Ambitious (NeXt Book 4) Read online

  “Thanks, guys. All of this and you found nothing since I don’t even own a damn computer.”

  That thought makes me laugh. They probably think I’m hiding a laptop or tablet somewhere, but in the business Damon and I are in, there can be no paper trail, electronic or otherwise. Phones are a necessary evil, so those I use, but any kind of computer is the surest way to get caught, so when we started, we agreed we wouldn’t use any.

  Even my phone, which technically can be considered a computer, shows no online activity whatsoever. When they searched that after they brought me in tonight, they probably wondered where the fuck the social life of a twenty-four year old man exists on it since I have no social media presence at all.

  In fact, all they found on my phone were my family’s phone numbers and Savannah’s number. And Emily’s because I forgot to delete her after that last charming experience with her.

  As I told Damon in the beginning, if you’re going to walk on the wrong side of the law these days, you better be prepared to do it the old fashioned way. Nothing to show you live at all. As far as the online world is concerned, Cassian March IV doesn’t exist.

  And until those cops showed up outside my car tonight, I didn’t. Now that’s all changed, though. Just how much I guess I’ll find out in the next few hours.

  In the meantime, all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. I think that drunk’s stink still clings to me, and maybe if I can get a few hours of good sleep, I’ll be able to forget about all of this for a little while.

  One look into my bedroom tells me dreamland is going to have to wait. First I need to put my mattress back where it belongs and clean up the mess all over the floor, along with putting the dresser drawers back. Nothing like ransacking the place in the name of the law.

  My phone vibrating on my nightstand wakes me up, and I look at the number to see it’s Savannah. Damn, I want to talk to her, but I can’t right now. I still don’t know what to say to her. Sure she knew what I did for a living, but she didn’t know I was lying to her about my name and that I owned the business instead of just being someone who worked as an escort.

  I stare at her name and wait for the phone to stop ringing even as I quietly say into the darkness of my bedroom, “I’m sorry. I wish I could talk, but I don’t know how to explain yet.”

  When my phone’s screen goes dark, I consider trying to fall back to sleep, but that’s not going to happen. Seeing Savannah’s name made everything I feel about her come rushing back. There won’t be any more sleep for me tonight.

  So I call my brother since I’m going to have to tell someone in my family about what happened. Alex is a good starting point. He’s easy going and won’t freak out like my parents. I need that mellow thing he has about him right now.

  When he answers, I instantly feel more relaxed. “Hey, Cash! What’s up? Isn’t a little late for you to be calling? Aren’t you normally in bed or at the library or something?”

  He stops dead and says, “Oh, yeah. That’s right. You’re not in school. I’m still having a hard time getting used to that.”

  “Funny. Time to adjust your lame jokes to this new reality. Speaking of that, I’ve got something else you’re going to have to get used to. That’s the reason I’m calling, actually. I figured you’re the first person in the family I should tell.”

  My statement is met with silence for a long moment before Alex quietly asks, “Cash, are you getting married?”

  He sounds confused and worried. I don’t think I’ve heard that tone in his voice since we were kids.

  “No. Why?”

  “Because you sounded like you’re about to tell me you’re getting married. Well, that or you’re coming out, but I’m thinking you’re not suddenly gay, so engaged is what I went with.”

  His logic makes me laugh. “Well, I’m not engaged or gay. And why the hell are you so obsessed with my sexuality?”

  “I’m not. You just sounded like you were about to confess something, so I went with that or the getting married thing.”

  “Well, enough with the gay business. I’m not ever going to come out since I’m straight.”

  “Okay. Then what are you calling to tell me?”

  I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly, trying to find the right words to describe what happened last night. Best to just say it and then deal with what comes out of his mouth next. This is Alex, so it’s not like he’s going to freak out or anything.

  “Remember that escort service I told you about. Well, I got arrested tonight, charged with a host of things, including prostitution. That’s what I’m calling to tell you.”

  I hear Alex’s sharp intake of breath followed by what I imagine is him blowing every last bit of breath from his lungs as he processes my news. I can see him sitting wherever he is, probably in his apartment, and making that face he does whenever he’s thinking about something. It’s always reminded me of how he looks when he’s in pain, like mulling things over upsets his normally very casual and relaxed state of mind.

  “Arrested? As in…”

  When he doesn’t continue speaking, I finish his sentence for him. “As in, they put me in handcuffs, stuck me in the back of the police car, and took me down to the police station where they threw me into a jail cell with some drunk guy who stunk like three day old gin. That kind of arrested.”

  “Is there another kind?” he asks, instantly easy the tension.

  Leave it to my brother to say that.

  “No, smart ass.”

  “Uh, are you using your one phone call to call me, Cash?” Alex asks, sounding distinctly worried suddenly.

  Now it’s my turn to laugh.

  “No. I knew someone who could help me, and Max posted my bail, so I’m back home. Right now, in fact, I’m in bed, which I had to put back together after the cops searched the place and left it looking like someone robbed me. Ironic, don’t you think?”

  My attempt at being lighthearted about this whole thing falls flat, though.

  “Cash, what’s going to happen? Do they have a case against you? What charges are you looking at? Jesus, man. This sounds serious.”

  So much for Alex being easy going and a good place to start with the March family.

  “Well, I’m going to have to find a better attorney, first of all. Max is a great guy, but he doesn’t handle criminal cases. He just did me a favor so I didn’t have to spend the night propped up against the wall of a jail cell with some boozehound across from me. As for the case, I don’t know yet. No matter how careful you are, sometimes things slip through the cracks. I’ll have to see. I think the most embarrassing charge is the prostitution charge since I’m considered the prostitute, but there’s a host of others related to running a business that run the gamut from wire fraud to tax evasion, but they’re federal.”

  My level-headed explanation does little to make my brother sound anything less than concerned. “What about Mom and Dad? They don’t know yet, do they? What are you going to say to them?”

  “I have no idea,” I answer truthfully.

  Or almost truthfully. In fact, I do know what I want to tell them. The truth. I just don’t know how I’m going to say that. I’m hoping to find a way to ease them into the reality of my being arrested for the crimes the Gainesville police say I committed while at the same time be honest about not attending law school all this time.

  It’s going to be a lot to take in, especially for my mother.

  “Whatever you do, I think you should do it in person. Tell them face to face, Cash. Don’t do it over the phone. Remember, when it comes to Mom, she’s always had a weak spot when it comes to you, so use that to your advantage. It’ll make her feel better about everything. Trust me on this.”

  I know what he’s saying is right, but damn, the last thing I want to do is have to face my mother with those sad brown eyes of hers when she hears what her little boy has been up to. As for my father, I’m almost hoping he does lose his mind. It will be better than those few times Alex
or I has gotten into trouble and he shuts down, unable to say anything and simply walking around the house sighing loudly.

  “Yeah, I have to figure all of that out. I think I have a little time for that, though. My first court appearance isn’t for a few weeks, so by then, I’ll have an idea of what’s going to happen so I can be as honest as possible with them.”

  “Well, maybe you should focus on your entrepreneurial spirit when you talk to them. Mom and Dad love that kind of thing.”

  That he says those words without a hint of a chuckle stuns me. “My entrepreneurial spirit? Okay. I’ll try to fit that in somewhere between the prostitution charges and the felony tax evasion issues.”

  “I didn’t say it would be easy. Just ease them into it. It’ll be a shitshow, I’m pretty sure, and I won’t want to be within ten miles of that little get-together, but they’re Mom and Dad, Cash.”

  There’s the Alex we all know and love.

  “Thanks for the support. I’ll be sure to give you a head’s up when the shitshow meeting is on the schedule. Maybe you can take off some vacation days from the restaurant.”

  That makes him laugh. “Don’t joke. I’m thinking I should. The last thing I want is to be around when that goes down.”

  As much as my brother is busting my ass about this, I’m happy he’s acting this way. It gives me hope that when I do finally tell my parents and the rest of the family that they won’t go nuts and lose their minds.

  It is, after all, just a few charges.

  “I need to get going, Alex. Keep all of this to yourself, okay? I don’t want anyone to know before I tell them.”

  “No problem. Just don’t wait too long, okay?”

  “I won’t. Just long enough to let everything calm down so I can get a handle on things and then I’ll come down to talk to them.”

  “Talk to you later, then. Remember, do it in person, Cash.”

  Easier said than done, but I know my brother’s right. I can’t avoid doing this face to face. I just have to man up.

  In a couple weeks or so.

  After talking to Alex, I close my eyes and think about Savannah and what she’s up to right now. She’s probably dying to talk to me to tell me how much she hates me for what happened.

  I wouldn’t blame her. It’s not every day a woman like her gets to see her date led off in handcuffs and put into the back of a police cruiser.

  Chapter Three

  Cash

  My phone vibrates against the top of my nightstand, ripping me out of a great dream about Savannah and me at the beach, and I see my father’s name on the screen. Unsure if I want to answer the call, I silently curse Alex for not even waiting twelve fucking hours before telling my father about what happened. It’s barely morning and that jackass gave up my secret.

  Some brother he is.

  Swallowing hard, I work to get my courage up and answer the phone. “Hey, Dad. What’s new?” I ask as casually as possible.

  The next time my brother needs my help, he better go looking somewhere else.

  My father doesn’t say anything, so I pull the phone out to see if maybe the call dropped. Nope. Still there. Great. He’s probably getting himself mentally prepared to ream me out.

  “Well, Cash, I just figured I’d call and see how things are going for you up there.”

  He sounds odd, like he’s trying to restrain himself, but it’s not like my father to beat around the bush. Maybe Alex didn’t rat me out.

  So I figure I’ll feel the situation out for a few seconds. “Not much. You know, the same as always. Did you talk to Alex? He and I talked last night.”

  More silence, but I can hear my father breathing. He sounds like he just came back from a run. Maybe that’s why he’s not saying much. But if that’s the case, why did he call me at all?

  Oh my God. Something’s happened with my mother!

  “Dad, is anything wrong? Is Mom okay?” I ask as my hands begin to shake.

  Standing up from the bed, I start to walk toward the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice when he finally tells me what’s going on.

  “Your mother’s fine, Cash. Well, except for how she felt when she saw the segment on the morning show she watches about how you were arrested for running an escort service yesterday and are looking at prison time. Oh, and the crews from the local TV stations camped out at the end of our driveway reporting on it probably isn’t helping her to feel all fine and dandy either. I guess there’s really nothing as wonderful as being trapped in your home by local news crews, Cassian.”

  Jesus. All I can imagine is my mother sitting at the table with her morning coffee blissfully watching some show as she slowly wakes up when the news about me stuns her and she goes running through the house frantically looking for my father like her hair is on fire to tell him what happened.

  Every word he says hits me like a punch to the face, and when he finally ends with the name we share, one that he only uses when he’s furious with me, I know things are bad there. I open my mouth to apologize, but somehow, the words just don’t come out.

  “Well, I think this might be the reason you weren’t thrilled about the graduation party your mother and grandmother were planning, isn’t it? No need for that since you quit going to law school two years ago!” he barks into my ear.

  “Dad, I can explain.”

  Having the ability to and actually wanting to are entirely different animals, though.

  “Can you? Can you honestly tell me there’s a good reason why you lied to everyone who loves and cares about you? For years? You lied to us for years.”

  “I know, Dad. I do.”

  As I start to try to explain, he interrupts me. “Years, Cash! I can’t count how many times I heard your mother gush about how proud she was of you attending law school. She’s been talking about this goddamned graduation party for you for at least six months, for God’s sake, and not even a couple weeks ago you sat at your grandmother’s house for hours while she and your mother buzzed around making plans for the cake and the caterer, while the whole time you knew damn well there could never be any party since you quit going to law school ages ago. Please, Cash, tell me how you can explain.”

  I let the phone fall silent for a few seconds, sure he has more to say. I deserve every word he plans to utter. Good, bad, ugly, it doesn’t matter. I have them all coming to me and more.

  But he doesn’t say anything, so I take a deep breath and begin to tell my story. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I am. Really. I never wanted to hurt you or Mom or anyone, for that matter. I didn’t. The problem was I just didn’t want to be a lawyer. I thought I did, but it only took one semester here to know that wasn’t the life I wanted. I knew how proud you and Mom were to have me in law school, so I didn’t want to disappoint you. I never meant to lie for this long. Things just got out of hand, and after a while, I just didn’t want to think about having to confess the truth to you.”

  None of that is a lie. What I’m carefully leaving out is how much I’ve enjoyed running the business and making all that money. Now doesn’t seem like the time to get into that.

  My father lets out a heavy sigh and groans. “Well, I guess the next thing we need to do is get you a good lawyer. I have someone in mind, if you don’t have a problem with me helping out.”

  “Sure, Dad, but I thought you’d want to talk about the reason I got arrested,” I say, honestly confused why he hasn’t even touched on that part of what happened.

  “When you get here, then we’ll talk about that. For now, I just wanted you to know how hurt your mother and I are to find out that you’ve lied about being in law school all this time.”

  While I appreciate getting the surprise break and not having to get into the nuts and bolts of running an escort service with my father right now, I can’t help but wonder why he’s avoiding that subject. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sure the whole escort service part only makes it worse, especially for Mom.”

  “That’s something for the legal system to deal with,
so I don’t want you to bring it up again today, okay, Cash? For now, let me get to finding you a lawyer, and you focus on getting back here as soon as possible.”

  “But won’t that just make the media focus all their attention on you guys?”

  I get another groan and he says, “You’d have to see the end of the driveway to know how impossible it is for the media to focus any more attention on us here. I guess maybe if foreign countries’ networks start broadcasting from the street it might get bigger, but it’s pretty bad already.”

  “I’m so sorry, Dad. Is this going to affect the restaurant? I hope they don’t bother you there. Maybe if you and Mom went away for a little while until this initial excitement blows over. Take the money you were going to spend on my graduation party and put it toward a cruise or something. Anything to get away.”

  “Kane will handle anything that happens at the restaurant. He’s surly enough that they won’t bother after the first question when he slams the door in their faces,” my father says with a chuckle. “As for your mother and me, we’re staying put, but we expect to see you here later today. This is a time to circle the wagons for our family, Cash.”

  Wincing at his mention of my family, I hang my head. “Okay, Dad. I’ll get my things together and come down. See you in a few hours.”

  “Good. I’ll tell your mother you’re coming.”

  The phone goes dead. The very idea of facing my mother with her sad, disappointed eyes fills me with dread.

  As I pack up my stuff for my trip home, I can’t stop myself from turning on the news. I know my father said they were being inundated by their local stations back home in Tampa, but I doubt it’s actually as bad as he thinks. Damon and I are tiny fish in a huge pond, even up here, so it’s probably only one station that had a report about it because the whole idea of an escort service sounds salacious. My parents probably merely feel overwhelmed because they’re such private people.