“Yeah, I’d say so,” Olivia agreed. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking when I came in today. I had a feeling this baby would be coming soon, but I had a few more things to take care of here before I left on maternity leave.”
“Jesus, Mel,” Rand called from the other side of the room. “We’d have been able to figure things out. We’re not completely helpless when you’re not around.”
Mel rolled her eyes at Olivia. “No, they wouldn’t. Trust me.” Then she turned back to Rand and started reeling off a list of instructions. “Payroll’s done and ready to go out on Friday. Don’t forget that the Atlas rep is coming early in the morning. The cake and balloons can be picked up in town tomorrow after three o’clock and the bouncy house is being delivered at four.”
“Shit,” Rand said, eyes wide. “I completely forgot about the party.”
“No, he didn’t,” Mel said in a low voice to Olivia. “We talked about it yesterday.”
“Party?” Asher looked at Mel for more explanation.
Rand’s expression was one of pure terror. It was the same look you’d imagine he’d have if a doctor came into the shop and said they were ready to do his vasectomy now. “Caitlyn’s birthday party is tomorrow. She wanted to have it here, so of course I said yes.”
“Sorry, hon, that I won’t be here to help,” Mel said. “But everything’s organized and ready to go. All the presents are wrapped. You’ll be fine.”
“Is Caitlyn’s mom not around?” Olivia whispered.
Mel shook her head. “She died a few years ago, when Caitlyn was little.”
Olivia’s heart wrenched for the loss he and his daughter had suffered.
“I’d be fine if it was just her and a friend or two and they wanted to ride dirt bikes,” Rand was telling Ash. “But a bunch of nine-year-old girls running around screaming?” He looked shell-shocked.
“What if Ash and I were here?” Olivia said. “Would that help?”
Rand’s head jerked up. “You’d do that?”
“Of course, man.” Ash clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ll be happy to stick around.”
“It’d be a huge fucking help, thanks.” Rand’s shoulders, which had been up around his ears, relaxed a little.
“Where’s your purse?” Olivia asked, turning her attention back to Mel. “Anything else you need to take with you?
“My purse is in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. Oh, and Asher, the number of your friend who called earlier is posted on the yellow sticky on my monitor.”
Rand jumped as if someone had snapped him with a whip and grabbed her purse. Asher removed the note and tucked it in his pocket.
“I’ve got the rest of my things packed and in the car already,” Mel said.
“In your car here or the one Jeff’s driving?” Asher asked for clarification.
“The one here. I was afraid it would get lost in his.”
“Let me get it for you, then.” He took a step toward the door.
“I’ll help.” Rand was right behind him.
“I hope the hospital isn’t far away,” Olivia said. Things seemed to be moving along quickly.
Mel braced her hands on her knees. “Ten. Minutes. Tops.”
“Good.” Olivia continued massaging her lower back.
“Man, that was a big one,” Mel said breathlessly a moment later. “If you’re around, you and Ash are welcome to come visit us in the hospital. You can meet our new little peanut…who doesn’t feel like a peanut right now.”
“I’m not sure what Ash has planned, but I’d love to. I’ll definitely be with him the rest of the week.”
Mel looked up, a confused expression on her face. Olivia was sure she was going to ask her more about what she meant, but instead she said, “I had an interesting conversation with him this morning when he came down to get the laundry. He was going on and on about you. I can’t imagine what you two went through downtown, but he kept saying how amazing you were. And I’m pretty sure he wasn’t just talking about in the bedroom.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “Men are crazy when they’re in love.”
Panic bloomed in her chest. “I don’t know about that,” she said, trying to laugh it off. “We just met.”
Asher wasn’t falling for her and she wasn’t falling for him. She might be his pseudoslave for a week, but that was it.
Mel shrugged. “Jeff and I met at a friend’s wedding. We knew right away that we were meant to be together. Sure enough, two months later, we were engaged. Six months after that, we were married. That was ten years ago.”
Since no one at Reckless besides Rand knew who Asher was and what he was doing over here, Mel couldn’t know that a relationship between the two of them would never work.
“He’s a man with secrets,” Mel continued, almost as if she was following Olivia’s train of thought. “Many of the guys who work here have them. But he’s a good man and I’ve never seen him like this before.”
“We do seem to click,” Olivia admitted. “And he makes me laugh.” Her heart did a little somersault at the truth of those words. They did have an awful lot of fun together, and she wasn’t just thinking about in the bedroom. But things were too new. Too shiny. It was silly to let herself think there was anything more between them than a short-term good time.
Mel gave her a knowing look from a woman who’d been there, done that. “And that’s how all good relationships start. A passionate friendship, if you will. I know a man would never admit this, but there’s more to it than awesome sex. Sure, that’s important, but when you’re changing diapers at two in the morning or worried about bills, that fact that you can both orgasm together really doesn’t matter.”
Just then, a breathless man came crashing through the door. “Melly, are you okay?” His eyes were wide as he rushed over. He gave his wife the sweetest kiss Olivia had ever seen, with one hand cupping her chin and the other on her belly. It was as if he were kissing both mother and child at the same time.
“Yeah, hon, I’m fine,” Mel said softly, touching his face.
“And the baby?”
“She’s fine, too.”
Her husband straightened. The look of panic and terror was gone, replaced now by steely determination. “The guys have all your things, right? Anything else?”
“Nope. I’m ready to go.” She turned to Olivia. “Thanks for your help, doll.”
Olivia smiled. “Good luck.”
Despite Mel’s protests that she was capable of walking on her own, her husband swept her into his arms and carried her out to the waiting car. A moment later, gravel was flying everywhere, pinging off the side of the metal building like shrapnel, as their car disappeared around the corner.
Chapter Twelve
David Fuller was many things to many people. Former MMA champion, ruthless businessman, ladies’ man. But among his associates, both professional and private, he was best known for being true to his word. After all, when you ran an illegal fight club not governed by signed contracts drawn up by fancy lawyers, your word—and your might—was your bond.
The man who’d introduced himself as simply Carl the Fixer sat next to him ringside just as the bell sounded. David had seen some pretty fucked up looking dudes in this business, but this guy took the cake. Although he wore a knit cap and dark sunglasses, it didn’t completely cover the sinewy ropes of puckered scars that ran along one side of his head and neck.
Two fighters came together and began a bare-knuckle brawl while their supporters yelled and cheered. It was no holds barred in this underground fight club and David loved every minute.
“The last man standing will be included on next month’s fight card,” he explained to his guest. “Just to be on it is worth a grand, and what guy couldn’t use that kind of money regardless of whether he wins or loses?”
Viper Jones took a hard blow to the face and blood spurted everywhere, including on the white tank of the ring girl, Britney. The crowd cheered as he staggered
backward. His opponent, who called himself the Kingslayer, was on him like a bad smell. Pressing Viper against the ropes, Kingslayer threw punch after punch, trying to score a knockout. Blood continued to pump from a gaping gash above Viper’s left eye. The mat would soon look like the floor of a trauma center. Somehow, Viper managed to remain on his feet at the end of the round and stumbled back to his corner when the bell sounded.
David turned to his guest, keeping his voice low. “Now if Olivia were still working for me, that bleeder would be healed. That is, if I wanted him to win or draw out the fight longer. My customers hate paying for fights that end in the first round. I want to keep them happy and coming back, so it’s in my best interest that the fights don’t end prematurely.”
The guy didn’t seem impressed, but then maybe his ruined face made it difficult to show any emotion. “And you’ve seen her do this?”
“Of course. Many times.”
“I see,” the man said, nodding. “And how long did she work for you?”
“A month or so. I’d been fucking her for a couple of weeks before I figured out she was a Healer-Talent. After that, she healed a number of fighters for me.”
His guest stared at him through his dark glasses. “Do you need to be reminded that it’s an offense to knowingly harbor an unregistered Talent? It’s punishable by ten years in prison.”
Was that a threat? David glared back. Taking a few pointers from his fighters during the stare down, he hoped to intimidate the ugly sonofabitch, but the guy’s ruined face remained impassive. “What do you thinking I’m doing now? Confessing to my priest?”
“How did you meet her?” the Fixer asked.
“She was the new girl at the front desk of the gym where I work out.”
“Any pictures?”
David shook his head. “She was camera-shy. Hated having her picture taken.”
“And you knew her as Olivia Hoffman, right?”
“Yep.”
The man handed him a folded sheet of paper. “Is this her?”
David grabbed it and opened it up. The picture was grainy and pixelated, but there was no mistake. “Where did you get this?”
“News crews took the photo at the explosion site.”
Olivia had been in New Seattle? “Sure as hell looks like her.”
Although the man remained expressionless, there was a smugness in his tone that hadn’t been there before. “I’ll need to know everything you can tell me about her. Any and all mention of family and friends, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Previous places of employment, schools she may have attended, cities she lived in, et cetera. Think you’re capable of doing that?”
David bristled. What a patronizing asshole. “The chick wasn’t the talkative type, you know?”
“Maybe she wasn’t into you. Is there someone else in your employ she may have opened up to?”
What the fuck? If this bastard didn’t outweigh him by fifty pounds, he’d clock him. “Try the other way around. Wasn’t good in the sack. Too vanilla. I’d have shown her the door if it hadn’t been for her ability. So you think you can find her and bring her back?”
The Fixer smiled. “Oh, I can find her, all right.”
Chapter Thirteen
At the birthday party the next day, Ash was interacting more with the nine-year-old girls than he was helping. Olivia and Rand agreed it was like having one more kid to deal with. A big one.
He bounced in the jumpy house set up in Reckless’s parking lot as the girls shrieked with laughter. With his hood pulled up and his aviators on at a crazy angle, he chased them through the garage as Motorcycle Zombie, ignoring Rand’s plea to pour juice into the cups on the table.
“I can do it,” Olivia told Rand, wiping the frosting from her fingers after cutting the last piece of cake. She took the juice from him and began pouring. “Is he always this good with kids?”
“Good? Jesus.” Rand rolled his eyes and shook his head. “It’s like he’s one of them.”
“No kidding,” she said, laughing. “How long have you guys known each other?”
Rand paused. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “Since Caitlyn was four.”
According to what Mel had said, that was right around the time his wife died. She wondered if there was a connection. “How did you meet?”
With a faraway look, Rand watched as Caitlyn and her friends ran from Asher then circled back around to push him from behind. “She looks a lot like her mother. Same eyes. Same hair color. She even has some of the same facial expressions, which catches me off-guard sometimes. You’d think something like that would be learned, but Caitlyn was so little when…when Amanda died. She doesn’t remember her very well anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Rand. That must’ve been so hard.”
He nodded, his eyes still tracking his daughter. “He saved her, you know.”
“Ash saved Caitlyn?”
“There was an incident at a checkpoint—that’s what the army likes to call it. They tried to claim that Cascadians were firing on innocent civilians, but I saw the whole thing and it was the other way around. Some young army punk yanked an older civilian from a truck and pistol-whipped him right there on the pavement. A woman in the passenger seat came out screaming. Then there were shots.” Rand pinched the bridge of his nose as he recalled what happened. “Suddenly, a huge fireball exploded in front of us, sending our car backwards, over the guard rail and into the river below. I must’ve blacked out because when I came to, Amanda was gone and a man—” He pointed to Asher. “—was pulling Caitlyn from her car seat in the back.”
“I’m so sorry.” Olivia was at a loss at what else she could say. She couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through.
“I can still see those army soldiers standing at the bridge railing, looking down at us and not doing a damn thing to help.”
“Asher jumped in the water to rescue strangers,” she said, almost to herself.
“Without him, I’d have lost both Amanda and Caitlyn that day.”
“He’s a hero.”
“Yes, but he doesn’t think so, because he hadn’t been able to save all of us.”
After singing Happy Birthday, the girls sat at the table eating cake and drinking punch for maybe a total of ten minutes before Caitlyn wanted to do the piñata. As she and her friends took turns hitting the candy-filled pink motorcycle, Ash crawled on the floor like a horse or big dog (Olivia couldn’t figure out which—one moment he was neighing and the next he was barking) and the kids in line climbed all over him.
Stacking the paper plates smeared with half-eaten cake, she laughed as she watched him. He had such crazy ideas and did things a normal person just wouldn’t think of. But she liked that about him. He was unpredictable and creative.
“Caitlyn adores him. Always has.” Rand looked a little less harried now than he had before the party started, probably because it was almost over. “She’s going to be sad when he leaves again.”
She wouldn’t be the only one.
Olivia swallowed around the lump forming in her throat as she continued to clear the table. Just a few more days and it would be over. Not that she was looking for something more with him. Logically, she knew that a relationship between the two of them wouldn’t work. Sure, it was sad that something this good, this magical, was coming to an end, but that was the thing about reality—it was soberingly real, and what was happening between them right now was pure fantasy. A fun, sex-filled fantasy. And by definition, fantasies were not real.
“What are your plans after this week?” Rand asked.
She felt her cheeks heating. Did he know she was Ash’s sex slave?
“I don’t know how much Ash has told you about my…situation,” she began tentatively.
Rand shook his head. “He keeps things pretty close to the vest and I don’t ask. Your business is your business. Not mine.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief. So he didn’t know about her Talent. Or their arrangement. Not that she tho
ught Ash would say anything, but she wondered what Rand had guessed.
“I’m going to be moving soon,” she said. “New Seattle wasn’t what I thought it would be.”
It had been a mistake to move to the city. She’d thought she’d be able to hide better amongst all the people, that it would make her feel more anonymous, but in reality, the opposite was true. There were too many people who could notice that she wasn’t quite the same. First, there was the disaster with David and his fight club, and now the explosion. She felt like there was a big red arrow pointing at her head for all to see, announcing that she was different.
“I’m glad I asked,” he said, opening a plastic garbage bag for her. She stuffed in the used paper plates she’d collected. “Any interest in working here?”
She frowned, unsure if she’d heard him correctly. “At Reckless?”
“I really need someone to fill in for Mel until she comes back from maternity leave. I was going to call a temp service, but I’d rather not bring in someone I don’t know or trust. I ran it past Asher and he’s fine with it. If you’re interested, the job is yours.”
She looked around and thought about what it would be like to work here. From here she could see various parts and tools stacked neatly on shelves and hanging from wall hooks. Although the place seemed pretty clean and neat for a garage, it was still, well, a garage. She’d always worked in offices or restaurants and had once dreamed of working in a medical clinic, but never had she thought about working in a place like this. Vince would’ve loved it, and her father as well. They were always tinkering with small engines out in their garage when she was growing up. But not her.
“I know nothing about dirt bikes, motorcycles, or cars, for that matter. And if I’m being perfectly honest, loud engine noises kind of freak me out.” Vince used to chase her around the backyard with the leaf blower.
Rand smiled. “I’m not asking you to be a mechanic or take a bike for a test ride, darlin’, just do some office work. Answer the phone, schedule hours, make appointments, some light bookkeeping. It would really help me out. If Asher trusts you enough to bring you here, that’s good enough for me.”
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