by Bellus, HJ
“We have some new information on Chloe’s case.”
Cole only nods, mentally noting everything he already knows about it. It would blow his brothers’ minds if they knew how far the Harwells have gone to make sure Made To Sin never opens its doors. Cole and the other men know Chloe’s attack was from a pending court case against Ethan, but what the others don’t know is how her home and office were bugged by the Harwells.
They knew her every move and business plan, and that’s why they seemed so successful against other competitors until the Sterlings, who don’t take no for an answer. Also, what the other brothers didn’t know was that the Harwells own a chain of coffee shops, and that’s the business deal that sealed Chloe’s fate.
“We’re arresting old man Harwell tomorrow on several charges and just wanted to let you know. Ethan is next and will be facing charges as well. The men won’t see the light of day with everything we’ve gathered. It just saddens my heart it took a young woman losing her life to come to this point.”
Cole knows Chloe has no hope, but in Eli’s honor he defends her. “She’s not going to die.”
The two detectives nod and offer their hands for a parting handshake.
“Please let Eli know, and tell him to contact us if he needs anything.”
“Thanks.”
Cole watches the two men leave the room and once again collapses on the couch, beaten down. His shoulders are broad, but not nearly as broad as Dax’s. His personality is charming, but not nearly as charming as Eli’s. And his game is good, but not as hot as Kam’s. So Cole’s always been the one brother to bottle up all the family’s problems and fix them.
The effects of responsibility are beginning to wear him down. Cole’s tired, but facing the most pivotal part of his career. Made To Sin must be a success on the West Coast, and then he can go home and not be tired.
Cole quietly closes the door and leaves Eli by Chloe’s side. He jogged the three flight of stairs up to her room instead of taking the elevator. It helped him release some stress. Chloe is off all life support and even fluttered her eyes a couple times, but it’s nothing to get wound up over.
Cole runs down flight after flight of stairs to the basement. He’s found this hospital has a decent cafeteria, and he’s too exhausted to go out anywhere tonight. He’ll find some grub and then go to the waiting area upstairs next to Chloe’s room.
Pushing the swinging doors open, he finds the cafeteria deserted. Cole relaxes a bit, going through the line selecting chicken and grilled vegetables, and thinks he’d give anything for a large, rare T-bone and a cold beer. But chicken will have to do for tonight. He finds a deserted table in a corner and settles in.
Cole tries to enjoy his dinner, but the stale smell of the hospital mingled with his worries make it impossible. He swirls around his broccoli and mentally makes notes of everything he needs to do. He finally pulls out his MacBook and begins answering a pile of emails waiting for him.
He’s not sure how much time passes, but enough for his food to turn cold. When he looks up, the cafeteria has filled a bit more. But it’s the surgeon from earlier who catches his eye. She’s by herself at a corner table opposite him. She needs a good fucking, he thinks to himself. To at least loosen her up and give her a good time.
She catches him staring at her, making him feel a bit awkward, so he shoots her a quick wave to not make it as obvious, and then focuses on his work. It’s pretty hard to get Cole rattled, but being caught ogling her and prescribing her a good fucking does the trick. He shakes his head at being busted and digs right back in to business.
By the time Cole makes it back up to Eli and Chloe, it’s been hours and he feels a bit guilty for leaving him that long. But on the other hand, he did get caught up on his work and might be able to spend tomorrow doing something other than work and worrying about his brothers.
He’s surprised when he rounds the corner to find several doctors in Chloe’s room. Monitors sound throughout the hall, and loud commotion comes from her doorway. He can pinpoint it easily with the large crowd standing at her door. His heart fucking drops to his feet, knowing this can’t be good. There’s no way in hell he can get to Eli. Cole damn well knows he’s probably up in the front holding her hand.
Do they really make this big of a deal when someone begins to pass? Hell, he wouldn’t know. His parents were killed instantly in a plane crash. Cole tries to get as close as possible and listens.
“She woke up.”
He turns to see the female surgeon.
“She what?’
“She woke up about twenty minutes ago. There’s a team of doctors in there checking her.”
“So, she’s alive?” Cole scratches his head.
“She’s alive and awake, but there are so many other factors that could come into play.”
He scrubs his face a couple times, trying to take everything in. “Thanks.” He pauses and searches for a nametag, but her badge is tucked into her scrubs.
“Doctor?” she fills in for him.
“Well, thanks, Dr. No Last Name.” Cole studies her hand as she tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “So do doctors have first names, or do you lose those when you become one?”
She chuckles. “Jax. It’s short for Jacquelyn.”
“Thanks, Jax.” Cole grins back at her
“You’re welcome, brother. I mean, brothers don’t have first names, do they?” Jax asks.
“Nice, she’s smart, pretty, and knows how to make a joke.”
“Got to run, brother.” Jax spins on her heel and walks straight down the hall, leaving him with his jaw wide open.
Cole tries not to stare too long and takes out his phone to call Dax and Kam. He just gives them the basics and hangs up. There’s no need for the other brothers to come up just yet.
Cole leans back on one of the walls, crossing his arms over his chest and trying not to get overly excited about the news. He watches the nurses and doctors scurry about, taking care of patients and attending to the whistles and dings of machines. He barely hears the code alert blare over the speakers, but the rush of nurses and doctors racing by catches his attention. He spots Jax and watches her in full action jogging down the hallway. Her dark brown hair bounces with each step, and it takes all his self-control to not reach out and grab her.
Her build is just the way he likes them, shorter and super lean with huge tits. The freckles that pepper the bridge of her nose might be his favorite thing about her. Jax turns her head just enough to catch sight of him and gives him a little smirk. Cole growls, “Fuck me.” He just got out of a mess with Creed; he sure as hell doesn’t need to find himself in a similar situation.
He replays his motto over and over in his mind. “Business during the day and party at night…no strings attached.” He’s losing soldiers one by one, and it looks as though it’s just him and Kam to tear shit up in the penthouse. And tomorrow night he’ll be fucking living it up, no doubt.
He’s going to kill Kam. He was supposed to be here hours ago, but hasn’t answered his phone at all. Cole even tried Dax, and he had no clue where his brother was. When Cole makes a promise, he never breaks it, and intends on fulfilling his to Eli. There will always be a brother with him while Chloe recovers.
The only thing keeping him from blowing is Chloe waking up and her new prognosis. Doctors are now hopeful for a full recovery. They changed their tune real fucking fast from last night. All of them except Jax. And speaking of Jax, Cole hasn’t seen her around all day. Several tests have been run on Chloe, with results expected to come in tomorrow. She still has a feeding tube in because of her inability to swallow, and the baby’s heartbeat is still strong. Eli hasn’t left her bed to as much as piss.
“Cole.” He looks up to see Dax and Birdy hand in hand.
“What are you doing here?”
“Who knows where the fuck Kam is, and you need a break.”
“We’ve got this shizz, yo.” Birdy blushes as the words leave her mouth.
Cole gathers up his MacBook and places it all in his bag and throws on his hoodie. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“Get out of here with your bad self and manpurse.” Dax tries to ruffle Cole’s hair as he walks by. It’s the one thing Dax does that pisses him off, and he’s done this to Cole since the day he was taller than Cole. Now Dax towers over him and still tries funny shit like this.
Cole does his usual sucker punch to the gut, but Dax jumps back in time to avoid it and laughs.
“Fucker.”
Cole walks out of the waiting room with a smile on his face for two reasons. One for his freedom, and two because Dax’s horseplay always lightens his mood no matter the situation. But lately there hasn’t been much horseplay, or light moods for that matter. He quickens his pace to the parking lot, getting jacked to go back to the penthouse, shower, have a couple shots, and call in the party. He needs to drink, and by drink he means he needs to get utterly fucking wasted on whisky, sex, and anything else that might suit his taste.
It’s pouring rain outside; Cole takes a moment to cover his head with his sweatshirt and makes sure his bag is zipped up. As his fingers search for the zipper, something on his right side catches his attention. It’s Jax sitting on a bench. He barely recognizes her huddled up in a ball. Her arms wrapped around her knees, she peeks to the side and makes eye contact with him.
He nods to her and smiles. “Jax.”
“Brother.”
“What the hell are you doing out here in the rain?”
“Waiting for the bus.”
“I thought doctors were loaded.” Cole steps up to the bench and peers down at her.
“With student loan bills.”
“C’mon, I’ll take you.”
“Golden rule.”
Cole cocks an eyebrow at her.
“Never ride with strangers.”
“Get your ass up and let’s go.”
“At least tell me your name, so I can message my roommate who to report if I’m found cut up in pieces.”
He takes her hand and pulls her to her feet. He stands only a few inches taller, so they meet face to face. He can feel her breath tickling his skin. “Let’s go.”
“Name.”
He inches in, stopping mere centimeters before his lips touch hers. “Cole. Cole Sterling.”
“Nice to meet you, Cole Sterling.”
She follows Cole to his car; he unlocks it and opens her door for her. Cole watches her through the front window as he rounds the front of the car, and even through the sheet of glass he can see her impressed face.
“Damn, now this is a machine.” Jax’s finger runs along the wood trim.
“Thanks.”
When the engine roars to life, an extremely loud Missy Elliot song blares through the speakers, causing Jax to jump. Cole quickly turns down the music.
“Sorry. Music is kind of my thing.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“Give me your address and I’ll put it in the navigation, and then we can talk on the way.”
Jax rattles off an address as Cole punches it into the navigation system. He effortlessly begins driving through the city.
“So?”
“So, what?” He glances at her from the corner of his eye.
“Occupation.”
“Oh, it is true. Doctors use big words. I just need to see your handwriting to see if you pass all the doctor tests.”
“I do. It looks like shit.”
“God damn, I’m driving a doctor.”
“Are you always such a smartass?”
“Who? Me?” Cole covers his chest with hands while stopped at a red light.
Jax cracks a smile at him and then whaps his shoulder.
“Do you own a gym?”
“Um, negative.”
“From the size and feel of your guns that’d be my guess, but you’re probably a professional manwhore or pimp with your charm.”
She’s not too far off, Cole thinks. “I do have an opening for a ‘ho. I’m thinking the clients would go nuts for a naughty doctor, but I’d need to test you out first.”
“Wow.” Cole has Jax laughing so hard she can’t get more than one word out.
“No, really, Jax. Want an interview?” He looks at her and cocks an eyebrow.
“Stop.”
Cole goes in for the kill, grabbing his cock and squeezing it while waggling his eyebrows. “Test spin?”
“Not tonight, pimp daddy mac.” Jax slides her hand through the door handle and opens it. “Thanks for the ride, though.”
Cole cranes his head over to her side to see her standing up outside the car. “Oh, honey, you haven’t had any sort of ride yet.”
Jax shakes her head at him before she shuts the door. Cole feels himself harden as he watches her walk away. Fuck, he really needs to get back to the penthouse.
He thinks about stopping by the club to check on progress, but the vision of Creed comes to his mind, and fuck that shit. How in the hell Creed got hired by their staffing company is beyond him. He really couldn’t believe his eyes the other day when he saw him in the club.
He sends Kam a quick text to see what he’s hitting up tonight and gets nothing back. The fucker must really be knee deep in some amazing pussy. Cole finally decides to hit the restaurant at the hotel to see if any room bunnies are hanging around looking for keys. The fucking hotties came out when they found out where the brothers were staying.
As he walks into the hotel he can tell it’s hopping with activity, and this excites him. Making his way into the restaurant, he spots Kam in the corner booth by himself staring at something or someone.
“Hey, fuckface.”
Kam looks up to see Cole, and his eyes instantly go back to whatever he was staring at.
“Thanks for fucking ditching me, dickhead.”
Kam doesn’t break his stare until Cole launches a fork in his direction. When Cole turns to see what he’s staring at, he’s not surprised. It’s a group of waitresses.
“Dude, you need to answer your fucking phone.”
“Sorry, man, I was busy.”
“With what?’
“Taking care of shit.”
“Well, your baby brother should’ve been at the top of that list.”
“Fuck.” Kam scrubs his face with his hands. “I lost my phone.”
“What the fuck happened to you?”
“Just a wild fucking night, man.”
“Well, Chloe is awake and things aren’t looking half bad. Dax is at the hospital with him now.”
“With his new side piece of ass?”
“If you’d pull your head out of your ass, you’d know it’s more than a side piece of ass.”
Cole’s irritation begins to boil over from the undue stress and his brother’s clear disregard for anything. He’s been way too fucking responsible for too long and needs a night to let go.
He decides to forgo the food and any more conversation with his fucking brother. Cole slides out of the booth, flips his brother the bird, and waltzes over to the group of waitresses. There must have been a staff meeting or something because all of them are huddled together talking. The mouthy one Birdy knows stands in the center of the group. He gives her a moment to finish her thought, but when he sees she’s not getting a clue, he steps closer and reaches his arm over a couple shoulders, holding out his key card.
“Bring as many friends as possible. Drinks are on me tonight.”
He knows it will do the trick, and that he probably has just enough time to shower. The kitchen has been stocked for days with whiskey and beers since their last rager. Cole tries to mentally count the days since he’s lost himself in whisky and fucking. All he knows is that it’s been too long.
Cole’s timing is impeccable. As he throws on his white wife beater and fastens the button on his jeans, the first batch of
ladies step off the elevator. It seems the group of waitresses came to party as he sees several unfamiliar faces.
“Welcome. What’s mine is yours.” He holds both arms out, welcoming the women.
“Thanks, Cole.” A perky little blonde pipes up.
He knows she’s the one he’ll have tonight, but who else to accompany him? Three is his favorite number, and tonight he intends on getting completely wasted. He walks right up to her, grabs her hand, and begins leading her into the kitchen. He notices over his shoulder the rest of the group follows also.
“Shots?” He cocks an eyebrow at her.
“Yeah.”
He sets up line after line of shot glasses and then lets the tequila flow. Cole pulls a tub of quartered limes from the fridge. As he pops off the top, some of the girls squeal with delight.
“Cheers, bitches.” Cole lines up several saltshakers.
Each girl grabs a shot glass, as does Cole, and they begin to put away the tequila. Most of the women pass after the second one, but the blonde and her friend stick in with him, taking one more.
Cole notices the penthouse fill up as he is drinking and smiles a bit when he sees several men in the crowd.
“Ladies, I think I may need some assistance in my room, if you don’t mind meeting me there in about ten minutes. It’s the second one on the left down that hall.” He points down the long hallway, and before he can excuse himself the blonde is on him. She gropes his cock, squeezing it through his jeans. Her brunette friend leans over her shoulder and finds his lips. She tastes of salt and tequila. Cole’s head swims as he tries processing what they are doing.
He has no qualms about fucking in the middle of a party, but it usually happens much later with much drunker girls. The blonde sinks to her knees while her fingers delicately unbutton his jeans. He hears his zipper and knows these two aren’t going to take no for an answer or wait ten minutes, but before he can get carried away he grabs his phone and sends Trenton, their bodyguard, a quick text to get up to the penthouse.
The other brothers are never as cautious as he is, but he knows things can get out of control way too easily, and he plans to fuck, suck, and whatever else may land in his lap. His phone makes a loud thud on the counter. Lips wrapped around his cock take him by surprise. He pulls back from the brunette, looks down at her, and feels her hands dig into his ass cheeks as she begins to glide up and down him.