Worth The Battle (Heaven Hill Series)

by Briscoe, Laramie

  A few hours later, Steele went to the dressing room, looking to see if there were any stragglers. He glimpsed the new girl. “They’re about to shut down. You need to get your stuff, and Dominic will pay you before you leave.”

  Her eyes met his, and he felt like she was staring right through him. She looked familiar to him. “Do I know you?” he asked her.

  “No,” she answered, packing her stuff in the bag she carried.

  “You from around here?”

  “Yeah.”

  He could tell that she didn’t want to answer the questions that he was asking, but it didn’t stop him. He couldn’t help it, he felt like he needed to know who this woman was.

  “You sure I haven’t met you before?”

  “Look, if you want a blow job or a hand job, we can do that, but it’s going to cost you.”

  He held his hands up. “No, that’s now what I wanted at all. I really do feel like I know you from somewhere, and I’m pretty fuckin’ sure your name isn’t Talon.”

  A sad smile covered her face. “My name’s Christine. Christine Stone.”

  With those words she was gone. “Are you Jagger’s sister?” he yelled after her, but she either didn’t hear him or she didn’t want to hear him.

  Jessica walked through the clubhouse back to Layne’s room. It felt weird being back in the room without him, especially since the last time she had been there it had been to move her stuff out. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, but that was the way her life had always been. Even when she was younger, her parents had always wanted her to do this and do that and have it done as quickly as possible.

  Her parents.

  She couldn’t believe that her dad was in on the burglary of her home. It shouldn’t surprise her, but it did. It always amazed her what people would do for money. That was one of the mitigating factors that made her want to stay in this place. Money was a catalyst here, but it wasn’t the be-all, end-all of everything. She was sure that Heaven Hill did more than what she knew to make money, but they didn’t seem to let it control their lives. They seemed to be a family in this little clubhouse, they seemed to want to help each other out, and they were friends. It wasn’t like they were destitute, but they didn’t scream rich to her either. In the few weeks she had been here, these strangers had felt more like a family than her real family and friends back in California were. It was a snap decision, but she knew she had to make it. Turning on her cell phone that Steele had finally given back to her, she ignored all the messages that sat there for her and set up an outgoing text message. It went to her dad, her agent, and her manager of record now. A part of her wished that she could be there to see what their faces would look like when they got the message. Another part of her just didn’t give a shit anymore.

  I want out. Contact my lawyer and let him know how much it will be for me to buy myself out of my contracts with you all. I quit!

  —Love Jessica

  The love part was a joke. She didn’t love them, and they didn’t love her. The one thing in the world she loved would share this room with her. They would build a life together and take anything that they had to deal with head on. For the first time in her life she was clear and knew exactly what she wanted. There was no one who cared about what kind of percentage she would bring in there to influence her decision, there was no one whispering in one ear while someone else whispered in the other. This was the first truly selfish decision of her life. She would live with whatever consequences it brought, but she knew without a doubt that this was the best decision for her. Now, it was time to do something for herself.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Everything was quiet and Layne hated it. After speaking with Tyler and Liam the night before, they had all decided to call a meeting with not only Dino but with Thomas Stanton—together.

  “Think he’s going to show?” Dino asked as he sat in the abandoned warehouse with the Heaven Hill boys and two members from his crew. Their uneasy truce was continuing, for how long he didn’t know, but sometimes they all knew they had to work together.

  “I dunno,” Layne answered. “Jessica sent him a text message last night telling him that she was quitting the business. He won either way.”

  Dino looked up at the other man. “What do you mean by that?”

  “If he sells more of the pictures, he’s won because they made a shit ton of money out of it. If they didn’t sell it and she ended up having to buy herself out of the contract—which she’s going to have to do now—he’s won a personal battle. Either way he’s living it up.”

  “That shit pisses me off.”

  “What do you know?” Liam asked the leader of the other club.

  “That he’s already rolling in the motherfucking dough after what he did for us. He doesn’t need to fuck his daughter to get more money. Now he’s just damn greedy.”

  At that moment Thomas Stanton and another man walked into the room. The other man was younger, and Layne knew exactly who he was before he even opened his mouth.

  “Jackson Wright?” he asked as he walked towards the two of them.

  “You must be Layne,” the other man said as they faced off against one another.

  “So what if I am?”

  Jackson didn’t know who he was messing with when he got up in Layne’s face and smiled. “If you were, I’d tell you that Jessica is pretty fuckin’ sweet lay. Thanks for teaching her all that shit so she was primed when I got to her.”

  Layne fought his temper—the black hole threatening to enclose him. “Too bad you couldn’t keep her, and it’s too bad that when she was with you, she’s was thinking about me.”

  Jackson swung, but Layne felt it coming and ducked, shoving his head into Jackson’s stomach. The two of them went down. Nobody dared get in the middle of them. Nobody even cheered as each one laid punches on the other. Long minutes of them beating the shit out of each other went by.

  “Layne’s gotta be gettin’ tired,” Liam quietly spoke to Tyler.

  “Fuck, no,” Tyler shook his head. “That’s what he wants you to think. He gets me with it every time in the ring. Jackson’s almost worn himself out and then Layne’s gonna attack, you just wait and see.”

  Tyler made sure to keep watch of where Dino stood next to Thomas. Dino had his hand on Thomas’ shoulder, so no matter what, Thomas wasn’t leaving. Just as Tyler predicted, a few seconds later, Layne laid into Jackson, and less than two minutes later, Jackson was knocked out cold.

  Layne stood up heaving, his chest and stomach pumping up and down. “Now that I’ve taken care of him, I’d like to say you’re one sorry-ass motherfucker,” he directed his rant to Thomas. “You’re her dad?”

  “Yeah, so I hope you put a ring on it if she’s giving it up to you for free.”

  The words had barely left his mouth before he was stumbling back, blood spewing. Layne couldn’t help it. He had to get a taunt in too. “It’s not hard to get into those sweet little panties when a girl’s got daddy issues.”

  Liam pushed his way in between the two of them. “We need him, Layne, don’t fuck him up, buddy.”

  “What do you need me for?”

  “A banker is always a good friend to have,” Liam smiled slowly. “You’re free to go.”

  “Are you sure?” Thomas asked, not quiet believing what was happening.

  “Unless you have more of those nude pictures,” Layne interjected. “Then I want them.”

  “You think you’re a bad ass don’t you?” Thomas asked.

  “I know I am. Now give me the fuckin’ things before I forget that I respect the man standing beside me. There’s no reason for you to have any control over Jessica anymore. If I hear of you bothering her, you will answer to me and I will do to you what I just did to him,” he pointed to where Jackson still lay on the floor in his own pool of blood.

  “What about you?” Thomas called back to Dino.

  “What about me?”

  “Why are you here?”

  “
I’m here for a little protection,” Dino smiled—the words that Thomas had used to the members of Heaven Hill coming back to haunt him. “We all want you alive for our own individual reasons, but I’m telling you now, you try to play us against each other and we’ll find you, cut you up, and get rid of you. Just like we did with Raymond Tucker. You got that? Now give him the fucking pictures.”

  Thomas swallowed hard against the bulge in his throat and pulled a disc out of his coat pocket, handing it to Layne.

  “Money hungry is not a good look on you,” Layne told him.

  “You’re free to go,” Liam said, smiling when Thomas looked at him like he was an idiot.

  “I am?”

  “You are.”

  They watched as he leaned down on the floor and picked up Jackson as best he could, dragging the other man out. He never once turned his back to the group of them.

  “He’s gonna be scared to death all the time,” Tyler laughed.

  “Good,” Layne told him. “He should be, but why did we let him go again?”

  “Rooster called in a favor, and we owe him one,” Liam answered cryptically.

  Before anyone could question that, Liam turned, heading towards his bike. “Let’s go, boys. It’s fuckin’ hot in here, and I’m ready to get home, take a shower, and enjoy some time with my family, as I’m sure the rest of you are too.”

  Steele hadn’t said anything, but he wondered just when his family time might come. He’d done nothing but think about Christine Stone since she’d left Wet Wanda’s in a flurry of flying hair and the smell of the perfume she’d left behind. He rode along the back roads on the way back to the clubhouse. He hadn’t been in a hurry like the rest of them. He had no one to get home to, all he had were his computers and the cameras he kept watch of for the guys. As he rounded a curve on Hydro Pondsville, taking the back way, he saw a car on the side of the road. He could see long dark hair poking out from a raised hood, smoke rolling out of the radiator.

  “You need some help?” he asked after he came to a stop and shut his bike off. Walking around to where he could see the driver, he stopped dead in his tracks.

  “Yeah, I do,” Christine Stone said, her voice wobbly and tears threatening to overflow from the waterline of her eyes.

  He didn’t know how to approach her; he didn’t want to scare her off. “I’ll help you if you need it.”

  “But you can’t tell my brother,” she whispered.

  She was asking him to keep something from another member of his club. He had never done that before, but without a second thought he agreed to what she asked. After several minutes of looking the car over, he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to fix this. “Can I take you somewhere?”

  She nodded slowly. “Crisis.”

  The battered women’s shelter. “C’mon,” he held out a hand for her. “Let’s get you there.” Reluctantly she took it and followed him onto the back of his bike. As they drove off into the sunset, Steele knew that his life had just changed. There was only one question—was it for the better or for the worse.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Are you sure Wanda said it would be okay for me to do this?” Jessica asked as she looked over at Bianca.

  She had waited a good thirty minutes since the club had closed down, waited for everyone but Jagger and Layne to leave.

  “She did, she said just make sure you two lock up when you’re done. Layne knows what to do.”

  “And you’ll make sure to take Jagger with you?”

  Bianca giggled. “I will, Layne is obediently sitting in the chair in front of the stage, waiting on you, since you texted him.”

  “Okay,” she breathed easier. “Thank you so much for all your help.”

  “Don’t even mention it.” Bianca said as she started to walk out of the private room Wanda had allowed Jessica to use. “I’m looking forward to you sticking around here, Hollywood,” she winked.

  “Me too,” Jessica agreed. It was true too; she really was looking forward to making this town her home, putting down roots and starting a life.

  Bianca left and Jessica waited a total of five minutes before hitting the remote on the club’s sound system. A sultry song filled the speakers, and she slowly made her way out onto the stage, walking in time with the rhythm, her hips swinging to the beat.

  “What the fuck?” Layne mumbled as the house lights dimmed and the stage lights came on. The sound system played an erotic tone as somebody walked out on stage.

  Tilting his head to the side, he saw that the woman wore a corset, garters, fuck me stilettos, and sheer hose. He could tell just by the way she carried herself that this was Jessica, even though he couldn’t make out her hair. She’d conveniently placed a fedora over the red hue.

  When she came closer, he caught her eye and grinned slowly, watching as she made a big production of gripping the pole with her hand and swinging around on it, clasping her leg to it, so that she could slide. When she tilted her head back, the fedora fell off, exposing her hair, a mass of red curls that he wanted to sink his fingers into.

  Onstage, she danced for him, meeting his eyes when she did certain moves, and he almost came out of his chair when she threw off the corset. It left her stomach bare and she teasingly slid a hand down her stomach and into the lace of her barely there panties, before glancing back up at him and taking her hand out. This time, she ran her hand up her stomach and skimmed it over her breast.

  “C’mere,” he called to her.

  She shook her head, smiling as she turned her back to him and hooked her leg around the pole again.

  “Please?” He tried having a nicer tone to his voice this time. “Please, Felicity,” he teased.

  She giggled, throwing her head back. Instead of going back to the pole, she carefully descended the stairs, sauntering over to him with the confidence of a seasoned stripper. “You like?” she asked as she stood before him.

  He grasped his hands around her waist and pulled her down onto his lap, allowing her to straddle his mid-section. “Fucking love,” he complimented. “This place is closed up tight, right?”

  “Jagger and Bianca left, and Wanda just asked that we set the alarm when we leave,” she confirmed on a breathless sigh when he ran his hands down her back.

  “So is this just for me or is it research?” he asked, putting his mouth against her neck, leaving soft kisses there as she squirmed against him.

  “Little bit of both?”

  His hands cupped the cheeks of her ass as he brought her more fully against him. “Thank God, I have you in my life, wanting to do research with me all the time,” he breathed against her.

  She ground against his body, adding a little twist to her hips. Taking his hands off her back, she put them in her hair. “I like it a little rough sometimes,” she smirked, before standing up, and turning so that she placed her hands on the edge of the stage.

  The heels she wore gave her just enough height in order for them not have to adjust much. Sticking the bottom half of her body out towards him, she threw a look over her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

  He growled, yanking slightly at the hair that he had threaded his fingers through. “You sure about this?” he asked, as his other hand trailed over her stomach and up to her neck, bringing her face so that he could see it.

  “Very sure.”

  Without another word, he let the upper half of her body go, pushing her down. His free hand went to his belt, unclasping it, along with the button on his jeans. Pushing his clothes down, he breathed a sigh of relief once he was free of those bonds and then unceremoniously ripped the side of her lacy thong, moaning when he pushed into her body. It was soft, sweet, everything that he knew her to be, but she had told him she liked it a little rough tonight and that set him on edge. This time, though, it was the good kind.

  With a hard thrust, he shoved deeply, causing her to gasp, a breathless sound against the music that still vibrated against the room. He pounded into her from behi
nd, for the first time not worried that he would scare her or hurt her. Completely letting himself go, he untangled his fist from her hair and ran his hand down her back, tilting her hips so that he could get a better angle, moaning when he went even deeper.

  He was hot, so hot, sweat pouring down his face, but he couldn’t make himself even stop to take his cut off. The fabric of his t-shirt stuck to his chest and abs, almost caressing him, adding to the forbiddenness of the encounter.

  “Layne,” she called out, her voice hoarse, breathless against the way he used her body.

  “Jess, you feel fucking amazing,” he ground out between teeth that he had clamped tight against the sensations roaring through his body. This was a train wreck, and he knew they were coming to a crashing end shortly. Her giving him carte blanche over her body was too much. Snaking a finger around her middle, he strummed it against her center, begging her in his head to fall apart, so he could too.

  “Oh,” she gasped, almost as if she were surprised. The tightening of her body around his told him all he needed to know. Within minutes he’d allowed himself to let go, gasping for air as he laid his body against hers.

  She ran her hands up and down his tattooed forearms, gasping right along with him. “Thanks for being my research assistant.”

  He puffed out a breath against her neck. “You ever try to get another one and we’ll have some problems. Anything you want to research, I’m up for the challenge.”

  Epilogue

  “You okay?” Layne asked as he had a seat next to Jessica.

  She was sitting in the seat that Steele normally occupied, but he had given her free rein in his cave for the afternoon. He’d been leaving every afternoon for the last two weeks, and no one knew where he was going. It seemed to be important to him, so no one questioned it. Next to the laptop sat precise instructions on what she needed to do to upload her book to the various online vendors that sold self-published ebooks.