“All right, girl, none of that,” he said even as he squeezed her tighter. “You think that’ll be enough to get young Noah back?”
She gave him a watery smile. “It’ll definitely help.” She dashed away the tear that was burning a path down her cheek. “I don’t know how I can ever thank you.”
“Just be happy. That’s all I want.”
She smiled again, even as more tears streaked down her face.
Chapter Twenty-Two
It had been a long week, and a seriously busy one.
After Darcey’s talk with Jacob, she’d thrown herself into the business, doing as many jobs as they could handle, and she’d also put feelers out for a new part-time employee to help get things rolling. Like Jacob had said, the increase in work was immediate. She was putting everything she had into making the business a success, working as many hours as she needed to.
They’d be taking on more full-time staff in no time.
But it would take another month or so before she could afford a new place. The deposit alone was more than she had.
She’d had a visit with Noah. He’d seemed quiet, lost. It had killed her to see him that way. The family he was with seemed nice enough, but they weren’t his family—she was. Her brother was scared, terrified that all her promises to get him back were crap, that it was never going to happen. She’d let him down one too many times, and she didn’t blame him for losing faith in her.
Didn’t mean that loss of trust hurt any less, though.
As for Len, he’d suspiciously gone quiet. He’d been calling and texting, making threats since she’d run out of his house. Then they just suddenly…stopped.
She didn’t know why he’d backed off, and she didn’t trust it, either. But the longer he stayed out of the picture, the better it was for her.
She was so close to getting Noah back. She filed for the exemption on her previous criminal record, and if everything got approved, that part of her life would be wiped clean in the very near future. Alice thought it would be straightforward and go through without any problems. God, she hoped so.
Parking in front of her building, she turned the ignition off. The car was engulfed in silence. The prospect of another night alone, another night without Joe, made her belly clench.
Stop it, Darcey.
Forcing those thoughts from her mind, she climbed out, slung her bag over her shoulder, and made her way up to her apartment. She was concentrating so hard on not thinking about Joe she didn’t notice the guy standing by her door until she was almost in front of it.
Her head snapped up, and she stopped abruptly, gripping her keys in her hand. “Can I help you?”
The guy turned toward her and her belly dropped like a bolder to her feet.
Joe’s friend Adam was standing there, shoulder resting against the doorframe.
His blue eyes locked on her, his expression unreadable. “Got a minute?”
She shook her head. She didn’t need this, whatever it was. “I have no idea why you’re here, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”
He stepped back while she unlocked the door, and she had every intention of shutting it in his face, but he moved back in, putting his hand against the scarred wood, holding it open and forcing her back until they were both inside.
“It won’t take long,” he muttered and shut the door behind them.
Fucking wonderful.
“This is a bad idea…”
“Joe’s not in great shape.”
She jerked back like he’d shoved her. “I-I… I’m not sure…”
“I’m here to clue you in on a few things—things he’d never say because he’s a good guy, and he’s respecting your wishes. I’m not a good guy. I have no such moral code. I couldn’t give a fuck about your wishes. For some fucked up reason, he wants you and no one else. He’s gotten over what you did to us. I, on the other hand, have not. But this isn’t about me.”
“No, it’s not. What’s between me and Joe has nothing to do with you. So get the hell out of my place.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Not until I say what I’ve come to say.” His cold, blue eyes held hers. “Despite you dumping him because you think he’s not capable of serious, that he’s all about partying and fucking around, which shows how little you know him, he loves you anyway.”
Everything inside her seized, her heart stuttering in her chest. Loves her? “I do know him,” she rasped.
“You think so?” He planted his hands on his hips.
“I know him,” she said more firmly.
“You know he was the one that got the lights in your stairwell replaced? Paid for it out of his own pocket?”
Oh God.
“Did you know he calls his mother every other day to make sure she’s okay? Worries like crazy about his baby sister? Would do anything for his brother or me? Became my family when I had none left? That he often works on cars for free if he can see someone’s struggling? Would someone who doesn’t take life seriously do that? If he doesn’t give two fucks about anyone but himself, why would he do those things, Darcey?”
She was struggling to breath, each word from his mouth a shot to the chest. “I didn’t know… I…”
“He may come across the joker, play the clown, but he doesn’t do it because he thinks life is a joke. He does it to spread some fucking happy around. To make someone laugh when they’re feeling like shit. That’s the kind of guy he is. That’s what you threw away.”
Anger boiled up inside her. Who the hell was he to judge her? He knew nothing about her. Nothing. “You’re wrong. I know how sweet and generous he is. I’ve always known.”
“Bullshit,” he fired back. “You don’t know shit…”
“I’m in love with him.” The words burst past her lips before she could stop them.
Adam snapped his mouth shut, a frown lowering his brows.
“Does that make you happy? That I knew what I had, but had to end things with him anyway? Does my suffering appease your anger over the way I treated your friend?”
“No.”
She realized she was still gripping her keys so tightly they were cutting into her hand. “Shit.” The anger rushed away, instantly replaced with sadness…defeat. Releasing a tired breath, she threw them on the coffee table. “Just go, would you?”
Adam didn’t budge.
“Why did you end it if you love him?”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters.”
“Okay, how about this—it’s none of your goddamn business.”
His jaw hardened. “Not leaving this fucking apartment until you tell me why.”
God, she wanted him gone. Needed him to leave before she broke down, before she humiliated herself. “He told you about my brother?”
“Yes.”
She gave him a sharp nod. “What he wouldn’t have told you, because he doesn’t know, is that my brother was placed in voluntary foster care.”
“What?”
“Len decided he wanted our relationship to change, drastically…” The rest of the sentence got stuck in her throat.
Adam frowned. “What does that mean?”
She swallowed hard, prickles of dread skating up and down her spine. “You’re a clever guy, you figure it out.”
“He wanted to sleep with you?”
“Oh no, not just that, he wanted me to move back in, play happy families, and take over where my mother left off. I wasn’t overly excited about the idea and that made him kinda angry. So to get back at me, he gave up custody of my brother to try and force my hand. I would rather die than let him put his hands on me, so I’m jumping through hoops to try and get my brother back, to get us free of Len. I have a record, I live in a dump, and I needed a better paying job. I’m nearly there. I just need a better place for me and Noah, then I can petition to get custody of him. Nothing can get in the way of that.”
His frown deepened. “Joe could have helped you. Why the hell didn’
t you tell him what was going on?”
“Are you serious?”
He was scowling now. “As a fucking heart attack.”
“Joe has a temper. You have to know this. Are you telling me he wouldn’t go straight to Len and beat the shit out of him?”
Adam cursed. “No. But the fucker deserves it.”
“You don’t see anything wrong with that?”
“No. I don’t.”
She hugged herself. “Joe’s already under Len’s thumb. If he attacked Len… God, I’d hate to think what he might do to Joe. And that’s the other reason I had to walk away. What if Joe gets caught boosting a car?” She had to swallow the lump in her throat to get out her next words. “If we were in a relationship, of any kind, it could screw up my case. I could finally get Noah back only to lose him all over again. I can’t be associated with a criminal, Adam. No matter how much I love him. I know it’s hypocritical, but I don’t have any other choice. Noah has to come first. I’m finally free of that family. Al’s gone, and Len no longer holds anything over me. Joe, on the other hand, is stuck. Until his debt is paid and he’s not a part-time thief anymore, we can’t be together.”
Adam’s expression had changed; he looked weird, eyes kind of scary. “His debt?”
“You can’t tell him. Promise me you won’t tell him any of this. He could get hurt…he could…”
“His debt, Darcey?”
She blinked. “The one he took over from his brother.”
“He took over the debt?”
Something wasn’t right here. “He said you’ve been helping him?”
He shook his head. “Joe took over their old man’s debt?”
Oh shit. She had to grab for the door, her legs suddenly weak.
“Tell me, Darcey.”
Goddammit. Joe had lied to her. Told her he had someone looking out for him when he was boosting…but he hadn’t.
She bit her lip, trying to hold back the wave of emotion building steadily inside her.
He’d said it to protect her…
“Darcey.”
She jolted, trying to think clearly, when her head was nothing but a jumble. “Al, he…he wouldn’t wipe a debt clean like that, not for me. He used me to do his dirty work when he needed someone dispensable. But Joe had him over a barrel. Instead of saving my ass, he could have let the cops catch me in the act. My ties with Al would have raised a lot of questions. He owed Joe. Al was an asshole, but he appreciated shit like that. He agreed to Joe’s terms as a show of goodwill. As long as nothing changed and he got his cars, he didn’t care.”
“Right.” Adam was already heading for the door.
“Adam…”
He wrenched it open. “I gotta go.”
“Adam…”
He was already gone.
Fuck.
~ * ~
Joe walked out of the shower, rummaged through his drawers, then tagged a pair of jeans off the floor instead. Fuck, he needed to do some laundry. He needed to do a lot of things. At least he’d showered. Good thing, since he’d started to smell like a hobo. He dragged them on and went back to his dresser, grabbing the only clean shirt left, and yanked it on.
Jesus. It was tight as hell. He looked down. MC Hammer was scrawled on the front.
The fuck?
Then he remembered Hugh had gone to one of his concerts to impress some chick he’d had the hots for. He’d worn the parachute pants and everything.
Joe snorted. Man, had he given his brother shit.
The next day, their old man had taken off. Two weeks after that, Hugh boosted his first car. His brother never let himself get in deep with a girl again. Not until Shay.
And in just a matter of days, Joe and Hugh would he sitting across from the bastard again.
Their father had gotten sick of Joe ignoring his calls and had finally sacked up and contacted his eldest child. After Hugh had hung up on the guy—then taken a sledgehammer to the junker out behind the garage—he’d called the fucker back and agreed to the meet. Joe would rather have a colonoscopy than have face time with that motherfucker. But he also wasn’t going to let Hugh face their father alone.
“Nice shirt.”
Joe spun around with a shout, biting out a curse. Adam stood in his apartment door, a weird expression on his face.
“What the fuck, man?”
His friend shrugged.
“If you were trying to catch me with my junk out, I warn you now, comparing dick sizes will only end in tears. The Beast is three times the size of that tiny thing dangling between your legs.”
“I’m sure,” Adam deadpanned.
It was stupid, but saying the ridiculous name he’d made up for his dick to make Darcey smile was a gut punch.
“What’re you doing here anyway? I’m getting kinda sick of you barging into my place.” Another gut punch, thinking of the last time his friend had walked in uninvited.
“We need to talk.”
“I got shit to do…”
Adam crossed his arms. “What? You haven’t filled your quota for the month?”
Joe stilled, locking eyes with Adam. The guy knew everything. Fuck. “How’d you find out?”
“First, we go pick up the car you need tonight.” Adam scowled. “Me at your back like I should have fucking been all along. Then we talk.”
Goddammit. “Hugh can’t know about this, understand?”
He dipped his chin. “Pisses me off you thought you needed to say it. But I know why you did this, Joe. I get it.”
Joe didn’t doubt he did. Adam was as much of a brother to him now as Hugh. Which is why he didn’t want him involved in this mess. “Adam…”
His friend pulled the door open. “Don’t wanna hear it. I’m in. Now let’s go.”
Deranged bastard actually looked excited to be heading back out there.
Joe, on the other hand, just wanted to get through tonight without hurling.
~ * ~
It was late. He shouldn’t be here. Darcey would be asleep. Why the fuck wouldn’t his legs work properly?
His hand slapped against the wall for support. Shit, he didn’t even have drink as an excuse. The thing making his legs shake like fuck—his whole damn body vibrate—was rage. Rage that he’d banked and slammed the door on, or at least tried to. Guess it wasn’t working as well as he thought.
Adam had been forced to wrestle him to the ground after he’d told Joe why Darcey had broken things off. It had gotten a little messy there for a while. Okay, a lot messy. They were both sporting a few bruises, cuts, and scrapes they hadn’t had earlier that night. But at least he’d burned off the initial blaze. The embers, however, weren’t going anywhere, and it wouldn’t take much—like letting his iron will drop—for him to explode like an inferno, hunt down Len, and tear him apart until there was nothing left.
He reached the top of the stairs and sucked down several deep breaths, trying to regulate his breathing. Walking in there shaking, panting like a motherfucker, his eyes wide and crazy, would not help the situation. She was already worried he’d go off half-cocked, which is why she’d kept this from him. That stung, but going by his reaction when Adam spilled the beans, it was also accurate.
With his shit somewhat together, he quickly picked her lock and went inside. He probably should have knocked, since they weren’t together anymore, but there was a risk she wouldn’t open up, and he wasn’t going anywhere—not until they’d talked. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. Different colors filled the room from the neon signs outside her windows.
She wasn’t lying in bed, she was sitting on top, legs crossed, hair mussy but flatter on one side. She wore a baggy T-shirt—one of his, he realized—and PJ bottoms that had some kind of pattern on them.
Darcey looked cute and sexy as hell. He wanted to pull her into his arms and bury his face against that soft spot between her neck and shoulder—where she’d be warm, where her scent would be stronger, sweeter.
She flicked on the lamp by
the bed, bathing the room in yellow light.
“Hey, Peaches.” Fuck, his voice sounded wrecked.
Pain sliced through her blue eyes and she wrapped her arms around herself. “You spoke to Adam?”
“I spoke to Adam.” He took an involuntary step toward her.
She bit her lip.
“I just… I needed you to know I won’t go near Len. I promise you that. I won’t do anything that could mess up what you’re trying to do. It pissed me off when Adam told me why you’d kept it from me.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “But you were right. If I hadn’t had him with me… Yeah, I’m not sure what I would’ve done.”
She swallowed, her slender throat working. “What happened to your face?”
“I shot the messenger.” He rubbed his aching jaw.
More pain flashed across her features. She didn’t need a blow by blow. She knew what had happened instantly. She knew him. A small smile tilted up one corner of her mouth. “How does Adam look?”
Jesus, he wanted to kiss her. “You’d think a black eye and busted lip would ugly up that pretty face of his. Only made the bastard look hotter.”
She chuckled. “You really are secure in your manliness, aren’t you?”
He flashed her a cocky grin. “You know it.”
Then his grin slipped and so did hers. He clenched and unclenched his fists so he didn’t reach for her, tug her into his arms, and never let her go.
“Have they let you see him? Noah, I mean.”
Those dark blue eyes brightened, unshed tears making them shine like flawless gemstones. “Yes.” Her head dipped, lashes lowering, hair sliding forward. “I need to get him back, Joe.” She lifted her head again. “I have to get my baby brother back.”
They moved at the same time. She came off the bed as he strode across the small space. He lifted her off the floor, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face against his throat. She was breathing heavily, then she broke, shattered in his arms, releasing great, wracking sops that shook her entire body.
Spin (Boosted Hearts Book 2) Page 22