Wild Wind: A Chaos Novella (Chaos #6.6)(51)

And in all that, Jag did not reply to his mother’s texts.

He did not reach back out to Tack.

He didn’t connect with Hound or Dutch.

And yeah, that was about being with Archie.

It was also…

Not.





Chapter Twelve



Sleeping Dragon



Archie



They’d made a tent of some sheets and were tangled in each other and a mess of pillows on a rug on her floor.

It was Sunday afternoon. Jagger was snoozing. On his back. Naked.

Archie was at his side, not snoozing, but also naked.

They’d spent the night before in a B&B in Estes Park.

Now they were home.

And Archie was down with how into each other they were. How much time they were spending together.

They were meant to be, after all.

However…

Lying on her side, up on an elbow, tucked close to him, she studied Jagger’s handsome face through the fading sunlight coming through the light sheet.

He was beautiful.

But he looked conflicted, even in sleep.

She trailed her hand up his flat belly to his pec where she absently rubbed a thumb across his nipple.

He stirred, turning to her, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her tight, front to front.

“Baby,” he murmured into the top of her hair, “I’m all for another round. Just give me five more minutes.”

This had not been her intent.

But she didn’t need to explain that because she felt him settle into her and back into sleep.

Archie held him like a lover, and she held him like a friend.

She held him light, but she held him loving.

And as she did, she thought of their conversation that morning over breakfast at the Notchtop Café in Estes.

Primarily the part where she’d alluded to Elijah being an issue when it came to co-owning the building.

And specifically the part where Jagger visibly struggled with pushing her to talk about it.

She let him off the hook, giving it to him without him having to ask.

“He’s a pain because he demands half the rents on the apartments and for me to pay him rent on the space for the shop. I get this, he’s half-owner. Money is made off that space. He’s entitled to his share. Absolutely. Where the issues are is around utilities and maintenance. He did not pony up on the improvements and I keep a handyman on retainer because issues crop up and I’m no plumber or electrician, but they need to get fixed and fast. The shop has a security system that I pay for, I pay all the utilities on that space, and I pay the maintenance contract on the security for the apartment entrance. He wants half without any deductions, says I made the decisions to have that other stuff, so they’re on me.”

Jag said nothing and it was not lost on Archie that his silence was heavy.

Then again, this subject was heavy.

And it was one she’d broached because she wanted to discuss it with him, not talk at him with him just listening.

She’d done enough of that in her own head.

Though mostly, she could tell he was pissed on her behalf.

He just wasn’t saying anything.

“I feel it isn’t on me,” she pointed out in order to spur on a conversation. “The security on the store, as the owner of the business, I get. At a stretch. But as the owner of the building, you want security for that space, and I feel it’s something you’d offer a tenant, even if that tenant is me. You definitely want to provide it for your apartment residents. And we did have the discussion, we just didn’t agree. Mostly because Elijah thinks we should jack up rent to pay for the handyman and the security and point-blank feels he shares no responsibility for the shop space at all.”

When she stopped speaking, Jag still said nothing.

So she informed him, “You’re allowed to have an opinion, Jagger.”

“You know I’m gonna side with you,” he told her.

“You don’t have to,” she replied. “I’m open to alternate viewpoints. We can have a discussion about this.”

“Babe, I have no experience with rental properties, either commercial or residential. Though, I don’t think it’s out of bounds to increase rents in order to offer better services to your renters. That said, my guess is, you both own this building outright. If you don’t have a mortgage on it, that just means extra money for him, so it seems greedy to demand more when he’s not shelling out anything to have that asset in the first place. Were inheritance taxes a big hit?”

“Grandmoms and Pops had no other grandchildren, we got everything, and they’d planned well for retirement, so yes. The government took its share and that share was hefty. But we still had more than we had before they passed, so you’re right. It’s just greedy.”

She left that a beat.

Then declared, “Greedy and lazy.”

She had him in the zone, she knew it when, this time, he didn’t hesitate to demand, “Give me more on that.”

Relieved he was finally engaging, Archie didn’t hesitate to offer it.

“It wasn’t my job to take care of them when Mom died, Jagger. And I’m not going to make the blanket statement that men are incapable of coping when shit gets real. I suspect there are men who are. It’s just that those two weren’t those men. They both fell apart when we lost Mom and I held us together. I was fourteen and I stepped into her shoes. Cooking. Cleaning. Making grocery lists and asking Dad to take me to the store. I’m writing shit on the family calendar and riding Elijah’s ass about being prepared to go to practice after school and studying for a test. We’re family. You do what you gotta do. Honestly, as much as it sucked, it was what it was, and I was taking care of people I love.”