Femme Fatale

Chapter Seventeen: Femme Fatale

"I believe we have ourselves a deal," Jo said with a smile. She stuck out her hand, and Jax grasped it firmly in his. After a lot of back-and-forth, they had finally reached an agreement. Jo would give the men her inheritance, a cool three million, which she would get back only if she pulled off the art heist.

Jo put on one hell of a show through the negotiations, fighting back fake tears on more than one occasion. She acted like parting with the money her dead parents left her was the worst thing in the world, but truth be told, money wasn't an issue. She could always get more, plus, she did have more money in various overseas accounts. Jo was just as good at hiding money as she was at finding it.

She just needed the men to think that they had leverage. They needed to trust her completely if they were going to pull this off. Jo really wanted the heist to go down without a hitch. She missed her freedom, and she missed Thomas and Jake.

Oh, and she wanted to let the boys know she was safe, too. Jo lied and said she inherited three million because three had a special significance. Inserting "three" into one of her messages to Thomas meant that everything was fine. Now, had she used the number "two," that would have meant that shit was about to hit the fan and she needed backup.

The last time she saw Thomas, he had admitted to keeping tabs on her. Her brother had always been protective of her, even when she didn't need it. Jo could only imagine the state Thomas was in now that she had been kidnapped by vengeful criminals. He was probably a tad bit distressed.

Hopefully, Thomas would get her message. Her very fucking expensive message.

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Once the money issue was settled, it was time to get to work. Michael and Jo were sitting on her couch, making plans and agreeing on a plausible backstory for their relationship. She was asking him questions and scribbling things down on her notepad.

"Tell me more about this Frenchman," Jo said to Michael. "You guys used to be partners in crime?"

Michael exhaled slowly. "Back in the day, yes," he said, cracking his knuckles. "But then I found out he was taking a bigger cut of the profits than he should have." The muscles in Michael's handsome face twitched and his dimples disappeared.

"What did he do when you confronted him?" Jo pressed.

Michael chuckled. "Pierre... Let's just say Pierre is not a man you confront. Ever."

"So he blames Jax for you leaving?" Jo asked. Michael looked at her curiously.

"You're very perceptive," he said.

Jo just shrugged. She started to feel self-conscious under his gaze, so she started scribbling on her notepad again.

Michael narrowed his eyes. Jo had been taking notes, but nothing that they had just talked was noteworthy. He grabbed the pen from her hand and peered over her notepad.

"Hey!" she protested.

"What the-" Michael grabbed the notepad from her grasp and flipped it towards him to get a better look. It was a rough sketch of a centaur - the mythical half-man, half-horse. He flung his head back and laughed heartily.

"Seriously?" he asked. "I thought you were taking notes this whole time!"

Jo grinned at him. She tapped her index finger against her temple twice. "Steel trap. I never take notes."

Michael was speechless. They had only been talking for the past hour or two, but he could already see how this girl charmed her way into Jax's heart. If Jo was able to seduce their gruff leader, she wouldn't have any issues with a lustful Frenchman.

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Emma Teller squealed and clapped her hands as Jo spun around in her figure-hugging Calvin Klein dress. "I can't get over how freaking gorgeous you are!" she exclaimed.

She glanced at her brother. "I'm not shocked Jax likes you."

"Shut it, Emma," Jax growled from his seat.

Emma made a face at him.

Jax had asked his sister to help Jo get ready for the evening, and he was regretting it already. But he did agree with her on one thing: Jo was beautiful. He had never seen her all done up and dressed to the nines given that they had kidnapped her and were holding her hostage and all.

Jo was a vision with her hair in loose waves and the liquid silver of her dress hugged her body in all the right places. Her eye makeup was sultry and her lips were painted an inviting shade of red. It took all of Jax's willpower to not rip off her dress and take her against the wall. When Jo caught him staring, she smiled at him knowingly.

There was a knock on the door, and Michael entered the bedroom looking quite dashing in an Italian cotton navy blue suit. Michael, always the gentleman, was the only one who actually knocked on her door instead of barging right in.

Jo looked at him appreciatively. The navy of his suit brought out his blue-grey eyes, and his dark, wavy hair was combed back. A pink pocket square added the perfect pop of color to his look.

Michael met her eyes and grinned. "Wow. You look amazing."

"Thank you," she said, smoothing out her dress. Both men followed the movements of her hands over her body. She pretended not to notice the way they were ogling her, but she knew exactly what they were thinking.

Some women wore red when they were dressed to kill, but she preferred silver. Silver always brought out the femme fatale in her. The color made her feel feminine and dangerous - she was the living embodiment of a katana sword in silver.

"Shall we?" Michael asked, holding out his elbow. She slipped a freshly manicured hand, compliments of Emma, through the opening of his arm and smiled up at her date for the evening.

Jax stood up and placed his hand on her back. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Do what you have to do."

Jo nodded. I always do, she thought to herself.

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Are you guys ready to see Jo in action?  And what do you think of Michael? Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, it was mainly a buildup for their big mission.

If you guys enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote or leave a comment! And, as always, criticism is welcome, too.