met him in the lounge. Carlos’s demand of Aviva’s attention as soon as they had arrived only seemed to have pushed him further into his foul mood.

“By the sounds of it, Carlos and Aviva need to talk business. Why don’t you two young men come buy me a drink?”

Jake knew Jason was warming up to telling the older woman where to get off, and decided to step in. If he didn’t help his blunt brother out, he would probably be sleeping on the couch for the rest of the month.

“That sounds like an excellent idea.” Jake jumped in, extending his arm to MacKenzie, taking away the opportunity for her to have Jason as an escort, or for Lorna to get her claws into him.

Having been left with no other recourse, Jason extended his arm to Lorna. Jake didn’t wait to see if they followed as he escorted MacKenzie away.

Very aware of MacKenzie’s tension, Jake spoke without thinking. “Relax, you’re safe with me, I don’t bite.”

“Get over yourself. If you bite, you better believe I’ll bite back!” MacKenzie immediately shot back at him.

Okay, maybe not the smartest thing to have said if he wanted to make amends for the way he had behaved at their last meeting.

“About the last time we met...”

“Save it. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

“I just want the opportunity to say...” Before Jake could complete his apology, MacKenzie cut him off again.

“Shh.”

“MacKenzie, don’t do that again, I don’t like it, not to mention that this behavior is completely unbecoming to you. All I want to do is talk to you for a few minutes.” Looking down at her, Jake saw that she still refused to look at him. So he was taken by surprise when she agreed.

“Fine, let talk, Jacob.”

“Not here.” Leading her down a hallway, Jake listened at a few doors before turning a handle and pulling her into an empty room. Closing the door behind them, he saw that they had entered some sort of office.

He could see MacKenzie was also looking around the semi-darkened room, still wearing a poker face that he would have been proud of.

“Talk!”

MacKenzie stood before him, arms folded and foot tapping with impatience. When he looked down at her foot, the sound immediately stopped.

“Say what you have to say so that we never have to speak to each other again, Jacob.”

The way she said his name reminded Jake of the way someone sounded when they had eaten something they found distasteful.

“I was out of line for the things I said to you the last time we met. MacKenzie, I apologize. Do you accept my apology?”

“Good, fine. You feel better now?”

“What is wrong with you? I’ve gone out of my way to ensure that you know how sorry I am for the things I said to you, and that’s all you have to say to me
, good, fine
?”

“Let’s see, you called me, God knows how many times, and I hang up each and every time. What does that say to you? Obviously not a damn thing because here you are tonight. I thought I had made it abundantly clear that I don’t want see or speak to you. But here we are!”

“Damn it, MacKenzie, why can’t you just accept what I’m saying in the spirit in which it’s intended?” Jake asked, his frustration beginning to show in the level of his voice.

“Because it’s my prerogative to accept or decline, that’s why... Jacob.”

Running his hand through his short hair, Jake wanted to shake the stubborn woman. Why she was being so difficult, he had no idea. From what he could tell, she was an important part of Aviva’s life, which meant in the future, they were going to be in each other’s company. Yes, he had behaved badly, and he was doing everything he could to set it right. She, on the other hand, was being completely unreasonable.

“Let’s try this again...”

MacKenzie cut him off before he could finish what he had to say, and it irked the hell out of him.

“Let’s not, Jacob.”

“What is your problem?”

“In a word, you! Do you get it now? Leave me the hell alone. Or do you have some kind of obsession with me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, baby. You’re not my type. I tend to go for women who have, let’s say, an iota of femininity about them, and who don’t try to bust a man’s balls because he tries to say sorry. No wonder Carlos isn’t giving you the time of day!”

Jake didn’t need to see the expression on her face to know he had overstepped the mark, again. He had allowed her to push him until his mouth began to run away with him. What was it about her that only moments in her company and he was in a place that made him act entirely out of character.

“This is the last time you will ever insult me, do you hear me, and you know why? Because this is the last time I will ever speak to you. For some reason, my best friend loves your brother. He makes her happy. That being said, it’s inevitable that we will no doubt be in each other’s company from time to time. But know this about me, Jacob, if you speak to me I’m gonna do more than bust your balls, I’m gonna put them on public display. So, no, I do not accept your apology! Now get out of my way.”

“MacKenzie?”

The sound of Jason’s voice on the other side of the door, momentarily pulled Jake’s attention. Swearing under his breath, he cursed his brother’s poor timing, and pulled open the door, Jake gave Jason a look that he hoped said,
get lost
!

Jake looked over to see MacKenzie edging past him. Once she was standing beside Jason, she stopped moving and turned to him. “Right now I hate most men, but especially your brother. You better be careful I don’t end up hating you too.”

“What did I do?” Jason asked, a little stunned at her attack.

“You look just like him, and right now that doesn’t bode well for you. Just saying!”

Jake and Jason watched MacKenzie walk away, their expressions very different. Jake furious and, Jason amused.

“Looks like you need some help with your game, my man.” Jason teased.

“What game, she’s with that dick I just met!”

“Didn’t stop you from sniffing around.” Jason snorted.

“She’s pregnant, for God’s sake!”

“Look, Jake, you and I both know that relationship in going nowhere. Two minutes in their company must have made that clear.”

Jake was confused. He hadn’t been lying when he had told MacKenzie that she wasn’t his type. He was also unwilling to delve too deeply into why he had travelled so far to apologize in person.

“Why are you here?”

Seeming to accept the directional change of the conversation, Jason answered. “I was looking for Aviva. But you guys were so loud I made a detour.”

“Well, good luck with that.” Jake wasn’t really paying attention to Jason, his thoughts still occupied with what had just taken place. Without further comment, he brushed past his brother and headed back to the party.

Unable to help himself, as soon as he entered the area, Jake’s eyes began a search. It took him a while, but he finally spotted her at the furthest end of the room. She was looking straight at him, daring him to approach her.

Just then, Jake felt a hand on his arm. Looking down, he was confronted by a woman he hadn’t seen in a while. When they had first met she had been known as a wild child starlet. She had come after him with a directness that had raised his curiosity.

“Hi, Jake.”

“Simone, it’s been a while. How are you?”

“Better... now that I’ve seen you.”

“I’m flattered.”

The woman looked like she wanted to eat him, and Jake was restless enough to allow her to.

“This party sucks. What do you say we leave?”

Ah, Jake thought, still the same direct Simone. Sensing eyes piercing into him, Jake looked up sharply and caught, MacKenzie shooting daggers at him. Raising an eyebrow at her in inquiry, MacKenzie turned away.

In an instant, Jake made up his mind. “What do you have in mind?”

“My place. All night long.”

“Lead the way.”

On their way towards the door, Jake met Jason with Aviva in tow. “Don’t wait up.”

Every instinct in his body wanted to look over his shoulder to see if MacKenzie watched. But he didn’t break stride as he followed Simone out the door.

Chapter 27

Steve pressed the button to his intercom to hear Ms. Ellis’s announcement that Jason had arrived.

“Send him in, please.”

Signing one last document, Steve looked up as Jason entered his office.

“Steve.” Jason said by way of a greeting.

“Hi, Jason, do you want a drink?”

“I’m good.”