I pushed out into the night and let my gaze skim across the parking lot. Things were generally mellow here, but we had encountered more than one rowdy drunk on occasion. The last time it happened, Bax had shown up just in the nick of time, and ever since then things had been quiet. Dovie’s boyfriend had a reputation that reached far and wide, but she didn’t work here anymore, so now the degenerates were popping back up.
I always parked under the single flickering light that sat in parking lot and almost groaned out loud when I saw that tonight was the night it had decided to give up the ghost and burn out. The parking lot was dark and the walk to my car looked like it was a thousand miles instead of a few steps. My tummy started to churn and goose bumps broke out over my exposed skin. Taking a deep breath, I shored up the reserves and practically sprinted to where the BMW was parked. I put a hand on the door handle with a sigh and shrieked bloody murder when a heavy hand fell on my shoulder from behind.
Without stopping to think, I screamed at the top of my lungs, threw my head back until I felt it connect with something hard, and whirled around with my knee already rising into position to do the most damage. My assailant slapped a heavy hand across my mouth, clamped a rock-hard arm across my chest as I turned, and shoved me into the side of the car. I was still screaming behind the hand and my chest was heaving, but when familiar green eyes glared down at me, some of my panic started to subside. I wrapped my hands around the wrist of the arm that was covering my mouth and slumped against the car.
“What in the holy fuck was that?” Race pushed off of me and lifted a hand to rub the edge of his chin where the back of my skull had connected.
I put both of my shaking hands to my mouth and shook my head back and forth. I wanted to apologize, but the words were lodged in my throat.
“Didn’t Dovie tell you I was gonna swing by after your shift?”
He sounded irritated, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Sorry. I’m jumpy in the parking lot this late.”
He looked up at the broken light and then back at me and scowled. “Why are you out here this late alone in the first place?”
“Everyone was busy trying to close for the night. You know how it goes, everyone is in a rush to head home after closing time.”
The look that crossed his handsome face said he didn’t like that very much at all. Race always looked regal, like a king, all golden and elegant. Tonight, in the harsh shadow of the broken light and with the cracked asphalt under his feet, he looked more like a Nordic warrior, both fierce and unhappy. It wasn’t a look I would have ever figured he could pull off, but intimidation was right at home on those too-pretty features. When he didn’t like something, he was going to do something about it, and I could see it brewing in his eyes.
I reached out a hand and clamped it on his thick wrist.
“Don’t worry about it, Race. I really just need you to help me with the computer, or else I’m totally screwed.”
He considered me silently, obviously trying to decide which matter he found more pressing, my safety or my current electronic crisis. Thank God the computer won out, but his voice was gruff and scratchy when he told me, “Not the end of this conversation, Bry.”
I nodded stiffly and bent over to get my laptop out from under the seat where I’d stashed it. When I turned back around, I felt heat rush into my face because bent over like that, I had clearly given Race the opportunity to check my ass out at its best. The green in his eyes had turned to something much darker, and I gulped nervously.
“What’s wrong with the computer?”
I held it protectively against my chest while his eyes rolled over me. It was unnerving to be the sole focus of a guy like Race. I felt like he was trying to get a look inside me, like he was systematically trying to figure out all the bits and pieces that made me tick.
“I don’t know. I turned it on and the screen was just blue. I know it’s bad, but everything I need for school is in there, so I have to do something.”
He lifted a sandy brow and reached for the laptop. “You don’t back anything up on an external drive or on an outside database, like Google Drive?”
I groaned and shoved my palms into my eye sockets. “Really, Race? If I was smart enough to do that, do you think I would be praying that you can fix it? Nothing is ever that easy in my life.”
He just watched me, his mouth turning down in a little frown. I much preferred that look on his exquisite face to the one he wore when he was flashing that sexy dimple at me. It was easier to resist.
“When do you need it back by?”
“I have a paper on there that is due tomorrow, but the teacher is pretty cool and will let me slide until Monday if I explain the situation. What I really need are my Math Theory notes. I have an evil TA who’s got it in for me because I turned him down when he asked me out. I’m barely passing the class, and without the notes, I’m beyond screwed.”
His eyes sank even further into midnight and his frown got even tighter. His broad chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
His eyebrows dipped low over those dark eyes, and his voice was even rougher than normal when he asked me, “What is going on with you, Brysen? Why does every single thing you’ve said to me tonight make me want to hurt things and various people?”
I gulped a little and shivered as we just watched each other silently.
“Life isn’t always fun and games, Race. You have to know that better than most people.”
He shook his blond head and took a step back from me. I really, really wanted to reach out and snatch him back. He was so bad for my self-control.
“No, it’s not, but you’re a good girl and too pretty for words. Things shouldn’t be that hard for you.”
Well, they were that hard, and I was just going to have to live with it.
“Do you think you can save it?”
He took another step back and grinned. I swear everything that made me female melted and turned liquid when that dimple indented his cheek.
“I’m pretty skilled at whatever I put my mind to, Brysen.”
The sexy undercurrent made me want to whimper.
“When do you think I can have it back?”
“Give me your number. I have a bunch of shit to take care of tomorrow, but after that’s all handled, I’ll look at it. Give me until the weekend.”
That was only three days. Aside from Math Theory, I should be able to make do until then. I rattled off my number and scowled when he didn’t pull out his phone to enter it in.
“You’re going to remember that?” I hated that I sounded like I was pouting about it.
“I won’t forget it, Bry. Everything about you is very memorable.”
Ugh . . . that kiss. It was going to haunt me forever. I shifted uneasily and pushed off the car.
“I have to take my little sister some ice cream and make sure she has her homework done.”
He gave me a considering look and tilted his head to the side a little bit. I didn’t want to be the object of Race Hartman’s attention; it made hiding the way I reacted to him too hard.
“You’re gonna have someone walk you to your car from here on out.” It wasn’t a question, just a blanket statement.
“I’ll try.” I would prefer it but life didn’t seem so inclined to give me anything I preferred right now.
“Do it, Brysen.” His tone suggested I listen or I might not like what followed.
“Yes, Race. I’ll make it happen from here on out.”
He grunted and turned to walk to where his bright red Mustang was parked. It was a supersexy car for a totally dead-sexy guy. Completely not fair.
“I’ll be in touch.”
He left without another word and I felt like I was going to fold in on myself. Every single person had limits to what they could endure. Adding Race into the mix of the mess I was already in the center of felt like there simply wasn’t any more room inside of me for things to stay stuffed down. Everything was com
ing to the surface, all the feelings and emotions I refused to acknowledge, refused to fret over, were popping the seams and threatening to spill out. That wasn’t a spill anyone was going to want a hand in cleaning up when I finally ruptured.
I sighed and called Karsen to see what kind of ice cream she wanted me to get for her.
Chapter 4
Race
THERE WAS A TIME in my life where the thud of heavy fists smacking into flesh, the smell of blood, and the agonizing sounds of human suffering moved me. It used to make my skin crawl and my guts go tight. Now it was a necessary evil, and as bad as it appeared it was just part of the job.
I was in the back room of Spanky’s, the strip club to end all strip clubs in the District. The girls who danced here were no run-of-the-mill strippers. They were gorgeous, professional, and served dual roles as dancers and hostesses when the stage lights were off and the club turned into an illegal casino. Spanky’s had been a cash cow for Novak. Now Nassir and I both had our hands in the pot and we were currently watching Chuck, the giant African American man who was the head of security for the joint, beat the living hell out of a client who didn’t know how to keep his hands to himself.
I had my arms crossed and was leaning against the wall while the guy, who could very easily be anyone’s dad, got the shit kicked out of him. He had already spit out teeth, and his face looked like hamburger, but Chuck didn’t seem like he was in a hurry to stop the beating, and Nassir wasn’t calling him off. Nassir had eyes the color of burned caramel and they were focused intently on the scene in front of him. He took the security of the girls who worked for him seriously, regardless if they were turning tricks or not—and Honor, not her real name of course, wasn’t a girl you were going to put your hands on and get away with it.
She was as much a part of the District as Bax was of the Point. We had a sordid history, and in all honesty, I was surprised she wasn’t back here kicking the shit out of Grabby Hands McGee because that’s the kind of chick she was. The victim grunted, his puffy and swollen eyes rolled back in his head as he listed over onto his side in an unconscious heap. Chuck gave him one more kick with the toe of his shoe and leaned down to wipe his bloody hands on the guy’s torn and ripped shirt.
Nassir lifted a black eyebrow. “Feel better?”
Chuck grunted and looked back and forth between the two of us. “Something in the air. Don’t know what it is, but people keep showing up and pushing limits. Had to make a point and make it clear.”
Nassir and I shared a look and he shrugged his shoulders. He always looked like he was off to some kind of high-powered business meeting. His suits cost more than my car, and his exotic looks and lethal way of carrying himself made him intimidating and domineering without any effort. I already treated him like he was going to shove a knife in my back at any second, but just being in his dark presence made me keen to make sure I was always on my toes.
“What’s going on?”
He rubbed his thumb along the edge of his jaw and considered me thoughtfully. “Some of the girls have come back complaining that clients aren’t wanting to pay. They said that the word going around is that you and I, we’re too new. The city is in flux, no one is in charge, and no one is in line to answer to, so people are getting ballsy and pushing their luck.”
I gritted my back teeth and frowned. “What are you doing about it?”
“We, Race. What are we doing about it?”
He seriously was the last person on the planet I wanted to be in business with, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.
“What are we doing about it, Nassir?”
“Putting a fucking stop to it right fucking now.” He motioned to the guy on the floor. “I got names, I got addresses, and a whole world of hurt is coming anyone’s way who wants to question who is or isn’t in charge. I suggest you do the exact same if someone doesn’t come through on what they owe you.”
I hadn’t run into that problem yet, but my time as a bookie was still pretty new.
“Yeah. I guess there can’t be any perceived weakness.”
Nassir’s eyes flashed. “There won’t be any weakness period. I waited far too long for someone else to handle Novak and all his madness. I should’ve done something about him long ago, but I waited, and his poison spread. You and I might not see eye to eye, Race, but we both agree that someone has to feed the monster, and that as long as honorable men are doing it, the city doesn’t have to be sacrificed to keep it fed.”
Honorable wasn’t a word I would equate with Nassir, but that wasn’t a point I wanted to push right now.
“Is Honor all right?”
Something crossed his face that was beyond frightening. I didn’t know much about his past, or where he came from, but I never mistook Nassir for just some guy in a suit afraid of getting his hands in the dirt and muck. He was a man who could kill if he felt it necessary, the kind of man who would take on an entire army if he thought the battle needed to be fought.
“She’s pissed.”
I sighed heavily. “I have a deposit I want to hand over. College football started.”
He nodded and we left Chuck alone to clean up the mess on the floor. It was cold, it was inhumane, and a tiny piece of me knew it was wrong, but it was just the way it had to be. We went into the office that the guy who used to run the club used, and I handed over the bundled-up stacks of cash. When I was younger, throwing around hundreds of thousands of dollars had meant nothing to me. Now I watched Nassir take it and put it in the safe behind the desk with all kinds of trepidation. One thing about being a criminal that really sucked was that you had to rely on other criminals to make a living. As a whole, we weren’t really a trustworthy lot, and we were all inherently looking out for number one.
My apprehension must have shown on my face, because Nassir lifted a dark eyebrow and gave me a grin that was anything but reassuring.
“I need you, Race. I’m not going to rip you off.”
I snorted. “What happens when you decide you don’t need me?”
“You’re a smart man. You can figure out the answer to that on your own. By the way, I heard one of those punk college kids pulled a gun on you while you were collecting. You need to take a stand when shit like that goes down.”
I sighed. “He was just some kid.”
Nassir pointed a finger at me and his voice was all seriousness when he told me, “So are you, only you’re just some kid running an entire city from the outside. Anyone fucks with you, Race, and you put them in their place. Bax has a reputation to stand on, it’s in his blood. He was born as bad as they come. You’re just some rich kid playing at being a crime boss. You need to prove that you are serious, that you are in this to the end. Be that by your blood or theirs. There is only one way to do things . . . our way.”
I wasn’t ruthless like that. I don’t think I would ever be the kind of man who just took and took without a thought as to whom I was taking from. It was too close to the coldness; the black and empty way my father operated. I never wanted to be the kind of man who could consider killing his own flesh and blood just because it was a messy story he didn’t want to try and explain.
“I handle my business, Nassir. Don’t worry about what I’m doing or what I’m not doing.”
He grunted and took a seat at the desk and steepled his fingers under his chin. “I’m more worried about Bax coming unglued if you get your dumb ass killed and ruining everything we’ve managed to patchwork together. Plus, the cop would start poking around, and that would be unpleasant for both of us.”
The cop was Bax’s half brother, Titus King. He had played a big part in helping take Novak down, and was now a constant pain in my ass. I liked Titus. He was a good man, a dedicated cop, but if he really knew what I was into, the kinds of things Bax and I had working on the side, he would flip his shit and have no qualms about shutting my operation down cold. He was always watching us with an eagle eye, and I think he knew more than he let on, but Nassir was a ruthless ba
stard, and if Titus did indeed get too close, I didn’t doubt he would try and take him out of the game.
I didn’t have anything else to say to him and my patience at having to deal with the slick bastard had reached its limits. I wasn’t playing at anything. I knew how serious this shit I was deep into was, and treated it as such. I just didn’t have any intention of turning into a Novak while doing it.
As I rounded the corner I almost slammed into Honor. Her real name was Keelyn Foster and she was probably the most beautiful girl in the entire world. Granted, she paid a lot of money to keep that appearance up, but in the dark, there was no difference between man-made and heaven-sent in my book. She had on a silky black robe, her long, auburn hair was a tangled mess, and her heavy makeup was smeared all over her face. Even in the dim light of the strip club, I could see the nasty split in her bottom lip and the bruise flowering across her high and elegant cheekbone.
I let out a whistle. “Are you all right?”
She winced a little and lifted her fingers to her cheek. “Been better. Did Nassir bring that idiot back here?”
I nodded and warned, “If Nassir gets a good look at your face, that idiot is leaving the club in a body bag.”
“Good. Asshole deserves it. No touching means no touching. He’s lucky I didn’t castrate him with one of my heels.”
It was impossible to live this life and not develop that edge. Beautiful girls shouldn’t have to live this hard. It was a shame.
“He had Chuck work him over pretty good, but I’m serious about him killing the guy if he catches sight of the damage. I think the devil has a soft spot for you.”
She rolled her dark gray eyes at me and crossed her arms over her silk-covered breasts. I was very familiar with her naked body, knew she made the money she did for a reason, but there was a hardness about her now that hadn’t been there when I left five years ago.