CHAPTER 6
Annoying Roomies And Bad Guys
When I pull up to the house, it’s just after seven in the morning. Yesterday, after the tow truck showed up and Kenton left to go back to work, Viv, Nancy, and I sat around the kitchen drinking coffee and chatting for a few hours. When Nancy asked about the video Cassie had been talking about, I cringed but told her and Viv what had happened and the real reason I was in Tennessee. Nancy was visibly upset about it, and I immediately told her that I would leave if she felt uncomfortable with me being here with her son.
The second the words left my mouth, she grabbed my face between her hands and I watched as tears slid down her cheeks. My heart broke when she looked into my eyes and spoke. “This is exactly where you’re supposed to be. This is the safest place for you. This is where my son wants you. This is where we want you, so this is where you will stay.”
I started crying and buried my face in her chest, taking something from her I never received from my own mother—comfort. I hated crying, but something about crying while she held me healed a small piece of me. That lost, lonely little girl who was never allowed to show emotion was finally able to cry until she couldn’t cry anymore.
I shake my head, clearing the memory, and slide my key into the door. All I want to do is take a shower and go to sleep. I’m exhausted from being up early and not having a nap before going to work. As soon as I can, I’m going to have them change my schedule. There is just no way I will be able to keep this up.
I make my way upstairs and head right to the bathroom. I take a quick shower and wrap a towel under my arms, not even bothering with brushing my hair. I pick my clothes up off the floor and head to my room without turning on the light. I toss my stuff in the direction of my closet before pulling off the towel and begin climbing into bed.
“How was work?”
I scream when I hear Kenton’s voice. I jump off the bed and run to the closet, going inside and shutting the door.
“Why are you in the closet?” Kenton asks, and I can tell that he’s laughing.
“Why are you in my bed?” I ask through the closed closet door while trying to find something to put on in the dark.
“Someone threw my bed outside.”
“Shit!” I whisper, closing my eyes. “I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs,” I tell him, pulling a hoodie on over my head.
When I open the closet door, I find a shirtless Kenton sitting on the side of the bed, wearing a pair of cut-off sweats that have seen better days. Somehow, I find the strength to pull my eyes from him and walk to my dresser, pulling out a pair of cotton Victoria’s Secret panties and slipping them on under the hoodie.
“Where is your sexy underwear?”
“What?” I ask, my face heating up from the look in his eyes.
“You know. Silk thongs, lacy shit—where are they?”
“I don’t wear those unless I have to. I would rather be comfortable,” I explain. I know that a lot of women go gaga over sexy panties, but I couldn’t care less. I hate the feeling of something crawling up my ass all day.
“I have to tell you. I have seen you in those things three times now, and all three times, that damn underwear has done more for me than any skimpy shit I’ve ever seen.”
“Can we never talk about you and what you’ve seen other women wear please?”
He smirks, his eyes running down my legs. “Come to bed.”
“No.” I shake my head, looking at the door.
“You try to sleep on the couch and I’m dragging your ass back up here to bed,” he threatens.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Afraid you won’t be able to keep your hands off me?” He smiles.
“You wish.” I roll my eyes, knowing that is the exact reason why I don’t want to get into bed with him.
“Come on, babe. I can tell you’re tired.”
I look at the bed then him. I am really tired. I open my dresser, pull out a pair of shorts, put them on, and walk over to the opposite side of the bed before getting in. I hear his laugh as he lies back down, shutting off the light. I put my back to him and close my eyes.
I’m just about asleep when I feel him put his hand around my waist, and he pulls me across the bed to him so his body curves around mine and his hand can wrap in my hair.
“What are you doing?” I ask him sleepily.
“Sleeping,” he says softly, kissing the back of my head.
I know I should get up and leave or at least put up a little bit of a fight about cuddling with him for the third night in a row, but I can’t. I feel too warm, too comfortable, and way too exhausted to fight what I’m feeling. I feel him kiss me again and his hand go a little tighter, and I’m pretty sure I hear him whisper, “She’s getting it,” as I fall asleep.
I wake up in complete darkness. My first thought is how great I feel. I have forgotten what it feels like to wake up after a good night’s sleep. It takes a second to realize that it’s pitch black in the room. I sit up quickly and look at the clock on the bedside table, and my heart starts beating out of my chest when I see that it’s four o’clock. I missed work!
I jump out of bed and run to the door, swinging it open only to be bombarded with bright daylight. I look over my shoulder into the room and see that there are now dark, wooden blinds on the windows, whereas before there were only sheer curtains. My heart, which was already beating hard, starts to beat harder. Kenton put in blinds while I was at work, knowing how little sleep I’ve been getting. That was sweet. Really sweet.
I go to the bathroom, quickly taking care of business, and then head down to the kitchen. As soon as I make it around the corner, I’m surprised to see Kenton there, wearing the same cut-off sweats he had on last night and a pair of sneakers. His head is back, his throat working vigorously while he downs a bottle of water. The ends of his hair are dripping with sweat along with his bare chest.
I stand there captivated by him; I can’t pull my eyes away no matter how hard I try. Just watching him drink water is making the space between my legs get tingly. When the bottle’s empty, he pulls it from his mouth, the back of his hand goes to his lips, and he swipes them. As soon as his head turns, his eyes land on me and a look I’m starting to become familiar with fills his eyes.
“How’d you sleep?” he rumbles.
I stand there staring at him, trying to comprehend what he just said over the lustful haze that’s filling my head.
“You put up blinds,” I say when I finally find my words and then want to smack myself for being an idiot.
“I know how tired you’ve been,” he says, his eyes going soft.
“That was very sweet, and I actually slept really great. When I woke up, I thought I’d overslept and missed work.”
His smile makes the breath catch in my throat.
“I thought you would be at work,” I tell him, trying to think of something else to say besides, “Please kiss me.”
“Yeah. I have to leave for a couple of nights. Justin has a lead for me, but my flight isn’t until after midnight, and I wanted to make sure you would be okay being here alone.”
My heart plummets. I don’t want him to leave, but I know his work is important. Plus, I would look really stupid if I were to beg him to stay. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.” I wave him off, trying to do the same with the feeling of loneliness starting to fill my chest. I’ve forgotten what that feels like; I haven’t felt it since I moved here.
He shakes his head and takes two long steps until his body is crowding mine. “I like worrying about you.”
“Why?” I ask softly, my eyes drawn to his mouth.
“Honesty, I don’t know.”
I look at him and my hands go to his chest when I feel like I might fall over from the heat in his eyes.
“What I do know is I want this”—his finger presses lightly into my chest above my heart—“more than I’ve wanted anything, and that right there tells me everything I need to know.”
“Oh,” I breathe. The words aren’t deep or particularly meaningful, but something about the way he said it, with such sincerity, has me leaning deeper into him.
His hand goes to the back of my neck and the other around my waist. I expect him to kiss me, but instead, he just pulls my head into his naked chest and the rest of me tighter against him.
We stand there for a long time with our arms wrapped around each other. I want to ask what he’s thinking, but I’m too afraid to break the moment. Instead, I listen to the sound of his heart beating rhythmically against my ear as I memorize the thud and double beat along with the way his chest feels when it expands against my cheek. This is a moment I know I can recall the next time I need comfort.
“When I get home, we have a date.”
“Maybe.”
I smile as I hear his low growl. “I’m not even pissed that you wanna f*ck with me right now.” He pulls my head away from his chest, his hands go around my neck, and his thumbs slide under my jaw, tilting my head back. His mouth lowers and my eyes start to flutter closed. “Every time you f*ck with me, it makes me wanna f*ck you. One day, we’re going to get to a point in our relationship where you’ll say something to set me off and I’ll bend you over right where you stand and punish you for misbehaving or talking back.”
My * starts to pulse. I can feel my breathing increase, my chest meeting his on each deep inhale. He closes the gap between us, his lips touching mine. When his tongue touches my bottom lip, my eyes close and I get lost in his kiss. By the time he pulls his mouth from mine, I’ve never hated clothes more than I do right now. I have the urge to take off my sweatshirt and plaster my chest against his.
“I gotta shower,” he says, resting his forehead on mine.
“Sure.” I nod, my eyes still closed.
He chuckles and shakes his head against mine. “If you don’t wanna come shower with me, baby, you need to hop off.”
I open my eyes, seeing that my fingers have somehow gotten tangled into his hair and my legs have wrapped around his waist. I bite my bottom lip, place my hands on his shoulders, unwrap my legs, and hop down. “Sorry.” I shake my head, trying to clear my needful haze.
“Don’t apologize.” He kisses my nose then forehead. “I’ll be back down to say goodbye before I leave.”
“Okay.” I nod again.
His hand goes to his chest then runs down his abs. My eyes follow its movement until they drop lower, seeing his very apparent erection outlined through his sweats. My eyes get big and lift to his when he starts to laugh.
“Jesus, you’re cute.” He shakes his head, running a hand down his face. “I gotta go before you end up on the counter.” His voice sounds deeper than normal, and I nod again. “Baby, you gotta move,” he says, his hands fisting at his sides.
My gaze drops to his hands before shooting back up to his eyes when he growls. I don’t know what’s going on, but I immediately step aside so he can get out of the kitchen. I watch him walk away, his head bent as he mumbles something under his breath.
“Coffee,” I whisper to myself.
*
I pull up to the house, seeing a strange car parked out front. My pulse starts to speed up as I wonder who it could be. Kenton messaged me when I was at work, letting me know that he had arrived at his destination safely. I didn’t ask where he was; I figured that, if he wanted me to know, he would tell me. I worry that he’s in danger, and maybe his leaving has something to do with my situation. I don’t want him hurt because of me, but I trust that he knows what he’s doing. After all, he’s been doing it for years without incident.
I slowly pull into the driveway, trying to angle the car in case I need to make a quick escape. As soon as I’m able to see the front porch, I spot Justin sitting on the top step with a black duffel bag at his side and his head bent towards his phone. His head comes up when I get out of the car and slam the door.
“Hey ya, roomie,” he says, giving me a goofy smile.
“Roomie?” I ask, looking at the bag next to him and then noticing the sleeping bag he has along with it.
“Yep. Boss man told me to stay here with you,” he says, pointing a finger at me while standing. “I’m here until he gets home.”
“That’s not necessary.” I start shaking my head frantically. Justin seems like a nice kid, but I’m not sure I can deal with him for more than a few minutes without wanting to strangle him.
“Aw, come on! It’s going to be a great time. If you’re nice, I’ll let you paint my nails. I even brought my own color,” he says, pulling a bottle of black nail polish out of his pocket.
“I’m not painting your nails,” I huff out, wondering why the hell he would be carrying it around with him in the first place.
“Okay, you don’t have to. I can do it myself.” He shrugs, putting the bottle back in his pocket before bending down to pick up his bags.
“You don’t need to stay here,” I repeat.
“Have you met my boss?” He raises an eyebrow. “He is scary. If he calls and says, ‘Justin, I need you to stay with Autumn until I get home,’ I say, ‘Okay, no problem, boss man.’”
“No offense, but I think I’m just as safe alone as I would be with you. Actually, I think I’m better off on my own. If you’re here, I have to worry about both of us.”
“You should never judge, sweet cheeks. I was a sniper. I know how to kill someone with one finger, and I guarantee nothing will happen to you while I’m here.”
Wow, okay. Didn’t see that coming. So I’m probably safer with him, but I still don’t want him here. “I think I should call Kenton,” I tell him, pulling out my cell.
“He’s gone to ground,” he singsongs.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he is unavailable until he’s available.”
“But what if you need to talk to him? What if I need to talk to him?”
“If there’s an emergency and he needs to get back here, there’s a code,” he says conspiratorially.
“What’s the code?” I ask, watching as he pulls out a set of keys from his pocket, opening the front door.
“No way, sweet cheeks. You don’t need to know the code.”
“What is it?” I put my hands on my hips, glaring at him.
“I can’t tell ya.” He shrugs, stepping into the house, and as soon as he’s inside, he turns, grabs my arm, and drags me with him. “Now, boss man said I have to be on my best behavior and to not say anything stupid or try anything on you…unless I want to see what it feels like to be neutered. I thought that was taking things a little too far, but he didn’t feel the same.” He smiles, walking into the living room to set his bags down. “Also, I’m sorry to say you’re going to have to keep your hands to yourself and control the urge to molest me.” He flexes his arms, and I close my eyes and groan.
“I’ll try to control myself,” I say, opening my eyes, wondering if there is a way out of this. I’m going to kill Kenton.
“That would be appreciated. I wish things were different, but I like my balls just the way they are. Plus, I don’t think you want to explain to my mom why I can’t give her grandchildren.”
Oh, God. Maybe I should make a move on him to save the world from him reproducing. “I need to go to bed,” I tell him, shaking my head.
“I’ll be here.” He pulls out some kind of gaming console from his bag and sets it on the coffee table. Then he pulls out a controller and some wires, but what I don’t see are clothes.
I watch him for a few minutes as he connects the system to the TV, and after he has everything hooked up, he sits down on the couch, pulls out a pair of headphones that have a mic, puts them on, and then turns on the game.
The second it loads, the loud sound of guns firing fills the room and men wearing camo appear on the screen. I look at the TV then at Justin and shake my head before leaving the room. I don’t care if Kenton has gone to ground; I need to text him to let him know that I’m going to kill him when he gets home. Then I need to go to bed. I go upstairs, pull out my phone, and send Kenton a text.
Me: I hope you make it home safely so I can kill you when you get here.
I press send then bite my lip, wondering if I should apologize. I know he has my best interest at heart, but I do not want a babysitter. I toss my phone on the bed, grab some clothes from the dresser, and make my way across the hall to shower. When I get back to my room, I go directly to my phone and press the button, seeing that I got a text back.
Kenton: Sweet dreams, baby.
That’s it? He didn’t even address my threat. I huff out a breath, shake my head, toss the phone onto the bed, and pick it right back up to send another text.
Me: Ditto.
I hit send then feel stupid, wondering if I should’ve just left it alone.
I wake up in complete darkness for the second morning in a row. My first thought is Kenton. I miss not having him hold me. I don’t know how it’s possible to miss sleeping with someone after only having it for a few nights, but I do. I stretch out and look at the clock. It’s three thirty. I need to get up, send some e-mails, and pay a few bills before I have to get ready for work.
I got an e-mail back from Sid the other day, and I could tell even through e-mail that he was upset I hadn’t called him. Link also told me that I should try not to have too much contact with anyone in Vegas. He’s worried I could somehow be tracked. I think this is a little over the top, but what do I know?
I don’t miss home as much as I thought I would. I really don’t miss my old life at all. I know that Link can tell that I’m thinking about moving to Tennessee. The last time I spoke with him, he told me that he would be willing to have my stuff packed up and sent out to me if that’s what I want. The idea of making this my permanent home is exciting and scary. I just want to make the right choice.
I get out of bed and pull on a pair of sweats before opening my door. The first things I hear are explosions and yelling coming from the living room below. I slept for over eight hours, and I wonder if Justin sat downstairs playing that game the whole time. Then I wonder how the hell he’s supposed to ‘look out for me’ when he probably wouldn’t hear if someone were to break down the front door.
“I made coffee!” Justin yells over the TV as soon as I make it to the bottom landing. I wonder how the hell he heard me when the stairs didn’t even squeak. “Told you—you are safe with me,” he teases loudly as soon as I finish my thought.
I shake my head and walk into the living room, seeing that the whole space is covered with food wrappers and open bottles of soda. I have no idea how he consumed so much food in such a short amount of time. I take a seat next to him on the couch, pull a bag of Doritos from the coffee table to my lap, shove my hand in the bag, pull out a handful, and stuff my face.
“What game is this?” I ask through a mouthful while watching a guy get his head blown off.
“Call of Duty,” he mumbles. “These f*ckers are campin’!” he shouts into the mic while the guy on the screen looks around him, trying to find whoever is shooting at him.
Before I know it, I’m yelling at the TV every time Justin gets shot at. I get so lost in the game that I don’t even realize how late it is until I look at the clock and see that it’s already after eight at night and I haven’t done anything with my day besides eat junk food and lie on the couch.
“I gotta get ready for work,” I tell Justin.
He grunts and nods. I get up and go to the office to get online. After I pay my bills, I check my e-mail, and the first one is from Sid.
Angel,
There is so much I should have told you, so many things I should have said. I want to hear your voice. Please call me. My number hasn’t changed.
XX Sid
I close my eyes and lay my forehead against the desk. I do not want to deal with this, but I know I need to let Sid know that there’s nothing between us and never will be. I feel bad, but I know I’ll feel worse if I let him believe even for a second that I felt anything for him.
“What’s going on?”
I lift my head and look at Justin, who is standing in the open doorway of the office.
“Nothing.”
“It’s something,” he says, coming in and setting a cup of coffee down on the desk in front of me as he takes a seat and raises an eyebrow.
“Thanks.” I take a drink of the coffee and sigh with happiness.
“So, what’s going on?” he repeats, and I know there is no way he is going to let it go.
“My old boss sent me an e-mail and wants me to call him.”
“That’s nice,” he says, leaning back in the chair.
“I think he believes there’s something between us,” I say quietly, shaking my head.
“Boss man won’t like that.” He smiles, rubbing his eyes.
“Kenton won’t care.”
“I beg to differ, sweet cheeks.” He shrugs. “I’ve known Kenton for a long time and have seen plenty of women come and go—”
“I don’t want to know this,” I cut him off, feeling a ball of jealousy beginning to form in the pit of my stomach.
“Do you want to know how many times I came to stay when Cassie was living here and Kenton went out of town?”
“No.”
“Do you want to know how many times he asked the guys to swing by her job to check on her or any of the other women he’s been with?”
“No,” I repeat again, that warm feeling settling in.
“Do you know how many women he’s become possessive over?”
“No,” I whisper.
“The answer to all of the above is zero. You are the first woman to have him tied in f*cking knots, and I know you’re going to say it’s because he’s looking out for you, but I guaran-f*cking-tee it that’s not the reason.”
“Please don’t say anything else,” I mumble.
“Why are all women the same?” He shakes his head, running a hand through his long hair. “Women are always talking about how men are so afraid to commit when the truth is you guys send the most f*cking confusing signals. One minute, you want us, and the next, you’re running away.”
I raise an eyebrow and he shakes his head again.
“E-mail your boss and let him down easy. If you don’t and Kenton finds out about him, he will let him know and won’t be nice about it.”
“I think you’re blowing this out of proportion.”
“You think so?” He smiles and gives a small, humorless laugh. “Kenton had one of his best friends by the throat for calling you a sweet piece a few days after they saw you at the hospital. It took three dudes to pull Kenton off him. I’ve never seen him react like that over a female.”
I have no idea what to do with that information. I’m not even sure I want to know what all of that means exactly.
Justin continues. “All I’m sayin’ is whether you want to be or not, you’re his, and he won’t like your ex-boss sniffing around.”
“Did you beat the game?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“You never beat Call of Duty.” He smiles then looks out the window.
“Have you heard from him today?” I ask softly, thinking about everything he just told me and really wanting to talk to Kenton. I want to know that he’s okay. I really want him to know that I’m thinking about him and miss sleeping with him.
“Not after your text last night, though I’m surprised he messaged you back. But that only proves my point—you’re the exception.”
“You know I sent him a text?” I ask, surprised and slightly annoyed while ignoring everything else he just said.
“His phone goes thorough my computer. I get all his messages. It’s easier than waiting for him to send me the info I need. In this business, a second can mean the difference between landing a case and getting hurt.” He stands up and leans on the side of the desk.
I don’t want him hurt, so I’m glad they’re taking every precaution necessary. Then I wonder what kind of texts Kenton gets daily where he needs that kind of precaution.
“Oh God,” I whisper in horror when I realize that Justin probably saw my drunken texts to Kenton. “Do you read all his personal messages?”
He smiles and nods. “Yeah. The ones from his mom are the best.” He starts to laugh, and I can only imagine the kinds of texts Nancy sends Kenton. I’m sure they’re something like, Did you eat your vegetables? Are you taking your vitamins? Do you have clean socks and underwear?
“I like Nancy.”
“She likes you too,” he says softly, making me wonder what he knows.
I look away and try to swallow the lump in my throat.
“I’m gonna go back out and finish my game while you send your e-mail.”
“Sure.” I try to smile, but I know that it’s one that doesn’t meet my eyes. I wiggle the mouse around until the screen lights back up and press reply on Sid’s e-mail.
Sid,
I don’t want you to think that I haven’t appreciated you or your friendship over the last few years. I also don’t want you to think that I don’t care about you, but I don’t think we have anything else to talk about.
I wish you all the best,
Autumn
I press send and hope that he understands. I know he may think that he cares about me or wants a relationship with me, but I’ve had a front-row seat to Sid’s dating life over the last few years, and if he really wanted something serious with me, I doubt he would’ve paraded all of those women in front of me.
I close down the computer and yell to Justin as I’m passing the living room that I’m going to get ready for work. He says something back that I don’t really understand due to the loud sounds coming from the TV.
*
Kenton
“F*ck, man. Good to see you,” Link says as soon as he spots me when I exit the airport.
I pull him in for a one-armed hug and pat him on the back, and he does the same before we separate. He pops the trunk for his SUV. I toss my duffel bag in and then walk around and climb into the passenger’s seat.
“I wish you were here under different circumstances,” he says, running a hand over his head and using the other to start up the car.
“Me too, brother.” I pull out my phone and see a message from Justin letting me know that he’s at the house and Autumn is home safe from work. I don’t think it’ll be long before she messages me, telling me off about Justin being there.
“The police really wanted to call Autumn, but I told them she’s in Europe and I would get a message to her as soon as possible,” Link says.
“F*ck,” I clip. “I don’t want her to know her place was broken into.”
Yesterday, while I was still wrapped around her in bed, Justin called and woke me up to tell me that Link had been trying to get ahold of me to let me know that Autumn’s condo had been broken into. I didn’t want her to know what was going on, but I needed to see for myself if I could find out what had gone down and if the break-in had anything to do with the shooting at the club.
“Chances are the two things are completely separate. Someone probably noticed that her place has been empty for a while and wanted to see if they could find anything worth pawning,” Link deduces.
Those are my thoughts too, but I’m not going to chance it. I know the local PD is trying to find out what’s going on, but they’re taking way too f*cking long. “I’m not leaving this shit to chance. While I’m here, I need to see the tapes from the night of the shooting.”
“They’re at the club,” he says, pulling onto the highway. “Sid’s there tonight. He’ll let you look them over. I figure you can sleep for a while, and then we can head to the club later.”
“Sounds good.”
We drive in silence for a few minutes, and I know that he’s dying to ask about Autumn. I’m just waiting for him to say something, hoping it doesn’t piss me off when he does.
“How’s Autumn?”
I smirk, looking over at him. “A pain in my ass.”
“She got to you, didn’t she?” he asks softly, tapping his thumbs on the top of the steering wheel.
“Yeah, man.” I shake my head. “She’s not what I expected.”
“She’s thinkin’ about movin’ to Tennessee.”
“I know,” I reply, feeling a hint of jealousy that she talked to Link about it.
“Don’t hurt her, man. She’s a good woman,” he says.
I feel a growl start to vibrate my chest. I know there’s never been anything between them, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t piss me right the f*ck off that he feels like he can look out for her.
“Don’t,” I say, hoping he gets it.
“There’s a lot you don’t know.”
“I know she has a sadness inside her that she tries to fight, but it’s so deep that she gets lost in it and has a hard time finding her way out. I know she freaks when she’s tickled and has a hard time letting people in. I know she has a boy she lost, and the loss still haunts her. But I also know that she smells like flowers, loves to be held even if she denies it, is cute as f*ck when she’s angry, and is funny as hell when she lets down her walls. I may not know everything, but I know enough that I want to know more,” I tell him, hoping he gets that this isn’t some passing f*ck to me.
I also hope that he understands that, yes, he may know more than I do, but she is mine to worry about now. I don’t like explaining myself to people, but I want him to comprehend that she is not a conquest; she is mine, and I take looking out for her very seriously.
“When she’s ready for me to know everything, she will open up to me.”
“Right,” he replies, no sarcasm to be found in his tone.
“Tell me about Sid.” I know that Autumn worked for him, but I don’t know what kind of man he is or if he keeps his business on the up-and-up.
“He’s a good dude. I’ve known him for the last five years. He’s good to the girls at the club, always willing to help them out.” He pauses and takes a breath. “He has a soft spot for Autumn.”
“Have they had a relationship?” I grit out.
“Autumn doesn’t date. Sid’s been tryin’ to get in there for years, but she hasn’t ever clued in or returned any of his feelings.”
That makes me feel somewhat better about meeting him, but it doesn’t mean I want to sit back and have a beer with the guy. “Do you think he was in on what went down?”
“Nah. He wouldn’t put anyone in that kind of danger. He knew three of the men who came into the club for the meeting, but the fourth was not someone he planned for. From what I understand, the fourth man was a guy by the name of Terry Waters. He was the owner of two of the largest strip clubs in Vegas. The police had been working on building a case against him for sex trafficking and prostitution.”
“Jesus.” I shake my head, wondering what the f*ck to do with this information.
“They think he was the target,” Link explains, and I see that his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
“So the rest were just casualties?”
“Basically.” He shrugs.
My phone beeps and I click my messages, seeing that it’s from Autumn. I smile before I even read her message. I know she’s pissed about Justin being there, but I want to make sure she’s safe while I’m out of town and don’t want her at home alone. I don’t think the shooter has any clue where she is, but I know that Cassie is still on a rampage. The good news is that, as soon as Cassie gets my message from Finn, she will no longer be an issue, but until things get sorted, I don’t want her f*cking with Autumn while I’m gone, especially after I found out that she’s the one who posted the video of Autumn on YouTube after they’d been at the same club.
Am I pissed that Autumn was letting some guy do body shots off her? Hell yes, but I know she was completely smashed when it happened. I also acknowledge that she never had a chance to experience that kind of thing before. Do I wish it had been me licking salt off her tight, little body? F*ck yes, I do, but I know only me and my mouth will be allowed to touch her from now on.
I look at the message from her and laugh before quickly replying. We pull up to Link’s apartment and I realize that I’m f*cking beat from the last few days. Autumn’s schedule has mine all f*cked up.
A few minutes later, I’m already toeing off my boots, ready to collapse on his guest bed, when he tells me from the doorway, “I have some shit to take care of, but I’ll be back later, and we can head to the club then.”
“Sure, man. Thanks,” I tell him. Then I listen as he walks down the hallway and shuts the front door. I pull out my phone, see that she replied with one word—Ditto—and smile and close my eyes.
“Sid, this is Kenton. Kenton, this is Sid,” Link introduces us later that night.
I look Sid over, and the first thing I notice is how put together he is. I imagine that he spends more time getting ready than most women do. His suit is tailored, his hair is combed over to the side, each piece styled just right, and his fingernails even look manicured.
“Nice to meet you.” He sticks out his hand and I grasp it with one of mine, giving him a firm shake.
“You too.” I nod, looking around inside the club, understanding from the decor where it got the name The Lion’s Den.
“Kenton needs to see the tapes from the night of the shooting,” Link says, bringing me back to the conversation.
“You working with the police?” Sid asks, looking me over.
“Kenton’s the friend I was tellin’ you about,” Link informs him, and Sid’s eyes come back to me.
“You think you can find the shooter?”
“I’ll do what I can.” My main concern is Autumn and keeping her safe. I don’t care about any of the other shit.
“Follow me.”
We walk down a long hall and into a dark office, where there is a large desk in the center of the room and large computer monitors lining one wall.
“We didn’t get the guy on tape. He avoided all the cameras in the building and the two outside.” He starts up the tapes from the night of the shooting.
There are no shots of the man in question, but there are images of Autumn running through the club, and even through the grainy images, I can see the terror on her face. “Where were the bouncers?”
“Two were out front and one was at the door,” Sid answers.
“Did they see the shooter?” I ask, looking at the different screens to pinpoint the security on duty.
“No.” He shakes his head then looks at the screen paused on a picture of Autumn.
“How did he get the drinks that were being delivered to the private party?”
“That’s something we haven’t been able to figure out. The bar registered and filled the drink orders but never had them delivered.”
“So someone who works for you was in on it?” I ask, trying to get him to see that he can’t trust anyone right now.
“I’m not sure,” he says, running a hand down his face. “I want to say I trust everyone who works for me, but unfortunately, I can’t.”
“I’m gonna need to talk to the other bouncers,” I state.
“Both the guys who worked that night are on now. You can use my office,” he offers.
“Thanks,” I tell him before he heads out of the room to bring the guys back.
“What are you thinking?” Link asks.
“How well do you know the guys who were on that night?” I ask instead.
“We’re friendly, but not friends,” Link says as I lean against the side of the desk, looking at the still image of Autumn.
I hate that she’s involved in this shit. I don’t like the idea of someone on the inside being involved in what went down. That means that they know who she is—and possibly where she is.
“My guess is that one of them has something to do with the shooter being a ghost. Have you told anyone where Autumn is?”
“Hell no.” Link shakes his head, his eyes coming back to me. “I haven’t even told Sid that information. He told me he e-mailed her and she wrote back, but she didn’t let him know where she was.”
That makes me feel marginally better, but I still don’t like the idea of her being in contact with the guy. “When the guys come in, we’re going to play it cool. I’m going to ask some questions about what went down and see if they have any leads for me. Most of the time, when someone is involved in something like this, they try to make up for their sins by overly playing the good guy.”
“I’ll follow your lead,” Link says, and he does just that. He’s the guys’ source of familiarity and comfort.
It doesn’t take long for me to figure out that Mick is hiding something. After about twenty minutes, I thank them for their time and let them know that I will be around if they remember anything else. As soon as the office door closes, I look at Link, who shakes his head and closes his eyes.
“I’m gonna let Sid know we’re out.”
“I’ll meet you outside.” I head out the front of the club and pull out my phone to send a quick text to Justin to let him know what’s going on. With this new development, I’m going to need his skills to pull up some info on Mick.
About an hour later, Link and I are in his home office, sorting through the information we obtained at the club, when I receive Justin’s email.
“What does it say?” Link asks, looking over my shoulder at the report Justin sent me on Mick.
“From what Justin was able to find, old Mickey-boy has been having money problems. He was three months behind on his rent, had about ten thousand dollars worth of credit card debt, and took a title loan out on his car in the amount of two thousand bucks. Two weeks before things went down at the club, he deposited thirty thousand dollars cash into his account. Did he say anything about hitting the lotto or winning at the casino?” I spin the chair around and lean back.
“Nah, he never said anything like that,” he mumbles.
“If he had, would he brag about it?”
“Mick?” He nods. “Hell yes, he would brag about it.”
“Looks like we need to have another talk with him.” I shake my head and look up at the ceiling. After letting out a long sigh, I stand and we head out to Link’s SUV.
We park across the street from Mick’s place and wait for him to show up. About two hours after we arrive, he pulls into the driveway, and Mick and a stumbling blonde get out of his car and start heading inside. I get out of the truck and slam the door closed, and when Mick turns in my direction, even in the dark I can see his eyes widen when he spots me and Link walking across the street.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, taking a step back towards his closed door.
“Darlin’, you’re gonna need to call a cab,” I tell the blonde.
She nods, pulls her phone out of her purse, and starts walking away without saying a word.
“What are you doing here?” Mick repeats, watching his date walk to the end of his driveway.
“Open the door. We need to talk.”
“I’m not letting you in.” He looks at Link then back at me and swallows.
“You can either open the door and we’ll talk about this shit inside, or you don’t open the door and I call the cops, tell them what I know, and we can see what they think. What do you think they’ll say when I tell them you deposited thirty grand cash into your account? Do you think they will wonder how a bouncer at a club was able to get that kind of dough?” I ask, creeping closer to him, watching him swallow thickly again. “Link, you’re cool with the local PD, right?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him.
“I have a few friends on the force,” he replies, pulling out his phone.
“We can talk inside,” Mick mumbles, pulling out his key and opening the door.
As soon as we get inside, I notice that everything is new, from his couch to his kitchen appliances.
“Nice place,” Link voices loud enough for me to hear.
“Can we get this over with?” Mick says, walking into the kitchen. He grabs a beer from the fridge, holds one out to me, and then offers one towards Link.
I shake my head, and Link does the same.
“Let’s talk about how you got thirty thousand dollars,” I say to start.
“I won at the casino.” He shrugs, looking away.
“You don’t want to lie to me.” I take a step towards him while blocking the kitchen exit. “Now tell me how you got the thirty grand.”
“I can’t tell you that.” He retreats as I take another step towards him. “You don’t understand, man.” His head drops forward, his hand going through his hair. “These dudes are f*cking scary… A lot f*cking scarier than you. They’ll kill me.”
“You’re right. They will, but they’ll probably do that anyways.” I lean back slightly and pull out my phone from my back pocket so I can bring up the message from Justin. “The men you’re protecting are part of Lacamo, one of the biggest crime families in the United States. You mean nothing to them.” I show him the email with a sketch of the suspect along with a picture of one of the most notorious Mob hit men, who matches the sketch perfectly. “I’m guessing you have no real understanding of what you’ve done.”
“I didn’t know what was going to happen.” His face pales as he looks over the pictures.
“Have you told them about Autumn?”
He shakes his head, but his eyes don’t come back to me. Fury fills my veins as I realize the kind of danger my woman’s in now.
“You piece of shit,” I growl, shoving him into the counter. My hand goes around his neck and I can feel his pulse beating against my fingertips. I know that, if I squeeze his throat a little tighter, one less a*shole will be breathing. “You’re gonna tell me exactly what you told them and how you get in contact with them.”
“I only told them her name,” he chokes out, my hand going tighter. “I never told them anything else about her, I swear.” His nails claw against my hand and his feet skid against the floor, trying to get leverage.
Link’s hand on my arm is the only thing that stops me from killing the f*cker where we stand. I take a step back while shoving him away. I run a hand through my hair, trying to compose myself enough to think of my next move.
“Call in your friend from the local PD and tell them to pick up this piece of shit,” I say, looking over at Link.
“I told you what you wanted to know. Please don’t call the cops,” Mick whines.
I turn my head in his direction and he lowers his eyes. “As much as I want to leave you here and let you get what you deserve, you may be the only one who can stop these sick f*cks, so that means I need to keep your punk ass safe until this shit’s taken care of.” I scrub a hand over my mouth as Link makes a call to his friend.
It takes two hours to get everything settled with the cops and Mick to be taken into custody. When we leave the local precinct, we make a plan to go to Autumn’s condo to have a look around. Once inside, I can tell that the person who broke in wasn’t looking for shit to pawn. Everything that has any value is still here. The only things gone through are papers, which tells me that whoever broke in was looking for information.
“Nothing here will point them to Tennessee,” Link says, shoving a stack of papers into the desk.
“True, but she needs to change her number and stop using her e-mail. I don’t want whoever this is to have any way to track her down.”
“You gonna tell her what’s going on?” he asks quietly.
“I don’t have a choice.” I look around again before walking over and opening her balcony door.
The sun is just starting to set over the mountains, causing an orange-and-red glow to fill the horizon. After taking a seat in one of her deck chairs, I pull out my phone and send a text to Justin, telling him the latest development. Then I send a message to Autumn, letting her know what time my flight would arrive so she would be dressed and ready to go out. I also tell her to make sure to wear the red lipstick she wore to the club.
Just thinking about how she looked that night causes my cock to jump. I need to see how f*cking long it would take to kiss that red off her mouth. Looking out at the sunset again, I can’t help but smile. I’m not buying a new bed for my room until she’s willing to help me pick it out and share it with me. Until I can convince her to move into my room, we will be staying in hers. I look down at my phone when it beeps.
Justin: Autumn is safe in bed. I’m running a cross-check on the names you sent. As soon as I know anything, I’ll send you the info.
I know Justin is a good kid, but I still hate that he’s there with her right now instead of me, even if I’m the one who ordered him to. I beat back the jealousy I feel and focus on what I need to do next.
Me: I get back tomorrow. Cancel all her e-mails/accounts and change her number. Now.
Justin: Already on it.
I look over my shoulder when I hear Link come out. I know he’s gonna want to know my next move, but until I get more info, my hands are tied.
“You good?” he asks, taking a seat across from me.
“Yeah.” I lean back, closing my eyes. “I need to make a few calls and see if I can get some info from a friend of mine before I head home.”
“I don’t envy you right now, man,” Link says.
I open one eye, look at him, and smirk. A pissed-off Autumn is a thing of beauty, and she’s going to be riled as hell when I get home.