Page 315 of 5+Us Makes Seven

I grinned.

“Fair enough. The journalist chick.”

What the fuck?

“Jade?” I asked, feigning ignorance until I figured out what was going on.

“Yeah, that’s her. I hooked up with her recently.”

“Oh yeah? How recently?”

“A few nights ago. Banged the fuck out of her, but she’s not for me. I don’t like the lip on her, if you know what I mean.”

He laughed all by himself.

“Anyway, I moved on to this friend of hers who fucks even better. I’m on a roll, I tell you. The next chick is going to be the best.”

I shook my head. Had she actually fucked him? Logan hadn’t told me anything about that, but I didn’t put it past him. She didn’t seem like the type of woman who would sleep with Max, but how well did I know her? Not very.

“She’s an uptight bitch,” Max continued. “I don’t know what you saw in her over there in the Stan. On a positive note, this friend of hers is fucking intense in the sack. She sucked my dick about ten minutes after we met.”

“Good for you,” I said.

After he came clean about going on a date with Jade, I saw myself doing business with him. Jade, on the other hand, I began to have my doubts about. Was this why she was keeping secrets from me? What other secrets was she keeping from me?

“Let’s do this,” I said. “We’re going to own high-end security in New York.”

“Hell yeah,” he said, punching his fist into his palm. “And the world.”

I never understood how he allowed his emotions to rule him.

Weak bastard. Maybe him and Jade deserved each other.

“But yeah, that Jade chick is fucking nuts, man. I think we’re both better off without her.”

“For sure,” I said, nodding my head.

“I’m not going to mess with her anymore, bro, if that makes you feel better.” He stepped forward and offered me his hand. “We’re business partners now, bro. We have to be there for each other.”

“I appreciate that,” I said, shaking his hand.

Time would tell if I should actually trust him or not, but for the moment, a new business venture would help me get Jade and her madness out of my mind and my life.

TWENTY-FOUR

Cooper

After my meeting with Max at the building where we would forge new lives for ourselves, I walked toward Jade’s apartment with a bit of a bounce in my step.

I had been too hard on her, and I overreacted a bit too. She needed someone like me in her life, and she was just the type of woman I needed in mine. Together, we would be able to take over the world.

On the way to her building, I had the strangest feeling that I wasn’t walking this path alone. Am I being followed? I fought the urge to stop and turn around. Stay calm. No need to let them know.

I need to walk away from Jade’s apartment. Whoever is following me doesn’t need to know she is connected to me in any way.

Some people had been angry with how the Afghan mineral operation had gone toward the end when it all fell apart as things tend to do. Were they the ones calling me? Were they following me now?

I picked up my pace, ready to take some evasive measures as I approached Times Square. When I reached the next intersection, I stopped and spun around.