Chapter Eight
Rahab downed two shots of Jack Daniels before the urge to punch something hard finally abated. Meghan gave him a cautious look. “You okay?”
“No.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“At least Liz is here tonight.” She smiled. “She’ll help later, whatever is it.”
“No. She won’t.” He pushed his shot glass toward her. “One more.”
At first, he thought she was going to refuse him another drink, but finally she shrugged slightly and poured it. “What happened?”
He downed the shot. “What happened is that apparently I was nothing more than a one-night stand.”
Meghan stifled a laugh. If it had been any other woman, Rahab would have been really pissed off. But Meghan was now Phenex’s old lady, and up until Phenex had asked her to be, roughly three weeks ago, she’d been their favorite sweetbutt. Everyone adored her, and she didn’t have a mean bone in her body.
“I’m sorry, Rahab, but seriously? How many women have you fucked only one time?”
“I have no fucking idea.”
“Okay. But let’s assume it’s well into double digits, all right?”
“Likely it is.”
“Right. So again … seriously?”
“Fine. You’ve made your fucking point.”
Meghan opened her mouth to speak, but several customers came up to the bar. It was her job, after all, so Rahab left. He wandered around the club, but there weren’t many people here yet, and the first dancer wouldn’t be out for another thirty minutes.
They had been diligent about watching for people on the list Donny gave them, which included di Stefano’s men, for the past few weeks. Even though nothing had happened, Gorgon was constantly on them not to let their guard down. Rahab wandered over to the main entrance, where two prospects were checking IDs tonight.
He was supposed to be double checking them, but when Liz had shown up, he’d hoped to persuade her to stick around until the club closed so they could enjoy a repeat of last night. It was obvious, though, from her frosty reception and clipped answers, that was not going to happen. So he might as well stand here and do what he was supposed to do.
Why the hell should he care if she wasn’t interested in fucking him again? Like Meghan had said, he’d had plenty of one-night stands. Hell, he’d fucked plenty of women in the private room in the back of the club where the members went to have quick sex. She was just one more woman, after all.
Bullshit.
Yeah. Right. One more woman he’d been counting down the fucking hours today until he’d see her again. One more woman he’d gushed all over in the back hallway, and made an ass of himself in front over Donny over.
Fuck. What the hell was wrong with him?
For nearly two hours, he helped check IDs and tried like hell not to think about Liz. It almost worked. There were plenty of good-looking broads here tonight. Maybe he’d flirt with one and take her to the back room? Why the hell not? He was allowed. He didn’t owe anyone an explanation.
“Rahab?”
He turned to face the owner of the voice. Jennie was a sweetbutt they called Zipper because she liked to pull them down with her teeth. “What can I do for you, sweet thing?”
She giggled. “Um, Donny is looking for you.”
Fuck. “All right. Hey, you busy in a bit?” One thing about their sweetbutts. They could always be counted on.
His dick twitched at the look of unbridled lust she gave him. “Not too busy for you.”
“Good. Don’t go too far away.”
“You got it.”
But as he made his way to the back hallway and Donny’s office, the only naked pussy he pictured was Liz’s. Goddamn it all to fucking hell and back. He would not let this happen. He’d never gone batshit over a broad, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now.
Liz wasn’t in the office. Rahab stared at the spot where he’d left her sitting two hours ago for several seconds before he met Donny’s gaze.
“She left.”
No shit. But why hadn’t he seen her leave? He’d been on the door the whole time. “What can I do for you, Donny?”
Donny handed him a sheet of paper. “I heard you were on the door as second checker tonight. These names were given to me earlier, and I just got confirmation they’re also di Stefano’s men. I made a copy for Gorgon, but I can’t find him right now.”
“He’s upstairs with Chloe for a bit. I’ll make sure he knows about them.”
“Thanks.” Donny rose. “Time for me to get home. My wife says I’m spending so much time here lately, I might as well take a room.”
“Any more word on who killed Joey Penito?”
“No. When I hear, you will.”
“Donny, did Liz go out the back door?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Did she say anything?”
“About what?”
His humiliation was now complete. “About me.”
As Donny passed him, he put a hand on Rahab’s shoulder. “That’s something you’ll have to ask her.”
“Yeah, well, doesn’t look like she wants to talk to me.”
“You got her phone number?”
“Yeah.”
“Then don’t be such an asshole, Rahab. Call her.”
The hell with that. After Donny left, Rahab stayed in the office longer than he should have, but no way could he go out there until he got himself under control. Not only had she brushed him off, but she’d left by the back door so she wouldn’t have to see him again.
This was fucking ridiculous. Gorgon would kick his ass clear into the next county if he knew what was going through his head. So why couldn’t he go back out there, find Zipper, and get a quickie from her? Why was he still picturing Liz in his mind?
****
By Sunday afternoon, Liz’s ass cheeks were still sore, her head hurt from all the crying she’d done the night before, and she’d crossed the damn county delivering corrections on top of corrections, and now the actual contracts, so many times that she never wanted to drive again.
After making the final corrections Donny wanted right there in his office the night before, she’d called Russell, who asked her to transfer them onto the contracts, and then bring them to his house. She couldn’t very well say “no”.
Apparently, this was now more of an urgent matter to take care of than it had been the week before. Liz didn’t ask why. She’d learned not to pry too much where Donny’s business dealings were concerned.
By the time she’d formatted the final contracts on her laptop and taken them to Russell’s home in Rocky River, then waited while he read them over again, and finally printed them, it had been nearly two in the morning. Russell told her he’d make arrangements to meet with Donny and one of Vito Cinquepalmi’s business associates to sign them.
Liz didn’t ask where the second associate was, or why he was suddenly no longer involved in this deal. She was merely grateful they hadn’t asked her to return to the club again. The less time she had to spend there, the easier it would be to forget Rahab.
Right. Good luck with that.
Except that she’d spent a restless night dreaming about him. And now, even after a long shower and some food, she still couldn’t get those eyes or that grin out of her damn head. This wasn’t like her. Not by a long shot. And she hated herself for it.
There was no time to be weak, despite what Donny had said. She knew he’d meant well, but he didn’t understand. He’d grown up in a big family, surrounded by people who loved him and supported him. Liz had no one. Everything she’d acquired had been because of hard work and self-sacrifice.
When the downstairs buzzer sounded, she ignored it at first. No one ever came to see her, and she had no packages coming, especially on a Sunday. It wasn’t unusual for someone to buzz the wrong apartment. She flipped through the TV channels, trying to find something that might take her mind off Rahab, when the damn thing buzzed again, for longer this time.
What the fuck? If it was Russell with more work for her on those fucking contracts, she’d scream. Even as she walked toward the intercom, she knew it wasn’t Russell. He’d call first, not simply come over.
“Who is it?” she asked, using the rough voice she always used in this building. Because it wasn’t exactly safe here.
“Rahab.”
What? “Rahab?”
“Yes. It’s me. Can I come up?”
Oh my God… “Of course.” Liz pushed the button to unlock the door and tried to keep breathing. She wished there was time to change into something more attractive than her damn PJs, but his boots already sounded on the stairs.
Why was he here? And how the fuck did he know where she lived?
She opened the door before he knocked and stared at him. All six-foot-four, muscled, tattooed biker dude of him. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah. Sorry.” Liz stepped aside and closed the door behind him. “How did you find me?”
“Don’t be mad when I tell you.”
“I won’t be.”
“Donny showed us a database once. We can find pretty much anyone.”
“Why are you here?”
His expression grew hard. “Because I wanted to hear it from you in person.”
“Hear what?”
“Why you blew out of the club last night by the back door.”
Are you kidding me? “Because it was very crowded in the club by the time Donny and I finished his contracts, and it was easier for me to go out the back. Donny walked me to my car, and then he went home, too.”
He looked confused for a second. “So you didn’t leave that way to avoid me?”
“No. Of course not.”
“I assumed you were so bitchy to me because you didn’t want to fuck me again.”
“Oh, shit. Rahab, I’m really sorry. I was bitchy. But it wasn’t because I didn’t want to fuck you again.”
“What was the reason, then?”
If she told him, would he understand? It wasn’t something she went around telling the men she fucked. She didn’t want him thinking she was a cold-hearted bitch, but clearly, she’d hurt him, and that upset her. She’d made assumptions about him that weren’t true.
“I didn’t think it mattered to you if I fucked you again or not. I’m not the first woman you’ve done that with. Fucked her almost as soon as you met her. I assumed you’d simply move on.”
They stared into each other’s eyes for long moments. The emotional rollercoaster inside Liz’s head confused her. The very last thing she’d expected was to find Rahab standing inside her apartment, asking about last night.
“Don’t make me ask, Liz.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again when the conflicted tone in his voice finally registered. He was an MC member. Coming here, asking her to have sex with him again, was completely against his nature. He likely hadn’t told anyone what he was doing, either. This was very hard on him, and was probably something he had never done before.
Hell. She’d told Donny about her past, and there was no possibility of a sexual relationship between them. Didn’t she owe Rahab the same consideration? Obviously, he wanted to be with her again, and there was no point in pretending she could simply forget him.
Maybe Donny had a point? It was time to let someone else inside her tight little world. Maybe what she feared wouldn’t happen, or at least she’d be able to control it, now that she’d identified it to another person? At the minimum, Rahab would have the explanation he deserved.
“Rahab, have a seat. There’s a story I’d like to tell you.”