Slade (The Protectors #6)(63)
“Jesus, Jill, slow down on that stuff,” Slade’s whispered voice echoed in her ear.
“Are you okay?” George leaned toward her, his smile genuine.
Jill nodded, trying to smile her sexy smile, but failed miserably. “What is that?”
“Jack and Coke,” he laughed, shaking his head. “More Jack than coke mind you. Just take smaller sips and it will go down nice and smooth.”
Touching her throat, Jill laughed, “Packs quite a punch.”
“That it does.” He lifted his drink up with a grin, taking another long swallow.
Once Jill regained her composure, she smiled at George. “So why do they give you the new girls? Why don’t you just find one you like and ask for them?”
“No, I’m fine with the new girls.” He glanced around. “Just gives me someone new to talk to who doesn’t give a shit what I’m saying.”
“Well, George, my feet are killing me, so thank you for asking me to sit,” Jill gave a teasing grunt, putting her elbows up on the table, leaning in.
Giving her a small smile, he texted something else on his phone, a large frown playing across his face. Jill did her best to see, but the angle wasn’t right. He slammed his phone down hard on the table then took another drink, almost draining the glass.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but work is driving me crazy,” he sighed, his eyes searching hers as if looking for some answer to an unasked question. “So what made you decide to do the half-breed gimmick? Good job on the fangs by the way; they look real.”
Okay, she was stumped. She heard cursing in her ear, which indicated they weren’t going to be much help. Well, this could go one of two ways; he could take her in for being a half-breed or he could not give a shit. She was hoping for the not give a shit.
“They probably look real because this…” she waved her hand over her face, “is not a gimmick.” The cursing in her ear stopped, replaced with dead silence.
“Ah, shit.” George scooted away from the table. “You need to…you shouldn’t be at my table. Do you know who I am?”
Well, shit, that didn’t go over well. “No, actually, I don’t. Should I?” She played dumb.
“I’m Mayor Ferguson’s Deputy Mayor.” He reached over, draining his glass, motioning for another.
“Ah…” Jill frowned, also taking a drink, but a much smaller mouthful. This time, she savored the burn in her throat, because she was about to either blow this mission all to hell or open it up for a victory in their favor. “So you’re one of them. Yeah, maybe I need to switch tables or is that what you’ve been doing on your phone, calling in the breed roundup team?”
He slammed his glass down, gaining attention from those around them. Jill’s eyes shot to Damon who was ready to stand, but she shook her head slightly. George leaned in toward her. “I’m not like that son of a bitch or his cunt of a fiancée.”
Jill remained silent, listening to Slade in her ear wishing he would be quiet so she could think. This ear thing was a really bad idea. “Dammit, Jill, be careful.”
He waited until the waitress set down his drink and left before turning on to her. “I should have been Mayor, not him.”
“And you would have done it differently?” Jill chuckled, shaking her head, hoping to hell her hunch about George paid off. “This war on half-breeds has ruined my life. Why do you think I’m slinking around at night working in dark clubs, dancing for strangers half-naked? I had a great job working in a finance office, but because of your boss, the Mayor’s ‘Stop the Breeding of Half-breeds’ campaign, I can’t even walk down the street without the fear of being locked away.”
When he didn’t say anything, but simply stared at her, draining his glass, Jill figured she’d blown it big time. Dammit, she read him wrong and she’d failed; Sloan was going to be so pissed.
“When I signed on with Tom Ferguson, he was actually a pretty stand-up guy.” He glanced down at his phone before continuing as Sloan snorted in Jill’s earpiece. “We believed in the same things, wanted the same things for the community and he was a shoe-in to win because of his affiliation with the police force. He talked me into supporting him as his Deputy Mayor. I figured it would help me in my future pursuit in politics, but it only feels like I’ve sold my soul to the devil.”
Jill took another sip of her drink, ignoring the warning from Slade to slow down, but she needed this drink. It was easing her nerves tremendously. “Why do you say that?”
“Because that’s who I feel I work for now.” George laughed without humor. “I’m so stuck in deep shit; I don’t know how to get out.”
“So quit, resign or whatever a Deputy Mayor would do.” Dammit, she wanted to dive deeper into the ‘sold his soul’ comment, but didn’t want to sound too eager and clue him in.
“I’m in too deep for that now.” True fear flashed in his eyes. “No one leaves unless told to leave, and that doesn’t happen either. They just disappear.”
“What changed everything?” Jill leaned back, taking the drink with her. “You seemed to be on track with the Mayor during his campaign.”
“His fiancée happened,” he hissed, pure hatred coloring his face. “Once she came into the picture, everything changed and the whole half-breed campaign began. It was her way or no way. I tried everything I could to talk to Tom, but she had him wrapped around her finger. She actually cornered me, telling me that if I was a good boy, she’d take good care of me…meaning sex, but if I crossed her, I would disappear.”