Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,47

know.”

Talon studied me. He pushed from the dresser and approached me. “Look, this all comes down to how far you want to go. You want to take down Noah, Easton, and Xavier? That’s fine. But you can take down their families too. It may not ruin their families, but knocking them down a few inches is better than nothing.”

“How would I do that?” I asked.

Talon shook his head. He touched under my chin and made me look up at him. “You just look into where they’re getting their money and deals from. Watch who they talk to. Why do you think there’s this event that you’re going to? It’s all for show. It’s all to look a certain way.” Talon moved back. “Now, we know some secrets on these guys. We’ve attacked them. They’re obviously horny for you. So this is all coming together, Winter.”

“Why are you talking about their parents then?” I asked.

“Like I said, it depends on how far you want to go,” he said. “Take them all down or just a few. Whatever you want. After all, you’re paying me.” He winked. “Now, how do I know what I know? That doesn’t matter. What I can say is this… two years ago there was a big deal made down in the Troc area. An investor was going to build up some housing. Some shopping. Entertainment. It was a big deal. It was a chance for the Trocs to maybe have a chance to live like a Bump. It never happened. The deal, the land, all of it was a front for something else. There were a lot of companies involved, just to cover up the trail. At the end of the trail, there were two names. I’ll save you the game of guessing… Easton’s old man. Noah’s old man.”

“Meaning, what?” I asked. “They bought land to just mess with the Trocs?”

“Think bigger, darling,” Talon said. “They did that to move money around. Dirty. Dirty. Dirty. Now I can keep going. I can keep digging and putting this together. I can also blow up some more vehicles. Smash some windows. I can do anything, Winter. See how lucky you are to have me?”

With that, Talon started to move toward the window.

I jumped up and went after him.

I grabbed his hand. “Where are you going?”

“Leaving.”

“Why?”

“I came to tell you that.”

“What… keep talking?”

“That’ll cost more,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, it’s how you Bumps make money. Brains are worth more than muscle.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, blowing shit up is one price. Info on how dirty those families are… that’s a different price.”

“Talon…”

He waved a finger at me. “We’re not friends, Winter. No favors. Well… unless you feel like stripping out of that dress in front of me. Let me see what’s hiding under there. You do that and I’ll tell you about a few more people involved in that shady deal.”

I didn’t consider it for a second.

Instead, I turned around.

“Unzip me,” I said.

Talon pulled the zipper down.

Chills fluttered through me.

I walked forward and looked over my shoulder. “You can leave now.”

“Yeah?” Talon asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “You got paid. Leave.”

Talon reached into his pocket and took out the money. “How much for me to stay?”

I snorted. “I’m a Bump. I have more money than you’ll ever see in your lifetime. In other words, you couldn’t afford me if you tried.”

Talon’s lip curled.

He took the money and climbed through the window to leave.

He could have used the steps and the deck. But he always chose the window.

Because he was a Troc.

He was the dirty and shady one.

I was the beautiful one.

I stood at my dresser and looked at myself in the mirror.

I told myself whatever Talon had to say, or whatever he knew, didn’t matter.

But I knew that was a lie.

It was going to drive me crazy.

Just the same as Noah, Easton, and Xavier were.

“Let’s go for a run!”

I jumped up and off the second step of the deck.

Gia looked up at me. “What?”

“I’ll race you.”

“Winter…”

“Come on,” I said. “A drunk run! It’ll be fun!”

I started to jog and felt the world swaying around me.

I had no idea what had gotten into me.

Except… you know, drinking…

I looked back and Gia was standing.

“I’m not following you!” she called out.

I waved my middle fingers at her and kept jogging.

I thought I was going to stop after a minute or so, but I didn’t.

My feet kept moving so I kept jogging.

And Gia didn’t try to catch up either.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was approaching Easton’s beach house.

Maybe