Chapter 18
“Fuck.”
Jonny blinked a few times to adjust to the dim room.
“Goddamn,” Eddie grumbled.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jonny bolted out of the chair to find the bedside lamp in pieces on the floor and Eddie clutching his side with one hand while holding onto the bedpost for support with the other.
“I tried to get up,” Eddie croaked. “I gotta take a leak.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“You were sleeping.” Eddie shifted his weight to the end table. “I didn’t wanna bother you.”
”So you smashed the lamp on the floor instead?” He braced his arm under Eddie’s shoulder.
“Never did like that lamp.”
“What’s going on?” Max stood in the doorway, his shirt tails out, rubbing his eyes.
“Help me get him to the bathroom, before he wrecks the whole damn place.”
Max screwed up his face.
“Don’t worry asshole. I’m not gonna ask you to hold my dick.”
“Very funny.” Max supported Eddie’s other side.
“Geez, that’s an image I didn’t need,” Jonny said.
“Shit, don’t make me laugh.” Eddie wheezed. “It hurts too damn much.”
When they reached the bathroom, Eddie leaned on the doorjamb. “I think I can take it from here.”
“If you can’t, I’ll call up one of your harem women.” Max nudged Jonny as they waited outside. “Or maybe Bambi could give you a hand.”
“Even with a busted rib and a punctured lung, I’d be able to get more than you,” Eddie called through the door.
“Keep dreaming,” Max called back.
When they got Eddie back to bed, Jonny stacked the pillows behind him to make it more comfortable for him to sit up.
“Damn,” Eddie slowly lifted his legs onto the bed.
“You want a shot of Jack?” Max offered.
“Bring in the bottle.” Jonny suspected he’d need that and a lot more tonight.
Max returned with the bottle, handed a shot to Eddie, then refilled Jonny’s glass before setting it down on the table.
Eddie downed the shot, eased into the pillows, and sighed. “That should make friends with the pain meds and take the edge off.”
“You want us to go?” Jonny asked.
“Nah, talk a while.” Eddie shifted on the bed. “How was the dinner?”
Jonny sunk into the bedside chair and searched his brain for a way to put the night into words.
“What happened?” Eddie asked.
Jonny drained the rest of his drink and refilled his glass. “Frank pushed; I pushed back. It was a total fuck up. He set me up good.”
He left out Cheryl breaking into their office. No sense giving Eddie more to worry about especially since he didn’t even know how he felt about it.
Max perched his bulk on the edge of the straight-backed chair on the other side of the bed. “I told Jonny I think we should back off for a while, maybe . . .”
“And I told you.” Jonny narrowed his eyes. “We’re not backing off.”
Eddie and Max exchanged looks, and he sensed a problem.
“Since when did you ever back down from a fight?” Jonny challenged Eddie.
“I’m sayin’ we gotta be careful.” Eddie pushed himself higher on the bed.
“Careful? What kind of bullshit is that?”
“I got a fuckin’ hole in my chest, and I feel like I’m sucking air outta a goddamn straw,” Eddie wheezed. “So yeah, careful.” He touched his side and groaned.
Jonny sighed. “All right.” He didn’t want Eddie all worked up but being careful was not the answer.
Max’s cell buzzed. He checked the ID, then canceled the call. Two seconds later it buzzed again, and Jonny joked, “Domestic problems.”
“Something like that.” Max stood, swiped at the phone, and left the room.
A few minutes later Max came back still staring at his phone.
“Hey, lover boy, what’s the matter, bad breakup?” Eddie joked.
Max shoved the phone into his pocket. “Crazy bitch.”
“I would think an ass like hers would make you forgive anything.” Jonny laughed.
“Shit, this one must’ve worked you over,” Eddie teased.
“Most of the women he hooks up with are like hurricanes,” Jonny said. “They start off blowing and sucking, then, in the end, they just take your house.”
“Ahh, fuck man.” Eddie held his side. “I told you not to make me laugh.”
“Yeah, and since when have you been with Bambi?”
“Since I saw her giving you head in your office,” Eddie smirked.
“You said she was a slut who screwed everybody.” Jonny laughed.
“Exactly, how could I pass that up?” Eddie attempted a laugh, then groaned in pain. “Wasn’t long ago you were hitting the same spot. Now you’re thinking sideways.”
“I know what I’m doing.” Jonny ran his finger around the rim of his glass.
“Just make sure what you’re doing is for the right reason.” Eddie stifled a yawn.
~ ~ ~
An hour later, Jonny pushed himself out of the chair. The twitching of his legs made it impossible to sit any longer. He left Eddie with Max, stepped into the hall, and his gaze fell on the other closed bedroom door.
He should’ve kept walking down the hall, through the living room and right out of the apartment, but instead, he stopped and stared at the closed door. Cheryl answered after the first knock. Eyes hooded as if she’d failed at fighting off sleep.
She opened the door wide enough for him to slip in. “How’s Eddie?”
He did a quick appraisal. Bed still made, TV off. She must’ve been sitting in the chair staring at the wall all this time.
“He’s gonna be fine.”
“Good,” she whispered, then another awkward silence followed.
“I’m heading back to the penthouse.”
She nodded, then her eyes met his. “I really am sorry about—”
“I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I should stay far away from you, but I can’t.”
She mashed her lips together, and all he could think about was how they felt against his neck. “You’ve tried to con me, steal from me and I know you’re lying to me about something, but hell if I understand it. I can’t get enough of you.”
“I feel the same thing.”
Somehow her hand had gotten into his chest and squeezed his heart. He had no fuckin’ clue what he was doing. He just knew that he wanted to be the person that made her safe. He wanted to crush her to him and protect her. He snatched up her hand and pulled her behind him. Her steps were cautious and careful like the slightest misstep would make him abandon her.
Silence filled the SUV and continued up the private elevator and into the foyer of his penthouse. Her suppressed panic crowded the room, and radiated onto him, filling his chest with a fear that made him dread her story.
He walked her to the sofa and sat next to her. “I want you to tell me what’s really going on with you.”
“Nothing.”
“I can help you, if you let me.”
“I don’t need help.”
He pulled at the collar of his starched shirt. He couldn’t force an answer out of her. “Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“‘Cause I can order up some food from the all-night place on the corner.”
“No really, I’m fine,” she assured him.
“They got all kinds of stuff. Pizza, pasta, maybe some—”
“Frank killed Nicky.”