“Why not just ask one of Riordan’s guys to drive me to Ledger’s? My landlord has never been on time, and I know you have things to do.” I released a sigh. “I know Atlas needs you at the club. There have been fights and while your guys are amazing, they aren’t you. I won’t be alone for long.”
He sighed and went to my small kitchen to fill up my watering can. “I’ll give it half an hour. Then if I need to, I’ll make arrangements.”
“Fair enough.”
But half an hour came and went. I texted Ledger to let him know I would be longer than I thought because of the leak. My plants were watered, and I had my mail in a small duffel with some clothes. Ciro was able to get the pipe to slow down, but I didn’t want to leave a bucket under it, not knowing when I’d be back to empty it.
“Ciro, just go. I’ll wait here for one of Riordan’s guys and leave with them as soon as my landlord gets here and fixes this mess. You have to get to the club.”
“I can just call a plumber to come and fix it. I got a buddy—”
“You always have a buddy. No, don’t worry. In my lease, I agreed not to hire outside people without the landlord’s approval.”
Ciro rolled his eyes and took out his cell phone. “I’ll text Riordan, see who he has that’s close that can come drive you.” He grumbled under his breath and I couldn’t make out what he said, but he was pissed—that much I knew.
It felt ridiculous, keeping Ciro here. I wasn’t the target, nothing had been directed my way, and I was wasting everyone’s time. “I can take the bus too, you—”
“Not a chance. Nice try. Fucking bus, Shane, I can’t believe you…” He read something on his phone. “Fuck, Max is texting me that some guys are drinking in front of the club and being obnoxious.”
“Oh, would you just go, Ciro? I’ll even call my landlord again.” I called, and his wife said he’d left a few minutes earlier. Thank God.
“Okay, Neil will be here in five minutes. I don’t like it, but I have to get to the club and break up that mess and find out why my guys can’t do the simplest of jobs.” Ciro said. “Neil’s three blocks over. Finish up what you need in here.”
“Okay, landlord is on his way, and Neil is too, it’s fine. Shoo.”
Ciro nodded. “Okay. Lock the door behind me. I won’t walk away until I hear it lock. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
As soon as Ciro left I locked the door and went to my room to make sure I got everything I’d need for a week. I didn’t think this would take that long, but I’d rather have too much instead of too little.
I was just putting an extra pair of boxers into my bag when there was a knock on the door.
“Neil, that you?”
“No, it’s Lyle.” My landlord.
“Don’t you have a key?” I asked as I went to open the door.
“I’m not allowed to just enter your apartment.” When I opened the door, Lyle stood there with an unimpressed expression. He wasn’t a bad man, just lazy.
“That’s very kind of you.”
He shrugged. “I’m a good guy. So, where’s the leak?”
“Oh, this way in the bathroom.” I shut the door and Lyle followed me. “I was able to get it to slow down but, yeah.”
He opened the cabinet under the sink and saw the leak. “Ah, yeah. I think I’ll just replace this pipe. It’s easier. I have some in my truck. Be right back.”
“Okay, sure. Thanks.”
I sent a text to Ciro and one to Ledger that Lyle was fixing the pipe and that hopefully I’d be done this century.
Ciro texted an okay and asked if Neil was there yet. Ledger said to be safe. I answered Ciro that he wasn’t here yet, but I was okay and promised not to leave on my own. He texted “Good boy.” Jerk.
I heard the door open to my apartment and shouted that I was in my room. Lyle didn’t answer, but then again, he wasn’t usually talkative.
I grabbed my bag and carried it into the living room and went to see Lyle in the bathroom. “So, how long do you think…” When I peeked my head in, Lyle wasn’t there. “Shit, I swear I heard the door open.” I went to the living room, and my door was shut, and the chain was over the door. “Huh, I must’ve locked it.…Wait no, I—”
“No, I locked it.”
I whipped around and there, sitting in my corner chair, gun pointing at me, was Charles.
“How’d you—”
“You didn’t lock your door.”
I realized Lyle and Neil were both on their way. I just had to stay alive until someone arrived. That shouldn’t be hard, right? I could feel and hear my pulse in my ear. I hoped I didn’t pass out. As odd as it was, I thought about Ciro. He was going to be so fucking mad at me for forcing him to go.
“I did, but then my landlord went to his truck to get a pipe. He’ll be back in a second.”
Charles gave me a stilted nod. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. So, tell me something, Shane.”
He was so calm, so collected. It was eerie. “Yeah?”
“Do you sleep well at night?”
Odd question. “Um…normally, yeah, but lately, not so much.”
“Is that because you feel guilty?”
I dared not move an inch. The gun in his hand was pointing at my head, and it was already obvious he was unstable. “Guilt? Why would I feel guilty?”
“Because you’re sleeping with someone who isn’t yours to have!” he snapped, the hand without the gun clenched into a fist.
“Charles, Ledger isn’t yours.”
That was a bad thing to say, because he got up so fast and stormed over to me, and if I hadn’t ducked out of the way, he would’ve pistol-whipped me.
“He isn’t yours!” Charles shouted, and I so hoped Lyle or Neil heard.
“Okay, don’t get upset. Maybe tell me how you met Ledger?” I slowly moved toward the door. But Charles wasn’t stupid.
“Sit down.”
I eyed the door and knew I’d never make it. Maybe if it wasn’t locked, I could. I moved to the sofa and sat.
“The first time I saw Ledger was in this video for DJay Con. Seeing him, I knew we’d be great together. So, I registered, booked a flight, and when we were face-to-face we just clicked. It was almost magical, really.”
Wow. “Uh-huh. And what did you two talk about?”
He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “You know, you were there, like a thorn in my side. I thought, ‘Huh, he has a protective assistant.’ I liked that he had you. Ledger needs someone to take care of him. I mean, look at that mess with Trinity.” He scoffed. “She didn’t know when to stop. I could tell Ledger wasn’t enjoying her eager ways and like a good boyfriend, made it stop.”
He sat on the table across from me. His grip on the gun was strong, judging by how he was white-knuckling it. “Then I find out you’re trying to take him away from me. Maybe you always were. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not okay, Shane, not okay.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea he was seeing someone else,” I said, trying to sound as honest as I could.
“Yeah, don’t try and lie. Your face gives you away.”
Just then there was a knock on the door. “Shane, it’s Neil.”
Charles leaned into me and whispered, “Tell him you’ll be out in a minute, you’re just getting your bag.”
I so wanted to scream for him to help me, but I doubted I’d get to finish the sentence before there was a hole in my head. “Be out in a minute, just getting my bag.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you by the elevator…Everything okay, Shane?” Neil asked through the door, the knob shaking like he was trying to get in.
“Yeah getting my bag, be right there. Door’s locked, sorry, Ciro’s orders.” I kept eye contact with Charles, and he seemed pleased.
“I’ll be at the elevator.” Charles didn’t move for a few seconds until I assumed Neil was away from the door.
“Very good. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah.” He chuckled, lifted his hand, and this time I didn’t get a chance to block from the hit.
There was a burst of pain, and everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ledger
Any chance of watching a movie with Shane was quickly dwindling away. He’d been gone for three hours now, and I was beginning to worry. The last text I’d received from him was an hour ago and no updates from Ciro or Riordan’s guys. I snagged my phone off the kitchen counter and texted Ciro again. My phone buzzed a moment later.
“Ciro, what’s going on?”
“Neil texted me that he got to Shane’s fifteen minutes ago, he was going up, relax.”
There was no way I was relaxing until Shane was here. Something in my gut was telling me there was a problem. “Can you just do me a solid and text Neil and see if everything is okay?”
“Jesus. Yeah, okay.” Ciro disconnected the call and I sat on the kitchen stool, staring at the platter of cupcakes Shane had made. There were only five left because Ciro had devoured them. The lingering scent of vanilla and sweetness made me wish Shane were here right now.
It took Ciro almost five minutes to contact me, and I jumped when my phone vibrated. “Everything good?” I asked by way of greeting.
“Okay, Ledger, you need to stay calm.”
Never a good way to start out a conversation. “What is it, Ciro? You said everything was fine!”
“Shane is okay. But there was an issue. Neil is with him at his place.” I could hear Toby in the background, and while I couldn’t make out what he was saying, he was extremely agitated.
“I’m going over there.”
“Ledger, for fuck’s sake, don’t—”
I didn’t let him finish. I pocketed my phone, ignoring the incessant vibration of Ciro trying to get a hold of me, snagged my keys, and headed toward the elevator.
The door opened and two men walked out. I knew they were Riordan’s men and that Ciro probably called them.
“Listen,” I said. “I’m going over there; you can come with me, or this can turn into a shit show. I’m not a hostage and if you lay a finger on me, Ciro will end you.”
Even though both men smirked in disbelief, they did move aside. But as soon as I stepped foot on the elevator, they came with me. Fine, I didn’t give a shit, I just needed to see Shane.
One of the guys rode with me, and another raced over to his own vehicle. I backed out and didn’t wait for the other man to catch up. If my speeding bothered the muscle I had with me, he didn’t let on.
When I pulled up to Shane’s building, there was nothing out of the ordinary. No cop cars or ambulance so maybe the issue wasn’t related to this, and I overreacted. Shit, Ciro wouldn’t ever let me live it down. I got out of the car and knew the man with me was following. When I got off the elevator to Shane’s floor—that was when I knew something was wrong. I could see the door to his apartment open, and I heard voices.
“Please, sir, let me go first.” The guy stepped in front of me and while I wanted to just go, I recognized it would be irresponsible if I went and got myself shot when these guys were simply doing their jobs. I nodded and proceeded slowly behind him.
As soon as he pushed the door farther open, I heard one of the voices.
“It’s Neil, Gary, it’s good.”
The guy, Gary, gestured for me to go in, and when I stepped into Shane’s apartment, I homed in directly on him. He was on his couch, a bandage on his head, and a bag of frozen peas resting over the bandage.
“What the fuck happened?” I snapped. These guys were here to protect him, and the first time he leaves my place he gets broken?
I rushed over to Shane and tenderly took his hand. He opened his eyes and gave me a small smile.
“I’m okay, Ledger. It was my fault.”
“How was this your fault? Did you slip on something and hit your head?” I supposed that was a thought…again, I reacted without finding out.
“No. My landlord came to fix the leak and had to get something in his truck. When he left my place, I forgot to lock the door behind him. Neil wasn’t here yet, and I promised Ciro I would stay put, not answer the door for anyone but Neil or my landlord. But I left the door unlocked.” The way Shane said “unlocked” was pure devastation.
“What happened?”
He placed the bag of peas on the coffee table. The bandage had a small red circle on it, but it didn’t look like he was bleeding hard anymore.
“It was Charles. He must’ve followed me here. He’s smart, that’s for sure. We were talking—well, more like he was spouting crazily to me about his infatuation with you. He’s lost it, Ledger. I don’t think anyone will be able to reason with him.”
“He did this?” I cupped Shane’s face in my hands and so softly kissed beside the bandage.
“One minute we were talking; then he hit me. When I woke up, Neil was looming over me, and Charles was gone.”
“I heard a noise and pushed the door open,” Neil said, and I looked over at the door and saw the doorframe was splintered. “Shane was out cold.”
“Did you see Charles?”
“I think he got out through the fire escape.” Shane pointed to the window off from his kitchen. “It’s the only other way out of here. When he heard Neil, he must’ve made a run for it.”
“We should go to the hospital,” Gary said, but Shane was already shaking his head.
“I’ve had enough of hospitals. I’m fine, really. A little dizzy and a nice-sized bump, but I’m okay.”
“Shane—”
“No, Ledger, I’m fine. If it gets worse, I’ll go. Right now I just want to get out of here and go back to your place.”
“Did the landlord ever come back?” Gary turned to Neil.
“Yeah, he said he’d work on it later. Was worried about Shane but I told him to go. The leak isn’t too bad right now.”
“My bag.” Shane went to move but I stopped him.
“We’ve got your bag, let me get you to my car.” I helped Shane up and, slower than I was sure he liked, walked him to the elevator.
“I’m not going to shatter, Ledger,” Shane argued as I helped him into my car.
“I left you for a moment, and look what happened.” When I went to buckle him in, he grabbed my hand.
“Technically, I left you. And if you buckle my seat belt, I’ll bite you.”
“I might like that.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I hope you realize the error of your ways and aren’t going to do anything silly like leave me again.”
The moment turned serious and Shane pressed his lips to mine. A kiss worth a thousand words. “Never,” he whispered.
I didn’t play music in the car and was glad Gary was in the other vehicle with Neil. Shane rested his head and closed his eyes, and I thanked my lucky stars he was safe. He’d said he had a little headache, and I told him as soon as we were back, I’d make him tea, get some pain meds in him, draw him a bath. And we could soak a bit.
“You’ll spoil me.” He chuckled.
“As much as you’ll let me.”
There was no question I was falling hard for Shane. Through this entire ordeal, he had been here. And where anyone else would have run away from me because of this psycho, he was staying. Wanting to still be with me. If I let Shane Reeves go now, I’d deserve anything and everything karma threw my way.
“Oh, Ledger, those are dangerous words.” He started to laugh but winced. “Yeah, definitely pain meds.”
We pulled up to my place and directly into the garage. Gary and Neil told us to wait in the car as they had to check the place out since there was some camera interference occurring and they got word to check it out. Shane and I sat there, the peaceful silence around us and waited for the all-clear.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Shane
Gary and Neil came back into the garage about fifteen minutes later and told us we could go in. The place was quiet. Relieved, I unbuckled but as soon as I opened my door, Ledger was there, taking my hand and my bag.
“Don’t give me that look. I’m just steadyi
ng you, and carrying your bag is simply a nice thing to do. Last thing you need is to hit your head again.”
I wasn’t going to argue with the fact that he was touching me. I took advantage of it, actually, and leaned on him as we rode the elevator.
“I could get used to leaning on you.”
“I’m so glad I can be of service.” He chuckled as the doors opened and we stepped into his place. Damn, it felt good to be here.
“I really do love your place, Ledger.” I took a few steps and stopped cold when Ledger dropped my bag and grabbed my arm. “What?”
Ledger was looking around, up to the beams, and that was when I realized it…there was no roar when we walked in.
“Where’s Lion?” I asked softly.
“Good question.” He narrowed his eyes and pulled me closer to him.
“Didn’t Gary and Neil say the place was clear?” My gaze darted all over the large space waiting for someone to pop out.
“Yeah, they said all quiet. The only time either of those particular guys had been here, I was already home. Lion didn’t roar. They didn’t know.”
“But they didn’t find anything…Oh God, Ledger. Lion!”
“Shane. Just don’t move, okay…” He reached for his phone and I looked to see he was texting Ciro.
“Should we go back downstairs?”
“Hang on,” Ledger said and sent the text. “You should go tell Gary and Neil something is up.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Oh, how sweet.” I recognized that voice. Ledger and I both turned and found Charles sitting on a kitchen stool, eating a cupcake. He hadn’t been there a second ago.
“Charles,” I said.
“Shane, I see you lived…pity.”
“I remember you,” Ledger said and started to walk toward the kitchen. “How’d you get in here?”
“I should hope so, Romeo,” Charles joked as if they were long-lost lovers. “As for how I got in…well, with everyone scrambling to get to Shane’s, I am a little bit of a techie. I was able to tap into those cute cameras you have here long enough for me to sneak inside. Not like anyone was guarding this place. It wasn’t hard at all.”
Heart Beats Page 15