Chapter Six
Slade
I should have known she'd be gone in the morning. I cursed myself again for the wine. If I hadn't finished the bottle I would have heard her sneaking past me. I only drank the rest to drown the taste of her on my lips.
A bright stab of sunshine was reaching between the neighboring buildings when I stumbled out on to the street and hailed a cab. I gripped my head, slipped into the backseat, and told the cabbie to get me to midtown before the morning traffic turned every street into a snarled mess. He accepted the challenge with a grim smile and took off at a sickening speed.
Despite the jarring cab-driving and the fact that she left me, all I could think about was Christine. I should have been guessing her next move and how to keep her safe but my mind kept slipping back to her sweet lips. It made me all the more determined to finish this mess with Balducci. With no more obstacles between us, I could only imagine how great she would taste.
Those heated thoughts changed to a different fire as soon as I saw her calmly pouring a cup of coffee behind the bar. She sloshed the first sip as I came in the club doors and yelled, "You couldn't even leave a note?"
Christine raised an eyebrow. "You knew where to find me."
"But after last night, I thought we were in this together," I said.
A few of the employees, cleaning crew and supply teams, looked on with growing interest. I could already hear the rumors they would spread about our night together. I strode over to Christine and spoke in lower tones. "How am I supposed to protect you if you run away in the middle of the night?"
"It was hardly the middle of the night," Christine scoffed. "I didn't peg you for a deep sleeper."
I snatched the coffee out of her hand. "And I didn't peg you for stupid. Christine, you should be afraid. What happened yesterday might have only been a warning but this is no game."
"How can you not want to know what the message was?" Christine asked.
I choked on the hot coffee. "Stop right now."
"Stop what?" she asked, all innocence.
"Stop thinking that Aaron is a good way for you to get more information about Darren. If you were smart, you'd be praying you never see either of them again," I said.
"Darren?" Christine slammed her fresh cup of coffee down on the bar. "The only reason you're interested in Darren is that he's an easy way to get rid of your old boss. Squeeze a murder confession out of him and you'll probably get some juicy tidbits on Balducci."
I rubbed my aching head. "I thought we went over this. I don't owe Balducci anything anymore, so I have no need for elaborate plans to get him off my back."
"So why are you so determined to get to Darren before me?" Christine asked.
"Because I don't think he should go to jail," I said. Her hand shook slightly as she refilled my coffee cup, so I rushed on. "He'll never escape the life by being thrown in jail. Inside, he'll just learn new ways to get by and make new contacts he'll never be able to shake."
Christine put the coffeepot back and paused with her back to me. "Because you think Balducci somehow forced Darren to kill my sister." She whirled around. "You honestly don't think he had a choice? I don't understand what could possibly make him do that. No matter how evil Balducci may be, he's not the devil."
"Leverage is a powerful thing and Balducci's a master at finding just the right pressure point," I said.
My heart was banging erratically in my chest, and I realized it wasn't the sharp jolt of caffeine. I was terrified that Christine would never trust me, and she would always be just out of my reach. There was nothing keeping us together except my thin hope that she would see the man I wanted to be, not the man I had been.
She stirred sugar into her coffee and sipped it again. "You think you can save a kid who reminds you of you."
"I want to try," I said.
Christine nodded, a tiny incline of her head. "And you really don't believe he's too far gone? He murdered my sister, and he appears to have a death wish. You really think he's better off on the street?"
I leaned on the bar, relieved to hear her tone soften. Christine was looking at me, really looking at me, like she wanted to know the answer. Like she would believe what I said. It felt like the sun breaking through the narrow gaps between skyscrapers. The jumping in my chest was a rattling kind of hope.
"I wouldn't leave him on the street. If I had my way, no one like Darren would be left vulnerable to men like Balducci."
She nodded again and then slipped along the bar and headed upstairs to the office. I watched her go, a mix of respect for how she could go back to the scene of her near-attack and still churning memories of her body against mine.
"Don't stare at her like she's a unicorn or something," Cara said. She paused, inventory clipboard in hand, and leaned on the bar in front of me. "Christine may just be the most generous person I've ever met."
"Do you think she trusts me?" I asked.
Cara laughed at my stunned tone. "You may be as subtle as a hammer, but your heart's in the right place, and I know that Christine knows that."
I raised an eyebrow at Cara. "So now that you're dating a DJ, you're an expert on hearts?"
"Not 'a DJ,' I'm dating the DJ," Cara said with pride. "And I think everyone in a five-mile radius can see that you're crazy about her."
"Not crazy," I said. "I'd die for her and it would probably be the smartest choice I ever made."
"Hey, boss?" Our head of security motioned for me to join him at the door. "We might have a situation."
I walked over to him and held the coffee cup up so a curious Cara could not see what I was saying. "He's here?"
"Yes, sir." The bouncer tipped his tablet toward me and showed the security feed from the back alley. Balducci's limo was waiting there.
As we watched, the man himself got out and waved at the camera.
"Thanks. I'll take care of it myself," I said.
Cara was watching me with narrowed eyes, and I could have avoided her, but I needed help. "Please, understand I'm doing this to protect Christine, the club, all of us," I said.
She nodded. "Need me to keep her inside the club?"
"Yes." I turned back after a few steps. "And keep her away from all the security monitors. If Christine sees his car, there is no way in hell she'll keep her distance from Balducci."
Cara shivered at the mention of Balducci, but promised.
Our head of security was informing his men through their coms to stand down. The man now on permanent guard at the back door frowned at me. "You don't want back up, boss?"
I knew how it looked. I was slipping out back to climb into Balducci's limo while Christine was distracted. There was no way people wouldn't continue to wonder about my loyalties. I wanted to stop and explain that if I didn't deal with him, Christine would have to and I would do anything in the world to make sure that didn't happen. Even ruin my own reputation.
"We're just gonna have a little chat," I said. "Before I send the bastard packing."
The bouncer wanted to believe me. He nodded and stepped aside, but I could see the doubt in his eyes as he watched me walk by. I pushed open the back door and stepped out into the alley. There was no disruption behind me, and I prayed that Cara kept Christine busy enough not to notice.
"You couldn't pick a subtler ride?" I asked Balducci.
He chuckled and opened the limo door for me himself. "You know I like to travel in style."
I settled onto the leather seat and turned down a glass of champagne. "Little early for me."
Balducci sank down next to me and elbowed me in the side. "I would add orange juice to it. I'm not a savage."
"I'm not so sure about that," I said. "So what was the message you were trying to send?"
Balducci tipped his head to one side. "What, yesterday? I just wanted to see where we were at, and you made that very clear when you turned me away at the door."
He didn't understand what I was asking. I opened my mouth to try again but snapped it shut. What if Balducci didn't know about Aaron's visit to the club? The thought of Aaron acting on his own was out of character and frankly terrifying.
"Well, I know this can't be about us because I made a clean break. So what is it?" I asked.
Balducci stretched out his legs and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, about that. You know I can't let anyone leave, right? If word got out that I was just letting people come and go, they'd start to think they were regular employees. And what's next? Weekends off? Paid sick leave? I don't think so."
So, that was it. All this chaos at the club was just a way to force me back into his employ. It wasn't much of a bargaining chip, it was only my life, but it gave me something to work with.
"We made our deal. You don't want to be known as someone who breaks their deals, do you? That'd be pretty rough once you start trying to negotiate your way further into Midtown," I said.
Balducci scrubbed his chin. "You think you can make a deal with me? It better be a damn good one, because the last one was only a down payment."
I ground my teeth. "What if I was to tell you I have in my possession hours and hours of secret security footage? All of the private rooms back when Club Prive was a real, ah, interesting scene?"
His greedy eyes lit up like black ink, ready to sign on the dotted line. "Complete with celebrities?"
"And city officials," I said.
Balducci leaned back in his seat. "I'm listening."
"I'll give it to you in exchange for the kid who killed Christine's sister."
"Oh, so that's it," Balducci said. "You finally figured out who did it. Sure, you can have him. Fling him at that power-hungry D. A. and see what she can make of him."
"So, we have a deal?" I asked.
"Sure, sure. You give me the footage and return to work for me, and I'll hand over Darren."
I felt a muscle in my jaw jump. "You know his name? You don't usually take such interest in your grunts."
Balducci pursed his lips. "We have a deal, Slade, or not?"
I cranked open the limo door and got out. "I'll be in touch."
His laughter peppered my back like shrapnel. "Don't worry, we'll be in touch real soon."