“Stop already.” I shifted in my seat, not liking the direction this was going.
“The real Lynx protected Snow when Boxer was a dick. The real Lynx is the son who shelled out every dollar he had so his mom could receive the best care money could buy. The real—”
“Enough! I don’t want to hear it.”
“You have to hear it. The real Lynxisa family man. You go to any length to protect those you love. You don’t care about the backlash. You don’t care if it sends you to prison.”
I snarled, irate that he would mention my father. In a roundabout way, albeit.
“Call Jaynee.”
As if the universe hadn’t fucked me up enough, my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket.
“Son of a bitch.”
The corner of Storm’s lip curled. “It’s her, isn’t it? I’d say it’s a sign.”
“I’m not answering it.” I sent it to voicemail, ignoring the pang in my chest. I didn’t want to feel this way.
My heart had been sealed shut with an impenetrable lock since my mom got sick when she was forty-three. Forty-fucking-three. For the last seven years, I watched her quality of life rapidly deteriorate. No chance in hell would I put a woman through itifI turned out like my mom.
“Jesus Christ, brother. You’re a goddamn fool.”
“It’s for the best, Storm. No matter what you or anyone else believes, this is my damn life. I can live it however I want.” I’d been doing just fine until I got that random text. I stayed unattached and unemotional with women. Now I had weird flickers in my chest. It needed to stop.
I exhaled, relieved she didn’t leave a message.
As I went to put my phone in my pocket, it rang again. Alarms went nuts inside me.
Storm leaned forward, putting his elbows on his desk. “Back-to-back calls. It’s important.”
Shit, he was right.
“Jaynee?”
“Z-Z-Zander?” I leapt out of the chair, hearing her scared little voice. “Sadie? Peanut, is everything okay? Where’s your mom?”
“I don’t like it here. The man scares me.”
“Where are you?” I put it on speaker so Storm could hear.
“In… in the dressing room at the club.” Her little voice shook. My God, if I didn’t make me want to crawl through the fucking phone to get to her.
“What club?” I shot Storm a panicked look.
“I’ll get Grizz,” he whispered, running out.
“I don’t know. Ernie’s club. I don’t like him. Will you come get me?”
Yes, I wanted to yell. Yes, I’d come to get her.
I needed more information first.
“Where’s your mom, peanut? Let me talk to her.” I tried to remain calm, but I was about to lose it. It was after eight o’clock. The Cities was two hours away. Where the fuck was Jaynee?
Storm and Grizzly appeared.
Grizz took the phone and plugged it into his laptop. His fingers moved on the keyboard at an inhuman speed.