Chapter Twenty-One
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Kase
Lars had a crazy temper. He fought a lot, which landed his ass in jail. Once he was in, he had no problems throwing down when needed. Between him and Nox, dudes rarely fucked with us.
No one wants go knuckles with a guy that likes the fight.
Even at Wicked, security bounced the assholes, but Lars often followed and roughed them up.
Seeing him with a gun, I hoped he could keep his control until we got answers.
With some reluctance he handed the DoubleTap to Jake, muttering, “So I’m not tempted to shoot the pathetic fucker.” He jerked his head, gesturing to me. “Don’t let him get it, either.”
“Lars. Cousin—” Eddie tried before Lars backhanded him so hard he flew from his seat.
Gripping him by his collar, Lars pulled Eddie up and all but threw him back onto his chair. “You lost the right to call me cousin when you tried to use my business as your own personal pussy palace. You were dead to me when you tried to fuckin’ ruin it and my reputation. Now you’re just dead.”
Fear and remorse mixed on Eddie’s face. Dickhead that he was, he pushed the feelings aside and let his ego do the talking. “Not my fault you were too stupid to see the chances you could’ve had. And if I’m dead anyway,” he scoffed, clearly not believing the words, “then I’ll just keep my mouth shut. I’m no fuckin’ snitch, and you won’t do shit.”
“I will,” Lars growled, his harsh voice firm and set enough to make Eddie visibly swallow. “And fuck, do I want to. But it’s not my place.” He walked over to the big fuckers in the corner, but turned to me, giving me a chin lift.
I tapped into my fear and anger, letting my temper take over. Turning to face Eddie, I stretched my neck and shook out my shoulders. “Where’s my woman?”
Eddie leaned back in his chair. “The snotty, redheaded bitch?” He shrugged. “No clue.”
Moving quicker than he expected, my fist connected with his eye. It instantly started to swell.
“Where?” I repeated.
“How would I—”
I swung again, catching his jaw with a loud crack. Blood sprayed from a gash on his lip as he fell to the concrete floor.
“Man, I’m not fuckin’ around,” I growled. When Eddie didn’t say anything, I looked back to Lars. “Fuck it, he doesn’t know shit and I’m not going near a bleeding junkie. Shoot him.”
Wobbling as he stood, Eddie held his hands up. “Lars, you can’t—”
“You heard him,” Lars said with a shrug.
One of the men cocked his gun, the sound echoing. The metallic tinge of blood mixed with the strong ammonia scent of urine that Eddie had dripping down his legs.
“Nash!” he yelled, the name making the room go wired.
People moved, but my focus stayed on Eddie as I got into his face. “What about him?”
“He’s got an interest in her.”
“Call him.”
“I can’t.” I grabbed his shirt and pulled my fist back, but he rushed on. “No, I really can’t. All lines of communication have been closed, man. Numbers don’t work, he won’t see me. I’m in the dark as much as you.”
Releasing him with a hard shove, I turned to Lars. “Nox?”
“He’s not answering. But sitting in the basement is fuckin’ with my signal. I’m heading up.”
As he made his way to the door, I put my hand on Lars’ shoulder. “I know what family means to you, so if you wanna get him out—”
Lars looked at Eddie as he spoke. “Family doesn’t drag you down and try to hold your head under to push themselves up. He’s not family.” His tone wasn’t harsh or emotional. It was factual, like he was saying the sky was blue. “Nox’ll make it quick. Nash’ll draw it out and make it painful. Or the fuckin’ garbage he let seep into the blood we used to share will make it torturous. Whatever way, he’s dead. And that’s on him.”
Without another word, he headed up the stairs, Jake and I following after.
“Go catch up with Pipe,” I told Jake, uncomfortable with how deep this shit was going.
He shook his head. “No. Edge shut Voodoo down and she’s safe there.”
“She’d be safer with you there.”
Indecision flashed across his face before he shook his head. “She’s good.”
I remembered telling him basically the same thing when she was in the arms of our own Benedict Arnold traitor. Twistedly obsessed, Z had threatened her and hurt her in his sick attempt to keep her.
Jake knew that Piper wouldn’t leave him unless something was wrong. I’d tried to convince him to give her time, and if he’d have listened…
It haunted me.
“Go.” The suggestion was gone from my voice. “She might be safe, but you know she’s scared as fuck.”
Torn, he looked between Lars and me. “You sure?”
“No reason to hang around when we’ve got jack shit to go on. I’ll call as soon as we know something, and it’s a short drive back here.”
Giving me a chin lift, he ordered, “Call.”
When the door closed behind him, Lars looked at me. “You really gonna call him?”
“Nope,” I replied instantly, feeling not even an ounce of guilt about lying. He was my brother, my family, and I’d be fuckin’ damned if I was gonna put him in harm’s way.
“You sure? ‘Cause Nox just texted that he’s on the trail of something, and it might not be good.”
*******
Harlow
“Nash.”
At Rick’s one word, I felt the spider of dread and fear crawl back up my spine. The already dismal amount of hope I had swirled the drain.
“Ahh,” he said, sitting up. “You remember him. ‘Cause he sure as hell remembers you.”
This is bad.
No, wait…
This is really fuckin’ bad.
“How does she know Nash?” David stepped forward, speaking for the first time since we arrived. Since he was talking about me like I wasn’t right in front of him, it pissed me off.
Well, more than I already was.
“She tried to get a job at Nash.” Rick’s eyes lit as he watched David’s reaction to the mention of the strip club. “Not that he wasn’t already aware of her. He’d had eyes on her before she strutted her sweet ass in for an application.”
Already pale, David began to look green. “Application?” He looked at me like he was gearing up for a fatherly lecture. “Harlow, you didn’t—”
“Oh, yeah, like you have room to judge,” I snapped.
Rick chuckled. “She’s got you there.”
I lowered my brows, trying to piece everything together. “Does Nash want me to work for him? Because I left Wicked.”
“Wicked?” David breathed, his expression horrified. For all the bad that could be said against him, and there was a lot, he always did treat me like a daughter.
I ignored him, focusing on Rick. “Am I supposed to dust off the stilettos and G-strings?”
“You actually think your man would let you?” he asked.
“Since he doesn’t control me, it doesn’t matter what he says.”
Again, my response seemed to please him. He studied my face carefully. “He’s looking for his drugs.”
The sudden switch in conversation threw me. “Whose?”
“Nash’s. And since your former boss and your man did time together, he’s connecting the dots and the picture they’re forming isn’t a good one. How else could a mechanic afford that house?” At my look of surprise, he smiled. “We did a lot of digging.”
Kase had a shit ton of money. I wasn’t sure how much he had total, but I’d caught some glimpses of his bank account.
He’d gotten a large inheritance from his parents’ death. And since Willa hadn’t met their stipulations to get her full amount, he got a lot of hers, too.
He wasn’t Scrooge McDuck diving into a room full of gold coins, but he also wasn’t far from it.
It never mattered to me. I worked, busting my ass at the bar to make good tips. I paid when I picked up dinner or went shopping. We just kind of let things fall naturally, and rolled with it.
Like me, though, Kase worked hard at Hyde. Jake kept the shop on the small side, but they did a lot of costly work. They all made good money because Jake paid them well, but since Kase was his second in command, his salary was well above decent. With the level of skill and intricacy he brought to the job, he earned every cent of it.
Staying guarded, I downplayed my knowledge of Kase’s finances. “I dunno. He’s lived there for years.”
“Yeah, shortly after he did time for possession with intent.”
Well, aren’t you a thorough douchebag?
Reaching into his suit coat, my breath caught until I saw him pull out his phone. “It’s not a big jump to assume he’s still at it. The house is one thing. But the cars?”
“He works at a garage and gets deals.”
“The boat? The ring?”
Even if I tried, there was no hiding my reaction. My eyes widened, stomach dipping and fluttering. My carefully controlled thoughts began to race again.
His eyes dropped to my hand. “Of course, I’m guessing that wasn’t for you.”
I bit my cheek, fighting my curiosity.
“Months ago,” Rick said, answering my unanswered question. “He bought it months ago.”
All my thoughts crashed and burned on the track, leaving me at a loss.
I wasn’t starting Pinterest boards dedicated to becoming Mrs. Teo, but I figured a wedding was somewhere in our future.
And I was super down with it.
But he’d never even mentioned marriage. Family was crazy important to him, and he wanted his own. I’d just naturally assumed getting married fit into that.
Holy hell, he bought me a ring? Months ago?
His ego is even bigger than I gave him credit for.
I tried to contain my excitement. For all I knew, Rick was lying out his stupid face.
Returning to the imminent topic, I said, “I don’t know anything about drugs.”
“We figured.” Rick tapped the edge of his cell on his thigh. “But Nash thinks Teo does.”
“Where is Nash?” David asked, his obvious unease, and sweat stains, growing.
“Waiting on my call. We need a complete picture, not an unfinished dot-to-dot.”
With a hesitant nod, David resumed his silent stance in the corner.
Fighting the urge to throw something at David, I looked back at Rick. “How would Kase have anything of Nash’s?”
“Because David had them. Then Teo and his trailer trash buddies spent some time at his house, and, poof, they’re gone. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist.”
My dad used to tell me that I got a new freckle every time I let my fiery temper out.
Feeling my anger rise at Rick’s condescending and douchey words, it was lucky my skin wasn’t just red.
Rick watched my mood turn, my hatred unable to be disguised or hidden. The small bit of warmth he’d shown me disappeared as his muscles tensed and lip curled up. “You really wanna stick—”
“You had drugs in my house?” I yelled at David, transferring all, instead of just some, of my fury to him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rick sit back to enjoy the show.
“Harlow—” David started, holding up his hands like that would magically placate me.
“Where my little sister lives?” I shot up off the couch, almost tripping on my heels. “You know how Hadley likes to get into things!”
Guilt covered his face, his shoulders slumping. “They were in child proof bottles.”
“Since when is anything child proof for her?” His words clicked together, penetrating my mind. “When did these go missing? Was it the couple bottles I threw out a while ago?”
Rick’s attention shot to David, but he shook his head. “Those were mine. I have a lot of trouble sleeping—”
I glared at him, cutting off his stupid excuse. “I took some of those!”
Holy shit, Kase was right.
I’d been high.
I never even got to eat brownies or have the munchies or see what music synched up with The Wizard of Oz.
“I’m sorry,” David said. “And I learned my lesson, I didn’t keep them inside after that.”
“Then where? In the sandbox? Did you bury your stash in my backyard?”
He rubbed his palm down his face. “In the garage, but I had them all spread out. Hadley rarely—”
“It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t go in there much, she still did. I was kicking my own ass about all the dangerous garbage I found when I cleaned it out.”
Realization dawned and the room grew quiet.
Eerily so.
David’s eyes widened, panicked and slightly crazed. “You did what?”
“I didn’t know. I just cleaned out boxes of junk from the garage. It wasn’t labelled!” I argued stupidly, as if people color-coded and printed out lovely labels for their stashes of narcotics.
“Harlow, look at me,” Rick said, his soft voice almost pleased as he stood and moved into my space. “Did Teo and his friends go into the garage?”
I started to look around him at David, but Rick gripped my chin and forced my eyes to meet his.
“Don’t look at him, look at me. Did they?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Good.” He loosened his hold on my chin, but still kept it in his grasp. His thumb stroked across my bottom lip. “That means you threw out thousands of dollars’ worth of pills.”
Locking my knees, I tried not to fall over. My vision tunneled as the magnitude of what it all meant sank in.
I’ve seen The Wire. The Sopranos. Law and Order and all of its various spin-offs.
People get killed for a lot less money.
Rick took his sweet time, savoring my panic and pain before finally easing it slightly. “That’s not on you, baby, don’t worry. That debt has already been added onto David’s previous one.”
David made a strangled groan from the corner, though he said nothing.
Rick curled an arm around me. “Didn’t know about his debts, huh?”
I shook my head, too panicked to stiffen at his touch.
“He hit a winning streak a while back at the casinos and thought he’d push it. His luck turned. Nash was nice enough to give him a loan.”
“Which he lost,” I finished.
He nodded. “And the next one. And the next one.”
“I just wanted to be able to take care of you all,” David claimed, his voice a pathetic plea. “Your dad had so much money, and I wanted to give that kinda life to your mom.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up!” I yelled, shifting to the side so I could glare at him. “My mom doesn’t care about any of that. Don’t you try to lower her to make yourself feel better. This is on you!”
“Good news is,” Rick started, drawing my attention back to him, “this all means Nash has no issues with Teo or his buddies from the garage. Since he’s not one to start a war, they’re safe.”
Relief swam through me, loosening the tension in my body and relaxing the vice grip on my stomach.
My mood upswing plummeted when Rick continued. “But we still need collateral to make sure David pays off his notes. That’s where you come in.”
I wanted to leave David to fend for himself. And, if it were just him, I might’ve. I wasn’t proud of it, but I had no interest in playing the martyr and paying for his mistakes.
It wasn’t about the money. I scrimped and saved it, but my bank account wasn’t more important than someone’s life.
It came down to all the sleepless nights. The months I’d spent living off three hours of sleep. Working at Wicked, pushing my body and emotions to the edge of what I could handle and then going far beyond that.
I’d worked hard just so David could gamble himself into a hole he had no chance of getting out of? And I was expected to provide the rescue ladder?
No.
Fuck no.
But, with my knowledge of basic cable reruns, I had a feeling the choice wasn’t really mine. “And if I don’t help?”
Another harsh curse came from the corner.
“Don’t worry,” Rick said, his smile not at all conveying that same message. “We won’t kill him.”
Unlike the sigh of relief from the peanut gallery, I waited for the other sadistic shoe to drop.
His hold on my chin tightened again, bordering on painful. “Dead men can’t pay, so I’d be forced to go after what, and who, he loves.”
And there it is… A whole sadistic shoe store.
I mentally reviewed my bank accounts and tried to calculate the total. “How much does he owe?”
“Seventeen thousand.”
If I’d been drinking, I would’ve done a spit take. “Seventeen thousand?”
“That’s just what he owed Nash. The supply he had from me was worth another ten.”
Twenty-seven thousand dollars.
I’d been able to save a few grand, but not that much.
“Why the hell did you have ten grand worth of drugs in the garage?” I screeched at David, pulling away from Rick’s hold.
David rubbed his eyes, the strain and stress making him look much older than he was. “It wasn’t a lot, it’s just really expensive.”
“What is it? What did I take?” I ignore the turning in my stomach at the thought of how bad it could’ve been.
“It’s a trendy new variation of Oxy. A bunch of men from work take it because it makes them feel young. And the tech guys like it, so when we buy whatever they’ve developed, and they have all that extra cash…” He finished with a shrug.
“You sold drugs out of my home?” Looking around for something to throw, there was nothing. I was tempted to go ‘daytime TV’ and attack him with my heel or a chair. Instead, I inhaled deeply and looked back to Rick. “I’ll need a couple of days, but I’ll get it.”
Somehow.
“We don’t want your money.”
I raised my eyebrow, waiting.
“Nash wants to put you to work.”
“I’m a decent enough dancer, but I can’t make that kind of money in any realistic timeline.”
“He doesn’t want you to dance. He wants you to handle the more… personal side of his business.”
“No!” David yelled, shaking off his victim act. “She’s not gonna be a whore. I’ll get the money; I’ll find a way.”
As David finally found his big boy undies and tried to do the right thing, something Rick said swirled around my brain.
He only told me what Nash wanted.
I cut off whatever nonsense David was spouting. “What do you want?”
Rick’s eyes went hooded. “You.”
“No, no, no,” David repeated, stepping forward.
“Nash likes to shoot them up until their hooked, then turn them out.” Trailing his knuckles down my cheek, he let his hand rest on my throat. It wasn’t a sweet and tender touch; it was a reminder of his power. “Seems like a waste.”
“So you do want me to be a whore?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. But only for me. All that fire, that attitude? I want to break it.” He paused for moment before shrugging. “Then Nash can have you.”
I can do this. I can do this.
Swaying closer, I looked up at him through my lashes. “Submission isn’t my thing.”
His voice was husky. “And that’s what’ll make it that much sweeter when I have it.”
“This isn’t what we discussed!” David yelled, panic setting in. “Nash said either Kase would hand over the drugs or him and his buddies would pull together the cash. She was just incentive.”
“Yeah, well, he lied. Nash has the tendency to do that.” Going over to the door, Rick opened it and spoke to the guards. “Take him next door. Try to keep him alive in case she needs incentive.”
David started to bug out until a big, shiny gun was aimed at his face. After that, he trudged along quietly, not even glancing in my direction.
I seriously knew I hated him for a reason.
I wasn’t going to be a whore, personal or paid. I didn’t have the ability to be a submissive because that wasn’t my kink.
What I did have was a strong sense of self-preservation, the ability to read people, and a give-‘em-hell attitude.
I also had a sweet man who could be scary as fuck. At finding an empty house, I had no doubt that a pissed off Kase was on the warpath. My only hope was that I could successfully stall until he found me.
And I had no doubt he would.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t gonna try my hardest to get out before then.
Compartmentalize. One thing at a time and block the rest out.
Rick the Prick walked toward me, slowly stripping off his suit coat. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his pristine dress shirt. “What’s it going to be?”
I looked down and picked at my nail polish. Glancing up at him, I let a little of my fear show through before returning my attention to my hands. “I dunno.”
Using his finger under my chin, he tilted my head back. His short brown hair was playfully messy. A five o’clock shadow darkened his square jaw.
He looked like a business exec at happy hour.
Except he wasn’t happy.
His brown eyes were bitterly cold, almost emotionless. They only flared to life, warming with an aroused heat as his fingertip trailed from my chin down my throat. Resting over my beating pulse, he seemed to take pleasure in the erratic pounding.
“I’m not going to force you to stay,” he whispered. “Just if you aren’t our collateral, someone else will be. And since David isn’t close to many…”
His words caught me off guard. With the kidnapping, threatening, and armed goons, I’d kind of assumed it was a hostile situation. I hadn’t even thought to just leave.
“But I don’t have to stay?” I asked.
I wasn’t selling my mother down the river. If I was able to leave, though, I could hurry and get help. Kase could get together the money, offer it to Nash, and then maybe it would all go away.
Like Rick the Prick said, Nash didn’t want to go to war.
He shook his head. “No, but just know what that means.”
Even knowing I could and would find a way, I hesitated. I didn’t want to risk anything happening to Mom. The stress alone could hurt her.
If I stayed, she’d find out and have the same reaction. Maybe worse since she wouldn’t know why.
Without a word, I walked to the door, turned the handle, and pulled. I wasn’t all that shocked when the thing didn’t budge.
I felt Rick move in close behind me. His hands went to the frame on either side of my head, boxing me in and making me feel exactly what I was.
Trapped.
“You surprise me.” His tone was filled with disapproval. “I thought you’d give in to save others, but you barely hesitated before throwing them to the wolf.” His tone became sharp edged, his words clipped. “Is staying with me really that bad?”
I should’ve known better. With the amount of ego and arrogance the douchebag carted around, he wanted me to want to stay. At the very least, to not fight it like it was the most horrendous thing imaginable.
Which, it kinda was. But I couldn’t show him that.
Read. Adapt. Roll with it.
Boxing up my fear, anger, and frustration, I softened my expression and turned around. “I wanted to see if you’d really let me go.”
He didn’t move out of my space. “You’re willing to stay?”
I raised my shoulder, my lips tipping up in a small smile. “Maybe. I dunno.” At his look of skepticism, I continued. “Why do you think I danced? All the eyes on me, the desire?” Suppressing a skeeved out shudder, I went up on my toes and lowered my voice. “I like being wanted.”
He moved back suddenly, dropping down to sit in a nearby metal folding chair. “So dance.”
Shit, what did my big mouth get me into?
If I took off my jacket, there was no way to hide the stun gun hidden in the sleeve. It’d already inched down my arm, limiting my range of motion. I couldn’t just whip it out and attack. I wasn’t that fast. Or strong, for that matter.
Even in the guise of sexiness, I doubted he’d let me blindfold him. I wasn’t even sure he’d let me walk behind him without turning around.
I had one chance to do something, anything. I had to make the most of it.
At least I’m in a sexy dress and heels, not yoga pants and a novelty tee.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. Opening them on the exhale, I slipped my Flame mask into place.
My heels clicked across the floor, my strides long and leisurely. Swaying, I stopped in front of him. Blanking out his face, I began rolling my hips, rotating myself around as I went. Facing away, I used my available hand to push my jacket off my shoulders, letting it drape.
Let’s hope this looks provocative and teasing, and not like I’m hiding something.
Like, oh, I dunno, a stun gun.
When I lifted my arm away from my body, the stun gun slid to my wrist. I gripped the ends of my sleeves, keeping it from falling.
Repeating the shake and pivot action, I turned toward him again. My cheeks heated and my heart hurt as I spread my legs to straddle his. My dress rode up my thighs, leaving my ass hanging out. I felt exposed and nauseous. Ignoring the voice in my head that screamed at me to stop, I leaned back and shimmied, shaking my coat so it hung from my wrists.
It’s now or never.
No pressure or anything.
Everything slowed down. Each breath, each movement, each thought seemed to go in slow motion. My heart pounded in my ears, my stomach clenching painfully. One miscalculation and the plan went to hell.
Lifting my arms up, I flipped the coat over my head and his. I pulled it tight, working hard to keep my flirty smile as I gripped the stun gun with sweaty fingers. A moment of panic had my chest tightening when my fist caught at the bottom of my sleeve.
I improvised, pressing my chest into his face as I yanked my hand free.
Boobs in the face works every time.
He smiled, cold but interested, as he reached for my head to kiss me. Before he could, I prayed to the Energizer Bunny there was some juice left. Pressing the metal end to his neck, I held the small trigger down.
His body tightened, his eyes going wide. He tried to swing his arms, but his movements were slow and clumsy.
Hours.
It felt like I stood there for hours, waiting. Hoping. Holding my breath.
In reality, it was mere seconds before his eyes became unfocused and dazed. A few seconds more and he slumped to the side.
Startled, I jumped back, nearly catching myself with the stun gun in the process. I watched Rick slide to the ground in a deadweight heap, his body twitching.
Without further thought, I ran to the door. I yanked it again, but there was no give. A lock stared at me, mocking me. I tore apart the living space, searching for a key. I even grabbed the chair and stood on it, feeling around the doorframe for a spare.
Hauling ass to the back, I tried the frosted windows, but they didn’t open. I pulled off one of my shoes and hit the window with the heel. The thick plastic made a loud rattling noise but didn’t so much as crack.
He wouldn’t have locked himself in here unless he had a way out. Which means…
Glaring at him, I slowly approached. I kept the stun gun out and ready, my finger on the trigger.
The tension and anticipation of him jumping up was almost worse than if he just did it.
I nudged him with my foot until he was flat on his back. Positioning one of my heels firmly on his crotch, I bent and patted down his pockets. The right one was empty, but the left one had stuff in it.
After wiping an embarrassing amount of palm sweat onto my dress, I gripped the stun gun and prepared to get way closer to his junk than I wanted to.
No biggie. Pretend you’re a delightful pickpocketing orphan in eighteen hundred’s England. If he wakes up, just distract him with a song while you stun gun him again.
Before I could wedge my hand into his pocket, the door swung opened.
Bathed in shadows, a large man filled the doorway. Even if I wanted to attempt to sneak past him, there was no room.
Mega balls.