Game Of Risk (Risqué #3)

by Scarlett Finn

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lyssa and Colt’s townhouse was amazing. Set over three floors, it also had a basement. Lyssa used the first floor of the house to practice, but the other floors were for living in. Before its partial transformation, the bedroom allocated to Layla had been the main guest bedroom, but it now contained the various items needed to convert it into a nursery. That Colt hadn’t chosen to put Blaser in this room, given its nursery accessories, was understandable. The sight of baby things could stress out the strip club owner or overwhelm him since he was expecting a child of his own.

  The first night she had spent here had been great fun. The reality of the prospective danger in her life seemed like a distant threat when she was ensconced in the bosom of this family. After Lyssa helped her to settle in, they talked and cooked together, then the men came in to eat and Layla had spent a pleasant evening listening to stories of Ruger.

  If he’d been present, he would’ve hated every minute of the conversation. But she was so grateful for this chance to get to know him from the people who knew him the best. Bri hadn’t come over to visit, so Blaser had spent portions of the night on the phone and texting, keeping in touch with his love.

  Today, Layla had woken up with no purpose and she hated days like that. The men were busy with their trade and Lyssa had patients to see downstairs. Layla had been instructed to stay in the townhouse, away from the windows, and was given a panic button by Colt to press if anything happened or danger found her.

  Layla didn’t like to be fenced in, and the idea that these thugs were getting away with penning her in really pissed her off. She’d spent some time Internet window shopping, because she had no way to buy anything. She wasn’t allowed to use her cards and had no delivery address. Her Miami address was her billing address, but she doubted she would ever be returning to that apartment.

  Thinking about distractions like dinner and dancing and dating, she fell into old habits and started to look up ads for the local area. Coming to a new town wasn’t anything new to Layla. She had a routine she followed every time she arrived somewhere new. Going through that usual routine of researching apartments and job vacancies, she sought something that could excite her about starting over.

  Not too long into her search, Layla came across an interesting posting. Reading the advert for maybe the tenth time, she was taking notes when she heard Lyssa coming up the stairs at lunchtime. Printing off the advert, Layla then shut down the computer.

  ‘What do you think of this?’ Layla asked, striding into the kitchen and smacking down the printed advertisement beside Lyssa’s salad plate on the kitchen table.

  At first, Lyssa didn’t respond, she just read the advert and carried on eating. When she was finished, she looked up. ‘It’s great. Are you considering it?’

  ‘It’s premises and it has an apartment above.’ Layla put her hands on the table and in a curved descent, she sat in the chair opposite Lyssa.

  ‘Yes, I see that,’ Lyssa said. ‘It’s in the Warner neighbourhood.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s why it caught my eye,’ Layla said, reaching over to whoosh the advert across to her side of the table so she could read it again. ‘The owner died suddenly. There’s a fully ready salon, and it says the apartment’s been vacant for a while, but I could fix it up.’

  ‘You said you were a cosmetologist. I think it’s a great idea, if you think that you can take it on.’

  ‘Her son is renting it while he decides what to do with it, business and apartment, it’s only a one-bedroom, but the pictures online make the place look huge.’ Her eyes scanned the words on the paper and she could feel them glittering. This was a chance to build something for herself. She had always loved hairdressing and had only left it because of her relationship demise. On starting the course, the goal had been to own her own place, and now she had a chance at achieving that ambition. ‘He might consider selling it to me if I can make it work.’

  ‘I guess this means you’re hanging around.’

  That statement made Layla stop reading and plant her hand on top of the paper. ‘I hadn’t thought about it like that.’

  ‘I think it’s an excellent idea and I have faith that you can pull it off. It’s less than a mile from Pru’s house, and she’ll certainly send business your way. She has a lot of influence in the community.’

  ‘I couldn’t ask her to do that.’

  ‘You wouldn’t have to,’ Lyssa said. ‘That’s the kind of thing that she does for family.’

  ‘I’m not family.’

  ‘Not yet. But you are seeing Ruger.’

  ‘Do you think this will freak him out?’ Layla asked.

  Most men were commitment-phobes, but Layla wore that badge too. If she took this on, she was telling everyone that she was sticking around and Ruger might take that to mean that she was cosying up to him and expecting their flirtation to work out.

  ‘Ruger is smart,’ Lyssa said, finishing her lunch and taking her plate to the sink to wash it. ‘You have to make a decision based upon what you want and that doesn’t have to include Ruger. Yes, we all think you’re great and it’s obvious that Ruger adores you, but you shouldn’t pass up a chance at something you want to make a go of because you think a man might take exception to it.’

  Lyssa had a terrific way of cutting through the bullshit and getting right to the point. An opportunity like this was rare. The price was low because the owner wanted to rent the place out quickly. Layla could take over the business and have somewhere to stay so that she wouldn’t be sponging off this family anymore.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Layla said. ‘I don’t want him to think I’m making assumptions. How awful would it be if I signed on for this and then we broke up next week?’

  ‘People who live in the same cities and neighbourhoods the world over get together and break up. Who cares if you have an ex in the town? You’re not going to be the only ex of Ruger’s around here.’

  Layla didn’t like that thought, but Lyssa had a point. If things didn’t work out with Ruger then she would have her own sanctuary that wouldn’t rely on him or his family. She had lost her job in Miami and had pretty much decided that the climate down there wasn’t for her anyway.

  Just because she broke up with a man didn’t mean she had to leave the state. Though that was her usual MO, she was sure that Ruger wouldn’t make things awkward or difficult.

  There was always the chance that things would work out with Ruger and if they did then this was her foothold in the community, her chance to make money, and to make a home for herself here with him. Atlantic City was around five hundred miles away, and being closer to Drew than she had been in a while was a plus. Close enough that they could get to each other by car in a day in case of emergency, but far enough away that she wouldn’t have her big brother breathing down her neck.

  ‘Can I borrow your car?’

  ‘I don’t have a car,’ Lyssa said. ‘But I can call Colt and he can take you over.’

  ‘Isn’t he working?’ Layla asked.

  ‘He had work to do this morning, but he called to say that he would be back in an hour or so. Why don’t you call the number on that advert and you can check out the place? Colt and I were going to Pru’s for dinner tonight anyway. If you could make the appointment before that then we could all go over together, what do you think? I’d be honoured to come and see the place with you.’

  Layla would be more comfortable having a female perspective. It was unlikely that Colt would know much about a beauty salon. Taking Lyssa’s advice, she used Lyssa’s phone to call the number on the advert and make an appointment.

  Trying not to get her hopes up too high in case it didn’t work out, Layla was thrilled to get an appointment in a couple of hours. Colt would be home and Lyssa would be free. For now she had no way to get in touch with Ruger, and she didn’t want to harass him while he was dealing with such a precarious situation anyway. But when he got back, he could be in for a real surprise.

  The place w
as perfect. The shop was set in a row of others with the apartment access at the back. The other stores would mean she had passing traffic, though there were no other salons so there was no direct competition. Colt talked to the son of the woman who had owned the shop and found out that their mothers had known each other. Ted, the deceased woman’s son, and Colt had gone to the same high school, though Colt was five or so years younger than Ted.

  The only thing that concerned Layla was the size. The actual salon was much bigger than she had realised. There were ten stations, but as a one woman show, she wouldn’t be able to handle that many clients at the same time. Ted reassured her because he said there were a couple of younger women who were training and they could come in and help out. Although they weren’t fully qualified and were still at college, it would be good to have the support.

  Upstairs, the one bed apartment had a separate kitchen and bathroom with several closets, a couple of which, Layla noted, could be knocked together to make another bedroom. It was something to log if she did decide to stay around and maybe buy the place later. Ted was open to this too. At the moment, he was renting the place month-to-month while he sorted out the paperwork, but he did have a view to sell later on.

  His mother had rented out the apartment a few times, but the last tenant had left a few months ago. The place needed a good clean and dust, but it was fully furnished and Ted was leaving it that way.

  ‘This feels too easy,’ Layla said when she was alone with Lyssa in the living room of the upstairs apartment looking down on the happy, clean street below.

  ‘Maybe it’s just meant to be,’ Lyssa said. ‘If you don’t feel comfortable, or you don’t want to do this, then we can walk away. Ted won’t cause any trouble.’

  Trouble wasn’t what Layla felt here, already it felt like home and she had the help of Lyssa and Colt who were one of the nicest couples she had ever known.

  ‘It feels right.’

  ‘Then sign on the dotted line,’ Lyssa said, joining Layla at the window. ‘It can be undone if you change your mind. I’m sure that Ted will be reasonable. If you can afford the deposit then there’s no problem. Ted has shown us the books and the salon certainly generates enough revenue and his mother worked it alone with the help of the younger ones. I think you can do it too. I don’t see any reason why not. The client base is already there and Pru will certainly help you. I think that she’ll be over the moon when she hears about this.’

  They were supposed to have dinner at the Warner house that night. Colt and Lyssa were supposed to at any rate, so Layla was just tagging along. If she signed up now then she could make the announcement at dinner, because this wasn’t something that she could keep a secret until Ruger returned.

  For one thing, she had no idea when Ruger would be back. For another, this was a small community and as soon as they all knew that the salon was occupied again, she was sure that there would be plenty of faces pressed to the glass, desperate to know who this stranger was who had moved into their town.

  ‘Ok,’ she said turning around and widening her smile. ‘Let’s do it.’

  ‘Ted said that you could move into the apartment right away. Colt and I can help you bring over your things. Ruger wants you to be safe though, so it would probably be best if you stay with us until Ruger is back.’

  ‘I want to stay here,’ Layla said. ‘If I’m honest, I need some space, and who would think to look for me here? If it’s that big a deal then Colt or Blaser can stay in the bedroom and I’ll sleep on the couch.’

  ‘Uh, no,’ Lyssa said, putting an arm around Layla. ‘You can sleep in the bedroom and they’ll take the couch. But before we make decisions about moving in, let’s deal with the paperwork.’

  Lyssa was insightful but practical too and Layla hoped that they could find a way to maintain a friendship even after she and Ruger broke up.

  Going down the stairs, they discussed the formalities with Ted and Colt in the back shop, where all of the salon supplies were kept. The coffee machine and small refrigerator signalled that this doubled as a staff room too, which would explain the leather loveseat in the corner.

  After everything was signed, she tugged out her check book and leaned on the counter to begin writing, but Colt’s hand caught the pen in hers before she could reach the paper.

  ‘What?’ Layla asked, peering around from her bent position. ‘What’s the problem?’

  ‘You can’t write a check, Layla.’

  Her ties to the Warner family made her a promising prospect for Ted. One thing they hadn’t told him about was the hitmen on her tail. ‘I can,’ she said and straightened up. ‘If I don’t, I’ll lose out on this opportunity.’

  Lyssa searched in her purse and produced a checkbook which she handed to Colt. ‘We’ll take care of it,’ Lyssa said. Colt plucked Layla’s pen from her hand and began to fill out a check.

  ‘I can’t ask you to do that,’ Layla said, watching Colt as he wrote.

  ‘You can pay us back when everything’s straightened out,’ Lyssa said, giving Layla’s hand a squeeze.

  Drawing in a long breath, Layla couldn’t argue with the sense of what the couple were saying. But she had to give voice to the niggling suspicion that kept cropping up in her mind every time she thought about breakfast at the hotel.

  ‘Thank you,’ Layla said. ‘Though I’m not sure that it makes a difference how careful we are. They already know I’m here.’

  Colt stopped writing and slowly turned until his eyes met hers. Layla anticipated a response. Except Colt said nothing to this revelation, so Lyssa filled the silence. ‘Uh, Ted, could you give us just a minute please?’ Lyssa asked.

  ‘Sure,’ the lanky redhead said and departed the back shop.

  ‘What do you mean they already know that you’re here?’ Lyssa asked, coming around her to stand next to Colt. ‘Why would you think that?’

  ‘I saw them at the hotel, yesterday morning,’ Layla said, leaning against the counter where the two checkbooks were laid out. ‘I wasn’t sure at first. It was just an odd car that caught my attention for a couple of fleeting seconds. I tried to shrug it off. But the more I think about it, I don’t know, it’s just instinct, I guess.’

  ‘Instinct,’ Colt said, giving away nothing of his reaction to this news.

  ‘I guess maybe I’m being stupid, maybe it wasn’t them at all. It was just a car in a busy street, there were dozens of them.’

  ‘In my experience, nothing outranks instinct,’ Lyssa said. ‘And Colt would agree with you if he wasn’t working up such a lather.’

  ‘I’m not mad,’ he said. ‘But I don’t get why you didn’t tell Ruger.’

  ‘Maybe she did and he dismissed her,’ Lyssa said. ‘Did you?’

  ‘No,’ Layla said, shrinking under this scrutiny. ‘Ruger was on the phone with Drew when I noticed the car then he whisked me out of the hotel and dumped me at your mother’s. There was no time. Everything after that happened quickly. He seemed to be on this important mission. I didn’t have the time to—‘

  ‘When your life is in danger, you make the goddamn time,’ Colt said, his severe tone caused Lyssa to take his hand.

  ‘Calm down,’ Lyssa said. ‘It’s ok. We’re here with her. Nothing is going to happen.’

  Snapping around to look at his fiancée, Layla was forgotten. ‘Ruger is going to go nuts when he hears about this and I’m the one who has to call and tell him.’

  ‘You don’t have to tell him,’ Layla said, but the couple ignored her.

  ‘I have never seen Ruger irrevocably angry,’ Lyssa said. ‘He’ll make a joke and you’ll talk him down.’

  ‘Not about this,’ Colt said. ‘You have never seen what he’s like with a woman he cares about. He’s protective of his girlfriends and after what happened with Bri… he already feels responsible for one woman being traumatised, if it happens again… I don’t know how he’ll turn out.’

  ‘You’re his brother,’ Lyssa said, stepping in and rubbing her hands on his a
rms. ‘You know how to help him. You and Blaser are here, nothing is going to happen to Layla.’

  ‘Not until these bastards want it to,’ he said and exhaled. Pushing Lyssa out of his way, he stalked to the loveseat and then turned to examine both women. ‘We better get over to Mom’s. I don’t want to be late. We’ll call Ruger from there and I’ll just have to hope that he doesn’t drive off the road in his haste to get back here.’

  ‘He trusts you,’ Lyssa said, traversing to him and taking his hand. ‘He knows you’ll look after Layla, just like you trusted him to look after me.’

  ‘That was different. I needed someone to cover the front while I was around the back. I was right there the whole time. It would’ve been tough for him to screw up.’

  ‘Are you saying that he wouldn’t have done whatever was necessary to protect me?’

  ‘He would have, of course he would have.’

  ‘Just like you’ll do anything for Layla.’

  The couple shared their intimate moment. While Colt kissed his fiancée, Layla ripped out the deposit check Colt had written and took it to Ted, who was on the sidewalk outside with the building keys in his hand.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘When would you like to move in and open up?’

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say as soon as possible, but Colt came out with Lyssa tucked under his arm. ‘All done?’ Colt asked, more relaxed now than he had been inside.

  ‘We were just talking about a moving in date,’ Ted said.

  ‘It will be a couple of days at least,’ Colt said.

  ‘We can pick up the keys tomorrow if that suits everyone,’ Lyssa said, checking each expression. ‘That will give us a chance to clean up and get the place ready for Layla before she opens up.’