This is after the drama at the Christmas party.
Everybody has had time to cool down...
...sort of.
"If you ring that doorbell one more time…" Joe growled as he swung the door open wide.
Jeff's piercing blue eyes crinkled with a smirk, "Bad day?"
"She's doesn't want to see you." He answered shortly.
Jeff shrugged and stepped past his enforcer, "That's too bad."
"You could have at least brought her some flowers or something." Joe mumbled, shutting the door.
Jeff laughed, "She doesn't do flowers Joe, she's much more expensive than that."
He turned the corner to the living room and frowned seeing Alex playing a video game and James drinking.
Alex threw his hands up, letting the controller fly onto the couch, "Christ….what the hell are you doing here?"
"Do you need three guesses or will just one do?" Jeff retorted.
He was done being holed up at the penthouse waiting for Aiden to come around. He always waited for whoever was pissed at him to find him and make amends.
Aiden, being ever true to her high maintenance nature, hadn't called once. She was forcing him to come to her and to apologize to her. Another first on her long list of many with him.
"She's not here." James tried to cover for Alex before things got out of hand.
Jeff rolled his eyes, "You think I don't have constant surveillance on her? I KNOW she's here."
"Doesn't mean you're going to see her." James said crossly.
Things had been so much easier around the house without Aiden being stressed out about Jeff.
Jeff turned, hearing soft footsteps coming down the stairs. He saw her face flush when she reached the bottom. All eyes were on her, one of her biggest pet peeves.
"Darlin, come here to Daddy. All this fighting between us has got to stop." he said, pouring on the sweetness as he went to her.
She slapped him as hard as she could, snapping his head to the side with a loud crack.
All of the men pulled their guns instantly.
Jeff never hesitated to bury anyone who put their hands on him maliciously.
He flexed his jaw, his breath coming in short blasts of fury. Everything in him was coiled ready to strike and strangle the life out of her.
He forced himself to stay completely still.
"What was that for?" he asked slowly, his voice deadly.
"For everything at the party." she replied, her voice wavering with her adrenaline.
She had one of the better poker faces out of all of the women, something that Jeff had helped her perfect, but it was failing her now. She wasn't entirely sure she hadn't just signed her death sentence by slapping her lover.
Jeff glared at her intensely, waiting, forcing her to continue, to attempt to justify her actions just now.
"You were drunk, you were belligerent with me, you, you put your hands on me! You know I'm not the one to deal with that. If you want some punching bag or some stupid girl that does exactly what you want then we can end this conversation right now and we can both go on our separate ways." she said, her voice rising with anger.
"If I wanted that, do you think I would be here?" Jeff asked quietly still trying to maintain his temper.
She was silent then, forcing him to voice his side of the argument.
"I want you back with me." he finally stated, "So you need to tell me how we can accomplish that."
She put her hands on her hips. Luckily she had already thought through this part. She had been with Jeff for too long to come to a battle unprepared.
"I want three things from you." she said, her voice coming back strong.
She knew she had to be unwavering in her demands if he were going to seriously even consider them.
"Name them." he growled, furious that she was doing this in front of his men.
No wonder they all thought he had lost it.
He had.
Everything he had struggled for was standing right in front of him. Everything he wanted to accomplish in his life was wrapped up in her tiny, five foot two frame.
"I want James back on my security when he is well enough to do so." she named off her first stipulation.
His eyes flashed his disapproval of her preference of James, but he nodded none the less.
"I want you to apologize to Alex for what you said too." she named off her second stipulation, "We all agreed that you wouldn't antagonize him. So I want you to stop doing that to him."
Jeff gritted his teeth furiously and turned to the stupid prick, "I'm sorry for saying what I did and for embarrassing Aiden in front of you."
Alex was smirking devilishly. To say that he was mildly enjoying this would be a massive understatement. Seeing Jeff being put in his place by his wife was hilarious.
Jeff turned back to Aiden. He was about to explode from trying to keep himself reigned in.
"What else do you want little girl?" he hissed angrily.
She raised her chin in preparation of the fallout of her last demand, "I want Joe to go back with Ajay."
She felt the energy surge. She knew it would.
"No." Alex and Jeff both said at the same time.
"He's staying here with you to watch over you. End of story." Alex ordered, holstering his gun finally.
"James isn't one hundred percent yet angel. You're too important to me to leave you unprotected like that." Jeff tried the nice approach to begin with.
"I will be fine. I want him back with Ajay, immediately. I have you, Alex and James, that's more than enough protection." she said staying firm with her demand.
"We're not with you enough for you to be covered fully throughout the day, and James can't do it right now! Pick something else." Alex argued.
"No." she answered simply, "He goes or nothing changes. Take it or leave it."
"You know I don't like this at all. I think you're being very reckless with your safety." Jeff tried once more to convince her to change her mind.
"I didn't like him being pulled from Ajay in the first place. I didn't get a say then, you don't get one now." She finalized.
Alex threw his hands up in the air, "You're not going to let her do this, are you?"
Jeff smirked, "The lady always knows what she wants. I guess the three of us will just have to step it up a notch."
Alex was pissed, "This is bullshit. If anything happens to her because of this, it's on your fucking shoulders."
Jeff turned to Joe reluctantly, "Go pack your bags; we'll drop you off at Ajay's."
Jeff escorted Aiden out to his car as Joe packed the rest of his things. He was still reeling from her argument with him in front of his men. He led her to the back of his SUV and shoved her against the back of it, pressing against her body, effectively trapping her.
"You better not ever put your hands on me like that again little girl." he hissed, his eyes dark and dangerous as he looked down at her.
"Likewise." she said her lips pursing in defiance.
He ran his tongue along his cheek, his fury finally giving in to his desire for her. He closed his mouth on hers assaulting her in an entirely different way. He planned to 'punish' her all night, well into the next morning to make up for their lost time.