Tori’s mouth hung open. No wonder he’d never sold the damn condo.
Tori always thought he was a damn lunatic for keeping a home he never stayed in, to pay for a housekeeper in a home he never used. But the home was being used.
Her heart swelled with pride for her man. Scott wasn’t the type of guy that would boast about something like that. It didn’t surprise her though that he would help other guys transition back into civilian life.
The roar of several motorcycles nearing the shop caught her attention, snapping her from her train of thought. Chad’s chair rolled across the floor and his footsteps went to the front door.
“Shit,” Chad cursed. “Do you still have that pepper spray?”
“No, used it all on you. What’s wrong?” Tori stood. Chad’s urgent tone made her heart jump in her chest.
“We have company. Bad company. It’s the gang I owe money to.”
“You mean to tell me you don’t have a gun?” This was Texas after all and Chad was a Harris.
“I’m on fucking probation. I can’t be caught with a weapon right now if the cops wind up here.”
Just great.
“So, we have lefty out there, me, and a man who can’t carry.”
“I think Ryan has one here registered to him.” Chad rifled through a drawer and came over to her. “This is about the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but give me your hand.” Tori held out her hand and she felt the cold metal of a gun being placed in it. “I’m assuming my brother at some point in his life has taught you to shoot before…”
“Yes.” Tori swallowed the lump in her throat. The last “date” that Scott and Tori had before her accident had been shooting in the backwoods of Virginia.
“Good. Now do not, and I repeat, do not come out there blazing no matter what you hear. I don’t want to be your shot in the dark.”
“That was a much better blind joke.” Tori chuckled nervously.
Chad groaned. “That one wasn’t a joke.”
“How many of them are there?” She needed to know what they were up against.
“Four.”
Tori knew full well that owing money to a motorcycle club was no damn good. “Stay here, and only use this thing if they come in here after you, understood?” Chad ordered, and she heard the door to her side open and close as he went into the garage.
Tori stood up, tucked the gun into the waistband of her shorts, and put her ear up to the door. She couldn’t make out much at first other than muffled voices. Then the voices grew louder—arguing. Tori cracked the door open so she could listen.
“I thought we agreed on Friday,” Chad’s voice boomed.
“We agreed that you’d have something for us today, and the rest on Friday.” A gravelly, southern voice hollered. He didn’t sound the least bit friendly like the other accents she’d grown accustomed to around Texas. “I guess we’ll just have to take some of the metal today and scrap it.” Heavy footsteps walked through the garage, followed by clanking—from tools?—followed by a crash of metal hitting the floor.
“Listen, Jett, I’ll have it. I ran into a problem. I only need a couple more days.” Chad sounded so contrite. “You don’t have to wreck my garage. I’ll have it as promised.”
Another crash of metal hit the ground and Tori flinched.
“That’s a goddamn custom piece I’ve been working on for weeks, man!” Ryan shouted. “You destroy that, and it sets us back even further.”
“How much do you think that damn hook of his is worth?” A second voice chimed in. “Those aren’t cheap. That’s military grade shit. Gotta be worth at least what, ten, twenty grand?”
Oh. Hell. No.
Tori swiped her hand across the couch and found her backpack. The men screamed obscenities at each other and she could hear Chad trying to pull them back as more clanging metal and rattling came from the garage.
Her phone rang. Scott Calling, Scott calling. She flipped the volume off and swiped the screen to ignore, stuffing it in her back pocket.
She dug into her wallet and pulled out every bill she had left. It wasn’t much—maybe five hundred if she was lucky after giving Blaze cash that morning. She flung open the door and leaned her arm up against the door frame.
“He told you he’d have the money by Friday!” She shouted into the air. The room went dead silent. “In the meantime, you can take this as good faith.” She waved the money into the air.
“Tori,” Chad growled—sounding very much like Scott in that moment. “I told you to stay in the office.”
Footsteps crossed the garage and someone moved closer to her, the leader, she assumed. Jett. “You didn’t tell us you had a pretty lady here. Well, where are my manners?” His footsteps drew closer. “Tori you say? Lovely to make your acquaintance.”
Tori thrust her right hand out for a handshake, hoping he didn’t pick up on the fact that she was blind as a bat. It seemed to work. Jett grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. She smiled sweetly, but really she was about to vomit.
“Now, let’s see what the lady has for us.” Jett yanked the cash out of her left hand. Tori could hear him counting it as he paced the floor. “This is barely five hundred dollars.” Jett snorted. “Are you shitting me, Chad? This is just insulting.” His voice reached a level that made her insides curl.
Tori put on her best poker face. “Gentlemen, you’ll have to forgive me. I just got into town. This was the most I could pull out in cash. You men don’t seem like the type that would take a personal check.” She gave a wry chuckle. “Jett, right? I’m sure we can work something out on good faith. We can have the rest to you by the end of the week.”
“Tori!” Chad yelled. “I told you to stay out of this.” Yeah, he was growling now. The bear DNA must run in the family.
“I gather this pretty one is important to you, Chad?” Jett’s hot breath warmed her cheek as he invaded her space. “Are you his old lady?” His lips nearly touched her now. His breath reeked of chewing tobacco, a scent that made her stomach churn. Tori jerked her head to the side.
“Don’t fucking touch her, Jett,” Chad spat.
Jett trailed his finger down her arm. “I guess we could work something out. Some sort of exchange of services?”
“I swear to God, you will not lay a finger on her,” Chad threatened. His rapid footsteps charged toward her, then came to an abrupt halt.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that, Chad,” the second man said, as the distinct sound of a hammer cocked back on a gun.
Tori held her hands up in protest. “Now, boys, let’s keep our heads here. No reason to bring guns into this.” Tori placed her hand on her back hip, on top of the hidden gun—ready to draw if need be. “We can work something out.”
“What do you have in mind, darlin?” Jett was inches away from her, his foul breath heating her face. He reached around her torso and planted his hand on her ass.
“That’s not the deal I meant. I swear to God almighty I’ll blow a hole straight through you.” Tori drew the gun and stuck it in his chest. “Don’t. Fuck. With. Me.”
“Oh, the little one is packing heat.” Jett laughed and backed away. “Well played.” Jett snapped his fingers. “Guns down.”
Tori stuck the gun back in her pants, hoping that Jett’s men obliged their leader. “I like a girl that can handle herself. Answer me this; why you hiding behind those glasses, honey? Now I don’t know where you’re from, but here in Texas when we make a deal, we look each other in the eye.”
Jett lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head.
Well, there goes my bluff.
Tori closed her eyes.
“Ouch. Those look painful. Now where did you get those shiners?” Jett pulled her chin toward him and she slowly opened her eyes. “Come on, honey, look at me.”
“I can’t.” Tori didn’t even blink as she swatted his hand away.
“Oh, sure you can. I’m not so scary. I promise.” He tried to sound sweet, but it just mad
e her skin crawl even more.
“She’s blind, you fucking dumbass,” Ryan’s voice shouted from across the room.
It was quiet for a beat then Jett snorted like a bull. “Ha. Well, I’ll be damned. She sure is.” He laughed. “You must have a thing for defective models, Chad.”
“I’m not his girl.” Tori crossed her arms.
“Even better, that means you’re a free agent. I should’ve figured. She’s far too high class to be with the likes of you.” The man clapped his hands together. “Now we can make a trade.”
Tori could play this one of two ways. One, fight Jett off. That was damn stupid. They were outnumbered, out armed, and had two disabled people. Ryan was former military but she had no idea what he was capable of. Chad was the only one of them that was worth a damn, and he was unarmed.
She went for option two: intimidation.
“I’m not up for trade.” Tori lifted her chin. “What I am, is someone you don’t want to lay a finger on. Trust me on that one. You have no idea the unholy hell that will rain down on you if something happens to me.”
Jett just laughed.
“She’s right,” Ryan shouted. “If her boyfriend finds out you laid a finger on her, you will pray for a quick death after what he does to you. He’s a former SEAL and a six-foot-three, scary, fucking beast.”
“The kid is right.” Tori grinned smugly. “Friday, we’ll have every penny.” She’d have offered sooner but with her money being tied up in a bank in DC the wire could take time. “With an extra thousand as good faith.”
“Make it two—just because you’ve pissed me off,” Jett snapped.
“Fine. Two.” Tori shrugged. She couldn't care less about the amount. “But he will never do business with you again. If I so much as get a whiff of you around here after this…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you will rain hell down on me. We’ll see about that.” Jett chuckled as his footsteps grew faint. “Friday, Chad. If it’s not here, I’ll hunt her down, bend her over, and take it out on her tight, little ass.”
“Good luck trying that,” Tori mumbled. Scott would tear him apart limb by limb. Tori listened as the men got onto their bikes and sped away, then turned back into the office, shut the door, and flopped down onto the sofa.
About one minute later, Chad came storming in, slamming the door.
“What the hell was that, Tori? Are you trying to get yourself raped and killed?” He slammed his chair up against the metal filing cabinet, the noise making her jolt. “Fuck!” He screamed as he continued to tear apart his office.
“They were going after Ryan’s prosthetic, I couldn’t…” Ryan was obviously important to Scott, and she had a soft spot for him already because of that. “I couldn’t let that happen.”
Chad let out a heavy breath, and the air in the room softened. “I guess I can see how that would be a trigger for you.” Chad slumped down next to her on the sofa. “Tori, I only had to give him five grand by Friday. Now you promised him it all. Where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of cash by Friday?”
“How much?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“How much do you owe them?”
“Before or after the extra two grand you tossed on?” he spat.
“Before.”
He was quiet for a beat then shifted next to her. “Twenty grand.”
Tori let out a whistle. “Damn. That’s a lot of blow, Chad.”
He snorted. “It’s not drugs, Tori, but thanks for thinking I sucked that much up my nose. Nah, it was a loan to open my shop. Things cost more than I expected, and I wasn’t able to pay back in time.”
Tori’s brow furrowed. Her bullshit meter wasn’t going off. He seemed to be telling the truth.
“So, twenty grand, huh?” She pulled at her lip, mulling that over. Scott’s parents were modest people. Tori had a hard time believing that Judith had that much jewelry. “Your mom had that much in gold?”
“Well, no, but it was a start,” Chad said. “Like I said, only five grand by Friday. That was supposed to buy me time.”
He shrugged his shoulder against hers.
“I’ll pay it.” Tori patted his thigh.
“Tori, I can’t…” Chad protested.
“Can’t what? Take money from a blind girl?” Tori raised her brow at him.
“Well, yes…” he stammered. “I mean…you can’t possibly have that much.”
“I have plenty of money—more than I can use in a lifetime. Airbag companies that have faulty products pay very well to keep things hush.” Tori made a sour face. She hadn’t mentioned to Scott or anyone how much she’d settled for, but she suspected Scott knew. When the lawyer called her while she was in O&M and said all expenses were paid for, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize Scott was the one that had sent them.
“Consider me now an investor in your bike shop. I’ll throw in an extra five that you can use to make merchandise. T-shirts, apparel, and whatever else my brain can come up with to design for you, and I’ll take fifty percent of those profits.”
“Tori, don’t take this the wrong way, but…” he hesitated.
“Yeah, I’m blind. I get it. But my artistic brain still works. I can still envision it.” She waved her hand, dismissing him.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” He chuckled. “I don’t see you as the biker-girl type. I can’t sell shit with dreamcatchers and wispy flowers on it.”
Tori tilted her head back and roared. “Well, you don’t seem like the type of guy that would use the word wispy, but you did.” Tori lifted her chin. “I can create masculine stuff. You have seen your brother’s leg, right?”
“You did that damn tattoo?” Chad let out an impressed chuckle. Yeah; she had. When they were in Amsterdam Tori had dragged a stoned Scott into a tattoo shop and drawn the tombstone that now was permanently etched into his right leg. “Wow, you’re one interesting girl, Tori.”
Tori’s phone vibrated in her back pocket, she flipped on the volume. Scott calling, Scott calling.
“You gonna get that?” Chad asked.
Tori hit ignore on the call. “I’ll call him back.” Tori reached down and grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “We both know that I’m going to be your sister. Let me do this for you.”
“But Scott...”
“Are you scared of your little brother?” Tori jabbed him in the side.
“Actually, yes. You still remember what he looks like, right? Scott would kill me—”
“Opposed to him finding out you were going to steal from your parents? Or what? Wind up in a body bag? Scott’s lost enough brothers already.” Tori scowled. “Listen, this is my money and I can invest it where I damn well please. Let me handle telling him about it. I have my ways with him.”
“I’m sure you do.” Chad stood and pulled Tori up by the arm. “Well, I better get you back home before they notice you’re missing.”
Tori’s phone chimed in her back pocket. Text message from Scott Harris it blared.
Tori clicked on the message as it read aloud. You keep your ass put right there at the shop. I’m coming to get you.
“I think it’s safe to say he knows,” Tori grimaced.
“You sure you want to do this?” Chad asked, as if she was out of her mind. Yeah, she probably was, but fuck it. She was all in at this point. A displeased Scott would show up at the shop any moment so she needed to hurry.
Tori ran her hands across the etchings she’d made in the large piece of sheet metal to guide her. “I’ll keep my finger a few inches ahead of the torch. I’ll feel it if it gets too hot, right?”
“Of course,” Ryan said, but didn’t sound too confident. “It’s only the plasma cutter, it’s not quite as much blowback fire as the blow torch. As long as you keep your fingers out of the way you should be ok.”
“Don’t let that fool you. It’ll still saw your damn fingers straight off. May make reading braille pretty difficult,” Chad pointed out.
“Good thing I
suck at braille.” Tori laughed a little too loud as she put on the gloves and pulled down the mask on the helmet. She reached out with her left hand to feel for her markings and fired up the torch with her right. She began by trailing her left hand down her lines with the plasma torch a few inches behind to keep her in line. She turned off the torch after a few seconds and pulled up the helmet.
“What’s wrong?” Ryan asked.
Tori shook her head. “I can’t feel the lines through the thick gloves.” Tori took off the glove on her left hand.
“Tori, I don’t know if that’s a good idea and Scott will be here any minute…” Chad sounded like he was going to jump out of his skin.
“I’ve got this.” Tori pushed the helmet back down and bent over the metal. She could feel the etching easily now. Plus, it was a stupid simple shape—just a heart. Nothing crazy for her first stab at this. She had the piece cut in no time flat. She then took it and cut it into smaller sections.
“Give me the next one.” Tori ordered. She listened as Ryan swapped out the flat, smooth metal for the embossed, raised, checkered sheet. She cut the same pattern and same lines. Right about the time she was finishing up, Ryan nudged her on the shoulder. Tori turned off the torch and lifted the helmet. “Did I mess it up?”
“No, Scott’s here with his crew,” Ryan whispered. “Oh, boy does he look pissed.”
Scott pulled the SUV in front of the open garage door of his brother’s shop and turned off the engine. He leaned his arms over the steering wheel and stared dumbfounded for a moment, taking in the sight of his woman.
She was hunched over a workbench in cutoffs and cowboy boots with a goddamn welding helmet on her head. The butt of a gun poked out her waistband as sparks flew around her. Scott didn’t know whether to be pissed or turned on. His cock was extremely confused.
“Is Tori welding?” Presley snickered from the passenger seat.
“Damn, that’s fucking hot,” Blaze said as he leaned his elbows on the back of their seats.
The last he’d heard from her had been earlier that morning when they said their goodbyes at lunch. He’d tried calling her and she never answered, or at least she must have thought she didn’t answer. The phone was on speaker the entire time during the nice little exchange she had with the cronies his brother apparently owed money to. Scott had heard nearly every word, up to and including her promising Jett money and him threatening to rape her. Over his dead body would he ever let Tori around those men again, and that was if he didn’t murder them first.
Smoke and Mirrors: (Fire and Fury Book Two) Page 15