For now, I would burn this whole damn desert down to find the person who shot my mother.
Chapter One
Jasper – Two Weeks Later
Two goddamn weeks had passed, and I was no closer to finding out who shot Sadie and put her in the hospital, leaving her in a fucking coma.
Two long weeks of talking to doctors and nurses, sitting aimlessly by her bedside, silently begging her to wake up like I was some teary-eyed little kid. To say nothing of non-stop boots on the ground to find out who was behind the hit. And none of it amounted to shit.
Not one fucking lead. Not yet.
An hour before closing, I was still in my office at Midnight Mass, trying to figure out which of our many enemies had put a bullet in Sadie’s head.
Technically, according to the doctors, it wasn’t just a graze, but a deep one that could cause lasting memory problems. Luckily for her, I wouldn’t forget this, not until I had the culprit strapped to thousands of volts of electricity.
A knock sounded at the door, and my eyes automatically went to the clock on my phone. It was after two in the morning, almost closing time for the pub. “What?”
The door opened, and Maureen, my best waitress, stepped in, her blue eyes filled with concern, her big tits on full display as always.
“Hey, Jasper. How are you holding up?”
I shrugged at the question I’d been asked too many fucking times over the past two weeks. What was the right answer? I wasn’t fine; that much was sure, but I didn’t do weakness, and I didn’t do vulnerability, not even for someone I’d known for years.
“I’m fine, Mo. As good as can be expected under the circumstances.”
She nodded. She’d lost her mother at an early age, leaving Mo at the mercy of a sick fuck of a father, whom she fled years ago. “I get that. I brought you a drink. Two drinks,” she said and set a bottle of water on my desk right beside three fingers of Velvet Fire.
“Thanks.” I took a few big gulps of water and let my eyes focus on the distraction that was Maureen Caffrey. She was as sexy as they came, and she knew it.
Silky strawberry blond hair and eyes she called turquoise, the colors so vibrant against her pale Irish skin it was difficult not to stop and look at her.
Maybe it was her giant natural big tits she had no problem showing off or the slender waist punctuated with a diamond winking from her belly button. Or maybe it was the full sleeve of tats on her right arm that said she wasn’t just hot; she was tough.
A cock-hardening combination that made me lick my lips.
“Better?” she purred.
I looked up at Mo’s knowing smirk and nodded. “Much.”
“Good. Holler if you need anything else. You know where I’ll be.” Her full lips parted into a smile as she backed away toward the door.
“Mo.”
“Yeah?”
“Come here.” She shook her head because Mo was many things, easy being one of her best traits, but she was nobody’s pushover.
“Mo.”
She flipped her hair behind her and arched a brow. “What is it, Jasper? Or should I call you Mr. Ashby since I’m still on the clock?”
I stood and slowly walked around the desk until I was less than a foot away, towering over her now. Heat flared in her eyes, and my cock twitched to life. “I do love it when you remember I’m the boss.”
Mo rolled her eyes and let out a short laugh. “As if I could forget who signs my paycheck.”
“Is that the only reason you remember my name?”
Something flashed in her eyes, and Mo licked her lips. “You know the answer to that, Jasper.” Whatever had been in her eyes disappeared quickly, and she took a step closer until her tits brushed against my chest. Her hard nipples pressed into me. “It’s all right, Jas, if you need a distraction.”
I needed a distraction. Badly. It wasn’t just what happened to Sadie; it was what it meant for me. This was the first time I was fully in charge, without Sadie to consult with, without her encyclopedic knowledge of the business. Stress was a motherfucker, and I needed the exact distraction Mo offered.
“Thank fuck,” I growled and pulled her body flush against mine, grabbing her ass so she could feel my cock growing harder by the second.
“You’re already hard,” she panted. “Too bad.”
I smiled and looked down at the erection tenting my pants. “It’s all right if you want to give him a little kiss.”
She licked her lips and smiled as she dropped to her knees. “Just a little kiss?” Her hands moved swiftly, unfastening my belt, the button on my pants, and then the zipper. Mo was the perfect cock tease, and when she fisted me in her hand, I growled. Her lips pressed to the head of my cock, and she made a kissing noise.