Chapter 20
Reid waited with exaggerated patience. Seeing her talking to that model-handsome fuckface had been like watching Cash’s fiancée cozy up to strangers at a bar, then to Reid. Not at all welcome and a little sickening.
He couldn’t help remembering how emotional Naomi had been, talking about Tanner. And Jennings had hired the guy and Naomi to work together? He wanted badly to talk to Chris about it. But he knew if Naomi ever tried to interfere in his business, he’d lose it. So he couldn’t, in good conscience, ask Chris to fire the guy as a favor to him.
Still didn’t mean he couldn’t kick Tanner’s ass though. If the guy could lift a manicured hand to fight back. What a waste. But was that the type Naomi was really attracted to? Some gel-haired, office-type narcissist who smelled of class and money? Hell.
“You seem awfully calm about this.”
He shrugged and donned his calm-as-fuck face. The one he’d often worn to convince his superiors he had his unit together before reaming his subordinates a new one for dropping the ball he’d then put back in play. “Look, I realize that this is your business. But I care about you, and I thought we were dating. Isn’t that something you tell the person in your life? That you’re working with an ex? I’d tell you.”
“Uh, well, yeah.” She sighed and slumped against her desk. “It’s a sudden thing. I was so hot to get the Jennings account, I had no idea I’d have to work with Tanner too. Problem is he’s good at his job. There was never any question of that.”
“Okay.” He forced himself to think. “Do you still have feelings for him?”
“What? No.”
He studied her. “But it’s uncomfortable working with him.”
She gave a short laugh. “I’ll say. I’m doing this to advance Starr PR. Not because I want to. It’s Jennings’s company. I have to prove I’m a professional.”
He nodded. “I can respect that.” He stood. “So let’s go to lunch.”
She looked uneasy.
“What? I can be a gentleman…when I try hard.”
“Ha ha.”
“I won’t embarrass you or your mom. And I swear not to take Tanner’s head off unless he asks for it.”
“I doubt he’s going to ask for that.”
“He puts a hand on you, he’s asking for it.”
They both stood.
Naomi shook her head, smiling. “How can you be charming when talking about beating someone up?” She stepped into his arms. “And do you have any idea how nice it was hearing you call him a coward and a douche?”
He kissed her, hard. “Good.” She couldn’t still have feelings for the guy. No way.
He drove himself, following her and Kim to the restaurant. Someone must have called ahead to Chris because they had seven seats at the table.
“Reid.” Chris lit up upon seeing him.
“Yo, man. What’s going on?” Reid gave him a man hug and smiled at the guy. “Hey, you’re putting on some muscle.”
Reid hadn’t seen Chris in a while, and Chris had changed.
Chris laughed. “Teresa’s been on me to lose the gut.” The guy barely had any body fat, but okay. “When Naomi called to let me know about her mother and a plus-one coming, I was thrilled. Until I heard it was you.”
They razzed each other some more. Chris introduced Jon, his project manager, and Joanne.
Reid realized he’d seriously overstepped. Now that he’d calmed down a bit on the drive over, he felt like a jerk for insisting on coming with Naomi to a business lunch. Although her mother was visiting and would need a rescue as well… “You know, when I heard Naomi was going to lunch with her mom, I had no idea it was for business.”
He ignored Tanner’s scoffing.
“It’s my fault,” Chris apologized. “I thought I’d told my secretary about today, but I forgot to have her CC Naomi on it. Tanner’s in the system, but we’re still filling in Starr PR as a contact on our project.”
“I can be on my way,” Kim said.
“Me too,” Reid agreed.
Chris frowned. “Not at all. It’s been a while since we’ve talked. And I hate to take your mother away, Naomi. We can reschedule—”
“Nonsense,” Kim cut in. She put a hand on Reid’s arm, and the woman had a grip like a constrictor. “Reid and I are getting to know each other better. Honey, enjoy your lunch. I’ll see you later. It was wonderful to meet you all.” She cooled considerably when looking at Tanner. “Tanner.”
“Bye, Kim.” Tanner ignored Reid.
Chris, no one’s fool, watched it all with curiosity. Crap. Not great for Naomi. But Reid couldn’t let her go without saying something. “Thanks, Chris. Naomi, your mom wanted to talk to me anyway about your brother moving. So this is a great business lunch for me as well. Enjoy your meal with this spaz.” He elbowed Chris, who let out an oomph.
Jon grinned. “He nailed you on that.”
Joanne chuckled.
“Shut it, Jon.” Chris wheezed and straightened. “See you this weekend at the party, Reid. Cash too, I hope. And anyone from the company you want to invite. I want to hear more about Vets on the Go!”
“We’ll be there.” Reid shook hands with Jon, with no idea about said party. To Tanner, he gave the look of death. “Dickhead.”
“Reid.” Kim yanked him away, but he heard Naomi groan and saw Tanner’s flush.
“What was that about?” Chris asked.
“Well, this lunch has turned out to be more exciting than the ones we normally have,” Joanne joked.
Reid didn’t get to hear the rest because Kim towed him toward the back and flagged down a waiter. “We need to sit far away from that group,” she told the man, who hurried to get them menus after seating them. “That was awesome!” Kim laughed and laughed. “Oh my gosh, if you could have seen the look on that pompous ass’s face!” she crowed. “Fire my daughter, will he?”
Reid was grinning with her until she came to that last part. “Ah, so you know about that?”
“Naomi told me. Finally. Why that girl thinks she can hide anything from me, I’ll never know.” She stared at him. Or, more likely, through him. “You love my daughter, don’t you?”
He sputtered, trying to figure out how to gracefully respond, when the waiter arrived to drop off menus and take drink orders. After he left to get their drinks, Kim wasted no time grilling Reid again.
The woman should have been an interrogator. “What was all that about business with my son moving?” she asked.
He prayed she’d forgotten about asking him if he loved Naomi. “I didn’t want Naomi to be put on the spot. My relationship with her has nothing to do with Chris or her job.”
Kim smiled.
“What?” She did have a shark’s grin, something he’d overheard Naomi saying to her sister last night. He’d be sure to share that later.
“It’s nice to see a man put his girlfriend’s career ahead of his feelings.”
“I didn’t say that. Exactly.” He cleared his throat. “I respect Naomi. She’s brilliant at her job, and she shouldn’t have to deal with personal crap from me or that asshole she used to date.” Reid blew out a breath. “Christ, what did she see in him besides white-capped teeth?”
Kim laughed again. “Caps is right. That man spent more time on his wardrobe than Naomi. He seemed nice, but he didn’t feel right for her.”
“But I do?” Reid watched Kim, seeing in her the woman his mother could have been. Kim protected those she loved, and she loved Naomi, no question. “Look, don’t answer that. But tell me why Naomi feels so inferior.” Was he talking out of turn? He didn’t care. He loved Naomi, and he wanted her happy. Oh hell. I’m out of my depth and I know it.
“That’s a great question. Hold on. My blood sugar’s low.” They chose items from the menu and ordered before she answered him. “Naomi is the youngest. It can’t have been easy following in her brothers’ and sister’s footsteps. I’ll just say it, and yes, I’m bragging. I have remarkable children.”
“Seems to me like they have a remarkable mother.”
She flushed, so pretty, a hint of Naomi to come in her later years. A familiar intelligence shone from her eyes, one he often saw in Naomi. “See, you’re good.”
She clapped. “Oh, my husband’s going to love you. Don’t panic. Yes, you should take it slow with Naomi. Of all my kids, she’s the most stubborn.”
“The most like you?” he hazarded a guess.
Kim nodded. “The girl refuses to acknowledge failure. Which is silly. We all have problems to get through. But why she never sees that, I don’t know. It must have killed her to lose Tanner and her job.” She eyed Reid. “She loved him, you know. My daughter doesn’t just go from fling to fling. Her relationships have always been on the serious side. I like you, Reid. So I’m going to give you some free advice.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Trust Naomi. She’s smart and loyal. And when she loves, she loves all of you. The good and the bad. She accepted Tanner’s weaknesses, and that slime has many. That she hadn’t had a decent relationship since that boy, in a whole year and a half, speaks volumes. Don’t screw her over.”
“I won’t.” A pledge he meant.
“I know you won’t. You’re a good man. Your parents must be proud.”
“My parents are dead,” he said gruffly, the pain of his mother’s death blunted by raw feelings for Naomi. “And they weren’t supportive like you. Naomi’s lucky.”
Kim reached across the table to pat his hand. “Yes, she is.” She looked at him when she said it. “Now let’s talk more about you.”
He groaned. “Do we have to? I think I already told you my shoe size and my Social Security number at the banquet last night.”
She gave an evil chuckle, sounding remarkably like Naomi. It was no wonder he liked her. “Tell me more…”
* * *
Cash lifted like a man possessed. The gym was packed, but he didn’t care. He needed to let go. The thought that Reid, the only person he’d ever loved without reservation and who’d loved him back just as much, might not be his real brother tore at him.
It just figured the one person he loved most in this world would also be ripped away, thanks to his asshole parents.
Fucking Angela. He wiped sweat from his eyes and worked harder on the squats. He was pressing more than he normally did and felt the burn. But he needed it.
“Yo, man. You should have been done ten presses ago,” some muscle-bound dick said, glaring at him.
Cash ignored him, thinking about all Angela had said and not said before she’d died.
They should have gone to the reading of the will today, but the lawyer had been called out of town on an emergency, so they’d have the reading when he returned. Reid had been around, but his brother had been preoccupied at home. Though Cash normally didn’t see him while working, they checked in on each other. Of course, now that he was tapping fine-as-shit Naomi Starr, Reid was understandably distracted.
Except Cash needed him around. Not to talk, because Cash didn’t like talking. But Reid made him feel safe.
And that shamed him.
He was older by two years. He’d protected Reid all his life, when he could. Being separated for a time while in the Marine Corps, knowing Reid might be going into danger without him, had been a huge deal. Probably part of what had made Cash snap, to tell the truth. He’d been in the right when his superiors had tried to cover up some unsanctioned action that had nearly gone sideways, but he’d insulted the wrong guys and gotten his ass nearly thrown out. He should be thankful they’d let him separate with an honorable discharge, but fuck them. He’d served his country proudly, never putting a foot wrong. Not legally. Sure, he’d raised hell. He was a guy, wasn’t he?
Cash left the weights and moved to an upright bench. He grabbed two forty-pound bells and started curling. Each move burned, and he welcomed the pain, the repetition, numbing the realization of his brother’s growing distance, of his father’s constant disapproval, of his mother’s final acceptance…unless she’d been thinking of someone else.
It hurt. It hurt so much that he’d never get that acceptance he craved. She’d died, and he had nothing but poor Reid left. The hapless younger brother who’d scrapped his own career in the military to come home to help his big, useless brother. Who’d risked his financial future so stupid Cash could have something worthwhile to do.
His eyes burned, more sweat making it hard to see. He grunted with the strain, needing a push.
“Hey, Griffith, you good?” Gavin Donnigan asked, staring down at him.
“Fine,” he bit out.
“Okay. Yell if you need me.” Gavin moved on.
He overheard the muscled jerk talking to his friends about Cash, heard Gavin go over to put a stop to it. Then he tuned them out and continued to train.
He had no idea how much time had passed, but he was aware of Gavin watching over him now and again. The back room had pretty much cleared out, all except for Gavin and the three big goons.
Cash needed a spotter for the large bar. Of course Gavin was no longer there. So Cash turned to the one guy who hadn’t said much. “Yo, mind giving me a spot?”
The guy nodded. He had a broad chest, big arms, and a beer gut from hell.
The other two dicks kept talking about how annoyed they were that Cash was hogging their bench. But since neither had the stones to come ask him to move, Cash stayed put, in no mood to deal with passive-aggressive assholes.
“Ignore them,” his spotter said. “I’m Doug. Jim and Andy think they own the gym.” Doug grinned at the pair, and Cash couldn’t get a handle on their relationship. Was Doug friends with the guys or not?
“Cash,” Cash said by way of introduction. “Appreciate the spot.”
“Sure.”
Cash benched three hundred pounds and felt each rep burn. Finally clearing his head, he managed his last three and needed help on the final. “A little help.”
Doug just stared down at him.
“Look. Cut the shit. Help me out.”
“Maybe you’ll move from the bench if I do.”
Cash glared. “Get some balls and ask to me move, and I might.”
Doug raised a brow and continued to stare down at him. The bar grew heavier. Jim and Andy laughed at him, and one of them said, “Not so strong now, huh?”
Cash gritted his teeth to keep from lashing out. He needed to get into a better position to deal with the jerks. “You want to talk about the bench, we’ll ‘talk’ once this is off me.”
“Uh-oh. Look who’s having a problem,” said Jim or Andy. Frankly, Cash couldn’t tell the assholes apart. Both balding and needing to prove they had something they were obviously missing, they clearly had issues.
One of them stood by the door. Looking out for Gavin, maybe? While his buddy neared to stand over Cash.
“You want help, dickless?”
“He said his name is Cash, Andy.”
Andy shrugged. “Dickless wants help, he should say pretty please.”
The pair just stood there while the bar put serious pressure on Cash’s chest. He’d worked to muscle exhaustion, and he didn’t have the energy to deal with these three. But bullies and Cash didn’t mix.
“Pretty please lift this fucking thing off my chest.”
“And next time, don’t hog the weights.” Andy put a hand over the bar, adding weight that hurt. “This is our bench.”
“Won’t…hog…weights.”
Andy grunted. Doug and Jim laughed.
The bar eased up, and Cash worked to catch his breath. His tormenters stayed close by, fortunately. Cash eased into a sitting position on the bench, rubbing his sore sternum, and gave Andy and Jim a second look. They were big guys with tiny brains if they thought they’d intimidated him.
Doug might have had a brain though, because when Cash’s gaze met his, he took a step back.
“We clear now, dickless?” Andy asked.
Cash slowly stood and tilted his head left and right, cracking his neck. He had a moment to notice Gavin and Reid standing at the entranceway, Gavin holding Reid back with difficulty.
Uh-oh. If Cash was bad when riled, Reid could fight like a demon. Little Brother didn’t often get pissed, but when he did, look out.
Cash grinned at Andy. “You know what? Takes brass balls to hold down a helpless Marine, knowing he’s gonna eventually get up and feed you said balls one by one. Do you guys do this to everyone?”
He caught Gavin’s jaw going tight and thought that might be the case.
Then Reid pushed past him and moved right for Doug, the closest of the three to him.
Doug, who likely outweighed Reid by fifty pounds at least, turned with a frown. “Hey, don’t—”
Reid hit him, one solid blow to the jaw that sent the fucker down.
Then Cash forced his tired body to work and brought Andy to his knees with a swift kick between his legs.
“Damn it. No fighting,” Gavin growled. “No matter how much these assholes deserve it.”
Jim looked alarmed at the sight of the Griffith brothers bearing down on him, so he grabbed a ten-pound disk.
“What a pussy,” Reid snorted and showed no sign of backing off.
“Easy. His ass is mine,” Cash warned.
“His ass is no one’s,” Gavin tried again. “Damn it. Listen to me. Enough is enough.”
“Bullshit. We both saw that fucker hold my brother down with three hundred pounds across his chest!” Reid pointed to Andy, who whimpered on the floor. “And that dipshit helped.” When Doug tried to stand, Reid went over and watched, bristling with hostility. “Come on, asshole. Stand up. I dare you.”
“I’ll sue your ass,” Andy managed, still breathing hard.
Jim was texting someone. Cash shook his head. “Sorry. Are we boring you?”
“You’re going to be sorry. My cousins are here.”
Gavin threw up his hands. “Fine. Fuck all of you. Cash, Reid, I’m trying to help.” He whipped out his phone and called Mac, the owner. “Got a problem here. Need you and your fists now.”
“Yeah? You want to help?” Reid said to Gavin. “Call for an ambulance.” Reid rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll take this one. You get the cousins,” he told Cash.
Cash frowned. “Excuse me? This prick is mine.”
“I doubt that. He’s too small for you. Too easy. Look at him. He’s pissing his pants.”
“Fuck you,” Jim said and took a swing.
Reid ducked and waited. “That’s it? That’s all you got?”
Cash frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be the one calming me down?”
“Why? Because you’re a special snowflake dealing with Mom’s death?”
Gavin groaned.
“No, asshole. Because you’re the rational one. I’m the crazy.”
“Look. I got grilled by Naomi’s mom all afternoon.” Reid ducked another wild swing.
When Jim tried to rush him, Cash stepped in, grabbed low, and flipped the guy over onto his back. “You’re lucky you missed those weights. Landing on them’d hurt like a bitch.”
Jim groaned and rolled to stand.
By now, more people had gathered at the doorway to the weight room. Two large bodybuilders entered.
“You guys Jim’s dickhead cousins?” Cash asked.
One of them frowned. The other sighed. “Not this again.”
Frowning guy walked to Cash. “You want some pain, motherfucker?”
Jim snickered as he rose, and Reid waited until he stood, then put him down again with a leg sweep.
“Damn it. I said he’s mine,” Cash snapped.
Reid huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Please. At this rate, I’ll be thirty-five before you actually do anything. I had a rough day; I need the release. What have you done except lift weights?”
Cash gaped at his normally even-tempered brother. So when the beefy guy swung, he made contact with Cash’s gut.
“Damn it. That hurt.” Cash returned the punch and took the guy down, wrestling style, into a headlock.
By that time, Mac had pushed through the growing crowd. “Gavin, get this cleared, would you?”
Gavin turned to the crowd. “Okay, everyone. Nothing to see here but two brothers arguing.”
“But what about—”
“Nothing to see, I said.” In a terrible impression of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he said, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”
The crowd dispersed.
Mac grunted as he knelt by Cash on the floor. “Cash, man, you break his neck, you’re in a world of hurt. He’s not the enemy, Marine.”
Cash and Reid swung equally amused glances at each other before Cash remembered Reid had annoyed him. He glared, then turned that look on Mac. “I’m not having a breakdown, Mac. This asshole is a bully. And those dicks tried to shove a three-hundred-pound bar down on my chest instead of spotting me. Not cool.” Cash held on a second more, feeling the jerk with no neck start to fade. He released him and pushed him away, then stood.
“It still hurts,” he complained, rubbing his sternum.
“Let me see,” Mac ordered, slowly getting to his feet.
Cash whipped off his shirt. “Happy now?” He glanced down to see a darkening bruise.
Mac swore under his breath. Then out loud. “Andy, Jim, and the rest of you assholes, my office. And if you think about refusing, I’ve got the cops on speed dial.”
Everyone limped out of the room but Gavin, who kept an eye on Cash and Reid.
Cash shoved his brother back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Both of those guys had at least forty pounds on you.”
To Cash’s surprise, Reid shoved him back.
“Uh, guys…”
They ignored Gavin.
“Did you not hear me?” Reid barked. “I was grilled by Naomi’s mother. I also learned Naomi’s got to work with her ex on Jennings’s project. How the hell am I supposed to handle that?” He shoved Cash back again.
As much as Cash felt for the guy, he didn’t like being pushed. “Stop it.”
“Or what?” Reid huffed and put Cash in a wristlock before shoving him away. The sorry little bastard. Cash had shown Reid how to master that trick years ago. “And my brother, who’s supposed to be my best friend, refuses to talk to me. Fuckhead, she was my mother too!”
“Oh hell.” Gavin turned his back on them, standing in the doorway .
Cash winced, his wrist now sore. “Easy, genius. I’m sorry I’m not handling her death better. But damn, I don’t have someone to ball on a regular basis to help me handle my emotions.” He was better than this, but he found himself saying, “What? She not blowing you enough? You have to come to me to—”
Reid hit him with a left hook right in the face. Then he used some of that freaky jujitsu he’d learned in the Corps that Cash hadn’t been privy to and put Cash on his ass. Now on the wrong end of being choked out, Cash struggled to get free and not break his brother in half in the process.
“Apologize,” Reid growled.
“What the hell’s going on now?” Mac asked.
Gavin sighed. “It’s a brother thing. Let it play out.”
Mac grumbled and left.
“You guys are in so much shit,” Gavin warned.
Cash focused on his brother’s aggravation. He’d deal with Mac later. Lashing out at Naomi had not been a good idea. Plus Reid, that little shit, had grown strong.
But not as strong as Cash. He felt for a weak spot, broke Reid’s hold, then reversed the choke hold until Reid tapped the floor. Cash let him go, then wrestled with him a little more, exhausting himself until both he and Reid were spent.
He shoved his brother off him with a punch to his diaphragm. Then Cash stood and reached down to lift Reid to his feet. “Breathe, dumbass.”
“Shut. Up.” Reid bent over, trying to catch his breath.
“Man, you guys are ten times worse than me and my brothers.” Gavin sounded cheery. “Also, if you’re smart, you’ll head out the back door and avoid Mac for a day or two. I’ll talk him down.” He grinned at Reid. “Man, you surprised me. I thought you were the calm one.”
Cash dragged him out by his ripped shirt, ignoring Reid’s attempts to get free. “He has his moments. Hey, can you hold onto my bag for me? It’s in locker 17.”
“Sure thing, Cash. Now go.”
Cash yanked Reid with him down the hall and out the back. Since he’d kept his keys and phone on him, he didn’t worry about getting his bag back right away. He hauled ass to his car and shoved Reid against it.
“Ow. Fuck! You hit like a Mack truck.”
“Yeah? So do you. Finally manned up. Nice. Now what the fuck is your problem?”