Respect

by Jay Crownover

  “I need to take a shower.” She stretched languidly across the bed.

  I landed an open palm on the other side of her backside and took a step away from the edge of the bed as she rolled over and flipped me off. She looked so perfect in my bed, covered in glistening drops of sweat and sex. If I wasn’t sure she would try and castrate me for making her late, I would have tried to talk her into another round of soul-searing sex.

  “Take a shower. I’ll jump in the guest bathroom so you don’t get distracted.” And wasn’t that just the damndest thing? A guy like me, being a distraction for a girl like her. Never in a million years would I admit to dreaming of this exact scenario when I first realized how unique and special she was.

  I was digging through the closet for a pair of jeans and she was rambling around in the ensuite bathroom when my cell phone rang. Everyone I knew was tied up with the wedding today, so I frowned as I picked up the burner phone from the nightstand where I’d tossed it when I lost my pants earlier. Stark’s number flashed on the display and I frowned even harder. Stark didn’t typically call. He was much more a one-word text message kind of guy.

  I swiped to answer the call, keeping an eye on the open bathroom door in case he had information about Karsen’s stalker that would ruin her good mood and steal away her excitement over her sister’s wedding.

  “Hey.” I tugged the jeans up my legs and trapped the phone between my cheek and my shoulder. “What’s up?”

  “You need to get down to the security room right now.” His voice was abrupt and hard.

  “The security room in the condos?” I was confused, but already moving out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

  “Yeah. Hustle. The head of security over there called me an hour ago because something weird was going on with the system. I tried to remotely access the system, the fucking system I built, and I couldn’t get in. Someone hacked in and blocked all my access.”

  “What? I thought you built an unhackable system, boy genius. How is that possible?” I was out the door without bothering to put on a shirt or shoes.

  “Shut up. I haven’t updated things in a while. And I think he was already familiar with the system. Something is going on with the video feeds. They all went black and I can’t pull them back online. I don’t want to stress Race out on his wedding day, but this isn't good. Karsen said the kid in Boulder was a computer engineering major. If he’s good with computers, there’s a good chance he’s the one behind the hack.”

  I pushed the button for the elevator with more force than was necessary and scowled at my reflection in the mirrored interior. “I can barely use a smartphone. What good am I going to do in a room full of computers and cameras?”

  “If it is the kid from Colorado, then he’s waiting for something or someone. I’ve tried reaching out; I sent him an invitation to chat but got nothing back. He has to know you won’t put Karsen in front of the camera knowing he was watching her, but I’m betting if he sees you, he’ll tell us what he wants. There’s a reason behind all of this. Even if he doesn’t make a statement, it’s going to take me a couple of hours to get the system back from him, so you should come down here and say your piece in case he’s lurking.”

  I typed the security code into the keypad used for the secure floors in the building. When I reached the lowest level in the complex the doors whooshed open and dumped me into the bowels of the building. I never liked this part of the job. All the surveillance and invasion of privacy made my skin crawl. I hated knowing my every move was being monitored and recorded. It reminded me too much of being behind bars.

  Stark had emptied out the busy security hub and commandeered the room. He had two laptops open in front of him and was alternately typing on the keyboard of one and glaring at the screen of the other. The wall of video monitors was blank, nothing but black screens staring back at me, as I walked deeper into the room. “I asked Noe to head over to the hotel where Race is having the wedding. She’s making sure their system is secure and nothing goes wrong over there. I also called Nassir and asked him to beef up security. Hopefully, we won’t have to drag Race into this on his big day.”

  I turned my head to ask Stark what he wanted me to do, but before I got a word out, all the screens suddenly flickered to life.

  “Holy fuck.” Stark leaned back in the leather chair. He shifted his gaze between the images on the screen and where I was frozen.

  Over twenty monitors showed a young woman tied to a chair. Her head was bent, dark hair hanging over her face. There were no identifying markers indicating where the video was being streamed from, but the background looked industrial.

  “Can you track where the video feed is coming from?” I wasn’t sure if whomever was on the other end of the video could hear me, and I didn’t care.

  Stark swore and continued frantically typing away on the laptop. “Maybe. But he’s probably bouncing the signal around a bunch of different proxy servers, so it will take a while.”

  We both stiffened as another person appeared on the screens. He was young, terribly average looking, and grinning like a lunatic. Without saying anything, he walked over to the dark-haired girl tied to the chair. He grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head back, and I growled when I recognized Karsen’s pretty roommate. The young woman had a fat lip and a black eye. Even through the grainy footage, it was clear her gaze was glassy and unfocused. Her movements were sluggish and unnatural. The bastard had no doubt drugged her.

  The creep let her head loll back down and sauntered closer to the camera recording his little show. He smiled even wider, flashing a lot of teeth and getting close enough that there was no missing the crazy in his eyes.

  “Trade ya.” The taunt was delivered along with a raised middle finger before everything went black again.

  Stark and I stared at the monitors for a solid five minutes. Nothing happened. Not another video. Not a blip of activity. Stark got to his feet and a second later one of his laptops was flying through the air and colliding with the wall in a spectacular crash. The delicate electronic exploded in a shower of glass and circuits. He locked his fingers together and put them on top of his head. I could feel anger and frustration pouring off him in volatile waves.

  “I can’t believe that little shit hacked my system.” He kicked the chair in front of him and turned to me. “I’ll figure out where he was streaming from. Then I’ll help you get that girl out of there.”

  I exhaled a long, slow breath and put my hands on my hips as I considered where we needed to start. “Do you think he’s back in Colorado?”

  Stark adopted a thoughtful expression and after a couple silent minutes, slowly nodded. “I do. He would have had a hard time getting the girl to the Point with no one noticing, especially with everyone on high alert knowing Karsen has a stalker. Plus, this is home field advantage for us. He has the upper hand in Colorado, or really anywhere else. He knows the lay of the land there and would have had time to prepare.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Makes sense. You think you can find where he’s holding her?”

  “Absolutely. It may take a little longer than normal, since he’s got a hand in hacking, but I’ll track him down.” He sounded pissed and determined.

  I nodded again and cracked my neck. “All right. I need to make a few calls, and I need you to get me on a flight to Colorado. He might have the upper hand right now, but I doubt he’s expecting an ambush. He thinks Karsen is going to show, and if her sister wasn’t getting married today, no doubt she would walk right into whatever trap he has set. If you can get me there as quickly as possible and under the radar like last time, it would be ideal.” The kid had devoted all his time to watching and studying her every move. He knew there was no way she would walk away while Ari was in danger.

  Stark grunted and righted the chair he’d kicked over so he could throw his big body down into the seat. “What are you going to tell Karsen? She’s going to want to go with you.”

  “I’m gonna tell her the tru
th. I’m going to get her friend back. She might want to be there, but she needs to be here. I’m going to prove to her she can rely on me no matter what.” It wasn’t a conversation I was looking forward to having, but it was one that was necessary.

  “Okay. You go do your thing, and I’ll stay here and do mine. This little punk needs to be taken down. He’s a menace. No one pisses in my territory without repercussions.” He turned his attention back to his only surviving laptop as I made my way back to the elevator.

  He was more than a menace. He was a threat to the one person in this world who meant everything to me. He wasn’t going to get taken down. He was going to get put down. He was going to disappear into a hole so deep and dark no one would ever find what was left of him when I was done doing my thing.

  When I reached the apartment, Karsen was hovering in the doorway, concern stamped all over her pretty face. She looked at me, and I felt like she could see everything twisting and turning inside of my head.

  “Is everything all right?” It amazed me how calm she sounded. They broke the mold when they created this girl. She was born to be the queen of a kingdom ruled by constant chaos and confusion.

  “We need to talk. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

  I had yet to break one promise I made to her, and I wasn’t about to start now.

  Karsen

  “I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be, but can you at least pretend you’re happy for us?” Race’s question startled me out of my thoughts.

  I looked up at the stunningly handsome man I was supposed to be slow dancing with and realized at some point during the song my feet stopped moving and we were doing nothing more than standing in the center of the ornate dance floor. The rest of the wedding party and guests moved stealthily around us. I could see Dovie watching us over Bax’s shoulder as he spun her around. They both looked incredibly good in their formal wear. Bax’s star tattoo that hovered near his eye made him appear particularly rakish when he was decked out in a tux. There was concern on Dovie’s face, and I was pretty sure none of it was directed at me. She was worried I was going to ruin her big brother’s special day. I’d done a pretty spectacular job of avoiding Race during the days preceding the wedding, but there was no way I could turn him down when he asked me for this dance. It would have been rude and drawn even more attention to the fact I was mentally strung out and nowhere near present for my sister’s big day.

  I started moving again, easily gliding back into the elegant rhythm Race set. He came from the kind of background that required him to attend cotillions. He was a good dancer and easy to follow, but my concentration was shot to hell and I wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding the fact I wanted to be somewhere else.

  “I’m so sorry, Karsen. I’m sorry you were hurt. I’m sorry I put you in danger when all I wanted to do was protect you. I fucked everything up when all I was trying to do was fix things for Brysen. I don’t admit to making many mistakes, but this was a huge one and I’m not sure what I can do to make it right.”

  His jade gaze was full of honest remorse and his apology felt sincere. As with my sister, I understood his motivation, and all the reasons why he interfered. And maybe given enough time, I would be able to openly admit I needed those four years to figure things out, and I appreciated both of their devotion to putting me on a path that would ultimately lead me right back where I started. However, I wasn’t even close to being there yet.

  “I am happy for you. Brysen is glowing. I know you will always put her first. She deserves nothing less. She always sacrificed herself to take care of everyone else. You were the first person in her life who always took care of her above all else. I know you will keep her safe and protect our family with everything you have in you.” I lifted an eyebrow. “Even if we don’t necessarily need protecting. Yeah, I’m pissed at you, Race, but I still love you. I always will.”

  He gave me a little twirl and pulled me back with a flourish. He was wearing a navy blue tux jacket made out of velvet with black satin lapels. It was stylish and sharp, and totally him. He looked like one of the fairy-tale princes found in a Disney movie.

  “You just happen to love Booker more.”

  It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t bother to answer it. Instead, I met his glowing gaze and dipped my chin in a barely there nod of agreement. “If you want to make things right, you can start by offering him the same pretty apology you just gave me. He’s the one who deserves it most. You did him wrong, Race.”

  A scowl slipped across his handsome face and I let my eyes drift to the bruise on his forehead that his golden hair didn’t quite cover. “I think Booker and I are as good as we’re going to get. He’s not going to forgive or forget, which is his right. I don’t know how I could come to terms with anyone who had a hand in keeping me from Brysen. I think the fact that we’ve agreed not to kill each other moving forward is as good as it’s going to get. He’s welcome here. This is his home. I won’t try and take it away from him.”

  I snorted. Like he could take anything away from Booker again even if he wanted to. My man had learned his lesson about giving up without a fight, and there was no way he was going to let anyone railroad him ever again. I looked over Race’s shoulder to where Brysen was sitting at a table with our mother. She was having a good day, and she looked really, really happy for my sister. I wasn’t foolish enough to think they were having a sweet mother-daughter moment. The reception had an open bar and every single guest had a flute of champagne in their hand. Brysen was watching our mom like a hawk to make sure she didn’t relapse and grab a drink while no one was looking. I was keeping an eye on her until Race commandeered me for the dance.

  I sighed and looked up at the man who had given me everything and had also taken it all away.

  Before I could say anything, Race lifted his eyebrows and a frown tugged at his mouth. “You aren’t staying in the Point, are you?”

  He was too observant for his own good. How he knew that when I’d only recently figured it out myself was scary. “I have to talk to Booker first, but no. I don’t think we’re going to stay here.”

  He studied me for a long moment. When he spoke, there was nothing but patient understanding in his voice. “You’re worried you won’t ever have your own life here. You’re afraid your place in the Point is always going to be defined by me and the other people constantly looking out for you. Somewhere along the way, this city became claustrophobic and too small for all the things you’re meant to do.”

  I swallowed past a rising lump of emotion in my throat. Once again, we stopped moving as people twisted and twirled around us. “You taught me well, Race. I watched all the good you and Nassir did for this city in the dark. Sometimes you have to play dirty in order to win the game. You’ve given so many people opportunities to thrive and succeed in a place that was failing. You brought this place back to life by breaking the law. Do you know how many other towns and cities are out there that could use the same tough love the Point’s been given?”

  He reached out and pushed one of the curls currently twisted around my head in an artfully designed updo off my forehead. “I imagine there are too many to count. I know your man comes from one of them.”

  I nodded. “He does. He has a lot of bad memories from his town. I want to wipe it off the map and rebuild it from the ground up. He deserves to have a complete reset on his past. He deserves to be a part of making that happen. He’s earned it.”

  “Does he know you want to become the new Robin Hood?” Finally, Race’s normal, charming grin worked its way back to his face. “Taking from the rich and giving to the poor has been around long before either you or I thought about doing it.”

  I couldn’t help but grin back at him. “I don’t think he knows what I have in mind, but he’ll follow me wherever I go. He proved that when he came to Colorado.”

  Race grunted in begrudging agreement and his gaze finally shifted away from mine to scan the crowd. All our friends and family were th
ere, with the notable exceptions of Stark and Booker. Noe rolled into the reception well after the first dance started and pulled me aside for a quick update. She was glued to her phone, even as Key talked her ear off about something, while Nassir stroked the bare length of his wife's back. Only Keelyn would show up to a wedding in a dress better suited to a burlesque show in Vegas.

  “Is your missing date the reason you look like you’ve been sucking on lemons?” He had no idea his entire digital security system was down. Stark was keeping that information quiet, not wanting Race to take his attention away from his bride to deal with something the hacker felt was his failure and responsibility. Noe was keeping an eye on the hotel, just in case the breach had farther reaching consequences than the condo.

  “Something came up. He promised to take care of it so I could be here. It’s hard when you want to be in two places at once. My body's here, but my mind is definitely elsewhere. I know that’s not fair to you and Brysen, but the harder I try to be present, the more my mind wanders.” He offered his arm and guided me off the dance floor. My mother and Brysen both smiled so big it was nearly blinding.

  “Do you want to tell me what came up? I know you might not believe me, but I don’t want to see anything happen to Booker. Not when your happiness is tied so directly to him.” He grunted quietly when I dug my elbow into his ribs.

  “Now isn’t the time for that. I trust Booker to handle it, and I don’t think he needs, or wants, your help.” In fact, I knew he would rather walk barefoot over glass than ask Race for anything. He wasn’t walking into the situation alone. Far from it. But he trusted the people he had at his back. The same could not be said for how he felt about my brother-in-law. I leaned up and kissed Race on the cheek. “Go dance with your wife. Whisk her away on a romantic honeymoon. Give her a week where she doesn’t have to worry about you every time you walk out the door. She needs that.”