Free Ace of Spades by Elle Bright Page A

wouldn’t let go. The massive pile of paperwork told her something
about Jackson that he would probably never tell her himself. He hadn’t always
been a reckless mess. Somewhere, between prison, rehab, and the disaster he’d
become, he’d taken the time to put together a solid organization.
             
The thought gave her hope. Maybe he hadn’t hired her to seduce her. Maybe he
really thought she could save him and his music empire from his bad choices.
             
“And power of attorney…”
             
Mel shot bolt upright in her seat. “Excuse me?”
             
“Mr. Blackner insists you be granted power of
attorney on his behalf,” Grimms explained, studying
her curiously from beneath his bifocals.
             
Melody whipped her head around to gape at Jackson. “Are you insane? You haven’t
seen me in eight years and you want to give me the right to control everything
you own? I could take your money and run.”
             
“But you won’t,” Jackson countered softly. “I know you. I trust you. More than
I trust myself.”
             
“But---”
             
“No ‘buts.’ Just sign it.”
             
“This is crazy,” Mel argued.
             
“It’s a condition of employment. Accept the power of attorney or you don’t have
a job.”
             
“You are insane. I’ll sign it, but that’s only because I don’t believe
you’re in the right state of mind and someone has to make decisions that are in
your best interest.”
             
Jackson smirked. “Exactly.”
             
Melody shook her head. She spent the next hour reading the paperwork,
discussing certain aspects with Grimms , and filling
out forms. As soon as Melody scrawled her signature on the last page, Grimms snapped the folder shut and rose to his feet. He
slid the file into his brief case, snapped the case shut, and gave Melody a
curt nod.
             
 “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way. Should you require any legal
advisement or assistance in your duties, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”
He paused, tossing a disgusted look about the table at the other members of
Jackson’s staff. “Welcome to Ace of Spades, Miss Davis. And good luck. You’re
going to need it.”
             
Melody chuckled as the ornery old man bustled out the door. The remaining group
stayed to sip coffee, munch on breakfast pastries, and chat. With each passing
minute, Melody became more certain she would love her new ragtag team. They
were an oddly assorted bunch, but they seemed to genuinely care for one
another.
              Daysia disrupted the hum of their chatter, clapping
her hands and cheering, “Now that Grimms -the-buzz-kill
is gone, it’s present time. Jackson gives the best welcome kits ever.”
             
Melody glanced up from her coffee to find Lenny carrying a huge woven gift
basket. She was barely able to move her cup out of the way before Lenny plopped
the basket down in front of her and stepped back with a proud grin. Mel turned
to Jackson with a brow raised in question and he grinned back, shrugging his
typical Jackson-shrug.
             
A black satin ribbon tied off the shimmery cellophane wrapped around the
basket. Dangling from the ribbon was a card with  ‘Welcome to Ace of Spades, Melly -Belly. Love, Jackson’
scrawled in Jackson’s haphazard handwriting. Mel reassured herself that the ‘love’ was the kind with which most people signed cards, a friendly
affection and nothing more. Sure, that was it.
             
Loosening the ribbon, Mel peeled back the shimmering cellophane wrap to explore
the contents of the massive basket. Each item had a pink, hand written post-it
note attached to it.
              A pool skimmer with a telescoping handle. So you
can fish the ‘skanky panties’ out of my pool. A roll of
black trash bags. So you can take